PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

Observer, Volume XXXVI, Issue 48, 5 August 1916, Page 4

PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

SERGEANT-MAJOR BO ATE. of the New Zealand forces, invalided to New Zealand, having been three times wounded, in appearance looks as good as new. When the old soldier wanted to enlist, it was doubted if he was young enough to bear the heat and burden of Gallipoli, and all hands laugh about it. now. The gallant man with the firm chin and the all-British accent- returns with "Le Medaille Militaire" (the French equivalent to our V.C.), the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and a declaration that a man who says he isn't frightened when about to go into action is, well—not a gentleman. Of English and Irish parentage, young Boate enlisted in the Welsh Fusiliers, and ' fought with that gallant regiment in South Africa. He. wears, besides the D.C.M. and the great French distinction, the Queen's South African medal with six bars, which include Drie.fontein, Paardeburg and the Relief of Jvimberjey, all . very much worth while, and his King's South African medal has three bars. It is of interest that while at Malta Ser-geant-Ma j or Boate met a British naval officer who gave him family news, the soldier not. having had any for nineteen years. He was also able to obtain a prized family relic. ■ • -a The action for which the French authorities awarded Sergeant-Major Boate "Le Medaille Militaire" was fought at Chunuk Bair, where the non-com. held, with a handful of men (about thirty) an exceedingly important position, and was able to bring out only the merest remnant of the little force. The prized D.C.M. was also awarded for the same action. The ribbon of the great French decoration is a pale gold bordered by a narrow line of green, and is. never awarded except for most signal acts of gallantry. Only one other was earned by a British" soldier on Gallipoli. @> © ® Aubrey Barclay, the young New Zealander who has been made subeditor of the Sydney Sunday "Times," is 'a. good example of a painstaking, thorough fellow, who has literally won his spurs. He has had his flights of imagination, too, both in'literature and in advertising stunts which yielded money. But it is as the shaper of the. ends of other- writers'; destinies, that his metier lies. The "Daily Telegraph" had a high opinion of Barclay, and his fellow-members of the strong Australian Journalists' Association held him in high regard also. On the Sunday "Times" he will have a wider scope and more congenial work, and, being a beggar for work, will suit Hugh D. right down..to the ground. Barclay is not the only New Zealander on the new staff of the paper. « • * Hugh D. Mcintosh's eagle eye also lit on Mona Mackay, the little lady who has looked after the social and women's end of the "Herald" for some years. Mona has naturally been unable to do her typical work on. the solemn journal to which originality or imagination is anathema, but she has burst into verse occasionally outside the solemn portals. Mona is not in the ruck, she is frequently guilty of ideas, has an artistic sense, allied to a rather surprising and wholly unexpected business acumen, which she probably owes to her Scottish ancestry. Mis 6 Mackay is a fine musician, has the dramatic instinct, and most certainly in much of her verse rises to the dignity of poetry. There are many New Zealand versifiers more advertising but less poetic. Miss Mackay

will join the Sydney Sunday "Times," and will, it is believed, also do publicity work for at least one of Hugh D.'s companies. itf © @ Among recent enlistments, the name of Captain H. D. Coutts, Queen's Scarf, is included. Captain Coutts served in the South African war as a corporal in the First New Zealand Mounted Rifles, and subsequently aa an officer with later regiments. Her Majesty Queen Victoria, with her own hands, knitted two scarves, which she directed should be awarded to two colonial soldiers for a conspicuous act of gallantry, and it was declared that the possession of the Queen's Scarf was an honour equal to the possession of the V.C. It. was further insisted that the award was to be made by a vote of the soldier's comrades. It is perhaps characteristic of the New Zealand Army List that in its "War Service of Officers and Warrant Officers" it does not mention the winning of the Queen's Scarf in the services of Captain Coutts. It is generally supposed that the award was made for the gallant rescue under fire of a wounded soldier'at Sannas Post on the day De Wet ambushed a British force, which included the First New Zealanders. Captain Coutts wears the Queen's S.A. medal with four clasps and the King's with two. ©' @> ® Sergeant Ralph Jackson, once engineer, Waitemata County Council, biit now of the New Zealand Tunnellers in France, calls across from the trenches:—"Our chaps are doing well here; in fact they try to do the impossible with so few men. The general commanding the division came along the other day and told the men their work was 'second to none.' He also said that before our little mob came the Bosche had the

