THE NEWTOWN CAMP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12533, 21 June 1901, Page 5

THE NEWTOWN CAMP.

SOME EXTRAORDINARY SCENES. THE COMMISSARIAT QUESTION. STRONG LANGUAGE BY THE COMMANDANT. [Fnon Our Correspondent.] June 20. The Newtown Park camp 'has created quite a disturbance among the volunteers. A representative of the "Post," who visited tne camp this morning, describes it as in a fearful condition for both men and beasts. As one trooper put it, "You bad to scramble for what you got. It was served in dirty dishes, the tea was like cabbage water, and the whole thing was— Ugh! Let me get 'horns.'.' An officer returned from South Africa states that during the whole of his experience at the front he never put in such, a week as this just passed at Newtown Park. " Hungry We often were at the front," he remarked,"'but when we did get food it was cooked and not ssnt to us half cooked." Repeated representations on the subject brought no remedy till to-day. As already stated, the grumblings of' a section of the mounted men culminated: yesterday afternoon in a scene which, greatly distressed t'ho Defence Office, and has caused a scandal which became the talk of the town. A civilian paraded the -main streets, bearing upon the end of a pole a bottle of tea and a large .piece of underdone meat, alleged to have been served out as food to a company, in the Park yesterday. On. top of tie pole, over the meat, tie legend was written in large letters, " Newtown Park Commissariat." The bearer of the pole attracted much attention, and as he proceeded quite a .procession was formed, which, amid much cheering and groaning, passed not only along 'the main streets, but through, the streets around Government House. Four troopers were noticed taking a p'reaninent'part in the 'head of the procession, ,and their presence .gave tho affair an importance, which otherwise would not have been, attached to the demonstration. Early this morning 'Colonel Penton (Commandant of the Forces) ordered a .parade of the troops in the Park, and at ten o'clock, accompanied by Major Madocks, the Commandant arrived. He was received ,by Lieutenant-Colonel Soanearville, who is in command of the camp, and Colonel Penton immediately called the officers around him. He addressed them in .a severe tone upon the subject of "last night's disgraceful proceedings." The action of four" troopers, who took part in the procession, ho £aid, had brought disgrace upon the whole of the proceedings of the week. It was ,the most disgraceful thing that had happened in the whole of the colonies, and it .was deeply painful that it should have happened when the representative of the King was with us. An example must be made of the mien who had been the cause of ithe scandal, and he (Colonel Penton) looked to the officers to find out those men and bring them bafore him for punishment. It was also bo be regretted 'that men should have aired t'heir grievances in the Press. Finally the Colonel said, he laid the whole blame ,trpon the officers. " You should have seen to the complaints of the men, found out what was wanted, and by remedying them' prevented this disgrace." Colonel Somerville was understood to say that he had tried his best to get the bad condition of affairs remedied, but without success. The officers then dispersed, some muttering unutterable things, and went along the ranks ,of their companies seeking the names of "the four." Some of the men •laughed outright when the question was put to them, and the .officers had to report that no names were procurable. Colonel Penton addressed himself to the whole ,of the troops. He commenced by saying that up till yesterday the men had borne their .hard lot like soldiers,- bub by the action of "four infernal cowards" the whole regiment had been disgraced. There were in the ranEs, he said, some "infernal curs" who were not men enough to step forward and own up so -as to save the good name ,of taeir comrades. " You four curs," exclaimed #he Colonel, "who have spoiled the whole show have not pluck to come out, but you .go and make a disgraceful scene when the son of your King is pTesent in the city. In my regiment if any of the men had done as these four 'have done their comrades would have given them a jolly bad time." At this, interesting point of the proceedings Colonel Penton, who was addressing the men with a great deal of warmth, observed a newspaper representative, who was standing some little distance away on the footpath taking a mote. The Colonel paused; and in a stentorian voice called to the Pressman, " Will you leave here, please," and the Pressman withdrew out of earshot. The Colonel then continued to address the troops for a few minutes, after which the men were dismissed to their quarters. The parting advice then given by the Commandant to Colonel Somerville was: " There will have to be a searching inquiry into this." From opinions expressed by some of the men in camp this morning, it would appear that the unfortunate experience of the past'week will deter many from making the journey to Chrisbchurch. An officer, who has had some experience in camp life, said men most of all is that they were left in, the hoErible mudhole -doing absolutely, nothing and with no orders for the day, while they might have been allowed to attend some of the ceremonies in town either collectively or individually. Most of them had not seen the Duke and Duchess, and all would have been glad to see the presentation of medals. There was most bitter complaint that while paid officers of the Government were having a good time in the city, there was 'no one to attend to the wants of the sufferers in tie 'mudhole,' and that not one of their officers had even been asked to any of the public functions in town. Making every allowance for incidental oversights there is no doubt that the 850 men now camped at Newtown have been grossly neglected. We do not thoroughly appreciate our volunteers at home. We should yemember that the fine men who have upheld the noble traditions of "our nation in South Africa are nothing more or less than a sample of these fine volunteers now in town. The man who' at this time of the year comes out on a wellkept horse is a man who having given the use of himself and a valuable horse to the country, to say nothing of the necessary expense of keeping the horse and purchasing good gear ,is a ram. who deserves well of the country, and should be shown that his self-sacrifice ds appreciated. [Per Pbes3 Association.] .'. WELLINGTON, June 20. The trouble over ba-dly cooked rations 1 and the prevailing discomfort in the camp at volunteers at Newtown led to a scene on the parade ground to-day, when Colonel Penton visited the camp and inveighedagainst the action of certain mem who bad supplied' newspaper men with particulars of their grievances,-and against certain volunteers who had paraded in the vicinity of Government House yesterday with samples of badly cooked food hoisted on ai pole. He told the men that there were some " infernal curs" in the ranks, and said that a searching inquiry would be held into the matter. The real source of trouble seems to be the departure from the old course of leaving the cuisine arrangements in the hands of the quartermasters of the respective battalions. There have been unbounded complaints, and the contractor, rightly or wrongly, is blamed for the manner in which he discharged the duties he had undertaken. Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville, who is in charge of the encampment, was instructed by 'the Commandant to.have the men iden-tified-who had taken a leading part in the uproar, but it as understood that that has been unsuccessful. An inquiry will be held : -into the whole .proceedings.