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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1915-2-18, Page 6..--etese-reele v • TE ARMORED TRAIN IN INAR, HAS BEEN .MECII IMPItOVED SINCE BOER WAR. And It nos Guns Which Fire nigh- , Explosive Shrapnel Shells. The armored train is stated to have been the idea of Lord Fisher, and it played a prominent part in the Boer War, where it proved high- ly ctervioeable in spirited attacks upon roving parties of the enemy, and •also in patrol duties. But in reality it was a somewhat crude weapon, An engine was combined witha flat deck truck to form a single unit, the whole of which was enclosed in a eteel plate .envelope. In genera•1 appearance the train re- sembleel a, steel box, the walls of which were continued upwards to a sufficient height to protect the marksmen when standing upright upon the deck of the truck. The whole of the engine was encased eo as to secure complete protection of the vital parts, only the top of the funnel being visible,. The walls of the train were loop - holed to facilitate rifle fire, while, in some instances, provision was made also for the mounting and manipulation of machine gems. These novel weapons of war created considerable astonishment and pro- duced derided dis,eomfiture upon their first appearance among the unsophisticated Boers. Locomotive in Centre. But the armored train of to -day is a far more formidable and useful military weapon. In one or two in- stances, what might be described as armored railway motor cars, simi- lar to those which was utilized in the South -African War, have been brought into service, but their value is relatively negligible when ranged against a foe, which depends vitally upon its artillery. It is an armored train in the full- est interpretation of the term, since it comprises a number of vehicles coupled together, with the locomo- tive placed in the centre. This cen- tral disposition of the locomotive is d•eeidedly advantageous and en- hances the formidable character of the train. An equal number of vehicles being attached to either end of the propelling vehicle and a simi- lar armament being carried in each section, the train has complete com- mand of the country on all sides of the railway. This train, however, ie not impro- vised from existing stock, but is of special construction. The vehicles are of the two four.wheel truck type with substantial steel girder framing. The walls are of heavy steel plate carried from, floor of the truck to the roof. In some instances the walls are vertical, but in other eases they have an inward slope. In the former instance the vehicle is roof- less, but in the latter case a roof is prosided, thus securing protection against shrapnel fire. The forces accommodated in the open armored truck, however, are extended, a measure of protection, since on either side of the vehicle. a semi - roof is fitted, supported by vertical steel posts rising from the floor of the•trock. This protection is close- ly similar to that adopted in the trenches, and, to a certain degree, performs the self -same purpose, be- cause the marksmen are protected from shell fire while at the loop- holes with which the walls are dotted. A Central Gangway extends from end to end of the train, so that the members of the crew have free movement and are able to concentrate their efforts at any desired point, Some idea of the roominess of the vehicles may be gathered from the fact that meals may be cooked and enjoyed aboard with every comfort. The outstanding feature of the armored trains, however, is the artillery equipment. Light guns, throwing high -explosive shrapnel shells, are placed at intervals. The guns are centrally mounted and provided with steel shields -for the benefit, of the gun crew. The walls of the truck on either side of the guns are fitted with (loon rot as to facilitate the transference of ammunition. The guns are so disposed as to be trained through a fairly high eleva- tion, and may also be swung through a complete circle so as to be fired upon either aide of the line. The installation of guns of such calibre upon an armored train is somewhat immune but it enhances the fighting value of the train to a very pronounced degree, as experi- ence has shown. One might won- der how a train could possibly with- stend the recoil arising from the discharge, of 0, weapon, but owing to the solid and heavy conetruction of the truolc, and the fact that the centre of gravity is placed some - whet low, the whole battery of guns may be fired simultaneously over one seek without imperilling the stability or the safety of the train in the slightest degree. In fact, when a broadside is discharg- ed, the only perceptible effect a the recoil is a. slight "kick" side- ways on the part of the train, and the flying open of the doore on the depressed side, Although confined to the rails, the armored train has come to be regarded as st substantial force and difficult factor with which to reckon in warfare. IS LIFE GROWING LONGER? Seieutists Say It Has Steadily Increased. We often hear of people of former thews having lived to a great age, and we have been led to 'believe that it was w common thing in days one