GENERAL NEWS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 4946, 22 September 1914, Page 7

GENERAL NEWS.

A letter received in Auckland from one of the men engaged in guarding the wireless station in Awnnui gives some interesting particulars of the work which is being done there. The writer describes the country surrounding the station as an exceedingly bleak and cheerless stretch of swampland, tlie township of Awanui being three miles away. All the supplies have to lie ordered by wire, mid it takes two days' for the articles to reach the camp. For the first five days the detachment was under the command of Lieutenant drivers, and then tlie force was strengthened by .50 men from Whangnrei, under Captain Proctor. With the advent of the new arrivals, the men were immediately set to work digging trenches in the clayey soil. When not engaged in this manner, sentry duty is to bo done; hut whether on. sentry-go or not, the men invariably sleep beside their loaded rifles. So far there have boon four alarms, <i shot being the warning signal each time. A squad of Maoris, who were included in the detachment, show very groat keswioss. No chances are taken, and any delay in giving the pnssword is promptly rewarded with a shot. “One of the wireless men who was dilatory in this respect,” says the letter, “had a bullet placed sufficiently close to frighten at least six months’ growth out of him.”