Sidelights On The War

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 41, 16 February 1918, Page 15

Sidelights On The War

The number of men being served by American Red Cross canteens in France in November last -was more than 15,000 a day.

The Malay States have contributed 1000 officers to the British Army and Navy one Dreadnought, 30 to 40 aeroplanes.' and =£2,000,000 war loan.

Allowances to the British-born wives and children of interned enemy aliens cost £3,000 in 1014, £07,000 in 1015, and £130----000 in 1916.

GEKEKAL'S NINTH WOTJND,

Brigadier-General Carton de Wiart, V.C., D.5.0., is again reported wounded. He has now been wounded nine times altogether, six times in the present war, twlce in South Africa, and once in Somaliland. In Somuliland, where he won the D.5.0.. he lost an eye, and in the early fighting near Tpres he lost his left hand. In September, 101G, he gained the Victoria Cross.

ABSENTEE V. POLICE. For two hours v soldier nt Bristol kept the police at bay when they endeavoured to secure him as an absentee from the Army. He climbed on to the roof uf a house, and pelted the ouicers with bricks and othc-r missiles. Then a fire escape was brought on the scene and the capture effected. The prisoner v,-as carried off to the police stailon on the fire brigade's engine.

BISHOP'S SON ■WOUNDED. Chaplain to the Forces, son of the lßshop of Liverpool, has been wounded while ministering to the wounded and dying on the field. Despite his -wound. Major Chavasse continued his work. Major Chavasse was the eldest son of the bishop and twinbrother of Captain Noel Chavasse. T.C.. M.C., -who was in the R.A.M.C.. ana died of wounds received while attending to the wonnded.

HEROIC BUGLER. Charles Tirumins, Beresford Road. Gilllngham, fifteen years of age. went into action with his ship in a recent tussle, and as bugler sounded the alarm. The Admiral has written to his mother:—"This was h!s last act, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. We buried him at sea at night on Sunday, and sang "On the Resurrection Morning.' In a few days I hope to send you his bugle." Timmins' father was also a Royal Marine, and went down -with the Hocue..

GERMANS' BITTER HATRED. A few weeks ago. when our Northcountry infantry made their magnificent attack on Bourlon Village, some of the German officers refused to surrender to the accursed English, as they called us. ■writes Mr. Philip Gibbs in the "Dally Chronicle." Two of them blew out their brains rather than be taken prisoner, ana a non-commissioned officer committed harikari before our men by thrusting a bayonet through his entrails. That Is proof of the bitterness with which these Germans are lighting.

THE SOLDIER'S CHANCES. Here are some interesting figures, based on data in possession of the military hospitals commission in Canada. Allowance should be made for the very heavy toll exacted from Canadians during the early stages of the war, when there was considerable blundering and also the handicap of fighting ugainst almost overwhelming odds. The boy vrho goes to the front nas 29 chances to come home as against one that he will be killed. He has OS chances to recover from a wound as against two that he will die because of wounds received in battle. There is one chance in 500 that he will lose an arm or leg. It is wars. Only 10 per cent of the Canadians resume their former occupations.

A 'V.C. - ' AND H3S VALOUR. An ex-Oordon Highlander, who went the "whole hog as a bogus hero, was before the Carlisle magistrates, when it was stated toria Cross. Distinguished Conduct Medal. South African War. and four Wound Stripes. Accused. John Allan, aged 32. has servpd from lfiOS to June, 1915, in the Gordon Highlanders, lint had only served eleven days with the army in France. The police said the man represented that he had performed the most astonishing deeds of valour. On the plea that he was going to Carlisle Castle to attend a rehearsal in preparation for the presentation of his V.C. by the King, he had been allowed time off from his work. It was also suggested that a subscription should he raised for him in recognition of his bravery and sufferings. After be was arrested he admitted he was not entitled to wear the decorations. The Bench characterised the prisoner's conduct as most contemptible, and passed sentence of three months. GERMANY PURSUED BY BELGIUM. No matter how it dodges and doubles on its tracks to escape, the German Government is pursued remorselessly by the fatal consequences of its initial offence in marching its armies through Belgium. It was an offence whicn could not have been committed by any Tower whose rulers

■were not planning an ajt:rressiou dangerous to the security of the rest of the worla.

It -was the beginning, ronsequently, of a train of events which little by little has marshalled practically the whole ot the civilised world against Germany. The submarine campaign waR the direct result of the violation of Belgfnm. because the German Government was compelled by its moral isolation to seize" any weapon which offered a chance of victory. The enemies of Germany are not unreasonable In Insisting on thp impossibility of negotiation or of reconciliation without a repudiation of the offence nnrl of its perpetrators.— "The New Republic." PHOEOTX VILLAGES OF FRANCE Two French societies, "Le Village Rt constitue" and "Les Villages Liberes," are engap-ed in the work of reconstructing tn t . destroyed or deserted villages of France. In thp case of places which have been destroyed or partly destroyed, says Reut.er the first of these two societies constructs a large wooden hut near each village, where the inhabitants who have returned to the ruins of their homes may find dininc-rnoms. Infirmaries, and storerooms for their use pending the reconstruction of their cottages. The principal architects of France are giving their services ro rebuild the villages, where possible, on the same sites as before, and to retain all the characteristics of the neigh-

bourhnod. while British societies are sending out fniit trees, vegetables, and poultry for the inhabitants. No fewer than eight thousand fruit trees, and fifty thousand • alihaze plants were sent to France in one Wfrk for the villages that were under German domination.

i Brigadier-General Koland Boys Bradford, V.C., who was a lieutenant-colonel at 24, and was promoted brigadier-general at 25, being probably the youngest officer of that rank in the British Army, has been killed in action.

