THE VOLUNTEERS' TRIP TO THE EMPIRE GITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 35, 13 February 1901, Page 2

THE VOLUNTEERS' TRIP TO THE EMPIRE GITY.

[By Our Special Reparter.]

The Volunteers who vinted Wellington to attend tho recaption of the Imperial troops included "your own" amongst tho number. We were away from New Plymouth for sevc-nty-eight hours, forty-four of which were spent in the tsain.

The bmartne'is, drill, marching, and variety of uniforms of the Imperials would take more of your space than you would feel inclined to accord me ; sttffiee is to say that the visiting co;p» were, with the usual thoughtfulues9 of the authorities, carefully placsd in the of the hoops at the Basin Reserve, whore thoy could sae as little as possible of the dril', but the little they did see was an eye-opener and sent them home with a determination to mend their ways in so far as drill is concsrred.

Your ptriaHires in yesterday morning's lradsr are well deserve'!. One or two points wn'fl not touched on-one in pirliculir deserves more than a passing notice, When the lijla corns had tbtir tents ajlqtted tfiey found they could not use them owjng to thero bang no straw and they could cot lay on the ground owing to its filthy condition. I fancy the horse linei of the Sixth Contingent must have been just about the line o' tents. Tiio heat of the sun had caused a of the air, and a stench more approaching a manure heap than anything else, that rendered tho idea of sjtt'ng or laying down in the fen's imp-suble. Straw arrived about an hour before the fall io went. Had it bein in the tents when we arrived we might have had a few hours sloop. The first order issued was that the men w> re not to wash in tho horse troughs, atd as buckets, etc., were f■ w, some o c tho men had 'Q wait n cor.sidorable time before tboy ceuld get a waah. Tta conking arrangements «ere vory po">r; thee were abou ba'f a dozen of Permanent Aitillery working like slaves, but they could rot c!o im possibilities, and it wa* through ijo fault cf that we had to go on BhT'; commons. No information hid bean-given 'o therajlvvay dining-rooms cs to the probable numbf.r cf men travelling oa the inin, consequently tre Aram&ho ror.nv, usually we'l provided, ran clean out. I am glad to say that no Tutaiaki Volun'cers, mounted or o f I'orw's", took part in the Woodvi'l* ofl'air. The incident ha* bom made a. great deal of, possibly with a view to and fome of tho charges made pin Mily be attributed to hysteria o:\ tho part of those making them. Some of the men (*ith what truth I canmt siy)-mnke counter charges of the officers com plaining cf Hi«n being supplied with liquor and that this up et the landlord, and (hut id change was givtu, the incidmt as a whole has been greatly exaggerated, The journey bomi wur.i weary o e, ore or two un>eh«avs><i irc : dei.ts enlivened tho trip, but on the whole 'he g-neral fo lir.g was, that, although we m uld not have miasel the si;'ht in any accoun*; " the giuio wan not worth th« candK"