4,500 Receive Certificates from the Mayor In a drenching shower of rain, 4,500 graduates of the first Citizens Train Ing Class marched past Gon, Wu Te-chen, the Mayor, on the muddy Lunghwa aviation ground "on August shouting "long live China; long live the Kuomintang; and long live Gen, Chiang Kai-shek." The enthusiasm displayed was loudly praised by the officials present. Possibly carried away by the spirit of the moment, a large section of the Spectators gave vent to their feelings by Joining in the slogan shouting.
Dressed in khaki uniforms and. carrying rifles, but without amount lon, the participants stood at attention' as the Chinese flag was being raised to the accompaniment of a bugle call, With a brass band from the Bureau of Public Safety furnish ing music, marching in formation followed, Massed together for the frst time, the 4500 men of ten companies, trained at different places in Nantao, Chapel, and Pootung, maintained a uniformity worthy of a military academy. A motor cycle corps headed the parade.
The Mayor Speaks When the companies had taken up positions in front of the reviewing stand, the band played the national anthem andthe Kuomintang song was sung. This was followed by three bows to the national and Kuomintang flags and to portraits of the fate Kuomintang lender, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and of Gen. Chiang Kal-shek. After the xeeilation of Dr. Sun's will, the graduates were awarded certifeates.
Gen, Wu Te-chen said the pure poses of opening citizens training Classes were to make the members fof the community healthy and strong and to teach them the habit of main-{aining discipline. The construction fof a modern nation and the preserva~ tion of a country's integrity required time and citizens must be trained. People without such training were bound to be as loose as grains of sand, and not ft for such a task, Everyone had duties to perform for the country, one of which was conscription, If one wanted (o enjoy a peaceful life and make the country powerful, he should perform his duties the nation. It was the hope of the Government to build up a modern ration, and therefore all were asked Undergo training. In conclusion, hie urged the graduates to remember what they: had learned in their lasses and to keep up their spirits.
The training programme began in the latter part of May. with students drawn from every walk of life, being selected by the census officials of the Bureau of Public Safety. Every man from 18 to 85 years of age is 2 candidate for such training classes, With the exception of those who Slready have had military training for are physically unfit. There are two classes daily, one in the early morning and the other in the after-noo. In the morning they are taught fmititary knowledge, while leelures are fiven in {he afternoon.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.