UNDER CANVAS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 16, 26 February 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

UNDER CANVAS.

CANADIANS " ROUGHING IT." A meml>er of the Canadian contingent encamped at Salisbury describes in the " Globe " the experiences of the Colonials sinco their arrival in England. At first, ho says, we all l'-ked our camp; it was high and dry, the tents had floor-boards, that traitorous grass was green and firm withal, and a balmy breeze, follower of the Indian summer, blew pleasantly over the wide-rolling land. We liked it after the somewhat nrid climate of Valcartier. the sand and dust. Then it began to rain. It rained on°- dav, two da vs. three days . During that time the camp became a rerv quagmire. The su'Uen black mud was three inches deep between tho tent

lines, on the parade ground, on tho road, where it was pounded and ridged and rolling-pinned by transports, j troops. a.nd general traffic; it introduc- I od itself into the tents in slimy blodges, ! ruined the flawless shine of every "New J Guard's" boots, spattered men from head to foot stickily and persistently. 'l'iie mud entered into our minds, our thoughts were turbid. Some enterprising passer-by called us mud-larks, and mud-larks we have remained. COLD AND DAMP. rc ~v-lt lt was freezing a few days ago. Tho ground, the wash-tubs, ami wo ourselves, all were frozen. A cheerful Wiltshireman passed along the highway. There was a. bitter, damp north wind; da pite ttlve frost. revnTy'tlvng seemeel to bo clammy. '"Nice weather for you Canadians.'' he shouted happily. Luckily wo had ne> bayonets. It is quite natural that in this country it should be thought that Canadian*; lovo cold weather and welcome it. JJut there is cold and cold. The-.Salisbury Plains type is of the " and cold" variety! It steals in through tho tent flaps with a "ch.dth' that damply cling-. It trusts rifles, blues noses, hoarsens the voice, wheezes into the lungs. Jt catches on to tho woollen filaments of blankets and runs into them, it seeks out the hidden gap* m canvas walls and steals within, it crawls Ix'iieatb four blankets —when one has been able to steal an < x'-ra ono through overcoats sweaters. up the [eir s of trousers, into wider-garments, and at last, finds gelid rest again-t the quivering tlesh. eating itis way into the marrow hones. Like the enemy, it advances m mass, ed formation, and though stoves may dissipate platoon after platoon it never censes to >end up reinfove incuts until a whining gale has seized on the tentropes, squeaks a|, the poles, draws m vain at the pegs, tears open loose flaps, and, veering round, hr'ngs back sod' den'rain and the perpetual, the ever- ; |a-li.n< T mud. We know the bard, cold bite of " 20 below." the crisp snow, the echoing land tb 0 crackling of spitting trco.s, ov 11 frost-l>itc\ Hut. it iwjiv cold, and it comes —" \\ hish ! lins | cold of England's creeps into the very heart. It takes mean advantages. | THAN THE YUKON. I " (I've me the Yukon an v old time." i isnvs the hard-bitten, diiveniig stalwart | of th- North-West. " 1 l'K. Mi:". lt i ain't, kinder pfavin' the Lame, i li must, not, bo thought that- anaflians are oompla WiiiiM. for they a re no. 15ut England'? climate is to them someIliin"* unknown and unspeakably vile, : One must have bean brought up :n i c ■ to appreeiat,. and to anticipate its : v.'iL'nri s. Canadian; feel tlmv have Ikv-'J ; I TheV OXteHe.l English _ (I |d i weitlier t- be n ".-in.-b." I'ts | weather hut.- '■ < i'7h on. not ' thev! There will come a time when we ; Khali \r- in huts, and the leaky <.l<l <-anvas tents that are now our habitat will have been folded ami—we hoi> for the benefit of others-stolen away! Those tents have seen so much rer-

vice that they know just as well how to leak as an old charger liow t.o drill Thev become animated —even gay—when the wind-beaten ram <-!/"• kens their grimy flanks, and with fiendish ingenuity they drip, drip. drip, down the nape of tho neck well into the eye even plumb down the tluoat of the open-mouthed snoring son of the mapleland. ~ No matter, we shall be old campaigners when the winter is over; old mudlarkers, as impervious to wet earth as a worm. Even the mud is good training for the time we shall ha\e in the trenches!