MORE RECRUITS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2598, 21 October 1915, Page 6

MORE RECRUITS

MEN- PLEASED WITH TRENTIIAM CAMP. This week at Trentliam Camp has been'a repetition of'last week, wlicn, tlio ■ two new battalions of tho Itifle Krigpde wont into camp. Men for tho Ninth Reinforcements wont into camp this week, their numbers comprisinginfantry, mounted men, Army Service Corps, artillery, and Engineers, as well as' 15 invalids who have reported fit to the Camp Commandant. 1 Tho influx began on Tuesday, when about 1500 men were sworn in ajid equipped with their first outfits., Yesterday nearly 1300 men arrived, and to-day a further COO are expected. For tho greater part, the recruits came in small detachments on the ordinary trains, though occasionally a special would steam into Trentliam Station; where,.'- the Camp Adjutant and his staff attended to tlio detraining of the men, and their transfer to the camp; All day yesterday men in civilian clothes and men in new denims were marching to and fro along the camp streets; bent 011 the business of learning the camp routine. On Monday there were barely 1000 men-in camp. To-night the number .will bo vyeU over 4000, all told. With the arrival of each hatch of reinforcements in camp comment is freely made on the good physique and character of the men. There is no rowdyism, despite a lot of lighthearted, harmless banter, which falls alike on comrades and n.c.o.'.s until the camp gatea are passed. When tho AVest Coasters marched through Wellington 011 their way. to the railway station jesterday morning, they made up for the jack of cheering by oniookers by c'heoring heartily thomselvcs, especially when, they saw a pretty girl a.t an upstairs window. At one stage of tho journey . three of the men lingered to speak to some friends, and then dashed off at headlong speed to catch up to the main column. Unfortunately, the handbag of one of them had a loose catfih. It came * open, and the contents fell on the roadway, .between tho .tram tracks. A roar of laughter greeted tho recruit's discomfiture. But, in no way nonplussed, ho calmly gathered up his belongings, • calling out to tho driver of an approaching tram, "Hold 011; don't run over my toothbrush," and by dint of using the emergency brake tho driver avoided that catastrophe, and also saved tb® recruit's life, maybe. Of the spirit and good behaviour of tho men of the Ninths, as a whole, x there seems to bo' little doubt.

A rather interesting conversation between two recruits .who had already received their equipment, and were watching another batch coming in, is worth recording. After commenting on the keenness of the' men, one of them a6ked his friend: "How d'ye like tho camp?" "Like it? Why, it's tip-top; a chap conMn't help being healthy here, could he?" This opinion tallies with that of a sheepfarmcr who left with an earlier contingent. He wrote home saying that he thought farming was a healthy life, but ho found that camp life easily eclipsed it as a. means of making a man fit.