WITH DESPATCHES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11509, 4 October 1915, Page 1

WITH DESPATCHES.

| STREAK LIKE COMETS. j By the sido of a street in the rums ot Y'pres to-day, writes a correspond©. <t of '' llio Times," vats one of those young men v.'ho wear armlets of blue and white, who are always sitting on motor-cycles, and who streak aero-s this land like comets. They are " sig- ! mils.'' This one was_ a Cainbriugo man, who presented himsei early iu the war wita his machine, and has bee a convey.ng messages ever sine.*. ile was in tiie great retreat. arid had to along; in (lie direction from winch others were coming up ia ,f , aud he was ! mixed up in the great advance, j But his really '' hairy time," to use j his own phraso, was in Lie second j oat-tle of Ypres. He did not know the j way through the town to Hooge and j bey-»nd, and there were shells ex pi dr ing everywhere, and the houses were fal.ing about him. People were running anywhere, and the tilings ly.ng about in the streets were not pretty, tie found bis man at last in «■ dug-out, and for two hour.-; they waited for lh3 i place to go. The Signal wires had j already gona Then tne ammunition | went, accompanied by a general storm | of shell, and the men did not care | what happened, for they were both fatigued and choked with gas. In all j -he prolonged, anxious time during | that second" battle only one despatch. I r'fler of my friend's section was iOot, and he was found, poor fellow, beside i !iis machine unwounded, but siiffo.at- ! .d. Ho had' ridden through the poi<.son I Lilt he had no mors breath, and then ! had slirped off —and died. "What had made a terrible iirnres ion m the mind of this despatch rider was the collapse and the turning of the ancient city .of and the flight of the civilians. There was a night when the whole cit; was in flames," the wal s were roaring as they fell, and the shells were blowing out the flaming heart of the place. The roads out of it were thronged with fugitives, their torment', lighted by the flames of the hell from which they were trying to escape. There were screams and horrib e cries, lost children runn : ng and' shouting in fear, 'nd soldiers dropping, spent, beneath the frantic hooves of cattle.