Ewshott Barracks.
Fleet. Hants. England.
Aug. 10th. 18.
Dear Alex
I received your letter yesterday re matters of Shipping Coy. etc. It is a bit of a puzzle for me to know what decision to make in regard to me taking up shares; if I had been clear of the Army and in N.Z. I certainly would keep out of it as my chief desire is to get a piece of land of my own somewhere. but as I am situated now I think that I might just as well have the money which comes out of my Sawmill Shares into something that will return me a fair interest. and then there is such a lot of
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things may happen in the mean time that would prevent me attaining my desire in the matter of a farm or that kind of thing and besides it may be some considerable time before I see fair N.Z. again even with the best of fortune in the military department; so now, I have decided to accept those £400 shares in the Coy. and you may act on my behalf in the matter of voting & etc. The shipping business seems to me to be a pretty risky kind of thing these times I should think there would be some difficulty in the matter of manning a boat
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nowadays when labour is so scarce and then there is always the danger of raiders getting round to the Pacific. The Germans are pretty sure to attempt to do something desperate with their fleet before they are beaten. Things are looking much better at the front for the Allies just now but I suppose they will get a check again any time; I think that the American weight is going to tell though, in the long run and so it ought to with the numbers of her troops that is if counteracting disturbances don’t interfere. We met a number of these Americans in camp over in Sherbourg when
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we were coming through; some of them seemed a little boastful in such a way that some of our chaps took a slight exception to them; they said that there were 5 million of them coming over to straighten up this God-dammed tangle; as they called it and if 5 million couldn’t do it they would bring another 5 millions. It appears that the most deadly thing at the front just now is the Gas as it is used in so many different forms and they are very particular in regard to teaching us fellows the Gas Mask drill it seems that the Allies have an advantage over the Germans
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in the matter of masks which are made of rubber; the Germans can’t get rubber so have to use some sort of leather which is never quite Gas-proof and besides the chemical action of the Gas perishes the leather much sooner than it does the rubber at the front they tell us the fellows have to sometimes wear these masks for hours at a time and they must be very disagreeable we find them rather unpleasant to wear for only a few minutes perhaps I could explain a little more about these masks; they have always been improving the mask ever since its introduction the former mask was a cloth
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affair that pulled over the head and tucked inside the tunic it had a pair of gogles fitted to it and also a mouthpiece with a rubber valve to it for breathing out through by the mouth only, the wearer, breathing in by the nose through the fabric itself which is saturated with some neutralising chemical; these masks are only used now in the case of a helpless patient being brought in who isn’t able to hold the new pattern which is more complicated. This new mask, as I said is made of rubber it has a face piece with elastic bands attached which pass around and over the head, thus
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holding the mask tight round the jaw & forehead; to this face piece is attached a pr of goggles, a nose clip to prevent breathing through the nostrils and further down a mouth piece with a tube attached which leads down to & is fitted on to a cannister or respirator this respirator is carried in one side of a haversack which is worn in front of the body, the mask, when not in use is folded & put into the other side of the haversack; in the lower end of the cannister is a rubber valve to prevent the air from going back; inside the cannister is certain chemicals which purify the fouled air; thus the air is breathed in by the mouth through the canister & up the tubing to the (This kind of respirator is called the box respirator)
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mouth, the air is also breathed out by the mouth, there is a valve in the tubing which prevents the air going back to the cannister and just above this valve is another outlet valve for the bad air, so this is the up to date Mask & Respirator it’s supposed to be a great improvement over the old one in different respects. They are starting a series of Educational Classes in connection with all the Camps throughout this country and I believe also over in France. These Classes which commence here tomorrow are conducted in the evenings and there are five subjects which are to be compulsory namely:- English, History, Geography, Economics & Bookeeping.
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There are also other classes which are not compulsory. These are Sheep farming & Wool classing, Dairy Farming, Agriculture & all its branches, Building and Architecture, Shorthand, Accountancy & Banking, Law, Mathematics, Motor–Mechanics, French, Advertisement writing & Salesmanship. I’m afraid they won’t manage to get all these classes going very easily. The Wool classing & the Dairy Farming classes have already started; I am taking on the former class (I mean as a pupil). I had written to Anna about the time that I went on my leave to find out if she was still in the same place, had a reply yesterday she had just been on leave herself to Scotland & Ireland. I am writing Mary as soon as I can & tell her about my trip. Your affect. Bro.
inlaw. J Hall
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P.S.
re the matter of cabling to you I don’t know if it would be any advantage or not as sometimes they lay for weeks before being sent on, however I have no chance of getting out of camp this week, being on fire picket & there is no Telegraph Office in Camp so I will see next week if there will be any chance of getting a cable through in reasonable time; if it has to lie for a considerable time the letter would probably reach you as soon, remember me to Alex Moncur if he is still in Glenham I suppose he will be looking out another job now. I hope you have a successful wind up of Sawmill Coy. J. H.
