EACH MAN A WORKER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 151, 26 June 1912, Page 11

EACH MAN A WORKER

DUNTROON MILITARY COLLEGE THE TRAINING GROUND. ni. (Specially Written for The Post.) [Below we publish the concluding article describing the Royal Military College at Dtintroon. The articles have a special interest for New Ze*landers, and give an admirable idea of the important work that is being carried on at the college.] Reveille! The college Wakes to lite with a start, for every soldier knows that trumpet call. Clear, Btaccato, and' imperative, it ring* out crisply across the quiet morning, making the air tingle with its music. To the visitor who need not obey, nothing can be pleasanter or more novA than to turn over lazily and follow its melody. To the staff-cadet it is merely a stern and peremptory command to get up. Ac such its charm is lost on him, especially when the dark, chill winter mornings come. He is never quite convinced that 6.15 ».m. is the proper hour to rise. Yet he learns to treasure these, trumpet calls, exacting as they may be. They are parh of his chosen eoldier-life, and to this he clings. There waß a time, luckily short, when, through loss of a trumpeter, the college was stirred to life, like' some mighty Gulliver, by the shrill whfeper of a Lilli-. putia.ii whistle. Sleepy yet delighted cheers greeted the first gallant efforts ! of his successor to control the weird j mutterings of a rebellious trumpet— now fairly mastered. During the five minutes following the call sleepy forms, pyjamaelad. emerge from their rooms, like drones from a hive, to answer the verandah roll-call. This check parade is called by staff-cadets the " pyjama parade." Counted and dismissed, they crawl sleepily oft to the*bath^and wake up at length with' a start unSet the shock! of a cold shower. The next*- care is ! to see that rooms are left, as one cadet .naively put it, "unscrupulously clean." Bede must be turned back for airing and later on made with -a; precise art" that is the - despair of a freshman. Breakfast parade us at 7.15, and all must turn out in immaculate fashion to pass the keen experienced eye of the N.G.O. in charge. DEFAULTERS' DRILL. . . Meanwhile from 6.30 to . 7 a penalty drill is held, and "dinners" of the previous day here, do ample toenance. Most Officers look back laughingly to the reluctant energy they put into this parade, and many are the stories told «t mess-tables of the- escapades that earned it. /The orderly N.C.O. (himielf a staff-cadet) inarches, turns I ,' iwkts, *ntl doubles delinquents, in full marching kit, at hie reasonable pleasure,' relentlessly.. A pathetic eight mi a «w morning in July is that of some luckless wight— the only victim— jail visible through the dim light, tramping , patiently— or. impatiently — to and fro on the hard gravel. To have escaped 'this .drill altogether is to lay oneself open io the reproach of too impossible a. standard of virtue, . much as if a city-manT'tfJld one he had never missed a train. . Still the task is cheerfully carried' out* v and accepted as'necessary to keep routine work at the proper pitch. „„ ... MEALS. Staff-carets are paraded 'for all meals. These,^p*radee are so smart and attractive .*iOo~rivet the attention of anyone. Precision and punctuality are the key. words .of the whole plaeel Gnce' "inside the dining hall there is perfect freedom. Gentlemanly conduct and good matintrrtt are, of course, expected j but the tone* of the place exacts these without ariv interference from the staff. -Cadete chat, laugh, and' tell their little stories In the happiest wav» Comrades sit together, and few cadets are without a, special chum. Among themselves they indulge in the usual' banter and chaff so loved by boy*. To their superior officers they ate courteous and deferential, and there i» no hostility to authority. It is not even suggested. The fundamental feeling i* olia of keen pride in their Work and cheerful content with, their lot — always kept aglow by .thoughts of the career to coote and lightened by thoughts j of the homegoing ;ai , Christmas. The i glamouf and glory of a soldier's life j have taught-ftot hold on their imaginations. PRICELESS HOTJRfI. At eight the bugle calls to drill parade. Tais is the hour of tho Director of Drill,' an expert infantry officer from the British' Army, and a man who has put troops through the same evolutions under the hottest