ETON'S WAR RECORD. Of 5.423 Etonians on active service 921 have been killed or died of wounds and other causes, and over eleven hundred have been wounded or are prisoners or missing. Nine have been awarded the Victoria Cross, 353 the Military Cross, 204 the D.5.0., 234 foreign decorations, and 1,103 mentioned in dispatches.

BREAD RATIONS. Bread rations to civilians in belligerent and neutral countries to date are as follows:—Sweden, Id ounces; Bulgaria, 10 ounces; Denmark, JO ounces; Germany, 9 ounces; Austria, 0 ounces; France, 8} ounces; Holland, S ounces; Switzerland, 8 ounces; Italy, S ounces; England (families), S ounces; England (restaurants), 7A ounces; Turkey, 5 ounces. Bread is made in Germany of flour containing 04 per cent of wheat; in Austria the flour is 00 per cent, while S3 per cent is used in France.

GERMANY'S TRAVEL BAN. The German railway administration. In addition to having increased passenger fares by 00 per cent, announces its Intention to restrict passenger traffic still further by imposing a supplementary charge on tickets for Sundays and holidays (says the "Central News" Zurich correspondent). As a result of this new measure any civilian travelling by express train on Sunday will have to purchase four separate tickets —the ordinary one, the express train ticket, the express supplementary card, and the Sunday extra charge ticket. THE ADMIRAL'S BLUSH. Renr-Admlrnl Ilalsey, when opening a new Sailors' Rest in the East End of London. H-ns greeted by a seaman from one of our submarines. The sailor went to the Admiral and put out his hand. The Admiral smiled, 'shook hands, and said. "I know your face. Weren't you with mc In Australia?" "Yes, sir." replied the sailor. "In you are a man, Kir, and always treated ns like men, too." The Lord of the Admiralty smiled, and actually blushed. "Thanks for the testimonial," he said, "one of the best I have ever had."

HUN IN AMERICAN ARMY. Sentence of death has been Imposed by a court-martial on an enlisted man of the American Army in the United States, on his conviction of desertion, with intent to join the enemy forces. It was learned nt the War Department, however, that officials are not satisfled from the evidence adthe enemy was established. The trial court has been asked for additional information to clear up this point. The soldier In question is of either German birth or descent, it is understood, although the details of the case, including the name of the prisoner, are withheld. The sentence of the court martial will not be executed until approval from Washington has been rethe face of the enemy.

"CAN BEAT THE BOCHE." Sir Jolin Lindsay, the Town Clerk or Glasgow, has received a letter of recent date from a friend of his—a colonel of a Glasgow regiment now engaged In France— in which he says:—"As 1 write the cannonade is terrific—— ttie heaviest I have ever heard—and in these two years the sound is familiar, and I don't exaggerate when 1 say the earth trembles. We are not dismayed by the Russian chaos or the Italian titanic struggle must De determined here, and that we can boat the Boche on this front. At the moment he is desperate. Of course It will take time, but 1 am confident of the ultimate result."

A VOICE FROM THE FRONT. A man from the front remarked in London the otner night: "How wonderful to see everything upstanding and in order. You have no Idea what It means—how it

gets on one's nerves—to see everywhere destruction, houses battered to bits, vast holes in tils countryside, trees and hedges torn to shreds—horrible, wanton, stupid, devilish destruction. Here everything Is as it was, and ever will ne. The effect Is extraordinary. Not even yet does the British public quite sense the meaning of war, even though Its sons are In It. There If

some flummery going cm, aud the stay-at-homes are continually titivating themselves with buttons and what not to show how bravo and busy they arc—at Whitehall or somewhere at a safe distance from the front. Unless you have been out you will never understand the full, dreadful meaning of modern war." ZEALOUS CHINESE DEMOCRAT. Fighting somewhere tn France in the United States Army is the Brst fullblooded Chinese ever to have worn the uniform of a United States Regular. He Is Roy 1". Quil, of Pittsburgh., member ot the Presbyterian Church, and son of a well-to-do business man who has remained a follower of Confucius, although he did not oppose his sou's accepting Christianity. Young Quil was Immensely popular in Pittsburgh. When the existence of the Chinese Republic was threatened, Quil appealed to the youth of Pittsburgh to "help save a sister republic." He believed his efforts to raise a. regiment of American boys for service in China would be quickly successful, aud he cabled the Government at Peking to the effect that he was preparing ■to cross the Pacific with a regiment ot American volunteers. At the time he was a non-commissioned officer at Ellsmere Guards, a Pittsburgh military organisation. Quil called bis fellow-cuardsmen around him and harangued them as follows: "Fellow soldiers and Americans: As you know, the life of the Chinese Republic has been threatened. China is a sister republic of who will follow mc to China and flght for the preservation of our sister republic step forward." No one stepped. The guardsmen told Quil it was out of the question. "And you fellows are brother Christians!" shouted Quil. "By ginger, I thought you would fall mc when the test came." Quil went through Pittsburgh tryChina. Everywhere he met with failure. The other day a letter came from Qnll to a Pittsburgh friend. "Tell the boys,- ,- he wrote, "that I did not fail them, l

wanted to raise a regiment for China when China was in need. No one would go! When America was in need I went forth as a private. If an American fellow cannot fight for China, now he has the opportunity to fight for America. Come on, fellows. Don't be slackers! It's all for democracy's sake, whether In the name of China or in the name of the United States."