BITS FROM BOOK AN D MAGAZINE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 156, 17 March 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

BITS FROM BOOK AN D MAGAZINE.

THE NEW RECRUIT. Of (lie many thoughts that surge through 2 recruit's mind immediately he has listed, 1 dare say that, in ninety-nine eases out of a hundred, the uppermost of them all is the one as to how he will ''get on" with the new chums he is about to associate with. At tiie moment he is in much the same frame of mind as the schoolboy about to enter a new school for the first tinm. And, as in the case of the schoolboy—a lot depends upon himself as to how he will fare.

Prigs, swankers, and such like are as heartily detested by the '"boys" in a ban nek-room a< tiiey are by the hoy ■; in a school —and they are just as quickly marked, or "taped," to use the vernacular of Tommy. No false consequential airs and graces are permitted in the wholesome democracy of the bar-rack-room. All privates arc —just privates, and nothing more. In the words of the popular soldier song — It doesn't matter who he was before, Or what his parents fancied for his name; Once he's pocketed the shilling And a uniform he's filling, We c::ll him "Tommy Atkins" just th? same. WliPe "the shilling" has long s'nee passed away the sentiment of the song still remains. Even to-day, when a!' classes and conditions of men are serving in the ranks, and when the original regular "Tommies'' who created *t are but few in number, the same fine democratic spirit is still maintained. The Territorial and Kitchener boys ale jealously and worthily upholding it. Good luck to them!

The recruit cnt.c ing a barrack-room w'th the foolish and arrogant intention of impressing iiis new chums with the idea that in coming amongst them ne is highly honouring them will be greatly surprised to find how flat his efforts tain, and still more surprised at the novel and vigorous methods his new chums will adopt to show h'm that, in their opinion, he is really olnyl "very small beer" indeed.

On the ether hand, the newly joined soldier who makes his debut in a manner befitting the novice in any profession is always sure of a hearty, if not boisterous, welcome from his new comrades. No champagne, of course, is drunk in honour of h's coming; no bra=s bands play him into the barracksno illuminated addresses are presented to him : no singing of " For he's a jolly good follow" heralds his entry into the barrack-room; but none the less, lie is. in a thousand and one little ways, genuinely welcomed and made to feel at home in his new surroundings.—l' rom "The Way They Live in the Army." bv Thomas 0 Toole. John Lane, The Bodicy Head; price one shilling.

CHINESE DOMESTIC SERVANTS Visiting a high-class Chinese lady, one is impressed with the number of children and servants that seem to be swarming over the place. \\ hen one oi a family has distinction or wealth, all the poor relatives come to dwell with him. Li Hungchang built a house in Shanghai in which to live when_ he should retire from public life. A\ hen asktd why he built so far from his home province, which was contiary u> Chinese custom, he sa'.d lie built .s far as possible from his native town, hoping that Irs poor relations could not obtain the money with which -o (onie to Shanghai. The servants in a Chines," family ar<? not expen-iyp, so far as wages are concerned, but tney cost a great deal in perquisites. They rarely receive more than eight shillings a month, but they are given their food, and they help themselves lavish'y to anyth'ng 'they may desir.e. Hiev dress themselves from the old clothing o fthe family, freely take the hairpin-; and the to' Let articles of the mistress, clothe their children from the common wardrobe, and in fact, are a part of the family.

There is a peculiar democratic custom custom which servants may claim, but which is seldom used—the ri<;ht «f r reviling the family when discharged. The voungest son of Li Hyng-chang jived next door to me, and an old servingwonian wivs discharged tor a reason that evidently did not appeal to her sense of jsutice. She sat oenoa'b -lie gateway and for tliiT.e hours called down curses upon the Li f nti>iy at ih.o top of iier voice. r lhis happen",d on one of the principal residence streets of Shanghai, and the police passed and repa-sed, hut no one tried to stop her. The house steward made two or three feeble attempts to persuade her to leave, but sh 0 would turn her facile tongue upon him. and lie wou'd gathei his skirts in his hands and start on a most undignified run for the house, evidently believing discretion to be the better part of valour. At the end ot three hours, when she wa-, completely exhausted, she was led away. The (.'hitwse lady and her servants »ossip together as' friends, rooms are entered without warning, conversations interrupted, and suggestions oifered which, to the foreigner, seem to l> P of the grossest impertinence. his intimacy is due partly to the restricted life the lady !.e:iu«, and partly to 1 he fact that many of the servants an* distant relatives. Practically the new.-, from the outside world that comet to tli." woman behind the walls is brought by her sons or by "the servants. She makes few visits, and these usually at the home of some relative, entering her closely covered chair within her courtyard and being carried i-wiftly to the courtyard of the house where she is to vi-.it. from "The Ha.reni and the Purdah : Studies of Oriental Women." By Ehzabeth Cooper. (T. Fisher l awn. London: UK Gd.)

