OUR BOYS AT THE FRONT.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2564, 11 September 1915, Page 12

OUR BOYS AT THE FRONT.

fell',—Everybody 110 doubt realises that the military authorities and the Government havo their hands pretty full attending to the enormous amount ' of detail work in connection with our contingents, and want as much assistance and as little advorse criticism as possible. Howevor, wlicn wo send our boys to tho "hurly-burly" at tho front Wo want them to have every reasonable consideration. I enclose an oxtract from a" trooper's letter from tho trenches in which ho says: "Wo aro pretty well treated in the way of food, bully beef and biscuit, bread and jam once a week, which wo look forward to as a great treat. We are treated very shoddy in tho allowance of tobacco— 2oz. a week is not near enough. Last week instead of tobacco they gave us cigarettes, wliioli are like smoking liav to 0110 who uses a. pipe. If wo do not come out 011 top horo it will be because wo havo nothing to smoke." The averago pipe-smoker gets through a 2oz. tin easily in two days, and our men consequently will be fivo days per week without. and 110 doubt in the circumstances they are situated they feel like smoking double quantity. .Tho authorities should bo able to do bettor than 2oz. per week for thorn. . Another and more serious matter is tho confusion over the mails. My boyhas received noiio sineo January, notwithstanding tho fact that many' letters and parcels havo been sent him every mail, and also a cable message. 011 inquiry at tho G.P.O. hero I found that ho and his mates woro scheduled as Auckland Mounted Rifles. As a matter uf fact ho ha 3 been with the Wellington Corps over ffitins ?i>li,it|im, H)a as-13/QOO, .wjiaceaft.

in reality it is 11/000, and: no doubt the other troopers aro in the same fix. as lie is, and through Government bungl. ing are getting no mails, and imagine they are neglected or forgotten. I get his postcards and rough notes, but ho has received no mails siuco January, is there any possible excuse for this? 1 nm, ctc., WANGANUI.