THOSE HORSE-BOXES.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2515, 16 July 1915, Page 7

THOSE HORSE-BOXES.

_ Sir,—l was much amused .to read tho description in t The Dominion of July 9 of the scene iii the Houso when ■ the member for Hutt complained about sick men being placed in horse-boxes. I havo lived under canvas for twentyfive years of my life, and I can assure you that I should, on many occasions, have been glad of a nice clean horse-box: to sleep in. I sometimes amuso my friends by telling how I and my party of four men onco slept in a pig-sty I'-' It .happened in this way. Wo "moved camp" in tho middlo of winter, and, I through taking tho wrong road, .did 1 not arrive at our destination (a small farmer's homestead) till after sunset. I asked the. farmer uf hercould accommodate us for the njght ; as it was beginning to rain. He said ho could not. I said, "Have you any outhouse that wo could get into?" "Is that building empty?" 1 inquired, pointing to alowroofed building near-by, which was just visible in the gloaming. Ho said: "Oh I That is a new pig-sty that I have just hmshed, lam going to move tho pigs into it next week." I said, "Is it weather-proof?" He. said, "Oh, yes; ono part has a, good thatched roof over it. with a raised floor of slabs; and thore is a..10t of clean, dry straw there." So/we unloaded our bedding,. etc., and soon had all our belongings under cover ; and the place illuminated with .swinging candelabra (made out of flax-leaves and sperm candles), and we passed a very comfortable,night tlierol I wish Tommy Wilford could have seen us I On another occasion wo were camped on the slopes of Mount Stuart in Otago. There was no bush near, and wo had not a proper supply of stakes for our tents. ■Wo placed the two. tents close together; one ; row.of stakes.being be-' .tween them. A furious storm arose in the night, and an extra strong blast blew both tents .downl Fortunately, the lower tent-pegs held; and as.it was snowing hard, we lay wliero wo wero till daylight. Our tents wore of stout.canvas, \and a thick coating of snow kept us qUito warm. .When tho sun rose, if a spectator had been present, ho would have laughed to see/ us crawling out from under tho canvas; but 1 can assure you that it was no laughing matter for'us! AVhat vexed us most was that, although wo were a Government survey party, wo did not see how wo could lay the blame on the Government! Wo had no Tommy Wilford to plead our cause, and "bully-rag" the Government!

Generally speaking, whether a tent is comfortablo or not depends altogether on the occupant. I saw a striking in-, stance of this iii Victoria. There wero two survey camps within a mile of each other. Olio surveyor had his tent and fly made of strong canvas, quite waterproof, and lined with drugget. Ho had a floor of boards, and carpeted, a table and'chairs, a keroseno lamp, a china tea-set, etc., etc., etc. Tho other had absolutely no comforts. The bare earth, tent not weather-proof, no table except _ his drawing-board, no scat except his portable bed, whoso iron legs sank iuto the earth. Added to this, he was a smoker, and as ho had no spittoon, tho stato of the floor inside his tent can he better imagined than described. In conclusion, I would like to ask if all this zeal about the comfort of our soldiers displayed by Dr. Tliaekcr, Messrs: Wilford, Ilanan, Payne, Russell, ot hoc genus omno, is caused by a real desiro for their welfare, or is it merely an cxcuso to annoy tho Government.—l am, etc.', OLD CAMPAIGNER, THANKSCIVINC AT WELCOME HOME TO OUR SOLDIERS. Sir, —AVe all join ,in welcome to our men ivho have returned. Thanks wero oxpressed to those who well deserve our gratitude. Wo are loyal to King, and faithful to our Empire. Why, many ask, was 'thore.no expression publicly given of our thanks to Him Whom nearly all profess to worship? The Doxology might have been sung sincerely, without formality, with unity. All were thankful, all felt quieted. It is strango that no public thanks wero oxpressed to Him. "Thy nieroy on Thy peoplo yet," Lest wo forget." I am, etc., W..SHIRER, St. James's Manse, Wellington.