The following are extracts:
''I shall tell you of the buoyancy and willingness of our men in ordinary work or 'fatigue'. 'Fatigue', as it is called on the most difficult jobs, is carrying water and ammunition up these steep hills. Mules cannot climb them. There is neither electricity nor steam for haulage, so it has to be done by physical effort.
Here is an illustration: Three young fellows were carrying a box of ammunition. It weighed not less than 100lb. One of the trio would have it on his shoulders while the two supported him; then, after about three yards' climbing, his mates would relieve him of the weight, and another would shoulder the burden.
In this way 100lb of deadweight was carried up a hill 300ft high, and almost precipitous, until it reached the artificial terraces just under the summit. This is the kind of work a proportion of the men do when out of the trenches, and I have never heard a growl.
Sometimes I remark as I pass: 'Tough work, boys,' and receive the response: 'It's all in the job, sir.'
''In the midst of much that is sad the men all through keep in good spirits. The pessimist is a rara avis. He would be 'counted out'. I heard him defined the other day as a 'man continually seasick on the voyage of life'.
We don't believe reports of a discouraging nature, and we cheer when the returns are in our favour. You would be surprised at the resourcefulness of many. Here is an illustration: We find the biscuits very hard. The dentists have hundreds of broken plates.
The biscuit is the iconoclast. Many men have a grater made out of a piece of tin. The points of the bayonets have pierced the holes, leaving the outside of the tin rough. It is then shaped so that it will cover a dixie or some receptacle. The hard biscuit is rubbed across this grater, and is ground into the finest meal.
We call it, when cooked, 'Anzac porridge'. Another ingenious contrivance is perfect for its purpose. Flies are a scourge, wasps are everywhere; but one man has made a cardboard windmill, which he has placed in the entrance of his dug out.
It answers the double purpose of a ventilator and a fly chaser. For every difficulty a way of escape is found. We don't `cave in'.''
• An unusual application was made to his Honor Mr Justice Hosking, sitting in Chambers at Wellington on Tuesday (says the Post). A barrister wanted his Honor to issue a permit for a young man 19 years of age and a girl to get married.
The parents were agreeable, but the young man's mother thought they were both too young. His Honor reserved his decision in order that he might give the man's mother an opportunity to specially state her objections.
A Press Association telegram states that the case came before the court again yesterday.
It had been ascertained that the young man's mother had no objection except in regard to age, and as the petitioner was able to satisfy the court that he was able to support a wife, his Honor gave the required consent, expressing the hope that the bridegroom would never have cause to regret the exercise of the court's discretion.
- ODT, 4.9.1915
