QUEER THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN WAR.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144711, 21 June 1915, Page 8

QUEER THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN WAR.

ANECDOTES RELATED BY CORRESPONDENTS. The war is naturally the source of a continuous stream of anecdotes, some of which may enjoy longevity. There is much point in that related by a Parisian newspaper which alleges that a German prisoner of war in the charge of an English soldier referred to tho British Army as "mercenaries’’ and told his cantor; — ■‘Pah!” You fight for money! We Germans light for honour!” "Yes,” thoughtfully replied tho British soldier. "I suppose wo are botli fighting to gain what wc haven’t got!” An officer in a Yorkshire regiment has written home describing how bo found some of his men exposed to tlie German fire-. Disregarding shot and shell they were interestingly peering into a trench. "What have you got there:'” he asked. “A dead German, sir.” "What on earth arc you doing with a dead German?” “Well, you see, sir, we saw him during tho attack—a very big chap. Hu got hit. We had a bet on his height and girth. And we want to settle it!” Two of the men had risked their lives to drag tho German into a British trench in order that tho hot might bo settled. The German was 6ft. 9in. in height. and his waist measurement was 53 inches. "What was the amount of tho bet?” asked the officer. “A bob, sir!” The Paris correspondent of tlie London Evening Standard and St. James’s Gazette describes ns follows tho advice given by a veteran soldier to a raw recruit. The conversation was overhoard by nr officer who repeated it to tho journalist. "One of the most interesting dialogues I have ever heard in my life occurred in one of our trenches during one of the tedious waits between attacks,” said the British officer. "Tho soldier, who saw service both in India and Africa, was tail-ting to a Liverpool youngster who had just arrived in the trendies and was as yet to receive his baptism under fire. “ ‘Suppose them Gormans start an attack,’ he was telling, ‘AYbile they are swept by our artillery you remain still. Don’t you move at all; just be still. They get to aliont seventy yards from the trenches. Our big guns stop firing for fear they’d hit us also. Don’t you dare to do anything; it’s the turn of the typewriters.’ “ ’AA'liat typewriters?’ wondered the nflw recruit. ‘‘‘The machine-guns, you fool. Didn’t yon ever hear they knock out their n.b.c’s? AVhen you hear them begin it’s tlie signal for you to pint your riflo in position.. You raise it, you aim. you fire. Then yon fire again. You fire right along. The Germans ‘fall, then fall some more, and then those who keep their legs cither run away or surrender. As to yon, you must hurry to dean your rifle, to charge it, and to get ready in case the Germans come back —and that’s all.’ "For eloquence and logic, give mo tho experienced soldier. Believe me. that recruit will give a good account of himself,” concluded tho officer.