ENTRE NOUS

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 948, 12 September 1918, Page 20

ENTRE NOUS

TTTF fighting in Siberia looks very much like the shindy at Finnegan's wake unless you understand what the various names mentioned in the cable news, stand for. At present there are several bodies of troops who, independently of each other, are operating against the Bolshevikis and their German friends and at the same time are in more or less alliance with "the Entente Forces. Of these, the best known are the Czeeho-Slovaks. They are patriotic Bohemians and Slovaks from Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and Northern Hungary who, during the Galieian campaigns, went over to General Brusiloff, offering to fight against their Austrian and Hungarian tyrants. At! a later date they were formed into a separate command, with their own officers and organisation, which maintained admirable discipline. Not only this but the Ozecho-Slovak Committee in Austria, which, has large national funds, took care to transport to Russia ample sums for the support of the Czecho-Slovak Army there. Thus they were able to arrange for trains ana to pay their way handsomely along the Siberian line, giving large prices for all the supplies they required, and finding an abundance of cheap provisions all through Siberia.

Them there are the Russian forces under Lieut.-General Horvath, who recently proclaimed himself dictator of the pro-Ally forces, but this dictatorship was not recognised by the Allies. In the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-5, Admiral Alexieff, who was Viceroy of Russians Far Eastern dominions, put General Horvath charge of the Siberian railway, and Horvath is now Vice-President and General Manager ,of the Manchurian railway, which, at the close of the Russo-Japanese War, remained under Russian control. It doe® not appear, however, that Hor r va,th has any considerable armed force'•

he simply tried tot seize, for his own ends, the military advantage gained by the Czecho-Slovaks. * ' . * * ■ ' #

Another fighting pro-Ally group in Siberia is the small body of troops under the leadership of General Semenoff. These amount, at the outside, to three or four thousand, practically all former officers of the Imperial Russian Army; not strong as a fighting force, but of immense importance if it should become possible* to reorganise a force of re-enlisted Russian soldiers in Siberia. General Semenoff and his force appear to be at present isolated from Eastern Siberia, beca.use the Bolshevist forces have destroyed all the bridges over the Amur, which is the southern border of Siberia.

Finally, there is Admiral Kolchak, who is another , aspirant for power. During thei war lie was in command of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, whose best ships have been delivered to the Germans and Turks by the Bolsheviki. Kolchak made his way to Siberia, and Tokio, and at the beginning of July was at Harbin. He is in at least nominal command of a small force, which includes Chinese and Japanese volunteers. The strength of the patriotic Russian and Ozecho-Slovak forces_ is now immensely increased by the arrival of the Japanese Army and the drafts sent by Britain and America.

Between their stunts on the fighting front the Sammies keep writing home vivid accounts of their baptism of fire, and many of these letters in the American papers makei interesting reading. The flying men seem to be particularly lively. One who belongs to the 7th Squadron, sth Wing, writes : "This is a. time for special stunts, and we are making the Hun look sick. The best stunt of all was my first raid on Bruges Docks. I never knew there was so much; explosive in thei world until I saw the barrage put up—high explosive, shrapnel, and flaming onions, not by the thousands, but by the millions. We got through somehow and the plane had a. few holes, but that's about all, except the feeling that going into enemy country and striking at the heart of his system gives one—it's glorious. Wei are going to start outting off the Hun's lines of C. by blowing off the map."

Another American bird-man lets himself go in this style: "I am back in Paris from the happiest time of my life. My month of fighting for the programme I believe in is exquisite. I went on every raid made while I was there, and to take part in the big push was an experience netver to be forgotten. The way we bombed their railwaylines, their rest billets, their ammunition dumps, and charged their massed troops! It was too wonderful for words. I was with the swagger night bombing squadron of the big British Handley-Pages, and in the day did some De H 4 work. . . . Three of our machines were lost my last night and my pilot was killed—only trip I missed—gee, what luck ! How we escaped the barrage. fire over (the best defended place in the world) is beyond me. They used to blow us out .of the sky and yet we'd get, back—say, was I born with a horseshoe in my mouth? Isn't that long-range gun a silly example- of hate? Well, we evened a few scores at any rate —the dirty swine!"

