HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3195, 9 June 1915, Page 74

HERE AND THERE.

—Journalism in the Trenches.—

An interesting article on the newspapers being produced by the French and British, soldiers in the trenches is a feature of tha new issue of the War Budget. There are quite a number of them, especially among the Fernch —Le Marche ur du 88e, Le Cri de Vaux, La Voix du 75, Le Boilu, and many more. Some are printed, some, cydostyled, and some written by hand, .while they are of all shapes and sizes. But one quality they all possess in common ; they abound in gaiety of spirit and mordant humour. One, indeed, is called Rigolboche, which means literally “laughing at the Germans.” “A daily paper published very irregularly,” is the announcement of another. The most serious of these remarkable publications seems to be Le Poilu, which, though edited in the trenches, is printed in a neighbouring town. It contains the most recent news of engagements, literary articles, notices of the numerous camp concerts, etc., and, of course, a comic section dealing very trenchantly with the Huns. One sally runs: “A telegram dated April 1 announces that England, terrified by the naval blockade, has left its ordinary position between the North Sea and the Atlantic, and is being towed by its fleet to an unknown destination. Admiral Tirpitz wires : ‘Am in pursuit.’ ” Another paragraph represents an enthusiastic court official announcing the news of a great. Austrian victory to the Emperor Francis Joseph. “Not good enough,” replies the Emperor; “you must think of something better than* that for next April Fool’s Day.” —The Discipline of Fear. —

To cast doubts on the bravery of the German privates is, in my opinion, wrong (says Captain Herbert Maddick, sth Lancers, in “A Cavalryman at the Front,” in the Cornhill Magazine). They must be brave to come on in the attack, as they do in columns, to meet certain death. At first thought one wonders why they don’t adopt our open formation, but second, thoughts tell one the reason is that the German private cannot be’ trusted away from the immediate control of his officer. His discipline, unlike ours, is one of fear, and not affection, as with our men. Ho is a soldier by force, whether he likes it or not; while our men are soldiers from choice, and their profession is their pride. To sum up, in ray opinion, the great weak point of that really wonderful machine, the German army, is “conscription,” as it ruins the men. In a conscript army the majority of the men dread the time when they will be called upon to serve, and hate it the whole time they are serving, with the result that they only do what they are absolutely driven to do by the necessarily severe discipline.

The longest period or service with the colours is three years, and how much can an unwilling man be trained in tint time - ' The one thing he is thoroughly trained in is a hatred of his officers and n.0.0.’5, with the result that in war he does not trust them, and they don’t trust him. A proof, I think, of the weakness of the German army is the readiness with which they Err: encler, once they get separated from their next higher command, thus proving, to my mind, a lack of selfconfidence caused by the iron dicipline crushing out all power initiative. —The Twenty-six Fusiliers.— This is how some 26 British soldiers faced 5500 Germans after the. evacuation of Mons. The British forces reluctantly retreated. As they were only giving ground step by step, 26 Fusiliers entrenched themselves in a farm overlooking a long, straight road. They were in possession of several machine guns, and these they placed inside the doors of the farmhouse. “Now, boys,’’ shouted one of the 26, “we are going to kinematograph, the grey devils when they come along. This is going to bo Coronation Bay. Let each of us take as many pictures as possible.” As soon as the Germans appeared on the read and started attacking a canal bridge the Fusiliers very coolly turned the handles of their guns. The picture witnessed from the farm on the “living screen” by the canal bridge was one that will not easily be forgotten. The “grey devils’’ dropped down in hundreds. Again and again they came on, only to get more machine murder. At length they 7 thought that it was wiser to continue their march and leave alone the 26, who had for a considerable time delayed it.—From “The British, Soldier,” by the Eev. E. J. Hardy. (Unwin.)

-—Nature Notes From tire Trenches.— A contributor at the front sends to the Scotsman some notes about his observations of birds near the trenches. “We have,” he says, “a favourite blackbird, who sits up in the tree above us, and answers when the men whistle to him, no matter how heavy the firing may be. The crop of grass inside this dug-out is growing very long and'white, but otherwise there are few signs of spring yet. I see plovers flying overhead here sometimes. I was amused to watch two old magpies the other day. They wanted to cross over from this side to the berman lines, but every time they started to leave the row of poplars just below my shelter, there would be a crack from some rifle, and back they would turn, and perch again to chatter about it, until they had picked up courage to make another try, and then the same thing atouM happen all OA'er again.” The conduct of the magpies Ave can understand ; they are ahvays meddlesome birds. But why blackbirds should care to linger so near the lines is not so apparent.

—A Lesson in' Sociology.—

The great convict establishment at PrincetoAvn, on Dartmoor, which, it may not be known to all, Avas originally built at the beginning of the last century for the reception of the French prisoners captured in the Napoleonic Avars. But never again, it is safe to say. could such singular conditions arise as obtained in those days among the inmates of this grim place of detention. For the prisoners Avere allowed, within limits, a strange amount of liberty, Avith results full of instruction for the sociologist, inasmuch as the community soon began to reproduce in little all the phenomena of society at large. Thus, Avhile the diligent and enterprising waxed prosperous bv the mutual trading which was permitted, the lazy and inefficient went to the AA-all, the thriftless gambled, the criminals preyed on their feiloAVS, and generally there was supplied a most striking illustration of the fact that where human beings are concerned equality of opportunity is by no means incompatible Avith ultimate disparities of the most pronounced kind. —'Sons of the Manse.— Rev. Duncan Cameron, 'of Kilsyth, makes these notable statements with . regard to the sons of the manse and the war:—“Ninety per cent, of the sons of the Scottish manse are now serving in either of the two arms of the forces of the Crown. With very feAv exceptions all the manses of the Church of Scotland have given every aA'ailable son to the service of their country. Sons of the manse have returned from all parts of the Avorld to join some home regiment, and many sons are seiwing in the various Dominion contheir country. Sons of the manse have ahvays rendered distinguished service to the State, but never, in the long and wonderful history of the Church, has their devotion been so complete and so splendid as it is to-day.”