MEN WANTED.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16992, 20 October 1915, Page 6

MEN WANTED.

NINTH REINFORCEMENTS.

T£ LEAVE TO-NIGHT.

CANTERBURY QUOTA 127 SHORT.

This evening Canterbury's quota of the Ninth Reinforcements will leave for Trentham. There should be 261, but up to yesterday afternoon there were only 134, a shortage of 127 men. The figures are as follow:

Canterbury is a. littlo worse off in the matter of recruiting than the northern centres. They are worrying about how to find their quota for the Tenth Reinforcements. Canterbury is desperatoly behind with the Ninth. , Ihe quota for the Tenth is required by about November 10, a matter exactly twenty-one days hence, but from that may be taken three Sundays and three days out of Carnival Week, including the New Zealand Cup. This reduces the.,recruiting days to fifteen. The actual quota required of Canterbury ia not stated yet, but of the 3500 men that must go into camp Auckland is reckoning to supply 1650 and Wellington 650, so that Canterbury should get off lightly with, say, 300 fit men. How many recruits will be required to supply this quota of 300 is hard to say. Of fifty-five men medically examined on Monday night fifteen were passed as fit, twenty-eight were rejected as temporarily uarfit (for defects of teeth, chest development and so on J, and eleven were absolutely rejected. This means that if the Government will not tentatively accept men temporarily unfit, as is being urged in Christchurch, the percentage of recruits that pass the doctor will be a shade over 20 per cent. At this rate about 1200 will have to bo offering by November 10. The position may be tabulated as follows: ,

Wanted (fit) by November iO . 800 Surplus for rejections . . 900

Total recruits . . . 1200 Daily enlistment required . 80 This daily tally is beyond the bounds of possibility in Christchurch, where the men seldom reach thirty a day. There are a few men ensured 1 already for the "Tenth Reinforcements, twenty infantry and seven mounted. These men cannot get away, owing to business and other reasons, in the Ninth. But there are enough men available for hospital ships for two years to come. This tract is commented on by the recruiting officers with a bad grace. They seem to think that a good many men are after a soft job. How Canterbury will meet its responsibilities for the Tenth nobody professes to say. The common remark among military men is that "something will have to be done." The first step towards that something is the acceptance of men who only require a little attention to make them fit.

LATEST ENLISTMENTS. ■Half a dozen recruits w*re medically examined last night, and, by special arrangmonts made by the Citizens' Defence Corps, will leave with the Ninth Reinforcements to-night.

Wankd. Mounted . . 66 Infantry . . 172 Artillery . . 9 Engineers . . 10 Signallers . . , 3 Army Service Corps 1 Enlisted 59 62 9 10 3 1 Total .261 Deficiency 127. 134