A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17067, 27 July 1917, Page 3

A HORSE SHOW AT THE FRONT

IN SPITE OF GERMAN TLANBS AND GUNS. (From Malcoim Ross, Official Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces.) Near the Firing Line, May 13. lhe annual Horse Show of the New Zealand Division—the second since the War began—w;;s held to-day in a green field near the firing line, in defiance of the German guns and in spite of the observers in the German 'planes, which of late have been constantly crossing our lines. It is the time of the year for horse shows, and several of the. divisions have been holdin"them. It is Sunday, but Sunday at the tront is very much like any other day, except that church services are held in the morning. The ring was marked out with yellow and red flags. Captive balloons left their moorings and swung in the clear sunshine against the blue,- and overhead all day the droning planes came and went -the day was hot and sunny, ' the horizon rimmed with the gioen tracery of trees yast bursting into leaf. Bands played, and there was a fair attendance of such officers and men as could be spared from their work. From the south came the constant arumming of guns in the big battle, softened by distance. Nearer, the loud explosions of our own howitzers, the dull reports of German shells bursting on our lines, proved that the war was also close at hand. At intervals the whistle of an enemy shell going far into the back area told that longrange guns were in action, and every now and then- there came reports from tie sky Looking up, we could watch the black puffs from German shells appearing about our indomitable airmen, or the lighter puffs of our own shrapnel warding off the German planes,.

From 10 o'clock in the morning until o in the afternoon the show went on. Two regimental bands played at intervals, and the Divisional Orchestra, under the baton of a former member of the Wellington lavage Club, enlivened the proceedings during afternoon tea. There was a very neatly printed catalogue, with the cover in black and red, and there was even a programme for the orchestra, and a menu for the afternoon tea. adorned with a picture of the Now Zealand kiwi. It may be worth while mentioning that the menu was: " Coffee tea, cocoa, aerated waters; ham, tongue' and salmon sandwiches; assorted pastries and cakes; biscuits." Tho animals as well as the men had apparently not lacked for good food( for they were in fine condition. The limbered wagons, the cookers, the battery, and other transports, were spick and span, and the chains of the harness shone in the sunlight like burnished silver. The eagle eyes of the D.D.S.T. and the A.Q.M.G. no doubt could pick out faults, but to tho uninitiated the display was a revelation of what can b0 accomplished by grease and elbow grease There was one casualty as tho result of the show A cow belonging to the farmer whose field wo had hired, died in the night. A post-mortem examination revealed the fact that she had made a heavy meal of the red and yellow flags and the paper from the biscuit tins. Out of this incident the may find a crumb of comfort lnoy may argue that thw is a scarcity of fodder for cattle. But we have not yet "•ot the length of " kadaver" factory even putting the least sinister interpretation on the word.