WAR JOTTINGS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15116, 4 November 1914, Page 7

WAR JOTTINGS.

NEWS AND NOTES FROM

VARIOUS SOURCES.

An old resident of Wellington, commenting upon tho impatience of some people at the comparative paucity of tho war news during tho past few days, states that they ought to have been in Wellington at the time of the Crimea, when tho war news arrived six and seven months after the events took place. In 1855-6 there were no cables or telegraph lines, and all tho news was brought by sailing vessel, either direct or via Melbourne. As there were a great number of sailers then trading to Melbourne, a mail service per schooner was instituted between that port and Wellington, and it was the schooner Marchioness (Captain Kreeft) which brought to Wellington the first news of the fall of Sebaetopol. It was announced in an altogether novel mariner by the schooner arriving in port with the words "Sevastopol Fallen" painted in large letters on her side, an announcement which naturally caused considerable excitement in tho town. j

Heading in the casualty lists the names of so many Soots Guards men, I am reminded (writes a London correspondent) of a scene I witnessed at Waterloo when many of these brave men were entraining for the war. They had been played to tbo station by the kind with the unfailing "Tipperary," but after the band had ceased something more characteristic of Scottish soldiers wore heard. Someone at the far end of the train began "The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond." the old Jacobite song that told of war and eternal parting, and it spread 6lowly down the line, at each carriage till tho whole train was singing j it. At such a moment the pathos of the words and tho lament of the tone (hackneyed though they might be in other places) were inexpressibly touching as the wives of the soldiers wh.o wero there in numbers with their infants joined in the chorus — You'll tak' tho high road And I'll tak' the low road. And I'll bo in Scotland before ye; But mo and my truo love Will never meet again_ On tho bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. It reverberated in slow waves through the station. A number of tho men wero reservists and men who had rejoined tho colours, and so there wero more wives and children and more hard partings than I have seen at other departures during the great war. But the men were obviously eagerto be ofl. Most of them were in high epirits. One who wished to pay his respects for the last time to the refreshment room was pulled up short with the words. "Go if you like, but you'll not get back, and bang goes your chance of fighting the Germans." ' That terrible threat was enough.

An interesting find was made upon the beach at Apia. Samoa, by a ser'ieant »;i' the D Unttery with the garrison force. In a letter to his relatives in Wellington the sergeant states tuat hi? was shovelling up some dirt on the beach on the 7th instant, when his shove! ran through a pacKet containing revolver ammunition. "This being so unexpected.'' he proceeds. ".I became very cautious and began to dig further. For two or three minutes I unearthed nothing else bnt ammunition and then ran into a six-chamber modern revolver. I continued digging, but found no TOore." The revolver, he adds, was evidently placed there by some Germans quite recently, as it bore no s ?n of rust, and he thinks it was tho hist "plant" found in Samoa. , Definite information received from an authoritative source enables mo to state <!>ay6 the Dublin correspondent of the- "Standard , ') that German emissaries hare arrived in Ireland to-create •

trouble for Great Britain by inciting tho Nationalist population to open rebellion.- These machination* are controlled by four German officers, who havt> made- a special study of Ireland and the Irish qmv>tion, ami who speak excellent. English. Tho German plan of campaign against the English, ;vs elaborated long before tho war, included an attempt to organise civil war in Ireland, and tho Gorman General Staff with their wonderful methods douched those officers for this parrkmiar purjxiso in i;\V>. They are insisted by a number of Irish-Americans, who have come over from New York as paid agents of Germany. They are well provided with money supplied to them by tho Gorman Government. At present thoy aro fooling their way, with a view t<i more definite action when the ground has been cleared.

Afternoon tea in tho trenches is described by a British soldier:—'"Yesterday we had a whole dny of it in tho trenches, with the Germans firing away at us all the time. It began just after breakfast, and wo were without food of any kind until wo had what you might call a dainty afternoon tea in the trenches undor shell tiro. The mugs were passed round with the biscuits anC the 'bully' as best they could by tho moss orderlies, but it was hard work gotting through without getting moro than we wanted of lead rations. My next-door neighbour, hi to speak, cot a shrapnel bullet in his tin nui-r, and another two doom off had his biscuit ehot out of his hand when ho was fool enough to hold it up to show it to a chum in tho next trench."

