Evening star., 1917-03-28
Agreeably Impressed.

| Agreeably Impressed.
| The outstanding feature Of q chat
reporter for The Star had with a few
of them was this: That they were both
| surprised and delighted at the pleasant
| and interested looks and even the
i cheerful greetings bestowed on them by
| the people they passed. They seem to
| have expected something entirely dIt-
! ferent and their agreeable dlsappolnt-
ment was outspoken.
| we had heard and we honestly
| thought that we We're liable to insult.
/ if nothing worse. if We paraded around
( in these clothes; but we had nothing
! else and decided to risk it,, said on"
| young Auckland volunteer, whose name,
at least comes from north of the tlrth
/ OF Forth. ANY anti-ally sentiment that
may be around here, though, is pretty
we'll under cover, L imagine. feel as
| if [ were among friends, judging from
! the looks and remarks encountered so
| far. One of my mates slipped off to
! New York to see an aunt but he
wouldn't start until he had borrowed a
! suit of civilian clothes. L fancy he
needn't have bothered
| If continued sickness with five months
! in hospital and operation after opera
| tion have dampening effects on the
| spirits one would never guess 1t from
! talking with this volunteer.
Where They Fought.
| Some OF the men fought first on the
| western front and later in the Darda
inelles campaign. There is a movement
at home TO establish the observance OF
| pardaneles day" said Il stocldly built
| private, with hair turning gray, who
tconfesses TO forty-siX years. II for one
saw let it die; why remind ourselves Of
| h, .Ia., a 1Er
| blunder and cost a precious lot; why
perpetuate it's memory? l was there
| and | know" On his sleeve We're two
| slender gold stripes which, he explained.
| meant two wounds, while on the breast
| of his tunic was a bit of ribbon that
| signffied he was veteran of the Boer
war. The talk was running on trench
| fighting and BAH the reporter and
heguiar had happened nnneS' were a al a eara "0
| THE Germans doIit use a good, clean
bayonet, you know he explained. Some
| of theirs are regular swords with the
! cutting edges notched: If sticking it
| into a fellow doesn't do the business the
! pulling of it out again does, 1t just
| tears him to pieces. The Turks, though,
are good, clean fighters, and are GER
tainly fine SniperS.
"Ware you hurt that way?" was the
question put to him. NO, 1 was al
ways lucky in getting mine before
got across no mans land and over to
J
work went on He pulled up trouser
( leg and showed a recently healed bullet
hole through the knee cap. explaining
( that he had a duplicate memento in his
! hip.
Wounded, He Carries His Major.
"I never knew had that one in my
knee until twelve hours after 1 got
it," he added. MY major had a much
cd n i'm
altogether. In short spurts. Next morn
ing my leg gave way. But the major
| lost his"
| The talk couldn't be called an inter
view; it was friendly chat that took
! one from Flanders to the Dardanelies
| and back: disjointed, perhaps, out
| graphic and never bitter. 1t dealt
with falling Zeppelins, atrp1ane duelS,
the Joys of cat-napptng in full equip
| ment night after night, the monotonouS
| thrill Ito coin paradoxical phrase)
of nightly operations In no mans
land: the attempt to crowd forty
eight hours of resting. eating and
| sleeping into twenty-four when once
relieved from frst-line duty; the
/ prospect of lonesomeness to be raced
which owing to the absence or so
| many of New Zealands men. seems al
! ready to tinge a little the Joy OF home-
| coming; the ever-Waged warfare with
! varied vcrnin which do so much TO
I
| leisure and which mot only ore an
/ noying but keep chap as poor as a
| match; gas and liquid fire attacks, the
details of which are hard even TO listen
'I. has been said that If the United
| States should send ten thousand men
| to France this large-sounding force
| could hold Just about one mile OF triple
limo trench How true Is that7'
"on an Average, Yes"
The question was answered only after
considerable deliberation by the man
who has served in two warss
"On an average. yes. I've seen
trenches that q good bit fewer could
hold But I've seen mile stretches that
ten thousand couldn't begin to hold
One big attack one piece of bad LUCK
might wipe half of them out
| 1--WE saw one company go out TO an
attack" put in the fellow with the
! h-of-Scotlaud name. which num-
| bered 220 men. Just six came PACK on
their own feet New Zealand is send
| ing thousands Of men over every month
Just to fill up the constant gaps IN the
| a population OF one and a quarter mil
lion. in which women even before the
some 10000 men to tho 'front.'
About this time the waiter came.
bringing something he will not be able
to bring after November l next Well,
here's to the end of tho war" reInarked
the man who had always been lucky
with his wounds. May It end soon and
may it end right" And Auckland, N.
T.. and Washington, D. c.. Joined in
subscribing to this perfectly neutral
and absolutely non-committal toast
Gerrpe n Ronifoca nies.