THE WISH AND THE GIFT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2718, 13 March 1916, Page 3

THE WISH AND THE GIFT

WHAT THE SOLDIERS LIKE US TO SEND THEM. , . A Christeliurch soldiorj writing to liia parents from tho camp at Zeitoun, under date January 6, makes it clear I what gifts are appreciated. lio says: —"Regarding parcels, the two things most appreciated are tobacco and sweets of any sort. Tobacco, because Virginian cigarette' tobacco is very hard co obtain here (a fellow usually uses light,pipe tobacco, but it is not a success), and sweets to make up the deficiency in sugar of the Army rations. I don't t mean chat we are not well fed, beeauso'we really have not much cause to growl, but the average colonial is used to about double the quantity of sugar. The dried milk came in very handy, as'we make supper or a drink of tea or cocoa on cold or wet nights. (Vfe have had "somo" rain for Egypt lately). His better for carrying than orSlnary condensed milk, as you can close the tin again. Still, it is hardly worth sending, as that is one of the tilings we can obtain here. Taking it on the whole, the best parcels are small ones that come by letter post, liko your last socks, etc. But please do not register them. Hero it is all right, but once away from here it may cause de- ' lay. , Ordinary letters come straight through. Registered letters aro delayed at Base P. 0., and have to be personally called for, and you might not see the base for a week or two after receiving notice to call for a letter. Bigger parcels take considerably longer to'come through but on the whole the mail service, if slow, is reliable, In any future parcels, please do not send cigarettes (.made up), but send cigarette tobacco. You see, a fellow smokes on an average twenty ,3 day, so if you send made-up cigarettes like vonr last parcel —forty yellow, or two hays' supply—it costs 2s. The same money for tobacco would last a full week, which is a big difference, especially as by the time you receive this I expect to be actually somewhere near the firing line. Of course, as soon as wo actually get in action they issue cigarettes (very few pipes smoked) with your rations, average auout 45 a week, so there's always a shortage. But that's enough about parcels, which seems all this letter is composed of, but there is very little that we can write about.'' ' It is rather an extraordinary thing in view of "the letters of _ acknowledgment that have been received in Wellington, in return for Christmas gifts sent to the soldiers at tho front ; that the writer should say the following:— "You may be interested to know that so far I know nobody who got any Christmas gifts subscribed in New Zealand. except some of the Aucklanders. We got thirty billies to be divided among the forty odd Auckland men in our column. I missed. No other gifts have arrived to my knowledge. The billies, however, were a happy thougnt, and much appreciated. I see that there is a movement on foot not to send TJillies in future, as they waste space, and are hard to pack. All ! regulations regarding parcels at this end bar square packages, and recommend round ones, and the billy fills the -Bill. A billy (not bigger than one galIon) is about as useful an article as a Tellow could wish for here, especially m the artillery, where you can always st-ow one on a limber or ammunition wagon, anfl so • transport it. You can always boil it, even if there is no firewood, "Where there's horses there's always a forge and coal, and live minutes on a lorge will boil any billy. I. don't say ft's positively good for the billy, but a hot drink on picket is something to look j forward to." . Evidently something seems to have gone wrong with some of the supplies.