SUNDAY IN CAMP

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2433, 12 April 1915, Page 6

SUNDAY IN CAMP

BIG CROWD AT TRENTHAM

(By Puttee.)

lesterday, in Trentham camp was a day of rest, and only those toys who have been right through the gruelling work of the week,could appreciate what that really meant to every iran under canvas. There was a glerious sense of luxury in laying; out in the isunshine on one's, camp bed (which must be thoroughly aired and sunned every day), and watching tlio crowds float idly by. It must have felt good after the all-night battle on Friday. Some three thousand people visited tho camp during yesterday. Probably tho largest Sunday crowd that the Trentham camp has seen. On the arrival of the 2.15 p.m. train the roadway leading from ' the cross roads to tho camp was lined with "Tommies" on the'look out for their friends—fathers, mothers, sisters, cousins, and sweethearts, and the joy of a "Tommy" on catching sight of a friend is something to see. The men of the oth (Wellington) have plenty of friends, but there were others from distant parts of New Zealand to whom a familiar face was like a draught of wine.

The weather was very fine, the sun shining generously, but after sundown the wind turned icy cold, and the crowds that were waiting for tho second train on the' Trentham station said bitter things about railway management. Some ■90 per cent, of tho people who travelled up tho line by the 2.15 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. trains wore known to be going to the Trentham ,camp, but the trains never stopped at cross roads to allow them to alight at the nearest point to the camp, but carried everyone on. to the Trentham station, tho best part of a quarter of a mile further on, with the result that everyone "in their Sunday's best" had to walk back ' that distance over one of tho dustiost stretches of road in the district, before they could diverge on to the camp road. Tlio arrangements at To Aro on the arrival of the 5 o'clock train from the Upper Hntt were also criticised. On account of the Trentham crowd and the large number of troopers on leave the train was a very long one— so long that when it drew into the Te Aro • station the engine was close to Clyde Quay. This meant that the passengers in the first half-dozen coaches had to stumble back several hundred yards over rough ground in the dark before reaching the station exit. The question is frequently put: Why cannot two or three gates be inserted in tha quarter of a mile of picket fence between the station and Clyde Quay for the convenience of the public on Buch occasions?

The afternoon in camp was enlivened by a programme of music excellently played by the camp band, terminating' with "Auld Lang Syne" and "God Save the King." The numerous visitors were shown over the camp, and many took the advantage of seeing the various styles of trench construction that are being practised at the present time in Flanders. The officers and men made their guests very welcome, and under the happiest conditions the afternoon passed all too quickly. D Company of v the Fourth (Captain. Wilkinson) has been presented with • a pramaphone and 150 records bv Mr. H. C. Osborne, of Wellington. The other companies of the fleeting Fourth are envious.

What attracts the attention of visitors most in the camp is the "birdcage"—the brush-wood, barb-wired enclosure near tho centre of the camp, where recalcitrants undergo military detention. There is really nothing to' seo within the enclosure, _ but one or two men lying round, but just because every trooper tells his girl that they are not supposed to look into the "birdcage" they all want to do it. Tho "sentrygo" outside gives a zest to their curiosity, and more than one visitor emulating "Peeping Tom" has been ordered to move on.