" AN OASIS FOR THE BOYS."

WORK AMONG SOLDIERS IN EGYPT.

THE VOLUNTEER SISTE&HOOD'S EFFORTS

Miss Ettie Rout, of Christdiurch, organiser of the Volunteer Sisterhood, in a letter to Miss Greenwood, of Nelson, written from the Tel^l-Ke'bir Soldiers' Club, in. Egypt, says:—Wo are getting on splendidly here. We have five large marquees up now, and have surrounded the only group of decent trees in the place. It is an oasis for the boys, in every way. They throng the place now. We liiave had some New Zealanders helping us, as a fatigue party, but most of them have returned to New Zealand—all but three. We have a grand party of Australians, ..who have quite got into the swing of the work. They iare very capable, and cheerful and helpful. The cooking has been the trouble. I have had to do that myself for several weeks, and the weather has been distinctly hot. I have stood over huge field boilers making gallons and gallons of blanc mange"; all the boys are very keen on that. They simply devour anything that is made. On Sunday they excelled themselves. They ate nine barrelsful of fruit salad (beer barrels), two boilersful of blancmange, and one boilerful of custard in tho afternoon. That meant they had devoured i the night's provisions, so (at 5 o'clock I made a huge "boilerful of sago oustard —50 eggs and a bucketful of sago, 41b of sugar, half a cup of vanilla; and water. Certainly it was very nice^ but they went straight through that in 25 minutes. It was like watching a Sre through tussocks. We have some fine cooks to hek> us now. and-it is an immense relief to me personally—-for las long a.s it lasts. But you never know when the men will go further afield. Some of the soldiers who have come to help are groat. I had 200 eggs broken into a bath ready to beat up, and one strolled into the kitchen and looked at them. - "Shall I whbek 'em with that wire affair?" he asked, pointing to the

egg-beater. I said "Yes," and he did ic. Another time I was washing a few pounds of raisins at the tap, in a shallow basin, eun,d a big West Australian stood watching the process. "While I was in doubt as to his being an axeman or a miner, he settled the- question by asking, "Shall I pan that out for you?" He did it very well, too. Another lad came along to the office yesterday (the office is lai mat hut, of course), and asked me to wrote a notet,to his O.C, saying he was helping with the cocoa-mak-|iug. "You need another helper here," he said.; "I have been doing the work voluntarily for two nights, as assistant. 1 1 would be much obliged if you would j give me the note, because I just missed ithe last job here," he added. What's he getting out of it? Nothing a;t all, lof course—just dirt and . sweat, and ihard ivork, making cocoa for the other chaps. Goodness me, they are keen on helping us eVery way they know how. They simply love coming here, J thanked one party the other day, as they 'left after clearing up rubbish, etc., all (Over the grounds, but their corporal said, "'Oh, don't thialnk us. The blokes thought it was Christmas!"' Heaven knows tliev need'our help badly enough, poor lads! I don't think there is anything too good for these men: some of them are the finest men on earth. This, at least, I know: that though 1 never dreamed six months ago I was coming half-way round the -world to be a canteen cook in this place of all ethers in the summer-time, no work could possibly be more important at the present time, for it does most certainly help to keep well men well, and help to buck up those who are seedy. As for the heat, it's no worse than lots cf other places, and I don't feel it nearly so much as many other folk.