TERRITORIAL CAMPS.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14349, 8 May 1912, Page 12

TERRITORIAL CAMPS.

TEMPI/ETON

The '•casualty camp"' at Ter.iplotnn j works towards its end steadily and : quioily. Tito .".mount 01 training thati the n:on are receiving there is greater probably than they would have got at one of the larger camps. There arc more sergeant-majors at Templet on j and consequently each man is getting what the educational advertisements describe as 'individual tuition.' . Tins is particularly noticeable with regard to the few mounted men in camp who j aiv working under Captain Blair. 'J iu\v \ are receiving much tho same instruction j in riding as they would get in nn Eng- j lisli cavalry >ehool: all of them could j ride before, but now uuy are learning 1 the theory <>t it. and art' picking up H'a v j small details which make the/trained j horseman. An instructor, an English! cavalryman, said that the fault of the! New* Zealanders lie had met was that j they had heavy hand* —apparently it] had never boon'explained to them how; light a nianV touch should be for the j comfort of his buret' and himself. : The 247 men at ienipletoii >ottled | down from the moment they arrived in camp. Tho officer in command. Captain A. Criu-'hlcy-Salnionson, says that they j aro working well, attending to their j duties. J'.ud doing ail things happily. j Yostcnlay Colonel ttorud and .Major [ Pinwill visited the camp and inspected j it. They expressed pleasure at the way in which the tents were kept, tho appearance of the men. and the way they drilled. The serious work of the camp is he- j ing interspersed with lighter tiling.-. A number of foot races and a great series of tutrs-of-wnr hnvo boon got o!T vach afternoon. Yesterday, from lunch-time on, the men were all busy with their touts. First, for an hour and a half, tJiev were girai instruction in pitching and striking tents, and then n competition for teams of six men was »ot olf. Fully fiftY per cent, of those in camp took' part, and the cheering and shouts of approbation or displeasure at a mistake were as loud as any that could he hoard upon a football field- The winners were Captain Lagar, Sc-rgoaiit-.Ma.ior Cosgrove, Privates Lennox, Smith* Teape. Candy", and Cattermole. Tlie tin:'.' they took to erect and take down a tent was linin '2S->oc. an excellent per- j formanco when it is remembered that less than a week ago fully ninety-nvo per cent, of them bad no knowledge at all of the work. A prize was offered by the officers for j the Vx-st-kept tent, and it has been i awarded to Bugler Kermode, Privates H. Wilson. 0. -Mitchell. P. U. .Smith, G. (.'. Cliniio. and P. Thompson. Throughout tho camp there was kei-n competition, and at tho moment it is scarcely probable that thero is a tent in camp with which any officer could find fault- Each little' group has taken pride, in its temporary home. The enro that tho Defence Department bus for the nion is shown by tho fact that it has obtained outfits of dnngnrecs for all those who como into camp in civilian clothes, and for whom there are no suitable uniforms. All these dungarees aio new and are serviceable, and there remains no rcaenn why any man should damage his civilian clothes. It is no exaggeration to say that tho improvement in physical condition or the whole body of men can be noticed without difficulty. To-morrow the men will strike camp and march into town. Tho training they havo received has made them lit. •and' the ten miles' journoy, on top of a hard morning's work, has no terrors for them.