upper hand in this section, 'but the Splendid work of you men has altered matters.' You wouldn't know the men now for the mob who used to knock about Queen Street. Sketch of Harry Meyers going on leave enclosed. We bad quite a time— thirsty job fitting him up, and it was necessary to send out for a couple of bottle of 'yin blanc,' although none of us cared what colour it was as long as it was on hand. We got news last night of the leath of Lord Kitchener. Fritz must have enjoyed it. The Huns were singing half the night about their 'Fighting Navy.' 'He laughs best who laughs last.' We shall laugh last. 'A votre sante,' also 'bon jour.' Remember me to anybody who looks like a bowler and the white men of Waitemata." 'tB vB va A spontaneous tribute to a good man and a good soldier was given by the Trentham Camp Band when Captain E. C. Dovey, late camp adjutant, left Trentham last week. The band asked leave, after they had taken part in the paradie, to serenade Captain Dovey in the evening. They had had a hard day, rising at early dawn and playing marching a good deal during the day, yet desired to show their appreciation and that of all ranks in the camp by playing the well known camp airs to their ex-adjutant. The life of a camp bandsman is no sinecure. He has to do all kinds of orderly work, as well as attend practices and march with troops whenever occasion demands. So this spontaneous action was a good index of the character of the officer who has held Trentham camp on a firm rein, for the past twelve months. Captain Dovey made a speech and thanked the bandsmen, whereat they set to and played some more tunes, at the conclusion of which the captain was visibly moved and he has a firm

lip, too. When he marched through Wellington, Captain Dovey looked as happy as a boy off on vacation, but he will never forget Trentham for all that. And. when he meets his old regiment, the Scots Greys, he. will tell them about it. ® <© <® Bombardier Eric Blomfield, No. 1 Battery, N.Z.F.A., writes from France: "Good positioH. Plenty of room for the shells to lob without hitting us, and it is only when Fritz, does a bit of extra bad shooting at some other target he gets anywhere near us. We get leave every week for a few hours. There are civilians here still within range of the German guns. There are shops and cafes and eating houses with shell marks all over them, and perhaps the roof blown in and all the upper windows smashed, yet business goes on as usual. The people retire to the cellars when things get too lively. A great thing, here is the hot bath outfit. You stroll into a big building (an old factory of some kind), undress and leave everything except underclothes in a locker, with the pants turned inside out, then proceed l with underclothes to another room where they give you clean underclothes for the dirty, a lump of soap and a clean towel. There are great vats about 12 feet in diameter and about 5 feet deep, full of hot water with Jeyes' fluid in it along the sides of the room. » • a "These vats hold about a dozen men at a time, and the heat, of the water can be regulated to any required temperature. When you get back to dress you find that the seams of the pants have been pressed with a hot iron to cook any undesirable inhabitants or the eggs thereof. We visit this place, at least once a week, and are thus able to keep free of troublesome residents. We live in luxury, considering that we are supposed to be undergoing the hardships of war. When we came in we took the place over completely furnished. There are spring mattresses, sheets on some of the beds, clock®, looking glasses, china dishes and chairs. One subaltern is lucky enough to have a harmonium alongside the gun. We do a bit of straffing nearly every day, and the Allemandes straffe back usually at the trenches. They make a dickens of a row with their whizz-bangs, but don't seem to do much damage. We have a sort of battery canteen here, a small barrel of French beer comes up with the stores every night, and is sold at one penny a glass. We put in a couple of francs a fortnight towards food luxuries, and the cooks turn out some decent spreads. A couple of us go foraging in neighbouring deserted vegetable gardens, and although there is not. much left in them now, we manage to strike something occasionally. •« ■ a "Leave to England comes for three men every five, weeks, and we draw for it. The major has been getting his coat off and lending a hand at epaulement building. His latest hobby is shooting rats with a shanghai and potting at frogs with his revolver. There are tons of rats. The war doesn't trouble them much. As long as Fritz isn't quite sure of our exact position we are all right, but once he finds it for certain it will be time to move. He .will plant shells on every couple of yards of the ground for a fifty yards' radius. May he never find us!" &> 5& ® Mr F. V. Rutherford, the little Featherston bootmaker who crossed the Rimutakas with the Fifteenths, was allowed to march with those troops when they paraded in Wellington last week, and he strode out blithely with his flag on its bamboo pole. There is not the slightest sign of bravado about this little man, nor. does he come into the limelight in search of advertisement. In a letter written to the "Dominion" he briefly told why he had marched, and the reason simply was that he loved the boys who were going to fight and maybe die for England. A true heart and a brave one beats in the little bootmaker's breast. Would there were more like him!

