Sidelights on the War

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 15

Sidelights on the War

jiere are 1032 British, barristers on active ,fcri* 'SI? T- G ffi9on Bowles says, if left alone a. fieet could- mate a certainty of tie war. f-jje foEnation of a Sportsmen's Battalion Ctnads is now assured. The whole of the : rtjO men required will be enlisted in one , jjjit at a great meeting '■• flrer sixty years of agp, Prebendary W. E Burroughs, rector of Si. Peter's. Tiver--W is giving dally assistance in munition itJfe Bis two curates both attested under H Derby scheme. -"Corporal E. Doran. of the Empire Bat■yloß, Eoyal Engineers, a Minchester man, ;dilms to hold the -worlds "record' , for lnjitidcal recruiting, having in 11 months recruits ia London. :jHE IMPBBIAIi ANTHEM. ■„"" God save our splendid men— Bring them sife home <;. God save our men. ' :" " Send them victorious. ..1... Patient and chivalrous, -~'.," -They are so dear to us. '~;. God save our men. .WHERE ABE THE V BOATS ? •'-' jSpesking at a dinner at Holborn Restaurant of the British Hotel, Restaurant, and Oal)- Employees Society, Mr. Horatio Botacnley said Germany had sent out a hun- - jjca submarines to harass our mercantile juiine and terrorise peaceful citizens ou the teas. Everybody who knew the position tor Say knew that eighty-eight of those hun■dredsubmarines : were lying at the bottom of :flje'seai v OVER BY AUGUST T xliord Lonsdale. a personal friend of the Kaiser's, speaking az the annual meeting >«i!..t£e Rutland Agricultural Society, said ifisat le was averse from the? abandonment of-thte year's show, of which he is president- He hoped that by -August the war '.■would tie concluded, he said: in fact, he rff'as: firmly convinced this would be so. DBTINK OR BRTJGCtED ? ' jWten charged at Westminster with being ■'"tank and assaulting a policeman, a nonitiamissloned officer in the Australian Im--perial Force, said: "I reckon I was drugged. ■"Something ought to be done to protect our t»ys about Victoria.*' Captain Brown. Assistant Provost-Marshal, Oversea Continjeat, observed that a good many cases had come under notice of men rendered senseless \ ifter one or two drinks, and numerous rob-1 'Series had taken place. Divisional Inspector 'lishton said there had certainly been cases >f robbery reported, but the police had been .imahle to find evidence that soldiers had 'teen dragged. In the opinion of the police many instances of were due to .drinking raw, undiluted spirits, purchased 5 Thole bottle at the time. Mr. Horace Smith was sure the police had- done and were doing all that was possible. As the acensed bore an excellent character he was tonal over to come up ior judgment. A'TRAGIC PICTURE. Sister Hartin-Nieliolson. in the January "Pearson's Magazine," paints a very moving picture of the life at a clearing station near the firing-line. "I shall never forget that hall," she! ays. **We knew that the da"we was coming, for the murmuring ceased a little, and every now and then a flrfnl sigh -would tell cs surely that the vitality had sunk to its lowest ebb in this one hour when the Lamp of Life grows dim, and that quietly with a broken word—"Mother"—"darling" -some soldier heart had just slipped over the border. "One morning. I remember, our door blew open, letting in a ray of eun. It fell upon the heads co near the floor, making a glorious hulo round these gaunt faces, and I thought how prond their mothers or ■wives, their sisters or their sweethearts would have been of them if they could live seen the stoical endurance with -which they awaited their turn. "Passing in and out among the wounded 1 felt a faint clutching at my overall, and heard a still fainter whisper:— "Tor Gawd's sake come to mc neit, -N'nrse.' '"I'm only two away from you, Tommy, I E&an't be long." "A weary smile broke over the lad's begrimed face. ."'All right. . . -Say, 'are yer leen a bloke =wi red 'air, my regiment, "ginger-nuts." we calls 'im —pal of mine, he an' annwer chum, 'Awlrins, wae 'art Jtstarday, my turn to-day—l'-d loike to iaow 'ow they're a-doing! Shan't mind tt.is 'ell so nruch if I knows as they're orl right: , "I smiled, " They are both quite all right, so yon smstn't worry; just lie qniet and wait until 1 come to you. - . ."I did not think it wise to tell him . Cat his pals ' 'Awkins' and "Ginger-nuts' were, indeed, all right lying peacefully, •with folded hands and closed eyes, having "weaded their way Hon^.' , WAR HOSPITAL COMEDY. Wonnded heroes form many attachments to-English country towns. Some men glide .'