HUMOUR IN THE TRENCHES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2727, 23 March 1916, Page 6

HUMOUR IN THE TRENCHES

GERMAN. BAND PERFORMANCE. It's a poor trench that hasn't it's own reporter, and tho eleventh number of "The Grasper," the unofficial organ of the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Royal Fusiliers, is full of pictures, poeni6, and articles that reflect the ourod "grousing" 'which is Tommy Atkins's way of showing that ho doesn't mind the< risk so much as tha discomfort.

"It might havo been a very dull evening," writes one contributor, "had not Fritz provided us with a band which discoursed melodies on the seaside in England a couple of years ago. Possibly it will be objected that a German band is not so vory satisfactory a Boureo of excitement. But Fritz knows that his baud is not sufficient entertainment for us, so he lets us have a display of fireworks every quarter of an hour or so

"A German star shell is not only aa picturesque as a Crystal Palace rocket; it has besides a cortain amount or utility. You may utilise a 6tar shell in many ways. They are, for instance, distinctly useful as a help in spreading army bread with, army jam by meaua of an army knife. They are not to bo sneezed at as tolerable substitutes foi radium on one's watch." Here is one of several ' "Truthless Rhymes for Ruthless Times": — Two braiv Scottish laddies at Ypres Were harried and worried by snypres; Their tomentors to flummox, They crawled' on their stummox, And blew up a net of the vyprcs.