The Nationality of Mr Harold H. Ebey, the bright young man who dropped into the- Dominion the other day with a string of steamers at his heels, is being questioned in the House. Mr Massey is put out about being pestered with stupid questions on a matter requiring the greatest delicacy of handling. Every shipload of stuff that comes out of America may safely be regarded with suspicion as being probably of Ger-man-American make. The Luckenbach steamers come here literally loaded to the roof with motor cars. It is the motor cars that are like red rags to the eyes of many honest people. So Mi- Ebey is to stand his trial, in the minds of politicians. In appearance he looks no more like a German than Mr Massey docs, and his speech is pleasant Yankee. Still, the Germans adopt many guises and disguises, and the Hattie and Harry and Florrie and Edgar Luckcnbachs may have to be careful how they float about in these waters. © © © Captain Colvin Stewart Algie, of the New Zealand forces in the field, was killed in action on July 21st. This brave and gallant officer had been a schoolmaster at Paeroa, Waihi and Rotorua, and was a native of Wyndham, Southland. It is mentioned that of the thirty-three officers of his battalion Captain Algie was the last to leave the Gallipoli Peninsula. While on the Peninsula, the late Captain Algie possessed an old-fashioned "snap" purse. In this purse on one occasion he had a number of ten piastre silver pieces. This he. carried in his right side pants pocket. It is very remarkable that a bullet struck the purse containing the coins with such a great impact that it actually fused the coins together in a lump. The lump slid down the officer's leg, and was so hot it. burnt him. He was under the impression that he had been badly hit in the leg when lie felt the burn of the hot silver, and was tremendously astonished to find himself practically unhurt. It is most sad that a gallant officer who should have had so narrow an escape, and who was also invalided to England with enteric, should be killed in action in France. The late Captain Algie married before the de-

claration. of war, but immediately joined the forces when New Zealand was called upon to send troops into the field. « ® ® Bill Beddoe —I beg your pardon— Mr William Beddoe, Canadian Trade Commissioner, vide daily Press personals, gave an unexpected little speech at the Savage's korero on Saturday evening. He was down to give curtain lectures as pictures of prominent Imperial public men were thrown on the screen. Somehow or other, either by design or accident, the operator screened a picture of Bill's own physog, and Bill immediately denounced it as a caricature. It was a really good picture, but, anyway, the lecturer said the gentleman whose portrait was depicted had been in Auckland about six years, and in that time had made almost as many friends as he had made in Canada in the course of 40 years' residence, "And, so you see," concluded the speaker, "he must be rather a likeable chap after all." And so say all of us. &> © © The weary jury in the terrific Rua case will, in future memories of their long pilgrimage in the garden of verbiage, place a wreath of bays on the horsehair of Mr Justice Chapman. His patience (and theirs) has been astounding, but he crowned his consistent kindness on Tuesday afternoon. Had he concludedhis minute summing up by a sharp staccato precis of the points he wished the jury to consider he could have ended his summing up in time to place twelve good men under lock and key for the night. Ho preferred, however, solely on their behalf, to "stonewall" in a precise, accurate and dignified manner, so that the jury might sleep in the bosoms of their respective families. w p » Dining the learned judge's summing up, the attention of Rua often wandered, and his primitive countenance only showed unusual interest when his own. name, was mentioned, or when (as frequently occurred) Mr Justice Chapman reiterated the disputed word "patua." Rua, guarded by a sunburnt gentleman of the Prison Service, retains the nervous

