A PLEASURE IN SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 147, 18 December 1915, Page 4

A PLEASURE IN SERVICE

To-day the Prime Minister is again reminding certain young men of New Zealand—men who have decided to do their duty by-and-b'y— that they will find a higher pleasure in prompt enlistment than in civilian holiday indulgence, by which the training oi New Zealand's soldiers is being hindered. Some may imagine that'Mr. Massey's statementhas a- touch of justifiable exaggeration, but thosS who have seen the soldiers, in and out of camp, Enow that thencheerfulness is an inspiration Ijo all who observe it.. It is not the serene joy of ignorance; these men read the papers; they know the difference between casualty lists and totalisator .figures and cricket scores. Chaplains who have been at Trentham for months say that the recent drafts of recruits have included a large proportion whose resolution *£o serve has not been taken lightly; these are reasoning men, who know the work ahead, but they have a gladness which should shame many a pessimistic civilian, trembling about his securities. In these days happiness seems to be more among the defenders than among the defended. Anybody who feels'"bad" about the war, melancholy about one cable message or another, should visit one of the camps or see Che soldiers on a trek, or marching in city streets. The person of little faith anS petty fears should lose some of his dismalness, and gain some confidence at the sight of the 6ta-lwart soldiers. They are not -dejected one day because the news from the front is not as pleasant as all would like. They know that all will be well if the Empire's men do their duty. They see the work to.be done, and they are glad to be dohw their share. On the flank of the Rimu" takas, during Thursday morning, an officer of the Pths half seriously gave an opinion that these men had not .yet receive? as much credit, as tlTey deserved for their rapid progress ; but they will be, iong remembered for their cheerfulness by all who saw and heard them singing up hill against the wind. They have earned a right to be known as the " Cheery Ninths." One could well wish that the whole of the route from Tanhereniliau to Trentham could have been lined with gloomy cases-, civilians not- incurable, to be galvanised and stimulated by the songs, the jests, the laughter, and general merriment of men, on the way to the war. That is the kind of company which recruits for the 11th Eeinforcements will find j ard they could not hope for better. Every day. of delay away from that company wfJl.be regretted by every man who postpones his training by the excuse of Christmas holidays.