WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13698, 31 May 1915, Page 9

WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

LAUGHING BOMHS

FRANCE'S FUNNY Y\ KAPOiN

WHOLE-HEARTED .si >L 1 ) 1K U&

LONDON, May 22. A Times co-respondent writing iror. Chalons-sur-Marne, describts ins visit t a, French bomb factory. lie tells lmu lie saw a hand, grenade, M'liicii liberate o a. liquid chemical exploded. A party <f ! soldiers was being instucied in boinltI throwing in. an experimental gallery, ' and the correspondent fo:uid all the men roaring "with ■ laughter, though their eyes were streaming with tears. Unlike the enemy's poisonous missiles htf goes on, the fumes from these, grenades simply make the eyes water in such quantities that soldiers bombed in a trench would \>e quite unable to defend themelves, and ■shooting would be out of the question. 'ihe effects would wear off in a few minutes, and would not be painful. "The factory," continued the correspondent, "gives evidence of the readiness of the French, to utilise the industrial resources of the country. It turns out 7000 bonibs a day, as well as other devices for hurling explosives into the trenches. The lathes and benches are .working day and night, and there is no question of overtime. The men are goldiers and they are getting soldiers' pay. Their hjtirs are the longest that are compatible with efficiency, and no time is lost in spirit-drinking. The supply of spirits to the military haa\ been made a serious offence. "Throughout the zone of the" armies the energy and zeal of the workmen make their employers in time of peace open their eyes wide in astonishment. Here, within the sound of .the guns, the men have as director a finer, inducement than wages to spur their energies. One said, 'It is for our pals out there that we are working.' "Forain, the caricaturist, happily hits off the position when he represents infantrymen, plodding along a terribly muddy path, with their clothes covered in filth, their backs bent with the weight of their backs bent with the drawn by fatigue and suffering, and underneath the legend, 'If it was for a boss, wha? a. strike we would have.' " t