AUSTRIA AND AMERICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16035, 29 September 1915, Page 8

AUSTRIA AND AMERICA.

AMBASSADOR WITHDRAWN.

DR. DUMBA CALLED HOME.

Washington, September 27.

Austria has agreed to withdraw unconditionally Dr. Konstantin Dumba, her Ambassador to America, because of his recent breach in fomenting strikes in American munition factories.

LIFE ON BELGIAN FRONT.

FISHING AND FORAGING.

POULTRY BEHIND TRENCHES.

The Daily Chronicle special correspondent in the North of France writes:—ln our admiration for the armies of the two great allied Powers in the west we must not forget the important part taken by the Belgian soldiers in the defence of the lines, which part will become of paramount importance when the great and desperate German attack on the Occidental front begins.

He who, like the hero of a fairy story, would have fallen asleep in Ramschappelle last November, on the banks of the immense silver lake of the floods, to awake only to-day, would find scarcely any changes around him. The floods, after having decreased and increased again, now occupy about the same area. They form an immense rectangle which, from the north of Dixmude to the east of Nieuport, covers about 10,000 acres. Its depth varies from one to three feet, but woe to the unwary one who ventures into these deceitful waters, for in the least suspected parts there are largo holes formed by shells which have burst, and those who venture there are swallowed up beneath many feet of water.

When evening falls one would think oneself transplanted into some tropical region, so abundant are the hordes of mosquitoes. Nevertheless the sanitary situation in this part of the front is extraordinarily good, and thus far nothing has justified the fears of those who anticipated the spreading of disease through these contaminated waters. With great method the Belgian medical officers have carefully destroyed the bodies of dead horses or men which floated on the surface; and now on all the Belgian front there are scarcely more than 30 men a day who require treatment for illness, and many of these cases are very slight.

Coming Winter Campaign. The Belgian troops face the probability of a winter campaign with perfect serenity.

Their dark blue or green uniforms Gave given place to khaki. All their various shaped *' kepis" have been replaced by khaki-coloured caps, surmounted by a black, yellow,.and red cockade. Up till now this uniform is perhaps not worn with true Tommy "chic," but the joy of the Belgian soldiers at finding themselves in khaki is child-like, and the change of uniform has assumed such importance in their eyes that the proximity of the German batteries is of secondary account. Even the officers have profited by the immobility of their front to vary the menus of their table. I know of some who are bringing up chickens behind the trenches and who make a daily round for the newlaid eggs, whilst others give themselves up to the delight of angling for the savoury carp to be found in the streams and canals which empty themselves into the floods.

Battles for a Farm.

The Belgians, little by little, with tie greatest perseverance, have succeeded in establishing their trenches on the north side of the flood, at distances which vary from their base from one mile to a mile and a-half.

Nothing is stranger than to see on the surface of the water little roadways of wooden planks, which are supported on piles, and are us3d for the reprovisioning of their outposts. The conquest of these new lines has given rise to heroic struggles. The famous farm of La Violette has been taken and lost several times with bloody combats. At this moment it is in the hands of the enemy. JLne Belgian trenches are 100 yds before the battered walls.

Each night witnesses also struggles between the advance sentries, who in the dark shadows of big trees and beneath the farmhouse walls stealthily attack one another with knives. These nocturnal surprises are dreaded by the enemy.