WORK AND PLAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 18, 22 January 1916, Page 11

WORK AND PLAY

AT TRENTHAM CAMP

THE COMMANDANTS' COURT

AT 9 A.M.

(By L.S.F.)

Attacks, in single file, on the "tote," scouting about the saddling paddock, and charges to various strategic positions just before the crowd roars "Theror" Ithe thrilling condensation of they're off) have varied the military' training this week. The freedom of the turf was granted from 10.30 a.m. on Thursday and to-day, but,this leave will be made up on other days. The syllabus is so long and time is so short that not an hour can be spared ,fiom the pro-, gramme. If work gives way to play, then play (or leisure) has to make way for work later on. The exercises, lectures, or other details that have been missed on a race day have to be refitted into the scheme somehow in odd half hours and quarters. Perhaps the love of a running horse (linked with the "tote," of course) increases' in the bosom' of an enlisted "follower of form," and perhaps he finds a keener enjoyment in the actual racing as distinct from the^betting. On the day before a local meeting the camp is just as much, agog about possible "stiffs," "stoomers," and "triers," as, say, the big Government Buildings, where there is. a merry hum and buzz of the turf at present. JUSTICE AT THE GALLOP. Much has been said, and more has been written, about the law's delay in Civil Courts. There the blindfolded Goddess of Justice picks her way slowly amid the mazes of precedent and the obstacles of ambiguity. A civilian who has been exasperated by a protracted suit, dragged through libraries of statutes and case' law, should find refreshment, as a soldier, in the very quick despatch of business. There is no bandage on the eyes of Justice (the Com- I mandant). There are no wigs and gowns, no complication of learned counsel, with their ability to not only bewilder the litigants, but to perplex and puzzle each other. The military sword is much quicker than the' civil pen; it is a clean, short cut to the" bone of the business; arguments reduced to a minimum. . Such a rapid disposal of a chargesheet might be very painful to' many, a lawyer, who would see no scope whatj ever for a long delightful' run in a labyl rinth of technicalities. ' ■ STATUESQUE POLICEJ. The court of justice, is the Commandant's office, and Colonel Potter's adjutant (Captain Dovey) is usually present, for his working table is in this room. The prisoners wait outside till they are gravely summoned in turn, .by a" ser-geant-major. Each accused man steps between two statuesque figures, military police. These guards stand rigidly in front of the Commandant's desk, and their, faces are as those, of graven images. No words of the judge or the judged, nothing that is. done or said; can change that fixed expression of impassive, imperturbable attention, which may mean anything, everything, nothing. It is as a cliff from which the wave of curiosity falls back baffled and broken. The hearing of any witnesses is also quickly done, and then the judgment comes in the click qf a few words. Almost simultaneously the sergeant-major's "Eight turn" snaps out like rifle fire; the prisoner is retiring between the ambulating statues,., with perhaps only a blurred .memory of his sentence. The 'sharp-."Right turn" cuts off all argument. When the judging is finished, the prisoners are all paraded, and the sentences are read out; thus each man hears the judgment, twice as a safeguard against any misunderstanding. PRECAUTIONS FOR JUSTICE. " . When a charge-sheet is,made out against a soldier it is first sent on to the officer commanding the alleged culprit's unit. If the matter does not involve a, penalty exceeding seven days' confinement to .barracks (this, " C.8.," simply means restriction to the'bounds of the camp); he can. himself act as Ciesar and pass judgment. Otherwise the O.C. will remand the man to appear before the Commandant, at 9 a.m. some day. In all cases the O.C. returns the. ■ charge-sheet to headquarters, where it .is carefully perused. If, for example, the penalty seems to be ■ excessive, the document is referred to the Adjutant, who may send the- case on to the Commandant for revision. It is said that a "sense of injustice" is rare among the judged. . The men feel that,, in a camp of 4000 it is not likely that the Commandant, busy with many things, will have a "set" on one man and favour for another. A man may complain (privately) that he has been hit rather hard, but he does not attribute the alleged heaviness of the penalty to any personal element. The writer's observation of affairs at Trentha.m has convinced him.that the soldiers are certainly not under a harsh administration. There is no air of repression about Trentham; on the contrary, a visitor by day or night finds a refreshing lightness of spirits among these defenders of the State. NATURE OP OFFENCES. " Overstaying extended leave " is the principal cause of appearances "on the mat," as the soldiers terni this turn at court. Apart from this offence, which may bring ninety or a hundred men before Colonel Potter in one morning, the cases may not average more than three or four a day, and occasionally the court has a clean sheet. "There are very few cases of drunkenness considering the number of men," remarked a sergeant-major who has been . close to the court for many months. All soldiers arrested on this charge by the civil police are brought to Trentham for trial by the military authorities. By the way, drinking has varied remarkably with different reinforcements. One which departed some months ago— it would not bo quite fair to mention the name—gave the Wellington hogsheads a lusty shake, and the pumps went briskly in the bars. " They gave it a good spin," as the current slang has it. Eye-witnesses say it was rather drenching than drinking. The next reinforcement was admirably different. Why? Some may say there were more "hard doers" in one lot than in another. Again, Why? Of course, as time goes on it is natural to expect an increasing proportion of comparatively quiet men in camp, but reasoning on that line has already ran into one riddle, which is still unsolved. - ..■..] CHEAP FOR THE RAILWAY . . . DEPARTMENT. One of the many functions of the Headquarters Office at Trpntham is the issue of large numbers of train tickets; | it is practically■• a branch office of the Railway Department, which, however, I pays, nothing for the service. For instance, from 24th to 31st December the camp office issued 6478 tickets, to the j value of £323 18s, for the TrenthamWellington ran. The practice now is to hand the tickets out from a little box- ■ office (one of the kind seen occasionally lat city stations for racing- or excursion 1 traffic). They are passed out in. bundles Ito non-commissioned officers who pay over the money collected from the prospective passengers. Very few institutions, public or private, have the luck

of tho Railway Department to strike such cheap labour.

ONE WHO GOES ON FOR EVER.

One goes to Trentham headquarters early in the morning, and cannot help seeing Staff Sergeant-Major Luckham somewhere about the premises; afternoon—the same; evening—the same; Sunday—the same. He is one of the" fixtures, not by his own seeking, originally. Connected with an Imperial regiment, he arrived at Wellington headquarters shortly before the outbreak of way. He was eager to rejoin his regiment—in which two of his juniors have since won commissions—but very useful work was found for him here, and here he had to stay. At Trentham he is responsible to the headquarters officers for the supervision of much of the routine . within the office, and for much that is not routine. He seems to have a quiet satisfaction in continuity of work. During fifteen months he has not had a whole day's leave—not even a. Sunday completely clear. During one stretch of five months he did not go beyond the camp gates. These facts were squeezed out of him under high pressure, for this Englishman is not communicative. Would he take a day or a week off now if the time was offered ? One feels that he probably would not like to spoil his record. Besides, would not such a break—all at onee —be dangerous after1 such a long run in harness ?