Australia was preoccupied with the plight of the Hun-ravaged Belgians.

The Goulburn Evening Penny Post reported a forthcoming fundraising Belgian Day and the presence in town of "A BELGIAN CAT".

"A cat, claimed to be from Belgium, is at present [displayed] outside the business premises of Mr Holloway in Auburn Street, and is reaping a great harvest of pennies for the Belgian Fund. The cat, which is called Lord Kitchener, is an object of unusual interest in town. The money collected is to be paid over to the mayor at the Belgian Day celebration."

For those with Belgium fatigue, the Post thundered that, "We have no patience with those parish pump patriots, who, from their little backyards, decry the effort made to assist the Belgians.

"Do too much for the Belgians? It is impossible. Let some of those who are so ready to raise the cry, 'Charity begins at home' (with some of them it ends there, too) try to picture the condition of Belgium. Its towns occupied by barbarous invaders, its people on the verge of starvation. Never must we forget what Belgium did for us. Had she not held up the Hun horde for precious weeks, possibly some of those who are always whining would be experiencing the fate of the poor Belgians and have to do just exactly what brutal Prussian taskmasters demanded."