MARCHING IN JULY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 245, 13 October 1917, Page 17

MARCHING IN JULY.

iPv PATH!i X Ma,-,! 11.1.., -o-!e«'ht-re in Kranee, duly in.—Th vttalion !'"'' r thp ""enches at noon, wit! . - an al*>VP blaring from a doodles ' * jijo ir.rn were going back to res !jr to rear. and. ..'espitc the day's hea ; j : be long, weary march before therr !j rr were pleased to get out of th •Jriicaes. Tne\ had been in the fron ,' pat heyon.l Me*.-ines Ridge, am casualties had heen heavy. Now the; * glad to h away Ironi it a'l for : „,,,_. back to .. village they knew. an. its friendly people. -."or the rt-t hour of the march th £ „ made their way along „ sunken roa, ~a t was immun, from (German observa two. The soldiers wen very nappy. f„l „j iieh spirits and good humour, .loke « r e pa-el- cigarette- s,„okc,!. song Itrrg. Tie fir-t In'l was ciilrd. Tin- mi i feil out ,".i the side of the n-.i I. wipe. tje sweat and dusi iron, their face-, and having Httle water to spare, merely uo.tene. their lips with the preciou. fioaiJ. f' l ' l ua!, ' r ''" tt! ' ,= seldom leav, ge troncnes. Ojie of the men. a vivacious youn; (ockney. lit a cigarette and looked at ti;, nan n.sr !liu). -Mickey, tuis is goin" lo be a VII of a E arch for mc." said the cockney, speakin< tc his neighbour. •it's only fifteen miles."" Mickey e\ [limed. "Bcgorrah, I've niver heard r; trouble about a step like that before Bill." -It's my bio,,mm- "eel." said Hill. "It's too same as if i was rubbin' il up and down against emery paper." -I'll carry yer rifle for you." sai,! Slicker. -I'd go back on my amis and kneefore I'd let a bloke carry my lings." -a'',l P. "Thanks al! the same. Mickey." i, whistle was blown. The men got t, their feet and marched off again. Def3 jt? the distance a battalion travels. rjch soldier is as circumscribed iv his area as a spoke :n a limber wheel. His pace is confined, and a man on a march j? riot le.? limited in freednni than a esti in a guardroom. Always tbe same _2tfs in front, the same ruddy necks Dressed sturdily ha.-X. the same brick red hands .winging across the khaki, the ;_r_? entrenching tool handles waving back'-vard and forward, the same packs, Ti.fs and bayonets, tbe same officers in front the same cobbles under foot, and tie same ammunition boot* rising and fallingA: the second halt Mickey turned to Bill, the cockney. "How are ye feel in", matey?*' he aske 1. "K_--S goin' a bit !" "I'm orlright." said Bill. Til carry yer ride." said Mickey. "Not while I have feet under mc." said Bill. "Thanks all the same. Mickey." The third halt was called. The men cropped to earth, their mouths hanging uper. and river- of sweat mapped out their courses on faces white with tiie cast of the roadway. Even the sun told r,n Mickey, the Irishman, a soldier *who has tramped, as lie himself expressed il. the whole of Mack Africa into a cause"tay; ior Mickey had seen service in that continent. Once again he turned to Bill. th? icckney. "How are ye feelin" now?" he asked. ■-low", the neel ?" "sore as 'ell." said Bill. '"I'll carry yer rifle."" said Mickey. "Not while there's breath in my body.'' .aid Bill.""Thanks all the same. Mi_key.'' The fourth hour was deadly. The men moved wearily, grunting and st-m.iing. their appoint merits covered "".th dust and dirt, their rides held at afl angles. There was no singing now. an. no smokiniz. A'l wore a look ■"I sagos. indifrVren -c: the march had begun centuries ago. and would never come to an end. Water bottles were empty, and the pumps whi h the meu passed had no water fit for human use. Feet ached, shoulders ached, heads ached. Overhead the sun blazed pitilessly. Nobody grumbled. 'However, for -rumbling was a waste of energy. The "nen had a job t-i perform. They had to march to X. and take up billets there at .3 in the afternoon. Well, damn it I tie job had to be done, and the men """OilM do it: ( A sergeant stepped out from tiie iro_t of Bill's platoon, his feet moving ponderously, his hack crooked like an old man's. He ,-ame to a clumsy halt. ''"amed and looked at his men. "tor God's sake hang on to the step!" lie shouted. ""Here are the rmpteenth" 'a rival regiment, "coming along. Now srwrv t hem the stuff that you're made pc H-mpteenth ,-ame in sight. "Come. boys, a song!" shouted lhe Wteant of Bill's plaroon. and Bill lei to!sin_in S . and the men. dry of throat "ongn they were, joined in the songr "U_Pr b eer' r.__er beer! u_er UV 1 ;V = Z-''"" >r sal "" n a '' rr " s thp ""- T - a----b there any lager beer tr, s ivo ..way?" Tne tmpteenth pas-ed by on its wav the trenches. The battalion newlY °W relapse 1 int.-, .-,1,.,,,-e. and Bill, the ley, jp.aui,. ~,i,s ;, IUS 0 f his painful a, " , • again. soon be ihere now." Mi.key ™- "I see the village in front, just aD _"t a mile away." "1 know them mil,-." said Bill. "I Wfpose they'll tie the damned village ' J string, and keep drawin' it away tl , now. i never ,-ame near a Jlage yet hut it seemed to be pulled tie nearer we oarne to it. There Z" he said, pointing at a «7 so.dter in front, whose head wa. J*»Sforward. " V almost 'it 'is own Emt with his knee " TkttV what will hap ; ,e„ ,„ VPrse lf. '"..ve don't straighten v.-r-eif." said - .Irishman. -|';| earrvver rifle for • -or the rest of the joumev."" W wh,!n I'm i n ,',„, battalion."said At 5 .? ] _ aP ' ~p """-- Mickey." Bill.'- 0 .,., ''"' ~:" n cached X. "" «nd M.ckev fou„.-l ~ „ f „,j billet Net... h:,Pt «■»' »" i»n. and the r* -^_h r'r:;:-;v- : .-tty «.rL x-in^hat'^r^brt:: . j'a.Sse | ~;,. ... I . te «per's d-Ml'-htr "'"'

r uppr ECHT OF BAVAPIA

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THE TANKS AT HOME.

