| Performance Notes | '"Some people question the efficacy of our methods and our statements without troubling to come and look; we must show them our methods, and let them hear others' statements,' said General Booth at the end of the demonstration.
The various scenes were replicas in many ways of the Army's daily operations. Between 500 to 600 men who had been recruited from the Embankment demonstrated the treatment in the shelters and in the Spa-road elevator, as the paper-sorting workshop is called. It was, however, the nursery and school work which most earned the applause of the audience. There was in that applause a curious note. It came spontaneously, triumphantly, to cheer the efforts of the nurses and the teachers. By the display of the operation of the Hungry Children Fund was received with nothing more than marked interest. It seems that the lay part of the audience thought the whole day was past for the charitable dole.
A nursery scene in which 30 sleeping infants played an important part, was followed by another scene dealing with the work done in convict prisons. Various testimonies were given by men and women who owe their lives to the Army. The work of the industrial and land colony at Hadleigh was shown. Processions of gardeners, shepherds, haymakers, carters, dairymen, and beekeepers passed. Canada, too, was made to seem a land of promise." (London Daily News 10 May 1911) |