LEAGUE SECRETARY'S NOTES.
The Ypres Times.
57
TO OUR NEW MEMBERS.
To all who have joined the League during the
last quarter X extend a very cordial welcome,
coupled with the wish that their numbers might
have been trebled. May I express the hope that
those to whom these lines are specially addressed
will borrow something of the enthusiast's ardour
and recruit new members on an ever ascending
scale For it is from the rank and file that the
League derives its strength and stability. We
need something more vital than a mere passive
interest expressed by the payment of a subscrip
tion or the giving of a donation. I have no desire
to minimize the value of these, but they are
not the be-all and end-all of our aspirations.
Each member should be the mouthpiece of the
League, broadcasting its aims and ideals over as
wide a circle as possible. Only along this path
can we hope to gain for our Association a lasting
prosperity, and to make it a living force in the
nation's life. Achievement will be the ultimate test
of the quality of our ambition, of the strength of
our imaginative and conscious effort. Let us build
on the uplands and not on the lowlands of human
endeavour, and so achieve permanent results
which shall pass down the ages.
Enough, if something from our hands have power
To live, and act, and serve the future hour."
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
In this number will be found our first list of
corresponding members. It will be seen that we
have not half enough. Many large towns are
unrepresented. Will members who have a little
leisure to devote to organising reunions please
volunteer for the job For that is the main
thing that we want corresponding members to do.
Nothing increases our membership so well as a
successful smoking concert or social.
BACK UP BACUP.
And buck up the rest of you. Our corres
ponding member for Bacup has recruited 22 new
members and 25 subscribers to the Times in one
month. What one man can do, that can another.
There are lots of ex-Service men in every town
who really want to remember the old days and
meet old comrades. They only want persuading
that the Ypres League will help them to do this,
and they will join fast enough. So Buck up
and Bacup!
TRAVEL.
We hope to have our travel arrangements
completed for the coming season by the time
that these lines are in our readers' hands. We
shall be prepared to take a personally conducted
party at Whitsuntide if enough pilgrims apply,
but full particulars will be available in a pamphlet
which will be sent to anyone who writes for a
copy.
ST. BARNABAS PILGRIMAGE FUND.
We congratulate our allies of St. Barnabas on
securing the Duchess of Atholl to broadcast their
appeal, which we understand is meeting with a
generous response. They hope to organise a large
pilgrimage of an Imperial character on the Sunday
after Easter, in which undertaking we wish them
every success. Their pilgrims are almost entirely
confined to those who cannot afford the journey
and who have never been before. None but near
relatives are taken. Four pounds will send a
mother or widow to see the grave that she longs
to look upon. May we appeal to those of our
members who are blessed with a sufficiency of this
world's goods, and especially to those who, having
a grave over yonder, have been able to visit it,
to support this fund, and so bring comfort to a
mourner As one who has been privileged to take
part in these pilgrimages, I can assure you all
that the comfort that they bring is a wonderful
thing to behold. Send your contributions to the
St. Barnabas Pilgrimage Fund, 7, Hobart Place,
London, S.W.I.
HEADQUARTERS AT YPRES.
The Ypres League Headquarters at Ypres,
which we share with St. Barnabas, consists of a
large well-furnished room, containing writing
tables and armchairs, the two things that are apt
to be lacking in Continental hotels. It is in the
house occupied by our representative, Capt. P. D.
Parminter, so that it will be the natural place to
go to when in search of information. Ladies will
be glad to hear that Miss Parminter has promised
to be ready to help any who need her assistance.
RENEWING SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Please do not use the form of application for
membership inserted in this number when renew
ing your subscription, as it causes confusion in
the office. This form is inserted as a gentle hint
to you that you should get it filled in by a new
member. If only all our members did this each
time they get a Times, how quickly all our diffi
culties would vanish! Meanwhile don't worry
about the date of renewing your subscription.
We shall send you a reminder early in the month
in which it falls due.
SUCCESS OF A MEMBER OF THE YPRES
LEAGUE.
It will, I think, interest our readers to know
that, in the London Homes Competition organised
by the Daily Telegraph, the first prize went to a
competitor whose house was furnished by a
member of the League, Captain H. Appleyard, of
50, Bassett Road, W.io, whom we heartily con
gratulate.
B. S. BROWNE.