There was an unpleasant incident, says Melbourne "Table Talk," at a recent matinee iat the King's Theatre, which nearly led to a feminine fracas and effectually spoiled the enjoyment 'of the performance of "De Annie" for some people. The strains of the National Anthem brought the audience promptly to their feet-, with the exception of two women in the reserved stalls, who stubbornly sat fast. Scandalised neighbours at sides and rear urged them to "stand and honour the King," and received a nasty shook when one of thet offenders refused defiantly, with the remark, "I honour the Kaiser as much as the King." There was a momentary effort to hustl6 them to their feet and and an impulse to rush them out. But, unfortunately, there was not a Sufficiently militant female there; they happened to be just refined gentlewomen, and .the more sensitive in consequence. They had an impulse to report the matter, but scarcely knew how to> act. Evidently therei are still a good many Huns in Australia who are escaping internment.

Otoe of Sydney's prettiest girls who divorced her husband l some time ago is about to take a second chance in matrimony. And whom, think you, has she chosen for her second venture? Her divorced first husband. There's constancy for you.

The New Zealand National ~ Service League (of which Mr. F. Morris, of Masfcertym, is Hon. Organiser) is circularising the press and local bodies throughout New Zealand with the view of interesting them in its x suggestion that four Memorial Workshops be at once started in this Dominion as a national tribute to our fallen soldiers.

Its idea is that the. National Efficiency Board should take the matter in hand, the memorial to assume the form of a workshop' in each of the four civic centres at which disabled soldiers and sailors could be taught such trades as tailoring, furniture-making, ' basketware, shoe-making and repairing, etc.: one trade to each workshop. " a means to this end the League proposes that a fund of £40,000 be created (£lO, 000 for each city), the Government finding half and the other half to come out of patriotic funds.

The proposal contains much merit, and the example of other countries may be cited in support of it. ' Australia, is stated to have voted £60,000 for this very purpose. France is training all her disabled soldiers and sailors. At thei close of the South African War, Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops were started in England, where men capable of doing a little work could be taught a trade. This idea was carried out successfully for ten years, on a, self-supporting basis. At the beginning of the present war, the workshop scheme was greatly enlarged, in accordance with Lord Roberts' suggestion. Toy making was chosen as an experiment, and by the end of the first year over a hundred men were employed. The goods manufactured were sold at trade rates. By January, 1916, it was found that London alone could not deial with the number of men applying for work; so branches were opened in various parts of the United Kingdom. Basket-work, soap, porcelain-work, boxmaking, brush ware are now manufactured. About 1500 men are employed in the London factories alone.

A Canadian girl placed her name on a slip of paper in a' biscuit barrel, amongst som<3 Red Cross comforts. Ana an- Australian soldier found the slip with the name on. And he kissed it and wrote a letter of thanks to the sender. And that is all.

"Billjim," writing to the "Aussie," the Australian soldiers' magazine, reflates the following rather exciting experience:—During part of last winter, a cobber and myself were on detached duty in a Boehe-blighted possie. We dug ourselves in at the bottom of a high embankment over which the whizz-bangs used to ricochet off the thick ice like streaks of lubricated lightning in hysterics. One day we were sitting on top of the embankment chatting (vocally) when Fritz began to deliver our share of the daily iron rations. Presently, a whizz-bang ricocheted off the ice and screamed between us, just missing us by inches. We forgot the "cool, gallant Anzac" (vide Press) touch, and streaked for the dug-out with the velocity of hardworked meteorites trying to lower the world's speed record. After we arrived at the dug-out, I gasped: "Strath! did you heax it?" "Did I hear it?" ejaculated my cobber—"cripes, did I hear it! I heard it twice —once when it passed me at the top of the embankment and again when I passed it halfway down to the dugout!"

