NEW EXPERIENCES.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1918, Page 7

NEW EXPERIENCES.

LIFE ON BOARD TRANSPORT. A graphic description of the sights witnessed by members of the 33rd Reinforcements on their journey to the front, as portrayed by Private Tom Clarke, of the N.Z.M.C., makes interesting reading. The letter, which was written on February 23, gives the place of origin as "Nearing Blighty." Private Clarke immediately proceeds to explain the trip, as follows: — "Since writing last I've seen many new sights—ice and show for about a week to ten days, frozen rivers, and snowed towns. "The famous Nova Scotia, with the great explosion, namely, the collision between the munition ship and the Belgian relief ship, which ended in depriving 6000 souls of their homes and 2000 of their lives. It happened on Decern, ber il, 1917, at 9.10 a.m., to be precise. And my word, it was an awful smash! The major part of the munition ship was shortly afterwards in dust on the hills around Halifax, and what was left was on the shores of the Narrows, where it occurred. The relief ship suffered terribly. Her deck was swept clear. Her sticks were still there. "For over two square miles nothing was left standing, and in the whole town very few windows were intact at 9.30 a.m. From the railway that runs along the foreshore (in the Narrows) the explosion lifted a goods truck of a 3-ton type from the line and dropped it on the other side, just near the remains of the munition ship. With the hills covered in snow it looked a mighty explosion. A brewery was half blown down, and one could see the huge vata still in their places. "On leaving they saw the world's largest ship in commission at the present time, the huge White Star liner Olympic. She has caused the Hun some anxious moments when he tried to drive a tin-fish in her. She is still going strong, carrying her fighting troops over and the wounded ones back. "At present I hear that the Vadertanden, the huge German liner, is somewhere in the western ocean, carrying American troops to France. One in the back for Fritz, eh? "Fancy, we saw the famous Long Island, the place where tiie chief suburbs of New York are situated, Coney Island and Brooklyn on the island, and part of Jersey City on the mainland. That was as near as we could get to the famous city. ""We had one journey ashore in the States, and that was in Newport News, not far from Norfolk in Virginia. In songs you hear beautiful Virginia and Chesepeake Bay are. Well, as I saw the latter, give me the Auckland harbour any time, as the bay was full of ice and snow storms." Private Clarke concludes by . stating that Newport is not a very big place, about the size of Devonport.