ABOUT THE CAMPS

North Otago Times, Volume CII, Issue 13460, 3 January 1916, Page 8

ABOUT THE CAMPS

SETTLING DOWN. AFTER HOLIDAYS. Till' 1 . MJAN WITH THE HAM. WRIiLINfITON, December !10. , Tlic soldiers in camp al 'l'ronthnm niul Alnv Morn have bolHiml. down lo work nfler I hi! lioliilnys. Tim "Ninth It'eilli'oiVOlllPtllS will l>i' Hi' 1 next Iwp* In leave for ihe front, and their musketry training is bring ptmlipil through. Yesterday from (! a,m. lill li the ununited men were nl llio ranges. from which I lio ml lie niul roar of rillo tiro shiiihliml nlniost continuously, The soldiers' course, which llio A'inlli are now fining through, ineludos tlio ranges from 1100 lo 1)00 ynrds, niul it is expecteil Hint Ihe Ninth will compare well in niM'ksmanship with previous reinforceI'li'lltS. A Nlglit Attack, When the Ninth Infantry mnrcheil fi.-rtish- the ttiiiiulakns, the whole of the programme of mnniiMivros ami liivouncs h;is not completed, owing to wet weather. Among the items omit toil, was Ihe bivouac midnight attack at a point 'dose to Wallaceville township. At tlio time it was stated that this portion of I lie training would ho fftrrlml out later. Yesterday morning the Iroops marched out of Trentham Camp, mnl their skirmishing mid outpost ,work was to terminnto for the day at-jWnl-Inceville, where the forco was to ilivlilo into two parts, one of which would form the attacking party in a night nltnck; to lie made, early this morning, upon the other half of the. troops. In the afternoon heavy rnin fell in the Upper Hutt district, but it wns not expected that it would causo any devia. tion from the plan of manoeuvres, The nicn will innrcli back to Trentham about midday to-day. , Belles of Christmas., In many of the liut'monts the decorations of (lowCts and (lags, placed-there for the Christmas'dinner last Thursday, still remain, the men having taken cure to keep the (lowers fresh. The dinner is still spokenoorf r mid incidents connected therewith recalled. It wns inevitable, with each hutment competing with its neighbours for pride of place in decorations and other things, that a'certain amount of "pinching" or borrowing should have tnkcu piano. One lady, it is said, found a soldi.vr stealthily withdrawing sprays of flowers front her vases. On being remonstrated with, he said lie wns only desirous of decorating the walls of Ills hulmc-nt. Unfortunately for liini, ho wns recognised as an occupant of an iul joining hutment, mid was summarily ejected.. But the pnlm in the art■ ot ! commandeering..for. that day lias been jrivou to a soldier who walked boldly into, the- distributing hutment, and, picking up a ham, bolted lip the street. DespH'e tlio huennd cry, lie got away, mid the lianr no doubt formed an'"oxtin" on his liniment's menu. No .Waste of Food.

Sinco Trcntliaui ami Mny'¥oni woro invaded by about 800 ladies, the domestic, side of tlio camps lias been freely discussed, and the question of whether any undue wasto of food occurs fiilly debated. After the Chrisfmns dinner tiioj'o was.a great deal of uneaten fpod left, which had to be thrown 1 away. From this fact and tlio statements' of soldiers that no food is alloweiMo: bt» kept in the hutments, hoiiio people have jumped to tlio conclusion that tho shnio. i)mount of waste occurs at every meal in I lie camp. But such is not t he case. In ordinary circumstauces there is little wiistiy Ihn Onni]! Commandant, Colonel 11. 11. Potter, -having personally investigated mid adjusted tho whole question of food supply, it is inevitable,/with .1000 men l hi camp, Hint a certain amount of broken food should be thrown out, but it is a comparatively.small amount. For obvious reasons no food

is' allowed In 1)0 kept ill llio hutments, luil tiu* amount. of waste ill lite. Mrislurns dinner is in no way Jin indii'iition nl' the ordinary i-anip nrrangenienls as regards food.