HIS MA.IESTV'S CTSTOMS. At 15 there was a famous Customs "crew." They were known as th; •breakdown gang," for their skill .n the mysteries of -h;p construction. The magnitude of their "seizures' W;vtalkcd about on the i-even seas, and they were popu'nrly supposed to have to'pay Income-tax on tlie'.r share of the line- for smuggling. There weto four whilom ship carpenters n the

gang. and they '.new everything noout a shin: no task in exposing the ' innards" of a ves>,i'l was considered too grea l for them. " hey coidd whip down the lining boards of a cabin. >;:*' sty themseH'es that tee teeess contained nothing dutiable, and rattle tie'ie up into place a'la ill the while ther (he!' (the I'.O. they call him) was harm r a fa': ly lonic smoke n the steward ■- < ;d>ill. Even the ship's -iien 1 :• i ll|.;l • - were not iei't free ot their at tein ii.n -\ and tliev thought nothing of protiing round the magnet < handier- with an iron lantern and a st's-l nokiny rod. One,, a Nova Scotia h.ir<|iie i ame in |i<d't from a ('out inriita' port. 'I he

•' breakdown gang" wre -erving the tide, and thev boarded her with high hopes of a secure. Thermite of the bannie was a "hard ea-- I '. and f leoks went for "nvth'ng he should ha v <- had at lea-t half a hundredweight of contraband stowed somewhere away. She was a difficult job. being an ancient craft with the repairs and alte-at .oils of half a century to nuzzle trie rumrnagers. but the credit of the "breakdown gang" had to b • upheld, ind thev

stuck manfully to their task. They went over her thoroughly; they loosed the sails arid shouted "'Stand away, under!" but nothing fell from the lolds; they shifted ballast and dabbled in the water-tanks, but nothing came to light; and, to crown all, the evillooking mate borrowed a few cigars and some tobacco from the P. 0., "jest f keep me go'n' till 1 get ashore," he said. Next morning, when going their rounds, they met an ill-used man. He had a bruised lip, was out ot breath, and vowing summary vengeance, lUused seamen are plentiful enough about tin l docks, and little attention would have been paid to him but thai lie was tilling a docker something about a Nova Scotia mate, und how hard they were on fo'c'sle hands. " When .shipmates fall out tho Customs come by their due"; and a little sympathy elicited the facts that he was one of the crew of the barque, tnat h.e had made the voyage, was hard worked and treated cruel, and now, after i rdop of drink, had had words with the mate, been "clouted," :uid bundled ashore. He muttered many threats

against his aggressor, he would be even with him yet— tiie dog! The

'Customs" w.ere ready listeners, ami the P.O. hinted a, hi:: own opinion of the mate's character. At tli's the illused man became suspicious, and when ic was suggested that he might know something of the mate's "plank hid-ing-place) became indignant. "No! No! Bad's bad, but Ah ain't goir. t' give away no shipmate t ~o'' b'ooiiiin' sharks. It Ah meets im ashore ater dark, Ail give mi that's wot 'e'll get, one aerost tY blooinin' jaw, but Ah ant a-goin t give jm away, no bloomin tear. Mo * not much !"

Tiiis was a "scent," and when it was 1 epresented to the ill-used man tluu tiie contraband being found ("and found it will be, it we vc got t the barque on 'or "oad an shake or' lie would be fixed on as accessory, lie reluctantly laid the information. "M : nd ye, All knows nothin' tor certain'. but w'en we was in tli' river, 'im an' the' bloomin' nigger stooard was a-miickin about'th' chain locker, an' it there am t baccy 111 that there chain locker, cal. me a bloomin' Dutchman, that's awl!"

The chain locker is that compartment where the ship s anchor cables are kept, and to clear it for inspection would be no small task, but here was infoimat'on, the bruised lip stamping it as genuine, so tl 0 " breakdown gang again boarded the barquo and set *'j work.

Thev were met at the gangway bv the mate. "Hullo! Ain t yew satis tied yd? Ah guess yew kyant liev niueli t' dew, when yew come liyar aroustm -4 - th* rats about!"

111 spite of his bald front, he seemed ill at ease, and watched their preparations for heaving out the chain wjt'a evident perturbation.