.happily into one affair and let it ripei, but ■;fiere are others who drift along the plea6&nfc path to convalescence making a fresh wnquest every afteruoou. The tragic story of a bombardier illustrates the danger of laliing in love more than twice at the same tline (says the "Daily Mail"). The tire Bas glowing red in the recreation room of ■t hospital and the men turned lightly- to 'romance. Regarding the achievements oi -Mb colleague as mediocre, single-string -tffairs, the boastful bombardier described So less than fire simple maids who carried his photograph round the neck to buslmess. The other men appeared to be 'sreatly Impressed. They asked the names 'aid addresses of the lucky girls, and the "bombardier gave them with intense fer■*onr. Late at night tlie other men issued •fiye postcards inviting the maids to tea, *Bfl signed "Joe," the name of the bombardier. On New Year's Day the bom 'hardier, sitting by the fireside, was plea Mtly surprised to receive a visit. "Joe," Kid.the girl, "how sweet of you to asl •mc." Secretly amazed, the bombardlei 'oased her to the Ore and winked a triumphant message to the other men, whe *ood about apparently glum with envy ■ B at a horrible thing happened. Anothei "BM, bringing gifts aud tenderness, sud denly appeared. Two hearts the bombar toer was. fully competent to hold. Con ?er£ation became jerky when a third gir "rired, and when the fourth skipped in =*?■% blinding his eyes with ber hands asked him to guess who it was the boast All bombardier crawled away "to orde) taa: " He fled to the garden in a some ■PJut feverish condition. On the step t> l , Humbled upon the fifth attachment. "Dea> °W Joe," S h e sa id i "where shall we sftT tet's .go to the pictures," he answerei , 9nit Wy, it was getting too hot in tlia *am. The sequel is still maturing. Wild "JVtnrii comes the bombardier will no I ™nl; f rom rerurDing t0 tbc front.

ritanal \ ?*' *e nt * D «* V a military lavT«. m mOnt3lS ' fftr laving saad- that Germany had ■ stolen Bel L »m. and that if' wLrraiae °^W d iemer WOUI4 *">. «wtart2d! ■The Canadian soldier is paid m Der ■s compared wit* a shilling pailt' S «A troops, 104 to Italians. French, ; » to Japanese. Wto R ass h ns . IJd to ■ -r ans. 1 M to Turkish, and 3i d toVGerman : o:aiers. Oat of tie staff of nearly 30,000 men in *c service of the London County Council". :he numbers who have not attested are only »14 married and 252 single men. Already Jver 1 000 arc on war service. Undtr the ;roup system over 4000 married men and nearly 1000 single men attested. FIPnEEN TIMES REJECTED. A worker who appeared before the ' Metropolitan Munitions Tribunal stated that ie had no fewer thin fifteen Army rejection Morals. The representative of an i ron . company said that they were so badly pushed for men that they could not afford to di»:harge anybody. -Just now," he added, •we have men sent back from the trenches because we are so behind with the Governuent work." EIGHT SOLDIER GRANDSONS. Mrs. John Plaistowe, who resides with ler daughter at 137, Archway Boad, HighSite, lias reached the age of 100 years. Sirs. Plaistowe still enjoys' splendid health and full possession of her -faculties. She has a vivid recollection of many events in the reign of Kins George IT. Eight of Sirs. Pliistowe's grandchildren are serving with lie Colours. CHAPLAIN'S TRAGIC DEATH. Xdws lias reached ■ Southampton of the ieath under tragic circinnstances of the Rev. J. R. Stewart, whilst acting as chaplain of the forces in Flanders. Mr; Stewart n-as conducting a military funeral when, luring the service, an enemy shell exploded In the midst of the mourners. The rev. jentleman was killed