SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11504, 28 September 1915, Page 7

SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR.

[RENCH newspapeks. . Twentv-seven papers ftre published in tho IreiiclieK nitli some regularity by French soldiers, eix or seven by English. -and one by the Belgians. ENTENTE ORCHID. Tho ..itcrest felt bv botanists in the discovery in Northern J' ranee a. lew weeks ago of a rare lizard orchid (orchis hireiruO has been intensified by a similar diseo\"ery on land adjoining bord Kitchener's estate, near Canterbury. Lord Avebury paw one near YVye, Kent, in 1899. SOUND OF CANNON. , I The sound of cannonading carries much farther than that of thunder, j Tho limit of the carrying power of thunder is about fifteen miles, while that number of miles is not considered any great distance for the Rounds o! battle to travel, while some authorities credit them with travelling iniuvitely greater distances. SHELLS. The Russian Atrocities Commission has recorded tho employment by the Germans of shells with cast iron nones, weighing 81b to I.olb, and filled with pruttdc iicid. THE "WAII "RECORD. The French papers claim the war record for a family named Courton, of Cachary, in tho department of Marno. The parents have had twenty children, and have at present fighting at the front eleven sons, five sons-in-law, and one grandson. Six of the. sons have been wounded. GERMAN'WIFE SHOT. A French engineer natned Barbier has been tried by court-martial at Lvons for murdering his wife, a German by birth. The evidence showed that, since the outbreak of the war, Mdme. Barbier, who remained. German at heart, constantly ridiculed her husband's patriotio sentiments; and finallv. after a quarrel in which she had been particularly aggressive, he shot her with a revolver. The court unanimously acquitted him. ASS AS AN OBJECT LESSON. The Kioylii," a small Turkish provincial paper published in Smyrna, in an aecount of the bombardment of Toheshmeh by a British warship, speaks of a shot which shaved off hoth ears of a donkey belonging to Halil Effendi, collector of Customs. The ass is now the. sight of the town, and its owner is making a rich harvest from the townspeople, who pay a small fee to see the effects of the shot. NO SHORTAGE OF BULLETS. The necessary supplier of _ antimony \rhich is an essential constituent of bullets, and of which enormous quantities are required in connection wrth shrapnel orders, are assured. The "Metal Bulletin" states that arrangements have been made between the authorities and the_ antimony refiners, whereby the national requirements have been secured for several months. A VEtRY LONG WAR. Speaking at the Wesleyan Methodist Conference at Birmingham, Mr Arthur Henderson, JLP., said:— '* lam not divulging Cabinet secrets, hut I think you will have another conference very long before this terrible crisis is over. That being so, I do not think we should' talk about doing things for war purposes for any definite period, as we may lead the whole Church to think that there is a possibility of this war terminating withm fi.ro or six months." ST&OKED THE LIONS. A remarkable scene occurred at a Fishguard recruiting meeting, when Sergeant Fuller, V.C., entered, a cage containing tw> African lions attached to a menagerie. Fuller was telling the men that if they were not fit to die, they were not fit to live. When challenged to enter the lions' den, Fuller threw up his cap and calmly entered the ctge and stroked tho lions amidst tremendous excitement. The proprietors awarded Fuller a. gold! modal as a memento. Many enlisted as a result of the incident. CtERMa¥TAOTIO6. J correspondent of the Manchester Guardian '' says the Germa.n arguments for making Russia the ohief ohiect of attack have been strengthened r>y the Austrian defeat, the uncertainty of what the Balkan States -would do, aud the operations in the Dardanelles, which threatened Germany on her most sensitive side—Austria. There is a strong party in Germany for the annexation of Belgium, but nothing could reconcile her for the fall of Constantinople. BLIND OARSMAN. An interesting programme of races took place recently for a four representing Worcester College tor the Higher Education cif the Blind. The | introduction of serious rowing as an exercise for the blind is due to Mr G. C. Brown, the headmaster of the coli lege. The first race against an old Ihivs' four was rowed at Worcester, and the second race, in clinker fours, against King's School, Worcester, second four. The latter race was the first on record in which a. blind crew has competed in a racing gig, and the first between crews representing a sighted and a blind public school. "SKUNKS AND COWARDS." Kiotous scenes weie witnessed at a meeting in the Queen's Hall, London, arranged hi' the Socialist National Defence Committee. The remarks of the chairman- Mr John Hodg©, M.P- ; £UJu other speakers were frequently interrupted, and soldiers in khaki lent a hand in the ejection of some of the dissentients. Mr Ben Tillett administered a. very stinging rebuke to the interrupters. and did not mince his words. •'You cowards, you rotters," he said, "I don't, want to appease you, I want to hurt you. There aro 50,000 transport. workers at the front, and every one of them is worth more than the whole bineh of you skunks and cowards. CAT STILL LIVES, i If there was one thing he hated more tha.n another it, was a cat. The cat he particularly detested was his landlady's. The reputation, of that cat was very bad. It had been blamed by his landlady, who ought to know its peculiarities, for stea-ling sugar from | cupboard, stamps from his blottingj pad, and even tobacco from the jar | upon liia mantelpiece. | Be. did not love that cat. at »nj j time, but on this particular evening i q« lie undressed to go to bed, h© liked jit Se.-s than prer. He had never given j th" cat. any encouragement, and he did ' uoi .w* v.in it. .should desire to share | his bed : but apparently the eat. had j either views, for just below the top of Mho blankets there v.a? a hump that ] cold him much. ! Ho was a. man of quick decision. He. j went over to his drr-.Hhing-tnble and lifti ed one of tho l eavy iron dumb-bells i with which hf recovered his circulation aft or his e.old tub in the morning. He lifted' the weapon on high and flung ! it with all his strength on the hump I in the ecntre ;, f the bed. ! In his bill at the end of that week, j T.el] hidden among the extras, there 1 appealed the following item I ""'To one hot-water bottle, 2r. 6d. '