LIFE AT THE CAMP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16537, 10 November 1915, Page 6

LIFE AT THE CAMP

THINGS GREAT AND SMALL. CONTRASTS IN SOLDIERS. THE CAMP SPIRIT. Specially Written for the Otago Daily Times. By L. S. Fanning. In the early days of the war the call to arms brought in many young men, eager for men with a fervour for the held of battle. They believed, of course, that right was on their country's side, but it was enough for them that recruits were needed. They were fired by a zeal for warrior work, and they chafed at delays. With the passing of time men of this type are not so numerous—but the soldier standard is none the worse for that fact. A very observant chaplain says that perhaps a majority of the men at Trentham now have not been moved by any spirit of great adventure. They are men who had their plans for a life of peace well arranged and they had well established themselves in various occupations — industrial, commercial, and professional. They gave this war much sober thought. They examined the available evidence of the Empire's position gravely, calmly, and the end of it was a decision to go into camp. Once in, they concentrate their faculties on the science and art of war. The energy which they once used for success in civil life they now give with resolute mind to the work of war. They like

to learn their duties thoroughly, and they exert themselves to qualify for promotion. One can distinguish these men; they have faces on which serious business is unmis takably fixed. THE TOUCH OF DISCIPLINE. A man accustomed to independence of thought and action may feel Trentham's discipline irksome for a day or two, but he soon finds himself fitting smoothly int , - the military machine, and he is proud to be one of the cogs. The progress which a very raw recruit may have to make in a few hours is shown in a story told by Captain Shaw, the Presbyterian chaplain.

At his first dinner in the officers' mess the staff of orderlies included a young man who was obviously raw to the work of waiting at table. An officer ordered apple pie, and presently this embarrassed waiter appeared with a dish. He stood in the middle of the passage and looked hopelessly at the lines of heads; he could not recognise the face of the officer who had desired the delicacy. Then suddenly the

meal was interrupted by this ejaculation: " Which of you blokes ordered apple pie?" Captain Garner, the Salvation Army chaplain, also tells a good story of a recruit who went to the Wellington Town Hall when leading ladies of Wellington were entertaining the men of the Eighth Reinforcement. He was told to introduce him;elf to the hostesses and to make himself at home. His comment when he returned to camp was: "I seen those 'tarts,'" and he did not speak disrespectfully, for this was a serious preface to his glowing report of the, kindness which he had enjoyed. A STUDENT OF HOMER. Generally the soldiers at the camps do not spare much time for heavy reading, except the books and papers which help them in the profession of arms. Some have good resolutions when they enter — they have a formidable course of reading mapped out—but their attitude to books is som changed in the new atmosphere. A chaplain said the other day that he arrived at Trentham with a big bag of books (including volumes of Greek and Hebrew), but their fate was to be merely ornamental on his shelves.

Usually the soldiers prefer illustrated magazines which do not take any heavy toll of time or attention. The camp can absorb any quantity of such "newsy," "scraippy *' literature which can be carried away to hutments for comfortable perusal in bunks.

There are exceptions, naturally. One day a soldier—apparently a man who was a manual worker in civil life—asked a chaplain if he knew the passages of Homer referring to the Gallipoli "peninsula. The soldier believed that, according to Homer, the Greeks embarked for Troy from the shores now occupied by the British, Australasian, and French armies. "What is the best translation of Homer?" the man asked. The chaplain replied that he had not yet found a satisfactory translation, but he admitted that he had read (in English) only the versions of Pope and Chapman. The soldier gave. him a look of amazement. "What! You haven't read the prose translation by Lang and Butcher!" he exclaimea , .. "it is in the G'.obe edition, 3s 6d," he concluded, with an <iir which indicated that the chaplain should make all possible haste to invest 3s 6d wisely and well.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE CAMP— AND HOME.

Some soldiers continue to have a close interest in affairs of their own districts, far away; they fairly devour the newspapers. Others, the great majority, have a similar zest for a few days, and then their native locality tends to lose itself in Trentham or May.morn. But they do not forget their homes. The men, in. the mass, write a surprising number of letters, Man}', absent from home for years— wanderers over New Zealand and Australiar—may not have written more than once or twice a year to their relatives, but at the camps they catch the mails regularly. f They have a joy in writing, and a gladness in the replies. Parochialism perishes in the camp air, which helps the growth of big things, but dwarfs the trifles of life. It is not a case of Auckland against Wellington, or Dunedin against Christ-church, but one platoon in rivalry with another, or one company wifjh another. The men have their "'little loyalties," as an officer put it. They quickly develop a pride in something—the hutment, the platoon, the company, and £o on. This desire by the soldier for excellence in himself as an individual and as a tin it in a group can be observed by any visitor; it is a splendid spirit; it is the force of emulation which shapes an army for victory. CHAPLAINS AND WILLS. These are days when men of the Eighth Reinforcement are interested in willmaking. Much of this business goes to the Public Trustee, who has honorary agents in camp. A chaplain mentioned that he acted for the Public Trustee, and he had a variety of exercise in the phrasing of wills. This chaplain himself is a trustee in a number of cases, and he is also the guardian of all kinds of keepsakes which men leave in Wellington. There is no limit to the services of chaplains, and always they are glad to help the men. This trust between the soldiers and the chaplain, this happy good-fellow-ship, is very pleasant for an outsider to witness.