CIVILISATION IN DEBT TO BELGIUM.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 15 October 1914, Page 5

CIVILISATION IN DEBT TO BELGIUM.

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES

"AN ODD EXISTENCE."

THE KAISER'S PRIDE IN HIS

ARMY

(Received Oct. 15, 10.30 a.m.)

LONDON,- Oct. 14

The Times, in a leader, says the appeal on behalf of the refugees heeds no recommendation. Belgium is more than ouiv ally. She has-been brutally ravaged because she kept her' word to us and to civilisation, and every nation that would suffer by German supremacy, namely, every civilised nation in ■the.world, is in.her debt.

A London firm has received an order for a million khaki overcoats for Russia.. ■ / ' ..' .... .- ■ •■.

Extensive. insurance against damage by bombs has been effected in London at 2s 6d per cent, on dwellings, and 5s per cent, .on premises in congested areas.

Lieut.-Col. Sir William Kay, a Maori war veteran, is dead. . .; ,

It is stated in Amsterdam that the Germans lost 45,000 in the "attack on Antwerp.

An officer in the Aisne trenches

writes:: ''We 'have been here for ;ten days -in a . line like rabbits, digging ourslves deeper and deeper, till com 7 pletely sheltered,: and coming put now and^then when it is quiet fto cook and eat. We don't wash or change bur clothes, and sleep at odd times. It is an odd existence. Little holes with.a parapet and just big enough to sit in are our homes, with straw or perhaps sacks for'warmth on cold nights. The most intensely cold moments are when in a night alarm we spring from sleep and stand shivering/behind the parapet, peeping to see the enemy firing and the flashes of their rifles." '

ROME, Oct. 14

A message states that Vollbehr, the painter, has just seen the Kaiser. He describes the Kaiser as being in- the highest spirits, and his pride in his valorous army is so great that his. eyes are phosphorescent with happiness.

The Mayor of Weitar states that the Kaiser, addressing the troops, said: "My hoys, the leaves are falling, hut we shall return to our beloved homes."