WHISTLING A CRIME.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 4 February 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

WHISTLING A CRIME.

LIKEWISE CARRYING A PARCEJ, OK SMOKING IN THE STREETS.

Not long ago a cabdrivcr was sum. moned for using abusive language towards a fellow Jehu.

'I never said nothin' to 'im,' pleaded the accused, 'abusive or otherwise. I only whistled the "Dead March" as V druv by, and I never 'card afore as

that was a crime.'

Evidently that Jehu had never served his Queen and country as a soldier, or he would most certainly have known that such a proceeding can bg a crime, and a very serious one to boot, a3 more than one musically-inclinei} Tommy Atkins has discovered to ln> cost. Jn that podgy little red-covered book/ familiarly known as 'Queen's Regular tions' it is distinctly laid down that npr officer or soldier shall 'presume to be guilty of playing, whistling, or Hum, rning' 1 the tune in question. The re^ v son°for prohibiting its being }hm desecrated is, of course, quite obvious, It is to the solemn strains of this . beautiful composition! that popr. Tommy is carried to his last long:~ home. -.;■;':;.'' Another tune that may not be whistled or sung, at least in Ireland, is 'The Boyne Water'; while an Army order, issued nearly a century ago, prohibits the playing by any regimental band of the old Irish tune' Tig of the Green.' To the average man it seems hard

that- a fellow-creature should have to suffer a 'lengthy term of imprisonment for neglecting to raise his hand to his forehead in salutation of a bit of fringed and tasselled silk. Yetthfjjj piecise fate befell all too swiftly a private of the Rifle Brigade, who, at fiil^; raltar some time back, declined tQ^ pay the recognised compliment to thsk eoiours of the Black Watch. Of cours^j, the offender, being a soldier, kae#r perfectly well the heinousness of ijgf? offence. - .;■ w Tommy may pass his colonel jjgS recognised, or even neglect to salutp1 his general, and get oft; with a fe^ : : days' 'C.B. if he is lucky; but in omitting to salute the colours he has-be.-, fouled the honour of an entire jegir ment. For these bits of silk . aff sacred emblems, lowered only feWm Queen or to her direct representatiyp, and saluted back in turn, even bj Royalty itself, with punctilious politeness

A man may commit a ernne by proxy in the Army—through,Ms wife, to Wit. Save by turning her off ft? strength of. the regiment — an extreme measure rarely resorted to—a commanding officer has no means o! punishing Mrs Tommy Atkins, for. her offences, therefore, her husband is held liable, and, strange though it may sound, is often duly punished. Many an old soldier, of blameless character personally, has had to leave the service minus his full coHiplemeiit of badges, owing to the eccentricities of a brawling spouse.. Not having the hair cut to the pr<|* per regulation length, or neglecting'tpj, shave, are common Army 'crimes;' 'So, too, are smoking in the streets during,, prohibited hours; wearing 'cut-down 1' caps and non-regimental boots) • and altering clothing contrary to *egula|; tions. In nearly every garrison town^ again, the standing orders prohibit the carrying of parcels by soldiers ia uniform. It is not now a crime to get married in the Army, but a soldier doing bq Avithout first obtaining his commandr' ing officer's sanction forfeits, at otce and iov, ever, all claim to be boras upon the married establishment of '$!': corps, besides which his position ■& usually made very unpleasant in ft variety of ways. Not may a marri«i J soldier carry his own child in'r Ji|^ j arms, nor wheel it in a perambulatlfce 1 . Attention has several times been"ga]lf. ':'] ed, by the Home Eule members pf Mii."] House of Commons, to the hard^ip ] involved^ in punishing Irish soldie|| ' for the 'crime' of weariug ShaW^peJfll I in their caps on St. Patrick's D|% ; As a matter of fact, it is cpntrarjt -0 % j regulations for a soldier to wear 58?' j thing whatever on or about his.p(B)B||i/:.s save and except only h.is..reg|Stten^i 1 clothing, accoutrements, and k|t. TJ}U ,'j rule is, in some corps, very istriptjf enforced; so much so, that I J}|ff a known men to be punished for bg|a| : in possession of a non-regjpi§ii|?f shirt or a civilian pair of braces, Ergi his shoelaces must be from the r§|K j mental stores^ and laced accprdinjjptf the prescribed pattern,