Sidelights on the War

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 50, 27 February 1915, Page 15

Sidelights on the War

■Sir. John Kedmond says that 130,000 to 140,000 Irishmen are serving 'with the colours. Since the war began 54,000 have been enrolled. Merit tells quickly in the Xew Army. Cecil Tremayne joined the 14th Royal Fusiliers at Dover as a private eight weeks ago. I He is now company quartermaeter-sergeant. With the 643 men who joined during December, thee are now 0.35S Great Western tailwaymen serving with the colours, nearly half of them are from the locomotive departments. ■Having missed the first Canadian contingent, Mr. J. Peters, a bank clerk, of Prince Rupert, Canada, travelled over 7,000 miles to go to England at his own expense to enlist in the Canadian regiment. It may be estimated safely that 400.000 * trade unionists , are in the trenches In France and Flanders or training with the new Army or the Territorials at home, and never a word has been said about "trade union rates of wagee." In Berlin the average price of wheat per Imperial quarter was 4S/2 Jn August, 51/3 In September, and r*i'T> :n October. The " average price of British wheat in London was 36/6 In August, 39. 2 in September, and 3S/10 in October. A German subject has just been sentenced to imprisonment and loss of civil rights for a period of ten years on a charge of betraying bis country. According to the "Verwarts." he assisted thu Russians iv tlie'matter of provisioning. Tie su:3 of £11.000.000 voted for mobilisation expenses in the Second Chamber in Holland !« nearly spent, and will not be sufficient in any case if demobilisation is hot order;',! before April 1. The burden Is a heavy one for a nation of fewer than six million people. A narrative from "Observer." with the Indian Army Corps, states that, while the native troops have felt the hardship of the trenches iv the cold weather which has set in, tlie medical reports show that their '. average health is even higher than that of the DritiKli comrades-in-arms nho accompanied them from India. The "caisson." of which mention is so frequently made in war despatches, is the wheeled chest in which are carried supplementary supplies of shells for field guns. Each holds about 150 shells, and their capture is a welcome event—when it is the enemy's caissons which have been taken. A Russian Red Cross attendant describes In a letter home how he saw in the thick of heavy artillery fire a crowd of about fifty rabbits standing in the middle of a ploughed field, all huddled together and filled with indescribable terror. The writer Bays they were the most pathetic sight he has seen on the blood-soaked battlefield. What military expert, asks the "Gazette ie Hollande," ever dreamt that t¥e hand grenades of the Napoleonic wars -would again become favourite instruments of destruction,- or. that, side by side with these, the war would 6 ee the introduction of guns i so gigantic as to require thirteen traction engines to draw them? SHOT DEAD BY GBRMANS. According to the Xladrid correspondent ot the "Temp^ ,, several Germans were amusing themselves on the quay at Madrid shooting nsh with revolvers when a Frenchman passed by. It is not known what actually happened. All that ha s transpired, however, is that the Frenchman fell dead, with ■ bullet in the head. The Germans claim that the victim was shot accidentally. BEDOUIN WARFARE. The Bedouins, to be really troublesome, nnst tave changed their character since William Palgrave visited them. "The Bedouin (he wrote), though a terrible bragpart, lias at heart little inclination for tilling or being killed. . . . The Bedouin does not fight for his home—he has none: Bor his country—that is anywhere; nor his honour—he never heard of it: nor his religion—he owns and cares for none. H's only objjrt in war is a little thieving." A characteristic of the Bedouin soldier is a dislike for fighting at night. ESRO WITHOUT ARMS. A soldier wio lost his two arms early in the campaign was strolling the o'ber day near the Invalides, at Paris. Passers-by stopped to look at him with pity, but the eoldier smiled bravely until chance brought him face to face with General GallienL With tears In his eyes, the armless Hero stood at attention, and said. "I beg your pardon, general, but the German hogs left mc nothing to salute you with." "It is I who beg your pardon." responded the general, saluting the soldier. "The honours are due to you and to your comrades." WHY MEN DESERT. It Is quite true that there have been a few desertions from the new armies and the Territorials now and again. But yon mnst not run away with the impression that a soldier deserts in these fateful times because his heart fails him (aids the London correspondent of the "Daily Dispatch"). Far from it. The general character of some desertions that have taken place is very Tvc-ll illustrated by the following story of an officer whose battalion will now soon be going over. ODe of the men in his company joined in August and deserted in September. 'High and low we hunted for him, but withoat saccesa. Then one day recently they fcad a letter from him. He wrote from the ttas*. He explained that, seeing, no chance of getting oat to the front till the New Tear, he had deserted in order to join a Regular battalion, which, gave Mm the opportunity of getting at the Germans without any loss of time. TO SEE DYING MOTHER. Here is a little story which shows that for all his firmness and determination Lord Kitchener is very human. A Sunderland woman with five sons in the Amy lay dying. Her one desire was to see her boys again. Through the offices . of a local Salvation Army officer four of the Eone serving in England reached home within t.venty-tfour hours, their expenses paid by the authorities. The fifth son, however, was at the front, and there seemed little chance of the old lady's wish being fulfilled. But the Salvationist wired to the War Office., and back came a reply over Lord Kitchener's signature saying that if the son could be found he would be sent home. Afterwards came a wire to say that the man was on his way home, and eventually he landed In time to see his mother. The authorities had paid the wiole of his expenses, grven him seven days' furlough, and IV. ration money.