fire. It is one of two most valuable hours in the day, being repeated in the afternoon. A father who could see his boy at such times would bear a light heart. Two hours a day spent in the acquirement of bodily grace, deftness, and endurance! The; drill is ingeniously Varied so that it will never be found irksome. It iriay be on ; 1 the parade ground in the practice of body-flexioas, eword-play, or bayonet i exercise; in the gymnasium (soon to be erected) iv the practice of these exercises that mean, bo much to deportment, Bym?j metry, and dexterity; in the fields, skirmishing, riding, or handling guns ; or on I the hilltops signalling with arm,' nag, or heliograph. Priceless hours -these to any boy, and offering a splendid stimulus to Lwilth and activity. He enjoys every | i minute of it. He does not mind the dis- ' j cipliiie, the strenuous call on his musclfes, the exacting strain op his^ patience. He Vveloonies it all because it is full of novelty aud interest, full of potential j power and promise for the future. j AUSTRALIANS AND DISCIPLINE, i This gives the lie to those who asay the j colonial irill not stand discipline. As fiieut. -Colonel Gwynn, the Acting-Com-mandant, said at a recent inspection, "After all, the Australian has common j rente." This, is equally true of the N^v- ! j Zealauder. He knows the need vi d^r J I eipJine. He recognises it to be-tUe -very j bediojk of success in the Eoldier-Hfe he | lia.s chosen, the basin on which all^eff^o tive military operations are erected — and j he conform*. He knows that one, day- he, j too, will command, and will then exact what he cheerfully givee now. It is hard to conceive of a discipline within reason stricter than that obtained at the college, arid equally hard to conceive of that discipline being more readily accepted and more unqutetioningly obeyed. AMUSING GYMNASTICB.. Sometimes tbe work takes a recrea. lional form. Leati frog is made th« medium for teaching lightness and t-piinginess of movement. Another oapi u'i exercise is worthy describing. A group of cadets form a circle, and one in thb mntre begin/* to bwing a bag of sand at the end of- a rope. -This, he gradually j lengthens tiil it threatens the legs of those around. Their only escape is to leap over it ns it- whirls past-. Swf ter arid I ftwlfler i goes the bafj, and .faster and faster jttmp the cadets^ every eye alert and every muscle utraitM to dodge the flying object. Finally, amid roars* of de%lit, on« of the merry band, less wary aud ayile than his fefloWs. is tripped, and hax to take a turn at swinging from the centre. WITH THE HORSES. Of all these hours the cadets like rnoeu those :-peiit with the horses. Here they ■.ire titu^ht to firooui, harnets, ride, drive, and cute lor the .noble beasts as only r.ivy.ij.jmeii. do uaie for ihtjnu Tlioao whu are citj-brcd. ar.e TiuetuJJy iguuraut l

of all that pertains to a horse. Before they leave they should be experts. At the first hour's practice in glooming a staff-cadet was noticed rubbing vigoi oiitfly at a spot on the horse's shoulder. Great was the laughter of those in heai. ing when he reported after five minutes of genuine toil that he could not remove the blemish, try as he would. It was the brand. FIRE DRILL. The call to fire is a lesson in smartness. The signal is given without warning at any hour. It is a rousing cull f roni the bugle, and hits the cadets ear with an even more peremptory meaning than reveille. Seconds are counted as gold. Tho quick movements of the boys jseem to get an extra, touch of energy. They come tumbling from every corner at top epe&d, fall breathlessly in line 1 , rush off at a sharp woixl of command in fixed bodies to the hoses and water-taps, each aware of his exact part. Before one realises that <the call has come the hoses are ready to pour a stream on the fire. . LEGTURES. The first call comes at 9.13. As the bugle sounds Cadets 'are seen streaming from their rooms, one, here arid there, taking a last despairing glance at some book. Tho senior of each section then marches them off to tho Various l9ctureroonifc A peep into these shows much the same as one might Bee at a university. The Professor of Mathematics may be showing the effect of an error of elevation in- the trajectory of a bullet, the Professor of Physlca demonstrating the principles of a range-finder, the Professor of English pointing to modeb of good style in literature or leading