THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15807, 2 January 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

STRANGE ASPECTS OF WARFARE WHAT THE KAISER SAID. " Well, there is my signature—it will undo the woik of 30 years," the Kaiser is said to have exclaimed to the Crown Prince after he had signed the declaration of war. CODE FOR LOVERS. Many husbands parted from their wives by the war, and sweethears similarly situated, have circumvented the censor by arranging a code in their letters. This code is based on a particular arrangement of the crosses (signifying kisses) which are characteristic postscripts of these epistles. It need, however, be said that these codes conceal no facts which would be of any assistance to the enemy. THE GURKHAS SATISFIED. When the Gurkhas were told they were wanted to fight in the great war they asked: "Shall we all be killed?" and the officer said " Not all." They inquired " Shall a great many be killed '! Ho replied : " Possibly.' Then they asked : "Will a hundred come back? ' ""Perhaps so." "That will be enough," they said, "our people will know that we have fought well.'' 'THE" PROFESSION HIT. " The" profession has been badly hit by the war. Countless artists are out of work entirely, many of the performers are on half-pay. and, in fact, one leading actor whose name is famous throughout Britain is in receipt just now of only £2 a week. His general salary is about £100 a week. He is accepting the ridiculous present figure so that the theatre may be kept open and a large number of bis poorer colleagues, stage hands, and others, be kept in employment. ADVENTURE WITH A PAINTING. A beautiful painting of Queen Alexandra has just had a surprising adventure. At the outbreak of the war this was in Berlin in the studio of Miss Alice Hughes. When she decided to return to England this was the i only one of her possessions she was able to bring with her, carrying it in her hand the whole way until the German frontier was crossed. Curiously enough, she was never challenged as to what it was she was carrying. Tue picture was painted by her father, the late Edward Hughes, always Queen Alexandra's favourite portrait painter, and a movement is now on foot to purchase this and present it to the nation. PRUSSIAN PLUNDERERS. In 1815 Wellington told Palmerston that " the Prussian Army started with double my force, but by the time they reached Paris I was as strong as they were, though I had received no reinforcements, and they had not lost any great number in battle. I brought 60,000 to Paris, and they no more. The system of individual plunder proved the destruction of the Prussian Army and their discipline "was so relaxed that their numbers rapidly diminished." "FIRE FIRST!" The immortal incident at Fonteuoy, when the French invited the English to fire first, is recalled by an incident in the fighting on the Mense. Ae Mezieres a French officer learned that a German patrol was concealed in the railway station. With his section he drove the enemy from their hiding-place and himself pursued the German officer, who took refuge in the engine-shed. The French officer entered the shed and brought the fugitive at bay behind a tender. By a sort of tacit agreement both men halted at a distance of some 15 paces and took up a duelling position. For a second they stood there covering each other with their revolvers ; then "Fire first!" cried the French officer, and the German fired and missed. Then the Frenchman's pistol spoke, and his enemy, shot through the head. It was in the grand old manner.