CHRISTMAS IN THE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2652, 24 December 1915, Page 6

CHRISTMAS IN THE

CAMPS HUGE DINNER PARTIES SCENES AT TRENTHAM AND MAY MORN ; JOYOUS GATHERINGS p' l'he Christmas dinners for the soldiers in camp at Trentham and May Horn, provided by the citizens, - under tho direction- of the Mayor and Mayoress of Wellington, Mr. and' Mrs. J. P. Luke, j took place yesterday,.the task of entertaining about 6000 men , being carried out. without a hitch. At Trentham about 500 Wellington ladies, under Mrs. Luke, were busily engaged, and at May Morn there Were 240 lady helpers, mostly residents of , Upper Hutt, Wallaceyille, and Mungaroa, with Mrs. Fossette in charge.. His Excellency the Garernor and the Countess of Liverpool visited Trentham during tlie dinner, but as Lord Liverpool was, suffering from a cold, he did-not proceed to May Morn. The Prime' Minister, Hons. J. Allen and W-. H. Herries, and Colonel Gibbon visited both camps, and Mr. Massey remained at Trontham in order to bp present at a camp concert given by tho soldiers.' , An Army of Helpers. Every tram arriving at Lambton Station shortly before ten o'clock yesterdav •morriiug brought'numbers of ladies anil girls in summer attire, and carrying dress-baskets and huge bunches or flowers. Some also carried buckets made .or keroseno ahd_ benzine tins. A largo supply of these useful utensils was also provided by direction of the Mayor, and stacked 011 the'.railway platform. As each helpor -in the day's", proceedings | passed, eh'o was invited to "take one, please." Tlie result was that every 0110 of the. helpers had a tin in lier hand wben she boarded the train, and tho. clatter made in storing tins under the seats suggested the vans of a milk train, - ■; ( •■:. • Scenes at Trentham. 1 Tlie train, arrived at Trentham about half-past eleven, and at May. Morn soon after noon. The first step was to have lunch. ' Then tho work of decorating the hutments, and preparing such items as fruit salad and salads was begin. Other detachments of helpers arrived at the main camp by the 1.20 and the 3 o'clock trains from town. Soon the camp "began to assume a gala appearance. While the ladies devoted themselves to the decoration, of the interiors of the: hutments, parties of soldiers, who were off duty went to the hills and brought ferns and other greenery ; for the adornment of the doorways of-the hutments, hi this there wafc- a good deal of rivalry, :so much so that when platoons who had been drilling were dismissed, thejj at once set off to the bush to gather greenery. "Come on," one man said. "We've got to be gay like the others,'.' and away he went with his. comrades, coatless, and armed with bayonets to Fe. ..used as slashers. An Army Service Corps wagon was going the rounds of the camp, rumbling along ,on the footpaths and halting outside each hutment to deliver 'supplies oi turned fruits, jellies, and other delicacies. . • Here and there, men weary from drill rested on their - stretchers and watohed the busy workers. But the majority were , doing their utmostto assist, iii addition to tlie inauy orderlies that the Canip Commandant, ColonolH.lt. Potter, had detailed to help m each lrathient. These moil opened tins, brought water for the flower vase'B ;uhich consisted of empty tins covered with coloured paper, or- ran messages to get dishes and plates to contain the "extras" . which' each' matron had brought as additions • to'the fare provided. 'Often the lady helper would accompany her soldier assistant on the message. They would return lnden and chatting and laughing. Up till halfpast four platoons and companies of men passed t-o and fro oii the. serious business of soldiering; they gave an air of business to ,a scene which otherwise would have been entirely a holiday one. .In each half hutment, containing 30 men,-there were three "waitresses," but the mess orderlies did! the work of carrying the. food from the cookhouses in the usual'routine way. As the. hour of six drew near the men began to, gather in their hutments, chaffing andi laughing. And when the hot lamb, green peas,/and new potatoes'came ori they fell to with zest and the meal went merrily on. An Open-air. Meal. ' While Trentham was gay'.and the interior of-the huts most attractive at May Mom the spectacle was novel and brilliant with colours, red, white and blue predominating,, with gleams of gold, where plates of fruit nestled with other good things among /the decorations. Forty rows of tables, each consisting of four tables, had been set out on the green sward by fatigue parties, under the direction of the Camp Adjutant, Captain Dnvcy, the'tables and planks for . the'."seats, having'.been sent out from ' iowii. As,-at Trentham, the tablecloths ' were of white paper,: with streamers of red, ,'white, and blue. Flowers in vases, of.'tlio.'tiri'and coloured paper type, were ■ set at intervals along the tables, making Another note of green, and! many shades of pink, red, blue and gold, while the. ivliito dresses of the lady helpers, , asthey passed to and fro, showed in strong' relief. The weather was warm ■ and liazy, and there was not a breath of ; .wind.' . More ideal conditions could not ' have been desired. Though clouds were gathered 011 the. mountain, the hills : were brilliantly green in the bright light which camo from tho western skies, and the smoko from tlie camp fires floated 1 up in blue columns. When tho first 1 Wairarapa express 'passed the passen- ; rrers were so moved by tho wonderful ''' scene that they cheered and cheered, and > the soldiers in camp cheered in reply. ' A Striking Spectacle. Shortly before 6 o'clock the men were paraded, excepting 'tho guard and the cooks. Each had his tin eating utensils. By platoons they wore marched tc positions opposite the places they were to occupy. Then the brilliant coloui ' effect of the serried ranks of tables was changed as. the khaki- ranks moved lr between them. And as they did so tht s white-clad waitresses moved' away U fc make room, till the khakis filled ' tlis space, and the girls made a massec lino of white .on the outskirts. It wai a remarkable sight, and a stirring 0110 But it was more so when the secom Wairarapa train dashed past tho standing 6oldiers waved plates and pannikin; aloft arid cheered in reply to tho cueer: t from the train. The flash and glittei of thousands of polished tin v.tensili gave yot another note of colour to th< > SC At°'a sign from an officer, the thoiis a ands of men sat down and the waves o e white' ran through phe ranks as tni ladies began thoir work of feeding ai army. Meanwhilo several hundreds 0 ' men were still standing at. one side There' were many unoccupied tables the civilian wondered why they did 110 sit down. Tho reason was that the; ivero tho mess-orderlies, 320 of them „ Presently they marched away to tin cook-honso to bring tho hot viands am vegetables.' As soon as they had go tlisni, they returned at tho double. A the first few trotted along, a black do] rs galloped ahead of them barking dc lightcdly and almost causing severo spills. Cut another black dog emerge from somewhere, and engaged the- friv Mjloua fiomb&K : w c

