SOMETHING ABOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 10 December 1914, Page 5

SOMETHING ABOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

FOOTBALL AND RECRUITING. A NEW ZEALANDER'S LETTER. I "' ' AN ELDERLY WOMAN'S HARD CASE. I « GERMAN INTRIGUE IN TRIPOLI. VIOLENT ATTEMPT ON ALLIES' j WEST FLANK IMPENDING. ■ MONOTONOUS LIFE IN THE [ TRENCHES. (Received Dec. 10, 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 9. The Times in a leader draws Berlin's attention to the declaration of loyalty of the Island of Niue, -which tells them somethi^r' pf the nature of the Empire which they were so confidently hoping to supersede. This was only one offer out of many from simple peoples who may know nothing about German culture, but do know something of the British rule. The Times suggests that professions? football competitions, which have a unique influence upon recruiting, should be replaced by matches between different units of the new army. A New Zealander at the front, in a letter, says his company of cavalry have been converted and given bayonets, picks and shovels, and have become very efficient in digging themselves dug-outs, which are roofed with branches and covered with earth. The floor is lined with straw, and the men lie close together, acting as warming j pans for each other to keep from freez- j ing at night. Some bombs from the \ German mortars make holes fifteen feet deep and twenty feet across, but luck- | ily none have struck our trenches. A woman, aged seventy-five, at the Westminster Police Court, complained that she had lost a sewing machine on which she had paid ten pounds in instalments over a period of ■geyeu years, but, her eyes failing, she had been unable to pay the balance of nine shillings. Her two sons had enlisted. The magistrate said the machine had been unwarrantly seized, and the machine must be returned. A serious situation is developing in Tripoli in consequence of German plots. Germany has seized two destroyers in course of construction for Norway. Private messages from Berlin declare . that the Germans are preparing a violent attempt to break the Allies' west wing. A correspondent, whoj at General JoftWs invitation, visited the French lines, states some parts of the line have become as monotonous as a city office. The fighting commences at 5.30 in the morning, and the men quit the trenches at 4.30. They walk openly along the line* to dinner at 11, and the troops on both sides openly distribute soup. The opposing troops near Rheims have become familiar, and call one another by Christian names.