UNDER CANVAS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 79, 22 August 1914, Page 5

UNDER CANVAS.

WITH THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. ' q „ ) (By One of Them.) in tti-e eonoewtration camp at Awa- - !Z-' nerStoll N< ? rfcl1 ' there • <nei 2000 awn, and more are comdnir ' °,; + ' ¥ T' y da y- AII sortTaS ■ 'ond'tionw of men are here—fanners. . Civil seryanis, derks, arfeans, tabera L drapers Assistants, newspaper men, and , commercial-travellers. There are W • • , tonals-, civilians, voiimtfeers, imperial rc- « serviste, mounted men, and infantry. Ilus is a, dieted edition of Rudyard Kipling s army of a dream, a virile aat RrMWI, r e ™ in that) the jsHtish nation is de«ulent, The bearnn 1 rircli™ik"l • P f rt ° f the w 'topmid ■ cirtling blaze which answers it. 18 tone about this camp altn|r|>r:asra of ,!r& marcr lkh J ll -" Sq OT " , y*" l «ne spirit. The ihnW ' nn.rched 15 miiles to-day '' ' n«t thev P !r tIW backs > «nd to- , ' "'feint -tney.are singing. Vs And the discipline of ib all! W»»r ; 1 >»• tC c7oc.k nd CIZ e at 5l 6 ' bo attended to deky? b«l nf 7° <me '® blan,crts Wded and his t T »«me -t" ' a m Twu mol "?i n^s m "' ]e ™n at S ' Besides, jf a man lies in inY 1 mates Ibave a habit of rolling S the °1 t3le tent ' and n^lair is cold when one is half-dressed. After the run is over, there is but scant timA ■ before eight o'clock 'breakfast, especially if you are "tent orderly" fwtCdar and lia_ve to sret the food from- thje cookhouse for your tent mates and wash up ' afterwards Every man las to take, S£ *4™ at n th !?' and woe betide the man who spills the knives into itlhie drain as the writer did to-night. You, imisb'ast- , up and go to bed by 'the clock; you ' ' must obey your officers; and you must V not answer back. The Tarawaki toys are well .reprcf sented hero. The XI. Regiment is ti.o strongest in the camp, and on llhe marchy let everyone know it. They hava a war cry," which islwuld xnako'the Germans 'tremble:— • v Taranaki to- it-he frf-nt! • i Taranaki -to ithe front! Aren't they boskens? ■■■.. , , Aren't tthiey foea/uts? " ~-: Timaru, Oaniaru, Waipukuraui! He! ha.! Boater!! - ■ the cry which .Tings out as the Taranaki boys mardh. ' _ There are (special %rrea in the camp. There fe Colonel Jfalone, beloved l of every man in tlhe XI. Regiment. He is I uncompromising in his determination t > ' make 'his men fit- and hard in the'minimum of time, vet considerate of their "i! everj- need and mindful of their every, y.ant. Theiie are the imperial reacrf- ' 'isfs, clad in mufti as yet peivonifvin" ' - JvrpliiKf's "Back ito the army a^ain. : * Some 'have deserted in tliieir time, but in time of trouble they.aine -back to the ' army again. _ There are the civilian' TOlunteej's, painfully -but ea-rniestly, as- ■ ' similating camip routine,, putting up with the- blisters andjsmoked tea; doggedly to. U»e weawnisome and unfami- ' H liar "Bquaid drill;" gamely hanging to '■ tl» du-sby rioute maachl. despite . tfo » chafed heel. There. are the staflf-ser-geants-major, who deserve an article to themselves. They handle recruits patiently but without gloves, yeraing tlhiem * in the law of cannip life with the cruelty - of sincere kindness. / Every day the camp is stirring. Drillnig, shooting (mailing, cooking, taenc.V digging—it goes on ..unceasingly, and ui pigh-t tlhere are -tlhle concert' tenit, the f pipe, letters from- home, an I yarns round the tefct. It is a good !if; when all.is said and' done! \ The .candle burns low, and a night's sleep is needed to puit <mc m trim for ;; to-moi-row's work. The -tent is a dis- ; order of men preparing for the night, , and tlho scribe must soon cease scrib- ' . bling. All are rejoicins "that in a few davs they will leave New Zealand. Wheiever tlvey go, one feefe sure that these sons of the ovierseas Dominion will give a good account of themselves.