EASTER MANŒUVRES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 175, 18 April 1908, Page 7

EASTER MANŒUVRES

THE TROOPS MOBILISED.

. -, ~ OFF TO Tlie FRONT. "' : "THE"' BLUES' MEAN i 'AU • day- long. on Thursday'camp baggage of; ©very ; dascription was dumped into, the CWuitriil l Drill Shed, and thereafter taken out tothe; "Rwl,''':cahip Johnsoiivillo/' Other : lots : foimd their, way, to the Railway Wharf, -'.whoro tlw.-f' janio, Siwdon'''was lying wait- , ing to.ferry them,.across;,to tlie forts at Ma- ' : ' hanga-'Bay.'! The'wrholo thinglooked liko a gigantic;'\flittmg ) '' which, of course, it was 'In explanatioij of baggage, tlicro assembled. at, tho Drill, Shed later companies of khaki-clad mon, and, at the wharf, blue- • cladAiavalSj-aU bentiuponfa common purposo —tho! defence of .Wellington from a raiding .. force. ■, Threatened';;a(Tl&q front'gate by, liosr g - ■! / tilo ;'pruis.ors,:.a.iid at'the back. J gate. by- tlio raiders, tho forts on the one side had to b£ mannod, and on tho other Johnsonvillo (the ■ toy to the'back gate) hadfto bo held, 1 EN ROUTE. So .it-happened that about 7.30 p.m. on / Thursday tho'Janio Seddon, having received . . her hiiman ' ! carg<) -bJ:'Garrisbn ' , Artillei7men, : slowly. > backed ftom' tlie;wharves, -and • : ;turned;'bor.nos0 i into;'t%, hart olll ' >nvrbute' toV.the v .fort3ii',' l a i long train,v. crammed .with Volunteers, pulltfd ~ outvpf ;tho Sjtanawatu• Station,-. and.-slowly steep-gratfe towards JohuitmviUe, ;" came^jnto".'^?^ Khandallali,'.and , ; Johns'ivilleU and v thfc,yello.wiplatformflights came into. view., Dim,- mist-fsaggerated shapes of / '. .inoh;-outsidoV : -I>li.-e; sttajcij l windows; of lighted lamps • blazed j-along''tho-"platfonni Olio became ' awareJ of: tiain. ; The brakes creased, andwith a> grind-. . ing ]ar, and a final ]erk,-tho train l stopped. ■' ■ ' Y: r : DISEMBARKING. . From- tho , carri?ges i sp^ng/.450 lnfant-nv ; meniA each...pro]ectingvhisj«pai-ticular, note against, the-'pexvadmg stillness;.,iColour- > sergeant 1. ,i ...Gap'n chaps!, i.. . . Jee- ' ros-ljm-l.mister git.orf.me toesl" • ,-An asth- : matie .bugle .became clamorous,, and'the -fore-B6ing\'c6MJ^tang-;-iiitois^^'"*i>rQmp^iy'r4ie4. = -'Aii" cffect of mist-enveloped bell tents and guttering candles, stoutly uphold m-yajiant baj> ,onet'sock'ets,; succwyJo}. Dark,"furtive figures; stormed ..across ,tho Jolmsonvillo ' football ■ ground iii l pTiKuit.of'various'officials'.'ilniostlv ■i'tho^Red.' ; Force . m being-; •i>■ much-stndicd '"tor- . .-rain"..was, presently'to be exploited. ■■."■■■■■ - - ' ■ LOOKING BACKWARDS. , - Arid all, as it were/withina stonp's-throw. of Lambton .Quay. • One .still felttho magic ..- of ..the line iiazo .-which; tho-Easter morn'was turning to a >vsish pf silver about the base of ;.; -. - Mount,Matthews,,; hln : fron£ih&; dark,'.spat' ; ! ,maices M yhc'-lj^rptir* ■ of .tho'.pasging: clondsi gave.; umbra; andsliado to myriads of: are Lamps, drenching tho city ■ ; with -elcctrio light. .tfie "light?.' likft a;SWvirni of firc-ilies in tho haze, :and, to, the. south, the great t-iro- , l«s. rays of I'encarrow loolicd out> to where tho recurrent beam'of Ca})e Campbell wheels tho skyj. vanishes, fapd oomes agara■:■}■;AndvJSetwete;:'moonlit;'the! '- dos 3 or Peace, one nould think, and yet,'aft-e; all, it Ras'war—a'more real practice for i.ai than . the . average-comfortable 'citizen is-'aisi tft suppose. t t ' i / GARDE A VOUS.

