LIFE IN THE DESERT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 16 February 1915, Page 3

LIFE IN THE DESERT.

HAPPY NEW ZKALANDE3S. LONDON PRESS TRIBUTES. 'T.'IE MEN ARE SPLENDID.'' London, January 25. The Cairo correspondents of the Lon■Jon papers all agree as to the smart and soldierly bearing of the New Zealand troops. Mr W. T. Massey, the Daily Telegraph correspondent, says that only one thing would dishearten them, "if Ihey thought they were not to have the privilege of fighting the Germans side, by side with the British Tommy (heir enthusiasm would disappear. But they knew they will be wanted to do their part." Continuing, Mr Massey Writes:—

"Practically the whole of the first contingents from the antipodes is now in desert camps. 'The men are splendid.' This frequent eulogium of British troops in the field can with equal , truth be applied to all that have been sent by Australia and New Zealand. Physically, tlioy are as fit as any army that has ever been got together, and our colonial kinsmen may well be proud of the sample of mc n they are sending to Eli' rope. Big, muscular, well-knit frames aro seen from one flank to another o; every regiment on parade. Men used to roughing it, bronzed, big-fisted, hard, and possessing the square jaw, resolute, fearless, they are just going to do their best. They hope "Britain will acknowledge them as a good type of the sons of the good old Mother, and that they will be given an opportunity of showing they know what duty and self-sac-rifice are.

AUCKLAND'S "WIIARES." "You must sco the men to appreciate them properly. No conditions are too hard for them. Last week there were two wet nights. Some of the New Zealanders had been sleeping oil the desert, but their officers told them they had better make some form of shelter. There was no difficulty about it. The man on the sheep-run can knock up a 'whore' ir, a few minutes, so the Auckland battalion searched about for pieces of tiniber and some oatbags. In half an hour every man was housed quite snugly. These 'whares' are. still standing, and, if I mistake not, they will be exchanged for the regulation bell-tent with reluctance. They are a picturesque, if not beautiful evidence of a, resourceful soldiery. Even the regimental dentist has a sack-cloth whare for a consulting room. I happened to be with the New Zealanders to-day, when the news of the sinking of the Scharnhorst, Oneiser.au, and Leipzig reached Egypt. A London crowd waiting for the result- of a great battle could not have shown more enthusiasm.

COLONIAL PATRIOTISM. New Zealand's contribution should be sent on a recruting march through England. The men would not like the idea, because their one ambition is to get within range of the German Army, and anything-that would delay the gratifi- 1 cation of their desires would be obnoxious. But the .Dominion's example would help to swell the second million 1 Th c patriotism of the first contingent, who are on the desert at Zeitoun, is an inspiration. Not one class, but every class, in New Zealand is represented. Rich farmers, doctors, clergymen, merchants, surveyors, and Civil servants nre messmates with quay laborers ami workers on sheepruns. There is 110 class distinction, and loyalty to the Empire has levelled all to the same. rank. Thev are just comrades out to do thi Empire's work. "In the Auckland battalion a clergyman is serving as a private because i chaplain had already been selected when he enlisted. There are five men in tile ranks holding master's certificates, an! almost every profession has its repr ■ J sciitative. The public schoolboy is then too, and masters of some of the leading schools are roughing it to make themselves fit for the Empire's job. Everyone talks, not of New Zealand, hut of the Empire. They think Imperially. The Maoris did their utmost to come, and the Government said they wouhl send a few. The New Zealand contingent, is complete to the last detail. Fur- j ther than this, the New Zealanders are' making no call on the War Office for ammunition. They have brought an ample reserve of cartridges from their factory which their Government had the foresight to establish. Of the' horses it is impossible to speak too highly. A British officer told me he had never seen animals look so well on leaving a transport. Yet these animals had been two months at sea. New Zealand's effort for the Empire is worthy of the loyal Dominion, and he would bo a fool who, after seeing the men. would doubt their ability to bring credit to their country and Motherland.

OEXERAL MAXWELL'S REVIEW. Mr (I. Rcnwick, the Daily Chronicle correspondent, in describing a review held in Cairo by Oencral Maxwell, on December '24. cables: —"The Australian and Xew Zealand Light Horse presented a most inspiring spectacle, and received a most warm reception from the people, who crowded not only the streets, but every available window and balcony on th'e route. The Light Horse "were followed by some of the Xew Zealand artillery, and after them came the men of the splendid infantry which Xew Zealand and Ceylon are sending to tho battlefields of their country and Empire." "Xothing could have more impressed tile Egyptian, and put a more effective damper on the effects of (!crnian intrigue that may have still smouldered in his breast, than the recent arrival in Egvpt of the magnificent coningents of Indian, Australian, and Xew Zealand troops," writes a high authority on Egyptian questions, now in London. ''Xo more tangible proof of the unity of the British Empire could have been afforded him, especially as it was in direct contra diction to the assurances that had been sown broadcast throughout the Xile Valley by Herman agents of England's inability to depend 011 the loyalty of her colonies i n ease of serious trouble arising between her and some other l aw-

ors." ! r:OOD TRATXTNTi GROUND. " Mr J. M. N Jeffries, who did good work fr.r i]i!> Daily ]\fail in tin- early slaves of the war ill Belgium, was ill Cairo in the mid<]li• of December, and lie write*:—"Egypt is in every way a very good army training ground; the climate is fine and there arc Targe open spaces for manoeuvring. Every day from dawn long files of Australians. New Zeahuidcrs. and Tasniaiiians, go for route inarches, and. of course. plenty of drill pure and simple is always going on. Every dav the army gets more and more of n unit. The various contingents ivhieli go to make it up had very rarely, if ever, worked together before, so this is an important sight. At sunset the eainp is an unforgettable sight. The side if the Circa t. Pvraiuid towers above, lit liv the afterglow: far and near von can see the busy figures moving about siuglv or in a Tile or in a column : bugles shrill. ;t baud goes with its stirring thump through the lines, the arid, worn-looking hills in the distance take an air. an echo, of majesty: thou the sun sinks, the whole camp shadows away out of the grip of sight, llglils appear, the nm^i; 1 suddenly beats with a vibrant English note out of the distance, and across the yellow glow comes a line of bayonets and here and there the point cf sword, undulating with the rhythmic tread of the column, rirvip <t»d dippin;?. a forest of menacing points, the whole fringe of war stark against the sky of