A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 July 1917, Page 7

A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT.

IN SPITE OF GERMAN PLANES AND GUNS. (From Malcolm limn, Official Corre, spondont with the N.Z. Forces.) NEAR THE FIRING LINE. 13th May. The annual Horse Show of the New Zealand Division—the second since the war began—was held to-day in a green field near the firing line, in defiance of the German guns and in spite of the observers in the German 'planes, which of late have been constantly crossing our lines. It is the time of the year for horse shows, and several of the divisions liave been holding them. It is Sunday, but Sunday at the front is very much like any other day, except that church services are held in the morning. The general went to one of these services, as he does every Sunday morning, and then came back to the horse show. Other generals from neighbouring divisions, from the corps, and from the Army, came too, and some of them competed, riding their own chargers.. The ring was marked out with yellow and red flags. Captive balloons left their moorings and swung in the clear sunshine against the blue, and overhead all the day the droning planes came and went. One wondered if any of them photographed the scene below. If go, the result must have made a unique picture. The day was hot and,sunny, the horizon rimmed with the green tracery of trees just bursting into leaf. Bands played, and there was a fair attendance of such officers and men as could be spared from their work. From the south came the constant drumming of the guns in the big battle, softened by distance. Nearer, the loud explosions of our own howitzers, the dull reports of German sheila bursting in our lines, proved that the war was also quite close at hand. At intervals the whistle of an enemy shell going far into the back area told that long-range guns were in action, an* every now and then there ciime reports from the sky. Looking up, we could watch the black puffs from German shells appearing about our indomitable airmen, or the lighter puffs of our own. shrapnel warding off the German 'planes. To a civilian all this would be of great interest. To us it ig a mere matter of course, scarce worthy of a fleeting thought.

From 10 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon the show went on. Two regimental bands played at intervals, and the Divisional Orohestra, under the baton of a former member of the Wellington Savage Club, enlivened the proceedings during afternoon tea. There was a very neatly printed catalogue, with the cover in black and red, turned out by the Divisional Printing Press, and there was even a programme for the orchestra, and a menu for the afternoon tea, adorned with a picture of that quaint bird, the New Zealand kiwi. Just to show the Germcns that the army ia not starving, in spite of the submarine warfare, it may be worth while mentioning that the menu was—"Coffe, tea, cocoa, aerated waters; ham, tongue, and salmon sandwiches; assorted pastries and cakes; biscuits.

The animals as well as the men had apparently not lacked for good food, for they were in fine condition. The limbered wagons, the cookers, the batteTy, and other transports, were spick and span, and the chains of the harness shone in the sunlight like burnished silver. The eagle eyes of the D.D.S.T, and the A.Q.M.G. no doubt could pick out faults, but to tho unitiated the display was a revelation of what can be accomplished by grease and elbow-grease. The management was perfect. Indeed, it would have been an object lesson to the committees of many of our New Zealand shows. The utmost order prevailed, and the judging finished on the tick of time.

There was one casualty as the result of the show. A cow, belonging to the farmer whose field we had hired, died in the night. A post-mortem examination revealed the fact that she had made a heavy meal of the red and yellow flags and the paper from th» biscuit tins. Out of this incident the Germans may find a crumb of comfort. They may argue that there is a scarcity of fodder for cattle. But we have not yet got the .length of a "kadaver" factory, even putting the least sinister interpretation on the word.