instantaneously, and many of those in attendance were seriously wounded. TO A TREE. An incident which occurred lately shows the resource and bravery of some of our' onemy"s scouts. The GenrTan artillery was retiring, and from time to time coming into action. An officer of one of our Hank cavalry patrols had been standing for some minutes under a tree, when he noticed a fine wire hanging down close to the trunk Following the wire upwards with his eye he was astonished to see one of the enemy In the tree. As he drew his revolver and flred iae German dropped on to his head, also firing. The British officer was stunned, and when he came to it was to find himself alone, the peak of his ce.p blown away, and his uniform covered with blood which was not his own. SONG Ot , TEE ZEPPEXIN. "Zeppelia. Zeppelin, where have you , been?" "I've been to England, to vent German spleen." "Zeppelin. Zeppelin, what did you sesk?" ■'Araeuiils. aucKS—there my veugeauce to wreak." '•Zeppeiiu, Zeppelin, what did you find?" "This trip, I'll grant you, not much to my mind." "Zeppelin. Zeppelin, what is your gain?" "My bombs a few women and babies have slain." "Zeppelin. Zeppelin, i≤ that fair war?" "No, bat it's what we're for." . "Zeppelin, Zeppelfn. don't you look queer,!" "Yes. for I'm fatally wounded, I fear." "Zeppelin. Zeppelin—What'ho: and Whew*. The blessed thing's busted, blown up with her crew." DISHONEST SOLDIERS. , "A very serious offence, indeed," thej Westminster magistrate remarked, in sentecoing Leslie Pahl and John O'Connor, soldiers of the Australian contingent, charged -s-ith altering Army pay books with intent to defraud. Captain Brown, Assist-1 ant rrovost-ilarshal, regretted to cay that it had been lately getting a common offence. ' Australian soldiers were well paid, with 0/ a day, and the authorities presssd theie prosecutions. Staff-Sergeant Rush, of thfe Australian Army Pay Office, Horseferry Road, Westminster, gave evidence o* alterations made by Pahl over October, November, and December. When Fahl signed tor £15 he altered it in his pas' book to £10, the effect being to make it appear that he had more to his credit. In the case of O'Connor evidence was s'ven of one alteration only. Pahl was sentenced to six months' hard labour, and O'Connor to three months. CBtTEL, HEARTIXSS CASE. "A disgrace to the Colours." This was the Belfast Recorders opinion when paser ing sentence of twelve months' hard labour on a soldier named James Mills,. who hail pleaded guilty to a charge of bigamy. He bad never heard of a more cruel or heartless case. "Tou. a married man with four youqg children," said his Honor to accused, "courted this respectable girl with a view to marriage, knowing you cou}a not legally do so. You told lies before a clergyman and certain members ot the public. You Sot possession of this woman, and then abandoned her without warning. You sent her cruel heartless, callons letters saying you were sorry and that yon were, a married man " Prisoner, the judge pointed out, had previously been sentenced to ionr J<*g penal servitude for placing an- obstruction upon the railway. "DID IT FOR~THE RISK AKD EXCITEMENT." A strange defence was offered raldwell Young, tweuty-four, a eecomJSuantYn the Highland «£*££»• charged at Westminster with toetts..at in the officers- cloak room at the bawacM he saw Young plrtf up two parcels, re#4 the labels, and ™* off with «>e.PT<>P<?tyFollowed out of tlie barracte ««■•»«'* Young said, "I was expecting a pair ol slacks of my own. I think It.is a mistake. At Tone's lodsings Ter«ce, 5.W.. the detective found a prismatic compass concealed in a jack-boot. yoon f' formed of this, «Jd..'M.am glad you tonnd it. I was going to make a clean breast ° f Addressing the Court. Young :-**?*£ not know .what actuated him, •«£«« than the idea of "risk and. excitement "Tdon't'und-erstand that defence,".'said %i£S&* HSU for.«.-. -J* citement all my life. .1 am not in startled circumstances, and have no use for ™c things rtoot. It -as the excitement an ' T ou e canH'steal things^ ■<* i^^or^^ofineme.an,^ Lv and you are remanded in custody.'