ON THE WAY, AND THERE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 86, 4 January 1918, Page 6

ON THE WAY, AND THERE

A NEW ZEALANDER'S JOURNEY TO Tlloi WAR ZONE. Writing of his experiences on one of tho troopships, Mr. llonald K. Lyon, secretary of tho Wellington "Savage Club, who went away as a corporal iu tho Twenty-sixths, observes: "There is very little opportunity for reading ; or writing, and it is a common sight to see men sitting in draughty passageways under a dim light trying to write a letter or read a book. . . . There is very liotle comfort upon deck—no such things as deck-chairs, forms, or anything to sit down upon except the deck, and very often that is wet from holing down. This is tho discomfort I noticed worst of all.

"It was yet warm weather in England when the transports arrived, and the New Zealanders were entrained for a camp in the South of England, passing/through truly beautiful scenery and quaint English villages." Corporal Lyon proceeds to tell of camp life in England and to compare conditions with those at Trentham. "There is a soldiers' theatre run by the Canteen Board, and hero I saw 'Under Cover'— not bad, but not up to Muriel Starr's production. _ "Major Rawdon Beere is in charge of this camp, and Lieutenant Trevethick is here also; and Bob Kiely is a sergeant in my company, along with Ted Levy. Everywhere there are familiar faces. The food is very good. Wo get cold hams, bacon, and genuine stewed fruits. The war bread is very tasty, and wo get plenty—l4oz. per man per day, as against 'Tommy's' 10oz.' Regarding margarine, I expected something terrible, but, honestly, I can't tell the difference between it and butter.

"Nothing is wasted. When we finish a meal the mess orderlies have to collect all scraps from their table and classify them. Bones go in 0110 tin, fat in another, swill in another, snd bread crumbs and pieces of waste bread in another. All these wastes are sold, and tho proceds go to buy extras for the table. Thus men aie encouraged to save, as they themsel.-es reap the benefit. In addition, these wastes are badly wanted for the byproducts they produce. The fat is bought by the War Office for the purposo of making explosives, the brtsd crumbs are made into cattle food. Paper, tins, old clothes, and lavatory wastes are all collected and sold lor manufacture into useful and reproductive commodities. There ;s enough waste at Featherston and Trentham to keep a camp like this going. We havo a wet canteen in hirnp, and there is 110 doubt it does a lot of gocd, beer only being sold. "The aeroplanes Jlnat ever our camp continuously, for there is a flying school nearby, and lectures by tiHous from the battlefront give us a fair conception of actual warfare." Other letters from Corporal Lyon state that' he is now fighting in France. "Do not worry about me," ho says, "1 am keeping well, and feel sure I will come through safely; so keep a good heart, and smile, smile smile." Mrs. W. D. Lyon has all of her three sons now in France—Lieutenant Gerald Lyon, M.0., Private Eric Lyon (wtyo is an LL.B., and was practising in Christchurch), and Corporal Ronald K. Lyon, the writer of tho foregoing notes.