Who.sfor mstaiicejJhas ever sat m 'an Artillery camp-and' listencd'to" tho r Werlasting : tournament-of r pressures/ , chcckff l and obturators, Which'*ronder : <*v ; coji-' versazionp, of,.Artillerymen -'a. Tegular flrisli ~ and,^ll!oth.ei''''''.ics / ''%iii;;the ! r , dMdly>^arm- i ■' -" ferries i 9 Vnipkel-plated, )ji its col--1 lective'ppuch, is'(theoretically speikins) an , ; , part ; of. flic• grim'/parcel of : deathAnd the unentrauchecl will die " fiaido a i ■ ijoiis. v-is- .fb©':Di'ott^o r of tiiir wliole 'world. , ; 1

THE OF iu lt TJ 3 i n ?, otd "} a,,y P el »nsula this on uhich ■ has sprung to .being;: and to- , wards jWhich .tho ,Blu6 'Raiders will- presently con-yerge.] ,There, is a - oertam'-geometry nv: W ? r also m immio' war) which-forms,: when all is said aiu|-done, tins most mterest- ' • ■ / ■.':«?; pqrtion-of; .tlfe \f' Moltke' was tp in front' of' ~ tho Johnsonvillo* Hotel/-sav,- his- evo would- ,. ■■■ ~-not be cognisant; of./a /general landscape;' . more or/less/cligible-.for.buildincr sites, but rather of a bewildering sucession of "sa,honts .i ,aiid 're-entrants.". A f'salient," in militaiy, parlance, -is tho, name : given to a .-.-i , P 0I ? I .lJ?ula or a cqpe,, or. any. formation of tho : .. country which. .is; surrounded; on' 'three sides, - and relying for its" safpty m an assault on tho. successful: defence of /its •''neck,'" 'or /, !•'>'; .the' southern, °f ■ which' Johnsonvillo is • tuo.neck.. -...: It -.is I morc,:it, is one -largo pen,insula composed of: a .number-of-:small, jien- 1 . insmas. ~. To be oaught in/ a "salient 1 ! is death, for evfiry v salient position is. a doomed position/i unlpss mpst hercolv defended; Port 'Arthur, was a saliont, and 'Port Arthiir fell: lse pld :Pragomiro&— wisest- of all'the Rus- , s'an .CttneralsT-rsaid .it would,/and- that long i P e '9 ro 't ,did",. In fact,.; operating in a salient i , is. liko struggling . with- a mortgage; 'or other-'-wise , r achieving . that. vcolossal. - enterprise . popwwy,-knoivn.-. as-, pff a dead herso. ' Tho quickest, way of getting at a salient is to grip it by the'neck, just as tho , Japanese .gripped .Port not frpm'tho I : * ' .seMasVtho'mah-.in;.^ . woijld, hut from tho Kmchau lsthfmis. In I .exactly that. vvny V/cllington Jbe i gripped..' Thbrp v : qrp '.";huii3r4d3 v7oTj landi , . places all round , the'city; -but/ practically ; only : onQ t s\utable. plaeQ tor aggressive mili- ;. tary,S ,purposes—PoriruaU:Harbour:- ■ And . herein, tho J(ew Zealand Council of Defence shows;,aidoeper, -wisdom -than is- popularly ' suspected. / Staff.' rides ,to 'Jolinsonville have' :hare'.no£' been- . ordered;.for -flsthing. r - Theory , is- a ; disagreed , ab}e'.;thing>'<to',poor .human SoJ .per-. i - hap?t' : »said about the. centre'.'of. th«/natural ; !fiio.of:defenee of tlio: capital of. and- tho Councilof 'Defence, ~manoeuvres .'.in'-';these' . 'locajitjesif aiming rat "something moro than, ■j . (tactical oSercises .by Volunteors. ■ ' •/: ■ '• THE-'GENTLEMAN: IN KHAKI. ; ' :It is; 'of ; men, are -. the • Year of; ,I§oß.-: Almost unknown to , the ,;sublio;.the;., "gentleman:, in. khaki''- r *that' ,ii W..isay-tliej gopileman'.'who • mounts' one or, / stirs/ pn -his"shpulderrstrap—has, lately, .bicojne - r . .'more <, than' ;■: a'"martial ••figoj«|.";.;Q6i)abte':bf -.sufficieiitls' imposing his ••prBS«pM7on > ;one':thing - of. ! 'cxaimn'ation'' noivv'requiro himjiie^mako.va'^raithor' 1 extonsivo 1 - excursion' into-, nulltiary .history. There; arc notV feV •' , . Jiousfes -,m lYelJingtoq. in .which tjio 'electric : J'Sht: wliich- cheers tho "small "hours of : tl'o morning", falls softly on a no i(i3S , l, advanci3d" book than, Colenel Henderson's ''Stonowall Jo cfcsoif' Curious and> interesting < indeed -is \ thia advance,backwards—curious and interesting becauSo it. is.'such a romove fonvard-from th<!j',Bbrcalled.> "lossons pf the lipor War." The-,chiefost of. theso:beautiful',"lessons" was . - "thcXvnlup'of Mver." ;' Tlie epemy.'3va3 -ri^ much- to'.be shoV-out.of. oxistenca. as : to bci dug; oOt.' :,The ;Defenc6VGounc'il of Now Zealand'.isi;doing.a fine-.work if only, tho 'democracyicould clparly -see ; it. It has abolished ; the/.passivo defence, and has substituted tho mighty: potency :pf .^'covering %e. v is rather; more ; wondernil—it . has': intro-i duced the initial deployment' for battle in column. Tho'battalions which are to defend Johnsoninile will deboiich in column, as will ;*lso thpso mhich:,aro to attack- it. ' , : A DEFIANT MESSAGE. The .Commander of the Raiders evidently means;'business.' A" defiant message caine >ojef' ; itKe %«&'"yissterdayi to' the . " Ked " camp?"AVe will dine in Wellington onßaturday night." ,' 1 ...