LIFE IN CAMP

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 4, 6 January 1916, Page 3

LIFE IN CAMP

FACTS OF NEW YEAR

VAMPIRES

SPORT AT A CIRCUS.

(ByL.S.F.)

"Half a Band, right wheel," was somebody's playful order to the, musicians as they marched off the Trentham parade ground at 7 o'clock on Monday morning. The bandsmen, like other units, were not at full strength, but they were in good wind after the holidays, and they sweetly -tempered the physical exercises to the various squads, busy with the prescribed gestures, swingings, bendinffs, and twistings Perhaps a thankfulness at being out of that performance was blown by the band into cornet, clarinet, trombone, and horn, and beaten into the drum' So the New Year be- | gan for a great number at Trentham, and differently for others, who were preparing for a turn at the rifle range. A few were brought by the New Tear hours into the "klink" (the camp lock up), where they took their punishment more or less,} philosophically. Early on Monday morning, which was bright and warm, the top halves of the prison windows were down As the writei was parsing he saw the crown of a head rising cautiously as a frog in a pool beset by enemies. A pair of eyes peered queerly through the bars above come frosted glass. Then a hand went up stealthily, and the fingers waggled a, greeting—from an unknown to an un known. Then the corner was turned. SEARCH PARTIES FOR I . STRAGGLERS. ! On Monday the Trentham list of "the. missing" was- about three hundred, including all kinds of absentees, the sick, the peeudo-sick'. and the sound. Of course, some dallied in the same paths ,of ease and pleasure as certain comrades (now confined to barracks) did at Christmas, and after failing to catch one train they, went on the old line: "As well to be "hung for a sheep as a. lamb." On ■Monday the picket for the city was tiebled—thirty-six men were out instead of the usual twelve—and Wellington was thoroughly ransacked. In these days any soldier seen outside the camp is "liable to be asked to show his pass, for the picket has orders to inspect the document. • THE C.B.s NEW YEAR. Four times the bugle blew neat headquarters at Trentham on New Year's Eve, and four times the members of. the "CB." squad (restricted to the camp, because they had overstayed Christmas leave) assembled at the double," and the clatter of the running over the loose meta] was enjoyed by other soldiers. Four times they_ answered' to their names, and four times they dispersed, with, faces which '^reflected various moods. An expression of sullenness is comparatively rare among the "C.B.'s." 'They are as men who feel that they are paying'a penalty for fun or frolic or excitement or. sleep or languor, deliberately taken, but occasionilly one meets a person with a grievance that his sentence is comparatively severe. He goes into details of other cases, with a nimble , tongue, worthy of the -traditional'"" '•'bush-lawyer." One such complainant remarked that he had been only five hours late in his return from some days of leave, and he was given "seven' days'. C.8." Then, .as a kind of afterthought, he added: "I supnose I wouldn't have got so much if I iiadn't answered back." That was the main point. He was asked why he was late, and he replied coolly that he had done as others had done; he had made the most of his leave. He was then reminded that. -a soldier's selfishness .in such a matter could make the work harder for comrades; in camp, and his comment was to the effect: "Each man for himself." In short, a-s ha put,it .himself, his 'argument was practically one word, "self." The dejbate was abruptly closed by two words and two letters: "Seven days' C.8." In the gloaming of 31st December, "C.B.'s" sat on or near the doorsteps of their hutments and blew blue smoke citywards. . Some were in vthe institutes, but quietness was about them. The usual . reason offered for the stay in quarters was "no money," but it is true that numbers of soldiers deliberately preferred the peace of the, camp to the noisiness of the city streets and the smokiness and sloppiness and rauconsnesa of the bars during the rush hours of New Years' Eve.

More than one spok'« of a vanished overcoat, which is believed to have been regarded by somebody as a Christmas gift. A soldier who loses his own greatcoat may borrow (without asking) .the garment of another - (not in ihe same Company), and the owner, when he disi'overs the "loan," which he deems to he a loss, may decide himself to be a borrower—and thus the "loan" could be passed on indefinitely. It is possible '.i imagine coats as 'currency among a !rirge number of men simply because one <oat has disappeared, but finally payment has to be made for any article that :? missing in the stock-taking before a •••■^nfnmemfint.' Embarks. URPIES' TRAPS FOR SOLDIERS. ' There ■' is evidence that predatory women of the vampire type—the unclean "rag and a bone and a hank of hair" — have- set traps into which a few gullible young soldiers havet fallen. It isa trick to secure, by formal warrant, a portion of the dupes' pay while they are on active service. When a man's mind is soft and easily pliable by reason of alcoholic solvent, he is persuaded that it is his duty to allot part of his pay to a certain harpy. Of course, the plot is much more subtle than it caii be made to appear in a family journal, and the criminals do not: always succeed. It is suspected that a certain woman has attempted a farming of impressionable young men (probably very young) by means of'wily girls, scented and smil-. ing, and purporting to be respectable: A' discerning eye could pick the class a block away—but not every young soldier has that ability As far as the writer. has ascertained, only a few men have I been • thus ensnared into signing away money to the vampires. Lately they became bolder, and tried a game of blackmail,.but this was quickly detected and foiled. ..The civil 'authorities, as well as the military, are vigilant, and they are confident that they can defeat the parasites' designs. In this matter, too, the camp chaplains, whose practical religion has a frankness 'and robustness and 'healthfulness which command- the respect of men, are very helpful—and the signs are that the machinations of the despoilers will be well countered. MOMENTS WITH BUCK JUMPERS. Monday and Tuesday evenings, Barton's Circus was back at the old stand, not far from the Trentham Camp's main entrance, and the men had special leave to find some fun there! Naturally, the best-liked turns were those done by soldiers themseJves on and off trick ponies and buckjumpers. Many a man tried for bare-back honours on a fat little' pony, whose sleek barrel could not be firmly gripped- by the knees. Some kept an uncertain seat for a round or two amid cheers and shouts of encouragement, which changed suddenly into laughter at a comical' inglorious fall, with the legs and arms at all angles on the grass. . ; Next came a buckjumping competition for »o!diers. An embodiment of dynu-1 Kite, named "After Dark," wu led la,

and somebody shouted. "Good-bye Oliver," when the time came for the mounting.. Steed and rider parted at once; they probably split a second The next equine hurricane was "Tornado," who quickly emptied the saddle Thus the riding was nothing but a succession of somersaults tiil a big bony animal, "Rocky Ned," was brought in. An infantryman seated himself cautiously, and as soon as the rocking-machine began the high stepping, he took a tight grip of. the pommel, much to "Rocky Ned's" disgust, and the amusement of the onlookers. The indignant horse gyrated around the ring five or.six times, and unwound the rider's putties, but could not break that hefty hold of the. pommel. So "Rocky Ned" retired beaten, and hurt in his inner feelings as a respectable professional, vanquished by an amateur's unromantic ruse.