NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 98, 18 May 1900, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENTS.

WKiiiMaww.Hayiy, Home of the war correspondent* havt alluded to a hitch about honouring the orders of men at the front. It -rrtsri the Defence Department has beenptS to considerable trouble in this matter Numbers of the men have gone away without leaving orders they and upon relatives applying theyhave , had to wait till the men could be com* municated with. It was all before leaving that a« the Imperial authorities were reeponsible lor fotir ; pay up to a certain eoale, as soon as the contingents reached Africa, the oaly money in the hand* of the New Zsa* land Government, upon which orden could be given, wm the WmZi between the Imperial r»ta of pay and the higher scale allowed by the colony. In the case of superior officer* th» difference is small, nevertheless order* are received for amounts considerably beyond what the colony la responsible for. The Department has endeavoured to arrange that these should be metaa far as possible, and that the man should recoup the difference oat of thyir Im« perial pay. The offioers of the Stock Department have received instructions to aecure * further number of remounts for ship* ment to South Africa at an early datet GENERAL JOUBERT (Died March 27,1900). [B* Eudyaed Kipling.—From Harped* Weekly.} With those that bred, with those that livw*. the strife Ho had no part whose hands were clean of gam; But, subtle, strong, and stubborn, gave his To a lost cause and knew the rift wad vain. 0 Later shall rise a people sane and great, Forged in strong (Jrcs, by equal war mmA* one, Telling old battles over without hateNoblest his name shall pass from sire to soil. He shall not meet the onsweep of our van, In (he doomed city when wo close the score; Yet o'er his grave, that holds a true-soulod man, Oui deep-tongued guns shall answer bis once more. LETTERS FROM TIIE FRONT. Mr. Charles Robbie, whq is a member of the 2ud N.Z. Contingent, has lately written to liis relatives in New Plymouth. As any communication from our toys at the front is of general interest we publish the following extiucts from two letters that have been handed us by Mr. Robbie's friends:— In camp at Farmhouse, Dear— 28th March, 1900.

Wo are at present camped on the . roat l n ear a farm-house, after a hard s day's march yesterday. It has been ■j raining f° r two or three days, and the are very heavy, so we have had to a dismount and shove our waggons nearlX 8 tlie way—and pretty tough work it 3 ls > I J 1 - 3 - 11 tfi 'l you! with only a piece of t dough for dinner and the same for tea. We do not get good scran at all. We had porridge made from wheatmeal for breakfast, with plenty of lumps in it, but for dinner we had a nice stew with some wlieatmeal dumplings in it. I suppose we will now have to starve foe ii week to make up for it. The tea we have to drink is something vile—soma native stuff that tastes like J :UK ' throw most of it away. I am > sure if the New Zealand people knew what we have to drink they would send } us some good old Kelson Moate *"»■, • A few of the boys are beginning to wish they were home-a littie homesick. We are greatly disappointed at not having been sent to the front instead of chasing rebels in the most outlandish places in Africa. Quite a number of our chaps have been left behind, for various reasons, and we are now not much more than half our original number. Kenhardt, 3rd April, 19001 I am sitting in the guard tent at present. We are just in from a hani inarch, and have arrived at one of the proclaimed rebel towns, where we inised the British flag. The rebels cleared out when they heard we wero coming, but we managed to secure some

drisoners. . . . Two of our black drivers were flogged to-day for looting a hotel. We are being served out colored handkerchiefs, lollies, pipes, tobac.o Bnd other sundries, which liave been commandeered from the rebel stores. We are having an easy time for a day or two prior to being moved on to De Aar. I expect some will be left behind to garrison the town, but I hope I will not b© on© of them. X expect one of the prisoners we took will be shot, as he poisoned all the water on the road up, and had we not been careful we would have been poisoned. I wonder what the New Zealand papers hear about us ? I would like to get some papers. I know there are a lot here in Africa for me, as well as letters, but we cannot get them, as they have all been sent up to the front. However, w© expect to be there soon. My horse is lasting better than any of the others, that is why I have managed ft> keep to the fore. I imagine how you all get the paper, and fancy I hear father reading it out at the table. . . There is a gloom cast over our camp to-day by the news of the death of Tom Hempton, a Taranaki boy who I knew and was very fond of. He died of dysentery and, I expect, neglect, as it was at a small village where we left him. . . . Charles Robbie.