I I I nder the shelter of n green ridge of I "ben-marked farm 1.-.nd. about fifteen . mile. behind the pre.cut front line _, trenches, one may come upon tbe en- . jiampmcut of the tanks, writes a corres- . • pondent from British headquarters. The t ' parade ground is like a distorted page t | irom Gulliver-Lilliputian men at play .with Brobdignagian toys. I A dozen of the monsters are lying . ,slreuhed out in the warm afternoon sun, being rubbed with oil and scoured _'by their industrious attendants, who are like mere meddling pygmies by the of the .meat steel steeds. Over at ! the edge of the parade, where the level I grounds break up into ridges aud hil- " locks, two or three of the big iron ■ jhorses arc put through their paces - [sTunting and putting. ,-reaking and comI l'!ai_iu_. They move along, not with « the eas\ -fride of the story-book giants, - but with the cumbersome ,_..iit of a huge ::i;.-.!e-', ootid tunic, liou-e on bark, i | But m.ihing discomposes them in their 1 ; crumbling advame. They mount a tor- . rain live feet high with the same clumsy • ' amplaining nonchalance that they .1 negotiate a mole hill, and the steady , Inace of their caterpillars is unchanged jWhetber .limbing up a steep slope or , clatteiing along the level. 'j KO.'KS LIKE A sHll'. Hie j.,1, of a t.inkium i~ no sinecure. ."li.o interior is not built for comfort. •jit is crowded v.itli machinery nnd guns and armour, and in motion the deck ' | -ways ami bu.-ks like that of a little loijpedo boat in a storm. Nor is the root ■■high enoueh to prevent danger of receiving a sjirn.l thumping if one is too tall. Men for tanks are picked for small stature and -lender bulk. They must be I tough as nails, bur oec-upv no unnecessary space. I If you would spend a few minutes on I hoard a tank you must have your steel helmet with you and v,,iiv gn- mask •irelullv ,-m-isc;! in its waterproof bag, I ica.'.y for emergen,-\. CUBIST PAIXTIXt:. Everythin« is .pick and span, shining with abundance ot oil. but no superfluous lu\urie. of brass or nickel take away the businesslike bareness andgrim- , ness of grey-black armour plate which I obtrudes everywhere. A- i v a Iwttle--nip. the |ire:erential position from the point of view of safety is given to the j engines. They lie just" above the floor. I stretching in a lon.itudinal position I through the centre of the craft, while sh.itts and cranks run under a special [armour casing at the bark of the'cams I which operate the caterpillars and the I big push wheels at the rear. | Hie painting of the tanks is n ~r e at [pastime in the tank encampment. ; Modern protective colom ing of battle- . held weapons offers a wide field for the development of the cubist art. and the decorative appearance of a tank poire (into battle suggests that some painter | who all his life had specialised in barber .poles had suddenly gone amuck with paint brush and colour pot. I ■ .

j WHY NOT ABOLISH WOMEN?!

Tbe following interesting titbits are assembled from an essay on ""Women," appearing (where it would seem to be safest! in "The Unpopular Review." A man can do nearly anything v woman can. except bear and suckle children, and one woman, if relieved of all other burdens:, can be m.ide to give birth to a progeny of twenty or more. A tyro in economics can see that one I woman with twenty sou. i- better than twenty women with one sou apiece. i Women do the coking, nursing and! so on. for since being here, they must ] make themselves useful, but they te ga-rd it as a drudgery. Meu make a | business of it. and this i- one reason why the world prefers them In fiction we read of man's !ov. for women: in history of hi. devotion t-v | men. He seldom feels an iiiiseltis.-i a r-i j tnchment for a woman unless it ha. been instilled into him as a duty. His. mother he esteems because of her love] I for h : m. ' Write an article derogatory to men.' | and it will never be published. There j.s no demand for it. Publish a diatribe | lgain-l women, and the paper contain-, ing it will go like hot cakes. I Then, if you go to lhe bottom of j things, men do not really love women. I i -ft neither do women love woni't! -I i much: Any landlady will tell you th.tl | .-he objects to them as boarde--. an i ' , .iusi watch any grown woman of y,.ir I acquaintance who has to 'ive in tl,_| ' house with another adult female. Why. I j a mother and her own married daisgv ! | tcr an- happier under different roofs! A babe in arms will go i > a st:an«_e tr-ar in preference to a strange won.au. |Si v ill a dog. I And woman herself may be prof 1 of her personal charms, but never of lrer I se\. .Most women had rather bj men. j llu average wife thinks highly of ; i-,-." husband's judgment than ot he, [ cwn, and cares i-ore for his and btr I children's welfare than for her own. The male sex is the only one ever enId, rsed by all religions. We know the j attitude of some ,f them toward wo.ian i I Smallpox wa- endured d-r the will of I j <io,I till inoculation was discovered, but' jit i- unii-u.il now. In u niP R j .- s ~-,.,.- he Ia- rare. A >. .nii.iii will ~• ;i.•,.!,•. to j perpetuate the i..cc, but eve vbody w; I j » ant eomebodv , ,- • to foirti-'i them I ' '

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