COLONIAL REINFORCEMENTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7292, 3 January 1902, Page 3

COLONIAL REINFORCEMENTS.

THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT. [Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND, Jan. 3. The lost dlraft of -twenty men of the Auckland section of th-e Eighth Contingent left for Wellington by the Ngapuhi last evening. The whole of the Auckland draft is one of *be finest bodies of men that have volunteered in this province for the war. PALMERSTON, M)HTH, Jan. 3. Th© Palmerston North section of twenty men of the Eighth Contingent,, left for Wellington to-day. They were accorded a public "send-off," andi a farewell speech was made by the Mayor. INVERCARGILL, Jan. 3. The Southland section of the Eighth Contingent left for th© north to-day. Th© men were accorded a publio send-off, at vrhidh addressee were given by Sir Joseph Ward and tlhe Hon W. C. Walker. Sir Joseph : Ward said that those persons who were opposed to the sending of an Eighth Contingent were enemies of the Empire. By the down train from the north this morning tbe following selected! members of the Eighth Contingent came to camp at Addington : — Corporal Bates and Trooper W. Cooper, of #he Cust Mounted Rifles ; Corporal P. D. Crampton and Trooper A. Anderson, Cheviot Mounted Rifles; and Trooper De Renzi MathiaS, of the North Canterbury Mounted 1 Rifles. Trooper De Renzi Mathias, North Canterbury Mounted! Rifles, who came down from The Grange, Flaxton, this morning to go into oamp as a selected member of the Eighth Contingent, is ah elder brother of Trooper Mathias, of the Third Contingent, who was montally wounded at Elan's River on July 8, 1900. The deceased trooper had been five yeara in South, Africa before joining the Third, and was a : member for three years of General B-aden-I Powell's Police, and during the seige of Mafeking had charge of a Maxim gun. with which he did good service at Cannon Kopje Port, one of the outer defence forts. On July 4, 1900, he volunteered 1 to take com'imandl of the quick-firing gun attached to one of B.P.s companies, which weapon was lying idle, owing to every man connected with two previous sections that had been serving it having been killed 1 in successive engagements. He bad only been in oharg© of it four days when his spinal cord was broken by a Boer bullet, and he died some houre later in the Elan's River Military Hospital. He stood 6ft 6in in his socks, and, singular to relate, joined and went out in the Third Contingent with Trooper Tom Revell, of Kaiapoi, who also measured 6ft ssin in his stockinged feet. Revell succumbed to enteric fever some few months ago. Trooper De Renzi Mathias volunteered for servioe dn the Third Contingent also, and passed the medical examination, but was rejected by the Selection Committee. This time, however, he got (through all tests and examinations without any difficulty. Men begaa to arrive at thie Addington^ camp at an 'early hour this morning, and by noon quit© a number had reported themselves. A strict examination of each applicant for admission was mad© at the gate and each man 'had to show bis ticket and give bis name. Be was then crossed off the list held by the guard and allowed to pass in. „_.,_■ Mr P. Burkes arrangements for the catering at the camp are very complete indeed, and are capable of providing three meals per day for one thousand men if necessary. Twenty-one boilers, jtbie portable and twelve camp, and eight large gas stoves, will do the cooking. The two din-ing-rooms, lying on either -side of the kitchen under the grand stand, will seat respectively about 200 and 300 men in comfort. Tbe smaller was fitted up this morni ing the two long tables, extending the whole length of the room, being laid. Each man is to have a tin plate, knife and fork, and tin pannikin. Next, to the kitchen are the butcher's shop andy) store-room, lhe former filled with a great array of cooked and uncooked joints, and the latter with stores of all descriptions— flour, sugar, cheese, butter, currants, pickles, sauces, tinned fruits, etc. The officers' and sergeants' mess tents, in front of the grand stand, will each seat forty persons, and are equipped much more elaborately, the officers' tent especially. A number of the men who arrived this morning had- their meals about noon, and seemed to find everything much to their satisfaction. Colonel Webb and' Captain Bingley suggest that ladies who wish . to assist the Contingent would be doing a very good work- indeed if they would supply the men wiibh Balaclava caps and woollen scarves. The oaps are said by those who bave been on campaign to be simply invaluable for the protection afforded to th© heads while sleeping, and they would save th© men from a vast deal of discomfort and probably sickness. Th© pattern is generally known. Th© scarves should be knitted 'in some dark wool. About 500 of eaoh would be required, but if ladies would take the •maAter up they would be amply repaid in the gratitude of men and offioers alike.