The Cruise of the Calgaric | 05 GDYNIA AND DANZIG

05 GDYNIA AND DANZIG

V
GDYNIA AND DANZIG
WE REACHED Gdynia just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, August i6th, and saw an enormous number of Scouts and Guides drawn up on the quay awaiting our arrival. They had come from all parts of Poland to welcome the Chiefs; some of them had had an eight hours' journey and were going back the same day.
The delegation which came on board to greet the Chief Scout and the Chief Guide included the President and the Vice-President of the Polish Scouts and Guides Association, Dr. Michal Grasynski and Madame Helene Sliwowska. The two National Commissioners, Mr. Olbromski and Madame Wierzbianska, were also present, and the two International Commissioners, Mr. Wolkowiez and Madame de Callier. There were besides the Government Commissary of Gdynia, Mr. Sokol, the President of the Scouts in Gdynia, Mr. Krzemieniowski, and Rear-Admiral Josef Unrag.
The delegation had breakfast with the Chiefs and Staff while the other passengers were landing. Then the Chiefs went on shore and were received with immense enthusiasm. Many of the Scouts had only just returned from the Jamboree at Gödöllö, and were wearing the feathery grass of the Hungarian Scouts in their caps. We also met seven Sea Guides who had been all the way to Gödöllö and back in their canoes; they went up the Vistula and then up the Danube; they had arrived back that very morning, and were looking as fresh as paint.
The Polish Guides wear a very attractive uniform: the frock is grey linen, with a white collar embroidered in colours, and a brightly coloured hand-woven braid tie.
The Chiefs were carried off for a drive, ending at the camp, where the Polish custom of eating bread and salt was performed at the gateway. Afterwards they had luncheon in the camp. The other visitors were divided into four groups, each member being given a ribbon of the colour of the group to wear, with the date and place and the Scout badge printed on it; each group embarked in a tender, which took them round the harbour, in and out of the three basins. All were amazed at the work which had been accomplished here in a short number of years. In 1920 Gdynia was a little fishing village with 315 inhabitants; now it is a flourishing town of over 50,000. The harbour was made by scooping out the marsh and peat land between two low-

lying wooded hills, and by building huge concrete breakwaters to protect the port thus formed. Caissons full of sand have been sunk to build the quays, and the port is now deep enough to receive very large liners. The peat which was dug out is stacked inland and anyone can come and take it for fuel. Poland is immensely proud of her new port and spares no sacrifice in order to develop it.
After the tour of the harbour each group was marched of to a different hotel, where they enjoyed "bortsch" soup and other Polish delicacies: they were welcomed by eloquent speakers.
After luncheon some went by bus, but most people walked, to the Girl Guide camp. It was a very hot day, but the walk was pleasant along the edge of the sea, which was filled with bathers; and then, striking inland through a wood of birch, beech and pine trees, we came to the valley in which the camp was situated.
Like all Polish camps, it was beautifully laid out and decorated; they had spared no trouble and had made a fine entrance gate with an arch of pine poles; in Poland the tents are of the ridge variety and as many as ten sleep in one; each tent contains a row of beds made by the Guides; they are made of pine uprights with either grooved slats or interlacing cord stretched across to form the mattress. The beds have sheets and embroidered covers, and each tent also contains seats and tables and all sorts of gadgets for hanging clothes, etc., made of wood obtained on the spot. In front of each tent a little conventional garden is laid out, with patterns made in pine cones, brick-dust, stones, ferns, mosses, lichens, etc. Great ingenuity is shown in the patterns, and on this occasion the device of each province had been made by the Guides coming from that part—thus Warsaw had a castle, Pomerania a mermaid, and so forth.
The Chiefs had their luncheon at a wonderful round table, cut out of the sand and decorated with designs of pine cones, beech mast, etc. In front of each person was a flat, round section of pine-wood for the plate to be put on.
As in every Polish camp, there was a little open air chapel with a shrine beautifully made and decorated.
One large tent was full of handicrafts for sale, charming embroidery and leather-work. After visiting the camp we were entertained by singing and folk dancing, the music was provided by a naval band.
The Poles were very generous in pressing souvenirs upon us, and it made us feel very ungracious not to be able to give them anything in exchange except service stars and whistles! When we go abroad next time we must take with us some small things to give away or exchange.
Finally we had to embark in buses and return to our ship. We shall long remember the scene of our departure from Gdynia: on the quay there were rows and rows of Scouts and Guides, including a company of Rangers who waved their red scarves rhythmically as they sang. The Poles cried "Good-bye," and we cried, "Do

Photo] [M. Shepherd
SCOUTS AND GUIDES ON THE QUAY AT GDYNIA, POLAND

Photo] [Walshams, Ltd.
RECEPTION AT GDYNIA

Photo] [Walshams, Ltd.
SIR PERCY EVERETT IN HIS ELEMENT, POLAND

Photo] [M. Crowdy
LUNCHEON IN CAMP, POLAND

Photo] [Walshams, Ltd.
RECEPTION OF THE CHIEFS IN CAMP, POLAND

Photo] [D. Archer Thomson

A POLISH DINNER-TABLE

Photo] [M. Desch
TWO POLISH GUIDERS

Photo] [Walshams, Ltd.
THE CHIEFS AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAMP

Photo] [W. M. Comber
AT THE TENT DOOR

Photo] (W. M. Comber
THE CAMP SHRINE

widzenia," and this time we were not backward at shouting and cheering, led by the indefatigable Arthur Short, who remained on shore till the very last moment, dashing up the gangway just before it was removed.
Very loth were we to leave Poland and our warm-hearted friends there.
The day was not yet over for us, however, for there still remained our visit to the territory of Danzig. We steamed ten miles along the coast and then anchored off Zoppot, which is the seaside resort of Danzig, this town being some little way up the river .Vistula.
The Chiefs did not go ashore here, but attended a dinner party given on board by Mr. Robbins, on behalf of the White Star Line. The guests of honour were the High Commissioner of the League of Nations, Dr. Rosting, and his charming wife—they are Danes. Among the other guests were the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Education, the British Consul, Mr. Buchan, and his wife, and the agent of the White Star Line, Mr. Bevan, and his wife.
Meanwhile a great many of the Calgaric passengers had landed at Zoppot and had gone by bus for an excursion to Danzig. They visited (in great haste) the huge Marienkirche, with its fourteen side chapels, each belonging to a different guild; the Rathaus (Town Hall); and the interesting Uphagenhaus, the house of a seventeenth century burgomaster, which is kept exactly as it used to be, and which in their honour was lit by candles as in the Middle Ages". The family which owns it no longer lives in Danzig, but once a year, on the 22nd of January, all the scattered members of the family meet here for a ceremonial dinner, at which the old china, glass, and copper cooking utensils are used.
After this rather hectic sit-seeing, the visitors returned to Zoppot and dined at the Kasino Hotel, where a certain amount of confusion was caused by people who had ordered drinks having nothing but English money wherewith to pay for them.
They finally returned, rather tired, to the ship, which sailed at about midnight for Klaipeda (Memel) in Lithuania.