An "Aussie," from his dug-out in the front-line in France, drops a line to the Free Imnoe : ' 'I suppose you still have breakfast in bed on Sundays. I don't! Really this lifei is liable to get on a man's nerves terribly. The inconveniences) and hardships we go through would break a man's heart; yet in spite of everything we manage to keep in excellent spirits. Our boys have done wonderfully well lately. In fact, for the past few months we have had little or no rest, but the successful stunts we have taken part in bucks us all up. "I have only just returned from eight days' leave in Paris, where I had a wonderful time. It is a marvellous city. All the buildings are very massive and beautiful —and the girls! Well, they made a great fuss over the 'Aussies' and New Zealanders and are beautiful dressers. They are very chic and dainty; I couldn't describe them in writing, but will have plenty to tell you on my return to dear old Wellington." ■35- * # *■ Perhaps our local Bolsheviks have not heard this yarn relating how a French President received a deputation of Socialists. After having listened to them patiently, he said : "Then you mean that the whole; of the cash in the world should be equally divid-

Ed?" Upon receiving a reply, in the affirmative, he touched a bell, which brought in a secretary, whom he instructed to bring, in the figures of all the cash in the world, and also the number of the world's population. The deputation accepting the< figures, as correct, he instructed the assistant to divide the cash by the population, the result working out at 2s 9d per capita. He then further instructed his., secretary to hand 2s 9d to each member of the deputation. Bowing with, true French politness, he said—"Well, gentlemen, at all events you have/ each .received your share of this world's wealth!" Ha! Ha!

A private at Featherston Camp, wlio badly wanted 'a rest, paraded sick be- ' fore the medical officer. "I have a sor© head, a pain over my right 'temple, a stiff neck, a crook arm, something wrong with my legs, and-—"Wait a minute, old man," broke in the M.O. "It's not a doctor you want; it's a funeral!" Another • soldier missed the last leave train, and next morning was paraded before the Orderly Offices'. '"'lt's this way," he explained. "I just had two minutes to catch the train, and, as I got on the platform the band struck 'God Save the King,' so I had to stand at attention, and thet bloomin' train, went without me." Let off -with a caution.

Dear Free Lance, —Will you kindly settle a wager the loser, to pay a guinea to the Italian Red Cross Fund? I have bet B a guinea, that Mr. Tripp, our excellent Italian Consul, is himself an Italian product, and I have quoted in proof of . my contention the fact that his first namei is "Leonardo." Perhaps he may be named after the great Leonardo da Vinci. Now who wins, B or I?"— Tours, etc., Macaroni. [Our correspondent, "Macaroni,'* has evidently tripped over Mr. Tripp's front name, which is not ' 'Leonardo," but "Leonard O. H." He is of good Anglo-Saxon stock. Pass on the guinea, "Macaroni," to the Italian Red Gross Fund. It well deserves it. —- Ed., N.Z.F.L.] ■St « * * Hearken to what the poet Richard Le Gallienne has to say ; about that ■greedy rascal, the War Profiteer: Yet, if truth were told, the foulest Hun That pollutes the all-enduring sun Is not so vile as this carrion thing That gorges on human suffering & And rubs his hands, as the nations bleed, Cold to all other dreams but—greed. While your honest knave has no shred of hope, But he needs must swing on yon hempen rope; . Ihere s something wrong, something mighty queer— That we have no rope for the profiteer.

Far too long Have English-speaking tourists visiting Europe leant on Baedeker and his German-made guidebooks. Like the German exploitation of dyes, metals, sheet music and a seo-re of other things, the German made this_ line of guide-books emphatically his own. But the war has put the pot on Baedeker as it has on many another German. In London "Muirhead GuideBooks, Ltd.," are carrying out the very praiseworthy enterprise of replacing the familiar German Guides by something even better, .and we may now say "good-bye" to Herr Baedeker. Muirhead's handbook simply walks over all rivals 3 and should be as indispensable to every home as the family Bible i - 01 ? 1 * - grandfathers. The series, of which it is the first, "are issued with the aim of recovering for England heir xoimer leading position in guide-books . transferring to England a lucrative industry m printing, paper-making,, bookbinding, and map-making, and of relieving the traveller, whether at or a broad, from the suggestions or German taste and the judgments of German 'kultur.' "