TROOPS AT TAKAPAU

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2138, 2 May 1914, Page 6

TROOPS AT TAKAPAU

PICTURESQUE PHASES

THE TENTED FIELD BY NIGHT ITS SICHTS & SCENES. (By Telegraph.—Special Reporter.) - _ Takapau Camp, May 1. The'sth (Wellington) Regiment arrived it Takapau Camp this morning, after a pleasant jounie.v, 700 strong. Officers and men look fit and well, and all are in high spirits. Tho regiment formed up outsido tlio station and marched to the camp, headed by tho regimental bandi This is the first band which has reached camp to date. Marching over the parado ground to quarters, tho regiment presented an imposing sight. Other arrivals during tho day were the remainder of the- 7th (Wanganui) Regiment, 500 strong, at 2.20 p.m., tlio remainder of the Hastings and Napier men, 675 strong, at 4.10 p.m., and the remainder of tho Wellington and AVairarapa, 650 strong, at 7 p.m. TJio total arrivals to-day were 2934, of all ranks, and tho total strength of tho camp on Saturday will be about 6000. Tho 2nd Mounted Rifles practised on Mr. Price's property to-day, tlio exercise largely being tho squadron in attack. The 6th Mounted Rifles practised attack' and defence on another area outsido the camp, as also did tjio 9th Mounted Regiment. All the regimonts completed their musketry practice today. Maxim gun-training is proceeding daily, and tho machine gun detachments will take tho field next week as units of their respective regiments. Tho troops behave splendidly, and the guard ten,t is empty, while tho health of all is excellent. There is, in fact, nothing doing in the field hospital. The organisation of the-supplies, post office, cook houses, and messes is working ]iko a clock. A horse attached to the 2nd Mounted Rifles had its leg broken, and had to bo destroyed after examination by a veterinary surgeon. Sir lan Hamilton will bo the guest of Mr. S. Johnson during his visit, and Mrs. Johnson is giving a, private dance for tlie oflicers on May 8..

A Horseshoe of Light. By a very, light stretch of imagination onlookers at nkht would readily liken the'camp- to a .huge horseshoe,of light, punctuated by periods of blackness, Tlio left arm of the shoo is formed by tho infantry, with an arterial road as tho groove, and tho cook houso and messes as a fringe. .The right arm is to tho mounted lines, while the intervening space is Stygian in its blackness, though occasionally relieved by the oscillating star of a lamp carried and swung by an | invisible arm. lowards the end of the left arm, on a slight incline, twinkles aiisweringly a red light over a green, capable of being seen from almost any part- of the camp. To tlio imaginative mind the red and green lights suggest endless possibilities—red for danger; green for caution —friendly warning for tho would-be violater of camp regulations, diro retribution for those heedless of those same regulations. For it is hero that tho staff headquarters are situated; hero it is that the day's work" is planned and discussed; from this station on tho hill the camp is supervised; daily reports fronj all holding responsible posts are received and duly considered, and, as far as possible, not one detail of all tho camp happenings is missed. And all is denoted by a red and a green light twinkling answoringly from a hill. History tells that ono of tlie greatest of modern battles was watched by a certain Littlo Corporal from a hill on which, at night, gleamed a littlo red lamp, and history, as every ono knows, repeats itself.

' The Inviting Marqusas. The extreme end of the le£t arm ot tlio horseshoe is tlio entrafico to the camp. On the one side of it lie, tlio stores, tho transport, the Permanent Artillery, and the various batteries. On tho other sido stand the recreation marquees, and here may be found nightly large numbers of camp-tied Territorials. There are marquees for reading and writing, marquees for singing and playing, marquees for devotional purposes, marquees for throwing the hammer, trick shooting, etc., marquees for one and all, and not one is there which is not filled to overflowing night after night. Cam.u Theatre and Critics. Not tile least of tho' night's attraf>tions is an improvised picture theatre (pardon the term) of corrugated iron. A roof and sides it certainly has, but the roof meets not the sides, and the result is unbcautiful. Still tho end is achieved, no matter by what means, and judging by the crowded houses business is good. To countor-balaiico this, however, the proprietor has his burden. His clients are nothing if not facetious, and, over hill and dale, sounds and resounds the "counting-out" process of the pictures which are occasionally not quito up to tho fastidious tastes of the critics. Still, as one of his assistants was heard to remark with a grin, "110 cross, no crown." The Canteens—A Pen Picture, Not yet, however, has night exhausted her charms. "What tho tuck-shop is to the schoolboy, so is the canteen to the Territorial. A huge building, well lighted, stocked with eatables that would gladden tho oyo of Epicurus himsolf, and animated by two or three hundred heavily-cloaked Territorials, tho canteen calls with an unfailing voice. One would almost the simile of the moth and tho lamp, but tho moth has its wings singed, ■ whereas, thanks - to headquarters supervision, prices at the canteen are by no means unreasonable, nnd patrons aro neither singed nor. hurt. Seated on cases reaching almost to tho ceiling, dangling their legs in the faces of their comrades, smoking tho inevitable cigarette or pipe, or streaming in from the night, and pushing through tho hazo of tobacco smoke, tho men are in their element, and get back to Nature. Nono but a Henry or a Rex Beech could do justice to the sceno. Before tho mind's arises the cattle towns of the West, with tho saloons thronged by cosmopolitan parties, tho mining centres of Alaska, or, noarer home, tho gold rushes and tho mushroom towns that canio into being in a night. " 'Ere, give mo a packet of green, and let's see you grin agin," says a lank, bony, bespurred individual, as ho sprawls half-across tlio counter with a wickedly-black cherry root projecting from tho corner of his mouth, for this shopman has gained a reputation for his grin, and lie grins and takes the cash. "Matey, you 'ere!" says another. "It must be three years como this spring sinco we shifted that bunch of beeves from Morrison's." A hearty handshake follows tho salutation, and a friendship of years' standing is renewed. Full of such scenes is the canteen. One inlets all classes; it is the rendezvous of the camp. Tlio camp post office officials complain that letters for the troops are insufficiently addressed. Writers should address all letters to the regiments to which tho addressee belongs. "Lucky Ninth!" - The remainder of the Napier and Gisboruo infantry regiment marched into camp from Takapau to-day, headed bv a baud, and 011 arrival were cheered by tho other troops. F Battery, Napier,

also arrived, and I) Battery, Wellington; arrives some time to-night. Oil Saturday the Artillery will commer.ce bis gun drill and training in tho camp area" Mounted police patrol the camp, and tlio township of Takapau, ami report favourably on tlie behaviour of the troops. Privato M'Keiizie i?pratned his knee to-day while on duty, and lie was attended by the Ambulance Corps. The weather prospects are good for Saturday. The 9th Mounted Eegiinent was operating all day on various areas outside tho camp, and used two of Colonel Sandtmann's patent field cookers. They proved a great success, and were in charge of two able sergeant cooks', both of_ whom havo se-on v actm* service. The midday meal was served on the march' hot, the menu being haricot chops, potatoes, in tho jackets, cabbage, and tea. Tho other mounted regiments, at the dinner hour, called out "Lucky Ninth! Wo livo on biscuits!" The cooker will be used all through the camp.