them up to a famous war to prepare the way for the Director of Military Art, who takes them on to the battlefield itself, and explains the strategy and tactics ot the rival generals. Further on the Instructor in Military Engineering may be drawing contour lines of the surrounding country or making drawings of a trench. It mufifc be feaid 4 however, that the order arid attention at these lectured is superior tq that accorded at a university. In some' of these, learned institutions there a»e. students who never take the work seriously, and make little effort to pass the examinations. The Staff-Cadet who adopted this attitude would promptly be asked to" withdraw and. devote his casual attention to' some- other- line of life. A pleasant relief is given in the morning at 10, when all thoroughly enjoy a, bowl of tea and a few pulls at a pipe. SPORTS. Four o'clock is the hour of the Cadet, since it closes' the day's Work. For two hours he may nr.w cast care to the winds and play his iavoorite game. The energy and verve with whioh niost rush off shows that the day, arduous as it may seem,' has put no damper on their- spirits. Some .go skimming. off on bicycles, some saunter away golf stiok on shoulder; some scamper down to the tennis courts, but most run eagerly off to the football and cricket grounds Members of . the staff give ready encouragement to games. There is no compulsion. A boy may play or Uofc as he pleases. .But. it is good to note that few are absent from tho play ing- field. • l , " DINNER AND AFTERWARDS. Shortly after 6 all Staff-Cadets change for dinner^ which is at 6.30. A chief fcteWaM with tha aid of a cook and Btaff makes the meah? attractive and varied. There 'is a mess committee )of- the boys, which ads in an advisory capacity. After dinner is a brief- half-hour- for a smoke a,nd chat. At 7.30 preparation 'for the next day. must be carried on. A glance int<J a. toorii during "prep" shows a youth with puckered brow or kfeeu and absorbed interest; as is the measure of his capacity, wrestling with soriie 'problem ; in mathematics or science or -working out the details of an essay. At 9.3o~<the last post is sounded, and tells wearied Cadets that . they may retire. Afc 10 goes , the tattoo, the brettiest call of the day, | which ruts- short- the last smoke-oh and i warns all to prepare for "lights out," tlie- final bugle call One last pull at tho pipe arid' then cosy sleep 1 The effect of Its call is magical, eighty rooms ablaze with electric light disappearing in a second into a blacker darkness by very contrast: Such, is the. normal day. It carries its load of work; but it has it» compensations in congenial companionship, good sport, and constant interest. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. Saturday afternoon is Iree for matches of all kinds, and the evening is given over to 'cards, dancing, or singing. The college, grainaphone is perhaps the most overworked piece of mechanism on thb Continent. Sunday is hailed as the day of redis and calm, and especially valued since reveille sounds an hour later. At 10 a church parade is held, and the service of the Episcopal Church, read by Rev. A. H. tJhampioii, M.A., late headmaster of "King's. School, Sydney, who is rector of the parish and college chaplain. On these occasions a fine, rousing attack is made on favourite tunes by lungs lusty and young. . A high note may now and again cause a .hushed and eloquent silence; but that only adds vigour to the next note in range. The church parade is in full dreis, officers and proiessoib wearing uniforms, gowns, and hoods suited to the occasion.- Those Cadets who are Banian Catholics, attend their own Church in Quennbeyan. LOYALTY TO THE". COLLEGE. It -will be seen that there is no room ' at.Duntroon for .idlers. .Every StaffCadet is a worker. Yet the place wins the affection of a.ll who como to it. One doubts if any school or university could arouse stronger feelings of loyalty than this military alma mater stirs in the heart* of its alumni. After all, if it is strenuous, it grips and holds the imagination; if it is exacting it has its compensations in the way of culture and sport and comradeship. Above all, it will give its graduates the right to bear His Majesty's Cominisaion, the right to step into 'line with thafc great* race of tireless fighters who have left imperishable records of heroism and eelf-aacrifice m tfi« history of the world.