In his speech the chairman outlined some of the manifold tasks being undertaken by engineers in this war. So far az Shanghai engineers are concerned, he stated, their duty was Yo support the war effort with every. penny which can be spared. In the curse of his speech, he asked all present to rise fora moment in honour of those members of the in= stitution who have given their lives for their country's cause, Extracts {vom his speech follow:—~ "It is my privilege to propose the toast of the Parent Institution. The usual practice of the chairman on auch occasions has been to review the pitypase and maybe the history of the Institution, but there being 30 many old friends here this evening, such a course seems unnecessary. Tt Seems more appropriate at this time {to consider the Institution's place in war effort and the effect fon, the Institution and its "When war was declared, the frst thought of the Couneit was, in com mon with other engineering institu tions, to take steps to ce-operate with the Government in every, possible way, (0, offer-all sistance within its being cause for mighty ational effort, Monour for the Dead individual members hastened (0) take their part in war effort.
October Inst, the number on active service was' 1,265—most of them in technical eapacities—some have been awarded honours, but others have "pald the supreme serifice, and would ask you to rise for a moment '28 a token of gratitude and respect {o there who have given all for treodom that you and I may continue to five ax men one not as slaves, "pistinet from out. Institution's effort, the great contribution of the electrical undertakings to the present war effort should not be overlooked. In this total war, the home front has Been subjected to as fierce a fire the former military front line. Cooperation, inter-loan of personnel, transport, gear and. labour; provision of comforts and feoding of repair' gangs during continuous periods of Fepalr work, ave become essential ud It ts mesh gratifying to learn from reports that reach us how well electricity supply has borne the strain of intensive alt raids, "The maintenance of telephonic communication is of paramount, importance." Some idea of the dificult {es fg obtained from a statement by the Postmaster-General, who states frankly. that cable: plant has been damaged and service thereby ham-ered, He refers to the rapidity with Which repairs are made, mentioning hat Immediate access to. damaged punt is not always possible due to the proseness of debris, burst. water mains and other obstacles, However, the principal news is that millions of calls are going through every day due to the devotion to duly of the operat-Ing and. engineering staff, Some 10,000,000 focal calls per week London alone. in addition to about 300000 long distance calls originated by London subscribers.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.