FOR THE COLOURS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2548, 24 August 1915, Page 6

FOR THE COLOURS

I—*-1 —*- THE EIGHTH ' 'i j WELLINGTON'S MAGNIFICENT QUOTA . \IEN OF FINE PHYSIQUE HOW A DRAFT IS CALLED UP The mobilisation of the' Eight Reinforcements has begun. ■ The quota of Wellington City and Suburbs went into camp at Trentham yesterday. The Wellington men gathered at the Drill Hall, in Buckle Street at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, and for six hours patiently endured tho tedious process of (jotting "fixed up," as they call it. Sending a draft off on its way to camp takes a good deal longer than is often supposed. A couple of weeks before the draft is to maKp camp, a list of those called up is prepared. On tho appointed day, a big batch, of men puts in an appearance at the Drill Hall. One of the recruiting staff takes a tablo out into the big hall, and, men having been lined up, an officer calls the names over. "Smith?" ho calls. "Here," answers 'Smith'. ■ The man at the table ticks off Smith on tho list, and the 1 officer. diTeots him to "stand over there." And so on. The whole of names on the list are called, and all who answer are stood in the ranks. Then it is found that there are certain blanks. Some of those who had been called up have not appeared. They have asked to be.excused for the present, or set down for a later draft, or liaye made no answer at all. The officers count tho blanks. Infantry are a score short, they may i find- They announce the fact to a body or men waiting aside in a portion of the hall. "There aro vacancies for twenty men among the infantry? Does anyone here want a cbiuice to ■ get away ? Do they! That's what they are,waiting for-that chance. ■ They all witat to so,' and there are (say) eight)- men will : in:: to fill thosß twenty gaps. This is one of the causes of loss or time in getting the men on to the road. That eighty has to be lined up, and their names have to be taken. Then the recniiting staff lias to find out }vmcn of them five the first-twenty on the.waitinj? list. Finally this is discovered and tlio ■ men aw adtlod to tho infantry ssction of the quota, • „ The mounted men, too, aro. a small number of m-cfli short, and again laborious process of filling-a few gaps from a largo number of men is undertaken. Timo flies on, and many of tho men who have boon standing there since ciglit o'clock have breakfasted early, so hot coffee is served out. A long delay ensues, and everyone 111nuires Why. A new list is being compiled, and afterwards it ltss to b9 length* nearly an Tionr after midday, tho typpd copics of the list aro oft the machine, and the "fixing up process goes on again- ' . , . "Smitli? Smith?" is called again. And in an hour Smith and tho Test lmd themselves lined up, with sergeant-majors dressing their lines and telling them how to form fours, and so forth. , "Quick march!" commands a stentorian voice, and the first squad move off. The air is rent with a spontaneous burst of hearty cheering. "W«i re oft. goes up from the. throats, of 400 husky men, eager for training and the fray. Iho other, squads follow, and out in Taranaki Street the Fifth Regiment Band is playing a lively marchi, v well-wishers are waiting in crowds to cheer the new recruits, and enterprising photographers are perched! on queer, precarious ladders. Alt through, the' city the recruits get a' great rally. Taranalii Street,. Vivian Street, Cuba Street, Manners Street, Willis Street, and Lambton Quay are, all lined with cheering crowds, and tho enthusiasm at times .is almost as high as on occasions when finished troops have maTched through to embark for tho front. The entrainineht at Lambton Railway Station is carried, out quietly and quick-' ly, in the presence of a largo crowd of people, and at ten minutes past two tho long special draws slowly out of the station. • ■The men who form the quota arc a magnificent typo of recruit. It'- is very doubtful if a finer'dTaft has been sent to Trentham; They are almost all fairly big men. Very few of them are fleshy, and many carry oviaence of being already in'. excellent condition. 1 Their physique is remarkably fine; and one could easily imagine they were tho pick of the whole Reinforcement draft, and not merely the first iOO on the Wellington city books after the Seventh had been callcd' up." The men are of a useful age, iudging by appearances, most of them being well out of the vicinity of boyhood. In short they aro a tough, liardy, fairly big lot, of fine physique, and good, bearing, and it might be believed they had been specially selected for hard campaigning. Major Corrigan, who was present Tyhcn the men were being got leady for the road, expressed the opinion that the men were the finest,lot of raw recruits.ho had seen. . Ho thouglit their physique simply wonderfully good. • "Look at that for infantry!" he exclaimed. "Couldi you 'get anything finer anywhere?" "Yon .could not get such infantry in England!" added another oflicor. "This is a remarkably fine lot of men." The q'uota consisted of 104 men, three of whom were already in camp. Of the original draft, fifty-two did not appear— thirty-eifjht infantry, ten: mounted, and four artillery. For'every vacancy.-thus caused there wero four men waiting in tlie hall on thp off-chance of filling it. As there had been an alteration in the date on which the men wero notified to, r-arade to proceed to Trentham, the doxections are considered to' be on the small side.