DOMINION'S FORGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15912, 8 May 1915, Page 8

DOMINION'S FORGES.

'REINFORCEMENT~ DRAFTS. '>'■ THIRTY MEN' ACCEPTED. " Forty-four recruits presented themselves for medical examination at tie Drill Hall yesterday. • Fourteen -of them were rejected as unfit. The names of the 30 who were accepted for service are : — 0. R. D'Andey A. Mainlan S. D. Ban- " S. J. Mogridge ■ W. Conning C. Matthews B. A. Daly 0. E. Nicholson W. C. Dobbinson E. M. D. Ohlson J. R. Graham H. A. Pope W. Gent H. W. Price R. Gimn 0. A. Prior F. D. Holiday A. J. G. Quaife A. Jackson J. B. Speakman P. W. Longdill W. Thompson D. G. Macfarlaue A. L. Whitley . N. C. McLean I. C. Walters G. Myers W. H. H. White J. Morron N. B. 0. Westerholm

Those who have enlisted as infantry will leave for Trentliam on May 28. The next medical examination of recruits will be held on Tuesday.

AID TO RECRUITING.

MOVEMENT AT HAMILTON. [Er telegraph.—own CORRESPONDENT.] Hamilton, Friday. A meeting of the No. 4 Group Patriotic Committee was held to-day. The chairman, Mr. A. E. Manning, stated that it had been called for the purpose of assist* ing the Defence authorities in recruiting. Major Northcroft explained the methods of the Department in this matter, and it was decided to co-operate. A recruiting meeting will be held next week. Major Northcroft reported that the district had been keeping up its regular quota for the reinforcements, but some stimulus might be required to supply the necessary men for the new body.

TRAINING OP TROOPS. GOVERNOR'S FELICITATIONS. [by telegraph.— association.] Wellington, Friday. '- The Governor has sent to the Minister for Defence a letter in which he commends the valuable work done by the headquarter? staff in connection with the training, equipment, and despatch of troops. "It is," *aid His Excellency, "a source of pride to all of us that in Mich times of stress and difficulty all the public departments have so ably and willingly risen to the occasion." Tho Governor concluded by expressing the opinion that the labour is well rewarded by the eminently satisfactory results achieved.

SUEZ CANAL WAR TROPHY. PONTOON IN WELLINGTON. CAPTURED FROM TURKS. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS association.! Wellington, Friday. By a transport-which recently returned to the Dominion there arrived one of the iron pontoons used by the- Turks in their attempt to cross the Suez Canal. It is 24ft long, sft beam, is perfectly made, and is of the type used by the Germans in rapid bridge-building. That the fighting was severe is shown by the shot-torn craft. She is simply.;riddled, from stem to stern. The sight of the boat brings home the grim reality of Turkey's aggressiveness in • the canal_ zone.

SOLDIERS' " GRIEVANCES."

TALES OF REJECTED MEN.

REPLY .BY STAFF OFFICER.

' Towards the end of .last January, anumber of complaints were made public by members of the I expeditionary force, who had been "returned from Egypt to the Dominion for various : reasons. The Judge Advocate-General, Mr, J. E. Reed, K.C., asked the public to suspend judgment as to the truth or otherwise of the grievances until those upon whom reflections had been ; made had "an; opportunity of replying. Mr. Reed wroteyto the headquarters of the New Zealand expeditionary force-in Egypt, and yesterday he received a reply from Lieutenant-Colonel W. 6. Braithwaite, general staff officer, New Zealand and Australian division.

In his letter, Colonel Braithwaite said:—"You deserve the thanks of the people of New Zealand, and' especially of the soldiers of this force, for so promptly exposing the so-called grievances of those men. •".'.. ' . The vast majority of the people will pay little attention to the statements, but a certain section may be led astray by this gossip. . . . For those few men. who' returned to New Zealand on account of sickness we all, from the general down, have the greatest sympathy, but as to, the 45 men who were sent back because they' refused to undergo inoculation against enteric fever, the New Zealand expeditionary forco has nothing but supreme contempt. It is just as well, perhaps, that certain of these individuals have returned to New Zealand, as they would not be able to compete with the splendid march- 1 ing of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, who think nothing of doing 25 miles a day on the baking sand in full marching order, of being under arms from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., without a grumble, and of returning to camp in the evening covered with dust and grit, but cheerful, and. as hard as nails. -

J "With regard to matters connected with the canteens, foodstuffs, gifts; etc., "I would like to draw your attention to the ■following facts: All goods were placed on board the troopship entirely at the disposal of the officers commanding the troops, and from what I can gather were fairly and evenly distributed. At the outset special precautions were taken to prevent any admixture of gifts with canteen goods, and the various committees of officers who were selected to manage the canteen on each ship were instructed to see that no gift goods found their way into the canteen. The same thing applied on landing in Egypt. All canteen stores were packed on bqard ship, in cases legibly branded "Canteen," and were issued to the canteen supervisor from the supply depot into which everything went for distribution, with 1 the exception of five cuses of mullet, which, being too small a quantity for issue, were sold and the gross amount divided between the different regimental funds. °

As to the statement that a private oi troopship No. 12 bought a packet of play-ing-cards from the canteen-thia incident was investigated at the time, but the originator of the story could not be produced It was freely alleged that a troops in, Egypt, who bought a Christmas cake found in it a note, allegedly from his mother, saying that she had made 100 cakes for the troops, and hoped that he got one. The fact is that any cakes sold in the canteen were baked in Cairo "On the. whole I think we have been exceedingly free from complaints. The men are well fed; their mess costs the New Zealand Government 2s 2d per day and they get full value for it. &n wfi have misbehaved themselves, and are sent back as a punishment, are not in the least likely to give an accurate account of their doings, or the reason foi>their return These men were lucky in beinc returned as soldiers; they might have been discharged in Egypt as . undesirables, and. made to find their own way home."