The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

tinguished son of Briton Riviere, the fa- nous Royal academician, and meanwhile the artist is in treaty with the New Zea- land government which is desirous of ac- quiring, as permanent collection, the whole of his original Gallipoli sketches. Begravia and Mayfair are vieing 1T, feting the sapper who undoubtedly would be made man were it not for the unfor- tunate fact that his period of convales- cence from complication of dysentery and few other disagreeable maladies be- ing now about up, he Is fated to return to the other, and infinitely less profit able, "colors' sometime within the pres ent month, when he will probably be sent to the western front
 IS NEAR FIFTY
 Sapper Moore-Jones IS within year or two of 50. but he did not tell them that at the recruiting office when he went to join up. Though I was privileged to spend several hours with the gifted and plucky New Zealander yesterday nor one word did he say regarding the circumstances of his enlistment, but a mutual acqualn- tance already had told me how he man aged it. When war was declared, Moore Jones, who stands a bit more than six feet and with impassfve, acquiline face,
 well knit figure and irongray hair, makes a figure worthy of his own brush, had been in London just under two years All that time he had been working hard under masters like Frank Brangwyn and Philip Lazlow, for, having corralled all the artistic honors in the power of Aus tralia and his own land, New Zealand, to bestow, he had "chucked up" every thing there and come to London, deter mined to gain the recognition Of Europe as well. Behind him in Sydney he left a devoted wife and three good looking <iddies. And he had begun to make good here unmistakably when Armageddon suddenly burst out of an all but azure sky.
 Although participation in war was the last thing that his programme called for, Moore-Jones (who confesses to what he calls the 'velvet-plush name" of Hor- ace). did not waste time in considering what the step of enlisting might entail. Instead he shaved off his irongray mus tache, had the closest hair crop that hls Chelsea barber could give him, generally adopted the most youthful makeup possible and went to the recruiting office for New Zealanders and calmly told them In response to their inquiries that he was 32. And they, affecting belief passed him through, and a few days later he was in uniform as a member of probably one of the most remarkable corps of experts that even this world war has brought together, the New Zealand en- gineering corps. It was this force that accomplished the engineering marvels Of Gallipoli. building roads up precipices that experienced soldiers said only q fly could negotiate, bridging chasms that looked unbridgeable, generally accom- plishing the seeming impossible. Or. rather 1t was the nucleus of this force that Moore-Jones joined, a corps number ing 250 men including expert engineers from practically every part of the world marine engineers, civil engineers, even engineers from Germany, force which, 1t is declared. gained more orders of merit than have been awarded to any other in the British army since the war began and which included the only New Zealand V. C., Corporal Bassett.
 As it was originally intended that the expeditionary force from New Zealand itself would be sent to France, this one of its units went into training on Sails bury plain and Moore-Jones went with it. Later, when the plans were changed and the New Zealanders were ordered to Egypt, the corps formed in London and went out to the land of the Pharaohs and joined up with the main body. Then fol- lowed some months in which Sapper Moore-Jones and his comrades construct ed saps and similar earthworks in the desert near to Cairo, and then came the Ga1lipoli expedtion-"eight months of he'll" as the artist described his own part In 1t, adding, however, like every other "Anzac,' that he wouldn't have missed 1t for anything in the world.
 Moore-Jones was in the historic land ing that cost so dear in lives and gave me his impression of it in a few char acteristic words.
 FEELING OF ANTICIPATION
 ITO a man like myself who had never known war or been under fire" he said, there came a curious feeling of 'antic- ipation'-it certainly wasn't fear-as we were transferred, all the time under fire, first from the transports to a torpedo boat and then from the torpedo boats to horse-punts and later when. just as we were making the land, the first burst of shrapnel came, knocking out good fel- lows here and there And then the land ing! Some men, of course, jumped into water where they were beyond their depth and were drowned. A moment later we were charging up the beach, we who most of us had never seen death, with pals going down dead and wounded all around us. And the curious thing was how soon one adapted oneself to having death and dead men all around. One became inured to it almost at once"
 Within few days of setting foot in Gallipoli. Moore-Jones, artist first of all, began making sketches and some of these attracted the notlce or one or ms oIIlcers, who was much impressed with their value. He reported his discovery to his superiors and almost Immediately Moore Jones got orders to present himself at general headquarters. where he submit ted his rough drawings to General Bird wood--"the soul of AnZac" That splendid soldier at once assigned him to the work of making drawings of the enemy's po- sitions, a dangerous task needless to say. as, while thus engaged, he was nearly always a target for snipers
 ''As everybody knows now" the sapper said, the maps we had when we landed were practically useless. and it was not until we found one on the body of dead