Wall! Look yew liy.tr." he sa'd

"If yew start that chain, yew II stow it again, ''very ruddy link, an' it ain't no fool job gettin' tli range right in a small locker l'.ke that!" '•(! hj! that's all right, mjster," answered the P.O. " Never you fear, we'll put the chain hack iis we net it if we find no contrahand ahoutl" Jackets came off. and they started on the starboard anchor, heaving up. and letting the cha'n run into the dock. It was hard work ; the windlass was old-fashioned and rusty, hut tv rummagers hove with will, and the pawls went c'ank, clank, clank, as .f there was a twelvemonths' pay to lift at th 0 windlass liars. Two hundred and forty fathoms of cable there were, but hop"' was at the "bitter" end. and bv midday both chains were chock up. and they were able to get down to tl.e floor of the locker. For over ;;n iioM - they probed around, tramping, aii'we deep, in the mud and refuse of a hundred anchorages. Odd tilings 'l.ey foundfjueer shells from tropic-11 sms, bus of coral, decayed s.'v.weo.l, M-vips of cha'n and wire—all the refuse lhat had <<mii" u ]> in the wake of the cnain lroni countless ocean bottoms —but there was no contraband, nothing dutiable. For long they searched, reluctant to give it up, and that they on'y did when the mate shout.-'l down, wanting to know what they had found. W all Look a hya.r." he said. "All guess yew'd better take a rest ail let me get iny 'hands' on t'elear tiiat muck out o' tlr locker —what I've been wantin' t' d.ew this three year or more, only never had 'hands' t'spai> t' roust tii' cable up!" Sadly they clambered up the ladders, to find the i!!-used_ man and another waiting in the fo'c'sle with buckets and brooms and a leaving line, all ready for their job ol clearing out the locker. . Grinning, the ill-used man said that iie.'d found that the mate wa.su t a halfbad sort after all. that he had lo i'.vd over his being drunk and lighting n tiie " Lord Nelson" last njght. and had proni'sed him the bosun s job on tli" next voyage.—From "Broken Stowage", bv David W. Bone, published by Ihickworth and Co., London.

ATTACK ON THE SCKZ C'AXAL. The following account of the recent Turkish attack on the Suez Canal is taken from a pamphlet. "How tic Turk Makes War." written by Leon L'>vison, honararv secretary of the Russian .lews Belief Fund, and published !jv Marshal Brothers. London and Edinburgh:—"We inarched on this same evening for four hours more, when an order was given we should ho'd ready to stand at arms. We were dcl'ghted. as we hoped tiewould lin'sh our misery, ,'sther inl o'>taining a victory or otherwise, lhus we awaited the order of battle, and Me walked on slowly nearer our go-u. All at onc,e the order came to fire: .ve ~> , .> gan to fire, not seeing at whom or where we were firing. and we spent an hour and a half shooting aimlessly. When the order came to cease filing, we learned that ail this ado wa< due to a dispute which arose between tie 1 German Commander and our own, whether we should proceed and cro.-« tl;e Can:l, or turn backward*. Having. however, suffered m> much, we were a'! with our Pacha, who was ;il favour of eross'tig the Canal. We were shown the [dace where a bridge was to ii f , formed, e.nd tli.e four hundred boats, which we had dragged right through the desert, were put out to form a In idge for us to cross or row across the Canal. According to our reckoning, sixteen regiments crossed : the company T belonged to began to row across. Aii wa-<|iiiet, ;:iid we had no opoo-e.tion. 1 "titercd inv boat along \\ til my nullrade* ill the great hope we bad outwill* d ibe I'rit'sb, having got fo •>. place of lalldiu;; on wh'<h they d:d not co*:lli.

.lii-t a- iii 1 , lit -red the boat Vw. heard a. terribi.» i'l'-silad" from Ihit!i sides, from the rein' ami front, a storm of sand and a hail of bullet- and shells obliterated everyllling. We were aM blinded with I he sandstorm, the brd.ee ua< sh.itteriMl, the rowing boats were sunk by dozens at a t'm.e. and terrible cries were heard trolii all side- Irom lier own -old er-, wlldti 'lie I'ritlsh sold'er- wi r ■ invi- : b|e. and we did nol see a foe to grapple w : th: all u,. could set warotis full (.I <-and pa-sing a- aii'i Pouring 'ire in r> way indeseribab'e. On 1 ' boat, pierced through, '-auk and we remained struggliiu: jn the water. Wit" great dilhenlltv w,. managed somehow 1 o set to the bank: I was slght'y wounded, wlidc another wa> dangerous-

ly wounded, and we had to drag him along. The whole Turkish army was a wild 1110b running helter-skelter, seeking tor protection against tho terrible lir.e. I along with some comrades ran for outlives, and did not stop for about two hours, until the sound of firing was quite ; n the distance. Fleeing back oil the route by which we had come wo met with litt'o groups here and thenrunning as we were to save their lives Th Churches an dthe War.