other retired. When all had been served, the orderlies took their seats, and Chaplain-Captain Isaacson called for silence while ho announced tho grace which was to bo sung. A piano had been placed close'at hand. The chaplain, led'tho singing, and it was fine to hear, the many voices of officers and men singing tho grace. "The King." On the!nien resuming their seats, tho chatter o£ voices and clatter of dishes held sway. The joints of meat were ' carved at the head of each table by 'Officers .and passed round, with vegetables added by tho ladies. Hot tea from the camp dixies followed. Then Surgeon-General Skerman proposed the toast of "The King." Once more all roso to their feet, and the National Anthem rang out in a great deep-throated chorus. Before resuming their seats, Surgeon-General Skerman called for cheers for the ladies, which were given in right royal fashion. After that tho meal , went on in. a joyous, jolly way, the ladies appearing-to be tireless in -their efforts .to seo that'every man had a real Christmas dinner. There were loud cheers wheiv the , Christmas puddings came round, and cries of delight at the appearance- of cigars and cigarettes. • As one -man put it; there 1 was enough of, everything to go round twice, and he felt, like starting again. Distinguished' Visitors. It was growing dusk when the distinguished visitors arrived. ■ A. blue cloud of tobacco smoke hung over tho khaki mass, and tlio glow of lighted matches were showing up the sunburnt faces of the smokers as they lighted cigars or cigarettes. Tho helpers ivero having their meal then, with soldiers to wait on them. First to arrive were the Hon. J. Allen, Colonel Gibbon, and Mr. and Mrs. Luke. They were heartily cheered. The Prime Minister appeared next. Ho stood at a distance and watched, and tho men cheered madly, and sang "For He's a JolljvGood Fellow." The Hon. W. H. Herries was with Mr. Massey'. The visitors moved about among the men,, who presently gathered in a circle about them, and called for speeches. . Some Short Speeches. ' Mrsi Luke responded to the request by expressing satisfaction, on behalf of the ladies, at t'bo appreciation by' tho men of their wotk. She hoped tho boys-at the front would liavo a happy,. Christmas and . tho soldiers in. camp also. . Mr. Luke called for. choers, for the ladies and for the camp 'officers, who had done, so much to make the dinner a success,. ■~ , ; / The Prime Minister said ho had como to.eat Christmas pudding aiid not to make a; speech. He wished to join with Mr. Luke! in thanking the ladios for, heir good work.. :He was quite chrtain, that tho consciousness of having done their duty would b,e sufficient compensation to the men in camp for not being at home for Christmas. Tlio country owed a deep debt of gratitude to its soldiers for the great work they were engaged in. " The Hon. Jas. Allen, asked those present- to join'-with him in appreciation of the work done by the training staffs in .the camps for tho .work they were doing, and m a hearty vote of thanks to the ladies. The Hon W. H. Herries assured the soldiers--that the Railway Department was doing its best to provide good transport for them. Ho hoped tney' would cat their next Christinas dinner in Berlin. (A'voice: "We'll give it a go!" Entirely Satisfactory.' All concerned were unanimous in declaring that tho dinner in the camps was entirely successful. .' 11l the; fine weather which prevailed, that at May Morn was thp more striking scene. Had it rained, it had been planned to hold tho dinner in the mill-house. . As it was, tho preparation of the tables was done by fatigue parties, under the camp quartermaster, Captain Boon, without in any way interfering with the training of the men. Captain Shand also played a big part .in helping with the arrangements. At Trentham tho camp quartermaster, Captain M'Cristell,' had matters well arranged, and offered every assistance to the hard-working ladies. Owing to' the meal being served in the hutments, although over 4000 sat down to it, tho effeot was not so striking as at May Morn, though in each hutment the most jovial air of Christmas cheer prevailed. When tho ladies,- left in the evening to . return to town by special i train, the men at both camps gathered • and cheered,' and sang, "For They are i Jolly Good Fellows." All were-happy, : though the ladies were undoubtedly . tired after their long. day.