STORIES FROM THE FRONT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15823, 21 January 1915, Page 6

STORIES FROM THE FRONT.

TEE WASPS OF WAR. WORK OF DESPATCH RIDERS. GERMANS USING OLD SHELLS Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, January 19. 'A cavalry officer writes as follows:—"The motor despatch riders are tho wasps of war. They sting us into action. You are lying snugly between the blankets when you hear a rider snorting up the road with orders. The beggars always get you on the hop." He adds "The Germans are using old ammunition, some of the shells being marked 1892- Many fail to explode, and there is many a farmer will be blown up next year when his plough bumps into a buried live shell."

BATTLEFIELD COURTESIES. TRUCE IN ADVERSITY. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, January 19. A correspondent in the north of France says that when the floods washed out tho parapets of the opposing trenches the British and Germans, in full view of each other, repaired the damage without firing a shot. RUSSIAN STOICISM. IfIIVINE SERVICE UNDER FIRE, Times and Sydney Sua Services. London, January 19. A correspondent at the front in 'Poland says that the Cossacks on New Year's Eve amid fierce fighting held a religious service, but when the priest pronounced <( Glory to God in the highest" & shell struck the wall with a deafening explosion. Nobody stirred and a group of officers repeated in chorus the priest's words. The service was finished and tho battle resumed.

FIVE WEEKS IN HIDING. AUSTRIAN DESERTERS. London, January 19. Some Russian soldiers in Galicia opened the trapdoor of a chateau cellar, despite a warning not to do so, owing to " poisonous gases," and they found 200 Austrian deserters from Cracow who had been hiding there for five weeks. TO MAECI ON BERLIN. RUSSIAN DETERMINATION. Times and Sydney Sun Services. (Received January 20, 7.30 p.m.) London, January 19. An Englishman, who has returned from the eastern theatre, says that every Russian is bent on marching to Berlin. Judging from the conversations of officers and men they Jjfrill not stop; until theg get there.