THE THIRD CONTINGENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 31

THE THIRD CONTINGENT.

(Fbom Ov& Own Cohbespondent. ) WELLINGTON, May 16. The following very interesting letter has been placed at my disposal. It is written by Mr H. C. Wilkie, F.R.C.V.S., Government veterinary surgeon, from Deal's Hotel, East London. Mr Wilkie writes : — We have been here for a fortnight, and several different orders have been received. We have understood for the last day or two that we re-ship to Beira. The ship has been got ready and the forage put on board. At midnight, however, an order came to be ready to entrain and proceed to Aliwal. I have instructions to go with the contingent to Beira if it re-ships, but if it goes by train to proceed to Capetown and "report to the chief staff officer, who •will, I suppose, have heard if there is any chance of my remaining during the campaign. Nothing is known here of the secdnd contingent. Many officers from the Soudan are here awaiting orders. Large bodies of troops are massing near Rouxville, and the unlucky General Gatacre has just had five troops of infantry taken prisoners by the Boers. Lord Carrington's troops are ofi' io *Beira in order, it is presumed, to get to the relief of Mafeking through Bulawayo, and it is possible even yet that the New Zealand Rough R/iders may go that Avay. Horses are urgently wanted in South Africa, and the class of animal most desired is a thick-set cob of from 14.1 to 14.2 hands, and not under six years of age. Horses of fiom 15.1 to 15.3 hands are not the best, and our horses, although they are much admired for their condition and appearance, are not thought to be the best for the work. In Lumsden's Horse there were few over 14 h#nds in height. This regiment was equipped completely, and had its own ambulance bearers, and even waggons — little iron carts drawn by two ponies. In most districts her,e nosebags are kept on all night on account of horse sickness, and I am having eyelets put into the bags in order to -allow of this. I bought 3000 eyelets and a punch, and the saddlers are at work on the bags. The energy of New Zealand in sending out its little regiments one after the other is keenly appreciated here. The men are well-behaved and temperate, and no men encamped here are more respected or more popular. They do not quite rank as soldiers, ' and certainly do not compete with the crack cavalry regiments" in mili-" tary matter, but as hard-working fellows and sensible representatives of a loyal colony -their service? are highly valued by the army and the public. Mr Lewin, of Christchurch, is now captain and adjutant, and Lieutenant Bourn is promoted to be a captain in place of Captain John Rose, who is now serving as a trooper in' the Diamond Fields Horse. Regimental Ser- j geant-major Walker has received a commission as lieutenant. Great inconvenienceis being felt in all the mounted branches by the d^Sculty of carrying three days' oats. If oats were sent here compressed into small, hard cakes they would probably be used generally by the arm}'.

ORDERED TO THE FRONT. NAPIER, May 16. Lieutenant Hovell (son of Dean Hovell) and Lieutenant Collett, of Waipawa, have received orders from' the Defence Office to join one of the contingents in South Africa. They leave by the Ormazan next week.

' PAY ORDERS OF THE CONTIN I- ' GENTS. WELLINGTON, May 17. Some of the war correspondents have . alluded to the hitch about honouring the orders of men at the front. It appears that the Defence department has been put to t considerable trouble in this matter. Numbers of men have gone away without leaving the orders they intended, and zipon relatives applying they have had to wait till the men could be communicated with. It was explained to all before leaving that as the Imperial authorities were responsible for the pay up to a certain scale as soon as the contingents reached Africa, the only money in the hands of the New Zealand Government upon which orders could be given was the difference between the Imperial rate of pay and the higher scale I allowed bjs the polony. In the case of superior officers the difference is small, nevertheless orders are received for amounts considerably beyond what the colony is responsible for. -The department has endeavoured to arrange that these should 'be met as far as possible, and that the men should recoup the difference out of their Imperial pay.

MORE REMOUNTS. * ' WELLINGTON, May 17. The officers of the Stock department have received instructions to secure a further number of remounts for shipment to South Africa on an early date.

THE DISPOSAL OF THE PATRIOTIC FUNDS. WELLINGTON, May 19. Before the departure of the Premier on lifts trip Rarotonga he was questioned a& to his opinion in connection" with the method of dealing with moneys in the hands of the various patriotic fund committees, and granting thereout of payments to relatives of those who have been killed or wounded-- during the present war. Mr Seddon said he had had returns compiled which showed that, roughly speaking, about £50,000 had been collected for patriotic funds, exclusive of money subscribed for the "more men fund." Onehalf of this amount had been forwarded to the credit of the Mansion House fund, bo that about £25,000 remained in the colony

for the purpose of meeting an3 r " cases m New Zealand. He would recommend that a conference ot delegates representing all the committees within volunteer districts should be held, and that such conference fhoiild appoint trustees to deal with the moneys. They should be paid into a trust fund, which would be operated upon by the trustees appointed under 'authority of a trust deed, and he suggests that the deed drawn up for the working of the Brunner relief fund would be of service to the trustees in_ compiling such deed. Mr Seddon thinks the various existing committees should be retained as advisory committees to the^ trustee?, and that any moneys which it" may be decided to pay the relatives of those who have been killed or wounded should be paid through the chairmen of committees in whose districts the sufferers had resided before joining the contingents.' In recommending that volunteer districts should be utilised the # Premier has in his mind the case of Wellington district, where probably the largest amounl of money has been collected, and where msri have been taken from Taranaki, a portion of Hawke's Bay, and Manawatu. The amount of money in the hands of upcountry committees is insufficient to meet cases arising in such districts, and it could be paid into a trust fund, which could be operated on by trustees as already mentioned. The committees in "Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, and. Invereargill, etc., should take the ' initiative in the matter, as at present? what is everybody's business is no-body's business, and he (the Premier) was sorry to fay cases ■ have arisen in New Zealand where relatives and dependents of those killed or i wounded are not receiving any relief, nor has any inquiry or action been taken on their behalf. While offering these suggesi tions, Mr Seddon in no way recedes from the attitude taken up by the Government, or from what was stated in Parliament — namely, that the widows and orphans who have suffered by the lois of their protectors while serving in South Africa should be the nation's care. Ec suggests that the Defence department should co-operate with' the committees, and make any inquiries which may be necessary, and also furnish any information desired, in respect to cases 'which may arise from time to. time. The department should also furnish a full list of msmoers of our contingents who have fallen during the campaign up to date.