habit he has had for many years of playing with his. hands, hands by the way that appear never to have been sullied by coarse work. Rua has lost a good deal of condition during the interminable drip drip of two languages, probably to his physical benefit. From his appearance, Rua is probably instinctively sharp. He has the faculty of accurate visual observation, not always found in the white man. He. does not show those physical parts of high breeding noticeable in Maoris, of pedigree. Maybe there is nothing in this, for many of our own pakeha eminents are indistinguishable from the common herd. ® © © The keen face of Senior Sergeant Cassells, of Hamilton, has been seen a good deal during the Rua trial, and although "Jack" has shorn the waxed ends off a moustache that was his pride and joy in earlier days, the hand of time has been gentle with him. For many years, as a detective, he hunted, the Wellington "crook," and was, if one remembers, the instrument in the hand of Providence in the arrest of a constable on beat! The yarn goes that John was with a friend gazing through the "Rogues' Gallery" of the New South Wales "Gazette," and, his eve falling across a picture, of a man much "wanted" by the New South Wales authorities, he exclaimed, "1 know where to find him!" and went out and "lumbered" the constable on Lambton Quay street duty! Present writer remembers the detective man best at Terawhiti, on the occasion of the "Penguin" wreck. The police, in that sad affair, covered themselves with undying honour. * m • Detective Cassells, who always kept "fit" by arduous exercise, threw himself with characteristic vigour into the Terawhiti affair, and toiled unceasingly (as did the whole police force) in carrying bodies up the stark and foggy cliffs. It is particularly remembered, that "Jack," catching sight of a pale, reporter who necessarily gave a hand, caused unexpected brandy to be administered to him. It is the kind of memory perhaps the ardent prohibitionist (who doesn't carry wet

bodies up cliffs) would detest. Thanks for the drink, Jack! S.S. Cassells is an. arde ; nt student of firearms, and a notable exponent of their uses. His favourite recreation was to shoot rabbits with a rifle, and one morning round the scrub in the vicinity of Wellington ho dropped across the, body of a man who might not otherwise, have been found. He also used to exhibit, with pride a nickelled Belgian machine pistol, the first of its kind to come to New Zealand. Should you have, hit him a friendly tap on the lower buttons of the waistcoat in the days when a little matter of garotting _ was a Weejkly occurrence in Wellington, the handcuffs would give out a merry note. © © © Cabled that Colonel C. M. Gibbon has been promoted a general staff officer, first grade. Colonel Gibbon is the exceedingly tall gentleman with a damaged nose, who is the buffer in New Zealand between the Imperial Army and the. New Zealand branch of it. Colonel C. M. Gibbon has been in the Dominion since early in 1914. In April of that year he was appointed Director of Military Operations for the Dominion, and in the following September he succeeded Colonel "Bill" Braithwaite, D.5.0., as Chief of the General Staff on that officer leaving for the front with the expeditionary force. Colonel Gibbon joined the 89th Regiment Royal Irish Fusiliers from Sandhurst in. 1898, and served in South,. Africa throughout the Boer War. He afterwards served with the Army in India, being a station staff officer from 1902 to 1905. In the latter year he was appointed to the general staff branch of the headquarters staff, and continued to occupy that position until 1910, when he returned to England. He passed Imperial Staff College, 1911----12, and then served with his regiment until he received his appointment in New Zealand. The chief of the general staff was in the Relief of Ladysmith, Colenso, Tugela Heights, "Pinter's Hill, Beit Vlci and Belfast, and has the Queen's medal with four clasps and the King's with two.