LITERATURE FOR SOLDIERS
To suggest that the troops in the firing line and behind it suffer Irom boredom would seem ridiculous were it not that the fact has been stated again and again in soldiers’ letters, remarks a Christchurch Sun writer. It is not the men actually engaged in attacking or repelling the enemy who have time to feel bored, of course, but those who are forced to await events in more or less inaction ; and in order to supply hundreds of thousands of men with needed recreation all sorts of funds fiave been organised in Britain for the supply of musical instruments and games. But it is literature which is the best dispeller of ennui, and the most readily available, and to supply abundant reading matter of good quality, and in cheap and handy form the Loudon Times has undertaken the provision of classics in 'the form of “broad-sides,” that is, in large sheets that can be folded and can ied conveniently in a pocket. Other organisations have collected and forwarded millions of books to the soldiers. and while 'these have been appreciated it is obvious that theii bulk makes'it impossible for the" soldier, to add them to his other burdens when moving from place to place. '1 he broad-sheets, on the other hand, may be enclosed in letters sent to soldiers, and can he kept always at hand for the irksome periods of waiting when the men have little to distract the mind and a great need of distraction. In preparing this scheme, The Times has had the assistance of Sir Walter Raleigh, professor of English literature at Oxford, and from this it may he judged that the selection, while it will he literature of the highest class, will he of the, kind that has an appeal to every mind. The idea is most excellent, and since the broad-sheets are to be sold at the cost of production it is one likely to be made use of. It is,,the Sun concludes, as humane,in effect as the provision of hospital comforts, and as necessary.
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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 46, 23 October 1915, Page 4
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345LITERATURE FOR SOLDIERS Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 46, 23 October 1915, Page 4
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