Th« dsye when the lew a had their own Fatherland are recallea by the special recruiting .poster issued in connection with the formation of the Special Jewish Battalion. It bears on it the shield of David. A report from Kieff states that a detachment of British volunteers from the ©on and Baku districts passed through Kief! on their nay to Archangel. (They hod decided to enlist owing to the raids on the British coast. The Germans have left a bitterness and actual hatred in Belgium which nothing c*n ever -wipe out. You ccc that lately they have been asking even for the domestic implements in houses—the hatchets and hammers, and screw-drivers and even for the pokers. What they fear i s a riot when they retreat. Napoleon's Old Guard considered twentyfive cartridges a reasonable equipment for a whole campaign. in IS7O-71 the German average consumption was sixty-five per man for the entiro war. .Many German soldiers fired 4,000 cartridges apiece iv the first month of this war. The Russian troops in East Prussia have found many civilians provided with gunsticks, outwardly resembling ordinary walking sticks. Hitherto "it has beeu somewhat of a mystery how the Russians marching through villages have frequently been shot in the back without the culprits being discovered. The German soldiers of the Landsturni (many of them grandfathers) have reason to be jealous of their French opponents Ac cording to official news in the French papers, the classes of the French militia of ISS7 and ISSS have been sent home, corporals and non-commissioned officers mii eluded. The war and the new conditions arising on of it are not only robb ing the typical Briton of his insularity; they are even transforming the habits of the birds Se agnlta are flocking in enormous numbers hundreds of mile, inland, attracted by taP numerous training camps and the good tiring to be picked up there. There is no niggardliness in France in the matter of recognising the brave doings Of men and regiments at the front Every day the newspapers throughout the couutrv "c filed with stirring records. In which names and rank are mentioned in full and the effect has been to *lr up an immense amount of popular enthusiasm. Disciplinary are freely emSIR E. CARSON'S OFFER. the d Us e tefv f C NOrth D ° Wa Reslment « -he Lister \olunteer Force at Bangor, Sir Edward Carson said the Ulster Volunteer Force were not only forming a division of 20.000 men for Lord Kitchener's Army, but their men were prepared to undertake the defence of Ulster. He had made the offer to tlie Government, and the nest step lay with them. ARMY CANTEENS. The new rules controlling the method of conducting garrison and regimental institutes provides that tenants or agents must hand over monthly to the commanding officer 10 per cent of the daily takings, or in the case of camps, where they have to supply canvas, etc., "4 per cent, in consideration of being permitted to hold the instituts. "PRODDED FOR FA." ■Infuriated -by the capture of his father, a fisherman whose trawler had been sunk in the North Sea by Germans, Private 1 Croft, h Grimsby man with the Lincoln Regiment, ie exacting revenge. A comrade invalided home says every time the Lincolns go into action Croft says, "Now to avenge the old man." After one bayonet charge Crott turned to his comrades, grimly saying, "I've prodded two for pa." "HAPPINESS" IN BERLIN. A prominent citizen of Windsor. Ontario, has received a letter from a business friend in Berlin, giving a cheering account of life there, and of the happiness of the people in spite of the war. The writer advised the recipient to preserve the war stamp affixed to the letter as a valuable souvenir. The stamp was removed accordingly, when on the space beneath the stamp was found written, "Don't believe a word I have written. It's all lies. We're starring." "FOR THE FLAG'S SAKE." Sergeant Charles Lindsell, of the 17th Lancers?, bns died at Croydon whilst home on leave. At the outbreak of the war he and five sons left good situations to join the Colours. AVhen the Parliamentary Recruiting Paper was delivered to Mrs Lindsell, who has five young children to look after, she sent it back inscribed, "I have willingly given up my husbanl and five sons for the flag's sake." Previously to rejoining. Sergeant Lindsell had served twenty-one years with his regiment. GIRL'S EFFORT TO ENLIST. When Alice Hodkinson, a domestic servant, aged 24, was brought up at Saiforrt Police Court charged with stealing a suit of man's clothing from Her employer, Minnie Abrahams, of Taylor Street, Broughton, it transpired she had attempted to join the army. Mrs. Abrahams found on December 21 that the girl had cut her hair short, and, leaving her own clothing behind, • had dressed herself as a man. She appeared to have gone to the Palatine Buildings to enlist, but did not enter the buildings when she was informed that she would be medically examined. Afterwards she tramped to Lancaster, where she was locked up on a charge of window-breaking. She was then In a very exhausted condition. A remand for a week -was ordered. "DEAD" MAN ANSWERS DOOR. Amelia Webber, a soldier's wife was fined 40/, with the alternative of a month's hard labour, at Willesden Police Court for obtaining money by false pretences from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Association. It was stated that she received 25/6 a week separate allowance but obtained additional sums of money by telling varying stories. The first was that she had to go to her husband, who was lying wounded at Folkestone. Afterwards, clad in mourning and weeping bitterly, she told the committee of the society that her husband had died, and received money to take the children lo the funeral. When an official visited the house, the husband opened the door and said he had not been to the front. She tried then to pretend the man was her I brother-in-law and not her husbanS.