A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3149, 30 July 1917, Page 9

A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT

IN SPITE OF GERMAN 'PLANES

AND GUNS

NEAR THE FIRING LINE

(From Malcolm Boss, Official Corrospon- ' dent with the K.Z. Fortes.)

i'ay 13-' J ho annual Horse Show of tho New /oiilmid Division—tho second since tho war began—was. held to-day in a green held near the firing line, in defianco of tho German guns and in spite of the observers in the German 'planes, which of Into have been constantly cros;i>i;; our lines. It is the time of tho yt.-.r for horse shows, and several of the divisions have been ho'ding thom. It is Sunday, but Sunday at. the front is very much like any other day, except tint church services are hold in tho morning. The general wont to ono of these services, as ho does every Sunday morning, and then camo back to tile horse show. Othor generals from neighbouring divisions, from the corps, and from tho Army, carao too, and some of them competed, riding their own chargers. Tho ring was marked out with yellow and red flags.. Captivo balloons left their moorings and swung in the clear sunshine against tho blue, and overhead all day tho droning 'planes camo and ■went. Ono -wondered if any of them photographed tho scene below. If so, tho result must have made a unique picture. The day waß hot and sunny, the horizon rimmed with tho green, tracery of ttces just bursting into leaf. Bands played, and there was a fair attendance of such offioers and men. as could be spared from their work. From the south tamo the constant drumming of the guns in tho big battle, softened by distance. Nearer, tho loud explosions of our own howitzers, tho dull reports of German sholls bursting on our lines, proved that fho war was.also quite close at hand. At intervals tho -whistle of nn enemy shell going far into tho bnck nTea told that longrange guns wore in action, and every now and then there came reports fioni the sky. Looking up, wo could watch the black pull's from German shells appearing about our indomitable airmen, or the lighter putt's of our own slirppnol warding off the Gorman 'planes. To a civilian nil tthis would be of great interest. To us it is a mero matter of course, scarce worthy a fleeting thought. From 10 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon the show went on. Two regimental bands played at intervals, and tho Divisional Orchestra, under the baton of a former member of the Wellington Savage Club, enlivened the proceedings during afternoon tea. There was a very neatly printed catalogue, with the cover in. black and red, turned out by the; Divisional Printing Press, and there was oven a programme for the orchestra, and a menu for the afternoon tea, adorned with a jpicturo of that quaint bird, the New Zealand kiwi. Just to show the Germans _ that the Army is not starving, in spite of the submarine warfare, it may Ire worth while mentioning that the menu was— "Coffee, tea, cocoa, aerated waters; ham, tongue, and salmon sandwiches; assorted pastries and cakes; biscuits."

The animals as well as the men had apparently not lacked for Rood food, for they wero in. flno condition. The limbered wagons, the cookers, the. battery, and other transports, wero spick and span, and tlio chains of tho harness shone in the sunlight like burnished silver. The eagle eyes of the D.D.S.T. and the A.Q.M.G. no doubt oculd pick out faults, but to the uninitiated tho display was a revelation of what con be accomplished by greaso and elbow-grease.

Tho management was perfect. Indeed, it would have been an object-les-son to tlio committees of many of our New Zealand shows. The utmost order prevailed, and tho judging finished on the tick of time.

There was one casualty as the result .of (ho show. A cow, belonging to Hie fanner whose field wo had hired, died in the nigfV. A •post-mortem examination revealed the fact that she had made a heavy meal of tlio red and "eilow flags and the paper from tho biscuit tins. Out of this incident the Germans may find a crumb of comfort. They mny argue that there is a scarcity cf fodder for cattle. But wo have not\'ctgot the length of a "kadaver" factory, even putting the least sinister interpretation on the word.