WAR NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 5

WAR NOTES.

A ROYAL RAILWAY PORTER. During a recent week an English railway goods yard was becoming so congested that the carriage of certain material was being delayed. Aristocratic Eton got to hear of the trouble, and about 500 pupils, accompanied by their head master, the Rev the Hon Edward Lyttelton, took train to the spot, snatching a, quiok lunch on the train en route. The work of loading and unloading trucks, heavy work at tho best of times for strong navvies, was cheerfully undertaken by tho boys. Among the working parties was H.R.H. Prince Henry, pushing and hauling with the best of them, and perspiring freely in the national cause. H.R.H. also joined lustily in the chanties which his squad improvised at frequent intervals, one of which ran "Working, working, always working." During the operations the young Prince managed, just ■ns a. boy would do, to get his fingers jammed. j 8 HOW RIFLES ARE TESTED. j Occasionally one reads that every rifle used by our soldiers is tested before i being passed as perfect, but few people know liotvlhorough these tests are. In testing cartridges, rifles are fired from ' a fixed riflo inside a certain small space on the target. ThifTis also, of course, one of tho tests for the rifle as well, j but in order to make sure that the J weapon will stand the enormous pressure—sixteen tons to the square inch—; exerted when it is fired, a special! "proof" cartridge is used, causing a| much higher pressure than usual. Every • rifle is tested for "rusting" in the i following way: All grease or oil is re- | moved with sodn, and tho barrel is j then filled with a strong solution of | sal ammoniac and allowed to stand in | a wet atmosphere for fifty hours. At th,« end of that time if the mount of , rust that has accumulated in the rifle j in any way .affects its working it is | promptly rejected. The dust "test is . even more severe. The rifle is nut in ' a powerful blast of fine sand for two , minutes. After that the bolt and other | mechanism must work properly or the; weapon is rejected. This test has to be passed with the magazine full and empty. !

WHAT ARE WEEPING SHELLS ? In several of the French bulletins recently it has been mentioned that the Germans have used lachrymatory shells. This long word only means " weeping," and that is precisely the effect of the shells when they burst, causing soldiers' eyes to "water" and so preventing them seeing properly, and firing their rifles. These shells, in all probability, contain ammonia and mustard oil, for these are the best known substances for causing eyes to water. The asphyxiating gasses used by the Germans also have the same effect, though not to anything like so growl a degree. The weeping shells, which give off a. bluish vapour when they burst, also attack ihe nostrils and throat and cause violent fits of sneezing, during, which, of course, it is impossible for a soldier to use his rifle. But there is a method of defeating the effects of flip shells, exactly as there is in the case for the asphyxiating shells, by means of masks with special ; glasses.

LABELLING THE WOUNDED. As soon as possible after action, and, of course, at times during its progress, the" "Hounded are attended by the dectors and taken awav by the R.A.M.C. men. When the doctor examines a wounded man, he provides him with the special label if be is seriously wounded. This label has a buttonhole in it by which it can he fastened to the soldier's tunic. On the label are written particulars of the wounds, as well as the vaine of tho soldier, his regiment, battalion and number. Round the edge of the card is a red border. Those men who arc not so seriously wounded are provided with plain white labels in the same way. So when the R.A.M.C. strecher-bearers come along they can tell at a glance which are the seriously wounded men, and these they collect first and hurry back as fast as possible to tho dressing stations, where they can be attended' to without delay.

ATR SCOUTS. When an aviator flies over the German lines for scouting purposes, he is generally accompanied by an observer, for it takes thek pilot all his time to look after his nraeliine without trying to spot !:oops and guns and trenches. The average aircraft man would ever so much rather be a pilot than an observer. So long as the latter is actually on the look-out. making notes of the enemy's position, things are not so bad. But the observer is helpless if anything happens to the pilot, and itrequires all his nerve to sit still and do nothing in some circumstances. For instance, a short time ago it was reported that a machine caught fire in mid-air. The ammunition of the machine gun that was carried was all the time exploding, but the observer could do nothing but sit still and hope the pilot would get to the ground before j both were burnt to death or killed by j one of the exploding /cartridges. In i another caso, a pilot was struck in the head by a bullet. Though a lot of j blood was spilt, the wound was only on tho surface". But when struck the | pilot let go the controls of the machine and put his hands up to the wound. Immediately the aeroplane started making a terrific dive, and the observer, looking ur>. was horrified to see the pilot with his hands over his face, and blood pouring from between his finders. He admitted afterwards that, until the pilot once more took control and righted the machine, he had as bad a time as he ever wished to have.

BACK BADGES FOR OFFICERS'. The coloured badge which many officers are now wearing in the centre of their back, just below the fold of the collar of the tunic, is to enable the men to easilv recognise their officer on the field of battle (says''a Home journal). The badge, which is usually A - shaped, about two inches deep and one and a ball' inches across the top, and composed of ribbons similar to the regimental colours or the facings of the full dress uniform, is only worn by officers home on leave from the front or just about to go out. The fact that British officers load their men, and do not drivo them as the Germans do, and the fact that officers get rid' of all distinguishing marks as soon as possible after reaching the war zone, made this badge a necessity, and it has the advantage of lending no aid whatever to the sniper. Officers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, when on active service, will have to sacrifice their cherished "flash"—five pieces of black ribbon which hang from the collar between the , shoulders, to make way for this distin- | guishihg badge This "'flash" in the same wav as the sailor's collar, was worn in'the day when infantry regi- , tnents wore their hair in a plait: heav- , ily greased and' powdered, to prevent the greased queue from spoiling the uniform, and when long hair and wigs . disappeared from the Army an order. ; dated November 28, 1834. was issued grantinsr nermission to officers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers to retain the "flash" as "a peculiarity whereby to mark the dress of that distinguished regiment." LIME SALTS FOR SOLDIERS. The remarkable results obtained by tiQ Garman physiologist* Emmerich

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i and Loew, in their elaborate and ex- ! tensivo experiments with calcium salts as a factor in the diet of both men and J animals, have aroused much attention |in the past two or three years. Tho | lavourable results derived "rem tbe use j of definite doses of lime salts are asI eribed to the fact that calcium is an essential element which enters into the structure of the cell nucleus of both animals and plants. Thi3 is why such marked debility is formed where this element is insufficiently provided. fDr Loew has recently been continuing his studies of the subject with reference to tbe use of calcium compounds in the j duct of soldiers, whether wounded or well. In an article contributed by him to the illustrated' medical . journal, '■ Hyg" (Munich), he declares that iime is peculiarly valuable in the diet of soldiers in the field, since its presence in the cell nucleus in sufficient amount increases tbe organism's power of resistance to the chills and colds that are so oftan the starting point of 6erious maladies. He maintains that lime 6alts in propar form and quantity work : actual miracles. Among the wounded' not only were injuries to the bone healed far mo-e rapidly when the diet included a daily addition of - two to three grammes of crystallised calcium chloride or three to four grammes of lactate of lime, but such addition usually hastened recovery in cases of other wojnds not affecting the bones. He recommends that at least "calcium bread," which is already much used in Germany, especially in Bavaria <ir South Germany, should' be substituted j for ordinary bread in the rations of j soldiers engaged in active service. The ' manufacture of this bread can be much simplified, it is stated, by the use of j the so-called calcifarin flour. This is a compound of calcium chloride with flour, a sort of double compound which does not become damp when exposed to the air. In making the bread it is only necessary to mix 5 per cent of tho, " calcifarin " with the flour.