ENTRE NOUS

Free Lance, Volume XVII, Issue 920, 1 March 1918, Page 9

ENTRE NOUS

"O EADING between the lines of a -*-« ; letter, penned by a New Zealander on active service in Palestine, one would imagine that the. Garden of Eden is a decidedly dry district. To our parched and thirsty soldiers on that front long beers and iced cream sodas are nothing more than a fond memory. As Wellington is organising a Palestine Day for the benefit of our Mounted Troops, the following excerpts from the letter should be rather a propos : — "Water here is hard to get and some days we never see it. This goes hard with the horses. We found some wells, but on being inspected they were found to be infested with cholera germs and, of .course, unfit for tise. The next we found was a small pool in the riverbed. It was very muddy. The horses drank their filL and we boiled our portion. I must say we thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it was as thick as pea-soup. Then away we went again, right into the hills, as the Turks were holding some good wells. Riding all night we reached our place. We left the horses in a deep gully. We then took and held on to a ridge for nearly two days with hardly any food and water. The Turks made it hot, too, and we lost a good many men. Tha.t night, as no water was near, the horse-holders took the horses back to Beersheba, a distance of 16 miles, to water. That will give you an idea of what it is like here. These hills are what they call Judea Hills. Personally, I wish to see neither Judea, nor his hills again. "However, we were eventaully relieved by a Camel Corps and, they having a, good supply of water, we got a little from them to carry on with. Our horses, having not returned, we had to foot it back over the hills. My word, it was hard work, for we hardly do any walking, and it was about six miles hard going ibefore we picked up our horses and camped for a day or two. Each time the horses had to be watered we had to take them to Beersheba. "At this time General Allenby made the move of his life. By concentrating a lot of troops round about here he led the Turks to believe that here he was going to make our main attack. The Turks hurried their forces up in this direction. Allenby just left sufficient to hold on and sent all the Mounteds right to the other side of the country, a "ride of over 50 miles, fairly bluffing the Turks. We pushed right up the coast with very little trouble and cut the Turks off. "Here we had the fight of our lives —the hottest thing I've been in or wish to be in again. We left our horses and started towards the hills under a heavy rifle> and machine gun fire. Thank God, the Turks had very little artillery, else we would have been wiped out of existence. We heard afterwards that we were up against between 5000 and 10,000 Turks. There was only the New Zealand Brigade of not more than 800 men all told to face this big force. Our saving was i n our good supply of machine guns. "Perhaps you wonder where are all the New Zealanders who- hang out in Egypt. Let me make this plain. For every man in the front line it takes three to keep rations up to him. It's hard to believe but quite correct. Then

there are hundreds of others 'dieting' themselves in soft jobs." * •*■ '* ' # It is to be hoped that the organisers of Palestine Day will take good care that these men who are "dieting themselves in soft jobs" do not get the lion's share of the gifts and comforts they hope to> be able to send to our Mounted Troops on active service. * # * * They were discussing the war in general and the Military Ballots in particular. Mrs. Bones asked Mrs. Biff if Mr. Biff had been called tip yet. Whereupon Mrs. Biff replied: "No, not yet; but I am sure John will never make a soldier. As much as he wants to help his country and go to the Front I'm sure he never could. He is as patriotic as anybody, but he is not a fighter. There are lots of things he might b& most useful at, but I feel certain he will never make a soldier." Mrs. Bones was unmoved. "Oh, they can make a soldier out of almost anything," she said hopefully. * * » * "Say, Reggie, old boy, you know those two girls that you admired so much just now? "Well, they're V.A.D.V "You don't say so, old sport," said Reggie. "And what is the meaning of V.A.D. ?" "Can't say. Very Attractive Damsels, I suppose."

Desert Gold, "Queen of the Turf," arrived last week from Sydney, says Melbourne "Table Talk" of February 14, and racing men turned, out en masse to greet her. Photographers, owners., trainers, jockeys, stable workers in galore awaited her arrival at the unclean trucking yards at Newmarket. The mare, majestic and handsome in appearance, strutted from her comfortable travelling box as if well aware of the fuss she was creating. Seldom has sucli an army of turfites attended the arrival of a racehorse. Champions have come and gone from the same yard, but have had to await their pub-

lie reception on the racecourse. Not so "the Queen." Desert Gold held a continuous levee in Sydney and so dense became the. crowds around her box that inspection of the mare was at length limited to a few. * * * * The joke was flicked at a country sky pilot that when he had received a call from a much bigger parish, his small son remarked that father was , in the study praying for guidance, but mother was upstairs packing. "I can tell a better one," said the good shepherd, entering into the spirit of the

joke. "It happened in America. A young clergyman whose stipend was £'180 yearly was offered a parish that paid £600. He soixght advice from his Bishop, but, in doing so, he ventured to assure the prelate that 'he felt that it was a call,'m'lord. 'Call?' echoed the Bishop ; 'my dear boy, it is a yell.' " * * * * A Press Association message from Marton reports that in the local Court an Aramoho Chinese gardener pleaded gxiilty to falsely consigning to Ohakune (a "dry" area) three cases of spring onions, containing six bottles of gin. He wa s fined £20.' We've lived, tho' gilt bricks passed for gold, And ham-shnped wood as pork, And sand for sugar often sold, And loafing looked like work. The diamond ring is often glass, The milk is far "a-whey." As leather, boot soles often pass, Tho' cardboard cheap and gre}-. The girls, the dears, are false though fair, The "straight deal" has a twist, The horse-race goes not on the square, And frequently gets hissed. Pure fools as diplomats now pose, And on stage "sticks" don't act. And butchers sell us while we doze ; Some stuff we leave intact. And now the Chow is getting in— The gambler from the East — And darn near passed as onions, gin, Unto a Maori feast. Oh ! Onion ! Gin! in one sweet breath, We tlionglit you both so "strong," And incorruptible as death — Now you have both gone wrong. « ■» e a Alleged that a certain boardinghousekeeper went to the police with a bitter

bee ought to interfere. He be stopped, seem' the price gas ft '* cialpiestige, he said, proudly, "I OWe tLt One lg alone -PlSck. Just tale pluck--' y T mo «°~'Plue k , plxm l e pause here but the eflFect JS o^,B^ who asked poiStedfy and m a clear, distinct voice- "Tp/