"WILLING BUT SILLY"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2940, 28 November 1916, Page 6

"WILLING BUT SILLY"

• . -t : SCENE IN CAMP CANTEEN FEATHERSTON CAMP DISTURBED, I A disturbance occurred in FeatherSton Camp last Wednesday night, the . actual scene of tlie trouble being the canteen. A number of the windows of that • building were broken. Various accounts of the cause of-the trouble and of its seriousness or otherwise have been circulated in the City. Among these' was the statement that the men .; of the 20th Reinforcements were disSatisfied with the amount paid to their . draft from the , Feather ston canteen profits. On the matter being referred to the • Camp Adjutant, Major Neville New- . combe, he stated that the Teason mentioned was absolutely false, as there had, been no announcement made as to what the profits would amount to. • Major Ncwcombe stated that the trouble ' arose through the misbehaviour of two uien'in tho canteen. The police, assisted by others, cleared the canteen, but ' several men' persisted in forcing an entrance. One of these was arrested, and this caused something of a disturbance. In the midst of it the clecitric lightS went out, and it was then " • 'that some of the men threw stones through come of the windows,. Concerning a statement that after "lights out" the rioters did damage to ether 'parts of the oamp, Major Newcombe said that all that was dono was the unscrewing of several watertnps in tlie camp. . •Further details of the affair received from officers and men who were present show that there was somg rough hand-' to-hand work, in which several officers • wore struck, and that one man who was ' arrested was rescued by his comrades. A speech by a camp Staff officer produced no effect, while a company of. tho 20th which was-brought up and < charged the crowd, without arms, were . pelted with missiles of various kinds. One soldier's version uf'.tha row wos that it was "willing but silly, and didn't seem to get anjrjhere." Shortly after'"lights out" quiet was restored.' . The soldier who was nrrested will be tried by court-martial on a swious ': charge. .