Perhaps one of the best of tho stories j told by wounded soldiers is the following, from a wounded private of the Connaught Raiij-ors (says the "Suii!dard"). The stoiy is repeated in the exact words used by the simple-minded Irish p° asa,l t h I, L without any attempt to imitate the delightful brogue or ii.ore j than a few absolutely necessary grammatical corrections: —"Sine, and it was ] tho grand game wo had entirely, and I wouldn't have missed it for lashings of ! money, lt. was near to Cambrai when we had our best time. The Germans kept pressing our rearguard all the timer, and at last we could stand it no longer, so the word was passed round that wo were to give them hell and all. They kept pressing on and on in spite of our murderous fire until thero was at least five to one, and we were like to be cut off. With that up got the colonel. 'Rangers of Connaught,' says he, 'tho eyes of all Ireland are on you this day, and I know you never could disgrace the old country by letting Germans boat you while you have arms in your hands and hearts in your breasts. On. then, and at them, and if You don't give them the soundest thrashing they ever got in their lives yon needn't look mc in the face again in this world or the next.' And, by God, we went for them with just what you would know*of a prayer to the Blessed Mother of our Lord- to bo merciful to the loved" ones at home if we should fall in the fight. Wo charged through and through them until they broke and ran like frightened hares in terror of the hounds.". i

Mr Frank Nut-tall, employed as a mechanical export by Dalgety and Co., Ltd., in Hawke's Bay, and whoso parents reside in ChristcJiurch, went to England with one of the firm's managers. On tho outbreak of the war ho joined his Majesty's Royal Flying Aeroplane Corps as a mechanic, and when the ma.il left was waiting with the Second Division the order to follow the First Division to tho front, where the British airmen have sinc-o dono such good work.

Writing from London a correspondent of an Australian paper says: — 'The Famiiy have dispensed with all pomp and circumstance. Their Majesties spend o»ery day giving the proper lead to the multitude. This afternoon they arrived at the London Hospital, which is in the very heart of unkempt Whitechapol, and there they walked from bed to bed to give cheery encouragement to 300 of our wounded heroes. The poor 'fellows, despite their maimed limbs, made pathetic efforts to salute King George, and his Majesty immediately let them know that these symbols of sovereignty were not to bo honoured for the present. They have been into each hospital in London which is housing the wounded, and have warmed the hearts of their people by their affectionate sympathy. Every day the King receives despatch boxes from the front. Lord Dalme,ny, son of Earl Rosebery, is the principal uuspatch bearer. I recollect watching his plain, wan, rather vacuous face at the Carpentier-Smith fight, and wondering how he justified Ids existence. Hβ has turned the tables on mo. Whilst tho King is following the fortunes of the field, Queen Mary is stimulating the myriad organisations which have been constituted to- soften distress. She has been responsible for a noble movement which is 'to provide employment for as many as possible of the women of this country who have been thrown out of work by the war.' The response has been worthy of tho author and tho object, and hundreds of thousands of women are to-day calling tho name of four Queen 'blessed.' " I

With the object of raising funds for the Camberwell motor ambulance, to be presented to the secoud Expeditionary Force, a series of lecturottes were given in the Canterbury Theatre The- food factor in -war was lucidly explained by Professor Osborne. It was, no said, as old as warfare itself, and had not yet been thoroughly solved. He reforred to the reticulation by railways, which allowed much greater masses of troops &o bo moved and supplied. It was known that once a force of men was on the march, particularly in a hostile land, the food difficulties wero practically insurmountable if tho force exceeded a few hundred thousand men. Each soldier carried two clear days' rations, with daj's' supply immediately following in two divisions —yet when it was learnt that it took 38 motor-lorries to suffice for four units, or lb\ooo men and 4000 horses, it -was Been what an important factor the food problem wa-s. lie then paid a tribute to the motor-vehicles for uso in war-time. Unquestionably, tho motor transport-car would be an outstanding feature of the campaign. It was less picturesque than the aeroplane, but probably would be found to be more serviceable Proceeding, he dealt with the dietetic phase, disputing tbo extraordinary statement that tho Japanese, in the recent war with Russia, did the work on rico; on the contrary, they had a vory liberal ration of meat. The food to be supplied to the Foldiere in the present campaign would have to be of tho best. Preserved food they would have, but theory- prescribed that if the troops were to bo kept in health thov must secure fresh meat and fresh bread, with oven vegetables added. Jam, ako, was greatly used in the British army, because of its hip;h enerrtv value, and as it setfmed to have the health-giving qualities of fresh fruit.