by to live longer thaw we de. tiow. There are early hidorical records of individuals who lived hundreds of years. The more we advance in scientific knowledge of past condi- tions the more reason there appears to doubt the literal truth •of these s•tetements. We must take into consideration that these dories of long ages tome clewn to us from a time when men had no such accurate understand- ing of the actual passage of long periods as we have tto-day. They did not have our -calendar as a ba- sis for reckoning. Men who have made a study of the subject tell us that the people who are said to have lived to sueh great nee in the past probably did not live as long as we know is pos- sible to -day, as the period then re- corded as a year was probably much shonter. Scientific investigation has given us reason to believe that the aver- age duration of life has steadilyin- creased. More attention is given new to the care of our bodies. We have improved living conditions, made them more sanitary and have learned to fight, check and eradi- cate diseases Which formerly were regarded as necessarily fatal. Records show that people live longer ta-day than only a few years ago, and it is concluded that, the average length of life is greater now than at any time in:the world's his- tory. RA VE HAD ENOUGH OF 1VAR. The Gerillfte Soldiers Are "Fed Up" With It. Some remark -able instances have come to light of German soldiers who are getting riick of the war. A lance -corporal in the Gordon High- landers in a, letter to his parents tells of the interchange of opinions men of his regiment had on Christ- mas Day with German soldier. in the trenches. The Germans, he writes, are "fed up" with the war, and will not fire unless the British soldiers do. They admit that they have been bluffedeby the Kaiser, and say they were told the Germans 1900 when commanding the Bar - heel captured 160 guns from the fleur he Made a most dashing at - Russians, but knew now that it was . all lies. One fellow, who was a teacher in England, when asked weat he thought of the war. said, "The war is finished here. We do not want to shoot." An even more remarkable incident is vouched for by a British officer. He says that one day a. German who bad been slightly wounded in an attack on the British was pulled into one of our trenches. He at once said, "Give me a rifle. I have lived 27 years out 30 in England, and it is timo some of those swine over there were wounded." He fired at the Germans all day, and was taken to the rear a prisoner in the evening. SIR DAVID BEATTY, hero .of tlie Rig Wetery Over Ger, many's First Line Ships. Two pieviotta episodes in the career of Rear-Adnural Sir David Beatty, X.O.B., M.V.O' . DLO.,, hero of the big naval vietory over the German fleet, prove him to be a very brave man. He led a forlorn hope to try and disable some Chi- nese guns, ad provoked to the only daughter of a multi -millionaire. Though he had e00 bluejackets to help him he failed to silence the guns and got wounded in the at- tempt. With only, one ally to assist hint he stlenced the millionaire's objeations and married that ally. But then ho is a very ha,ndsoane man. He is such a jolly one, too, that it is impossible to help liking him, Even those over whose heads he has passed swear by him and bear him aso grudge. It, seems only natural that he should command— he is so strong, so fearless, so re- sourceful. So says a writer in the London Tatler, Many good 'things as well as horses come out of Ireland, and David Beatty was one of them. He is the son of a soldier, Captain D. L. Beatty, of Boredele, County Wexford, and was born forty-three years ago. When thirteen he en- tered the navy, and as midshipman put in some time on board the royal yacht, the Victoria and Albert, -whose first lieutenant at the time was the Hon. (naw She Stanley Colville. The two men were des- tined to meet again. While serving in the Mediterran- ean in 1890, Beatty was landed with the naval brigade as seeond in com- mand under Colville, and did ex- cellent work in getting the gun- boats over the eataracts. Every one said that he was so :handy and quick. Indeed, it was just about this time he got known as a fast man (not about town), and he has been getting ,faster ever since. At Hafir, Colville was wounded and Beatty took command, and the men who served with him that day say that the way he silenced first the enemy's gunboats and then disabled their guns in the forts at Dongela was "a fair treat." At any rate he got a D.S.O. for his trouble. Jumped Over 395 Reads. Two years later he was at Atbara and Khartoum, when he was men- tioned in despatches, got a medal as well as the 4th Class Meeljidie, was made a commander, and did a record in the way of jumping, i.e., over 395 men'selee,ade. He was only twenty-seven. It was about then that the navy began to discover that they really had got hold of an infant prodigy and that he was get- ting fairly into his stride for in WHEN YOU CAN'T SLEEP. Watching Breathing Will Soon Lull 3:on to Slumber. If you are troubled with insomnia let your breathing mesmerize you. The abjection to repeating the al- phabet over and over, or counting up to thousands, or counting ern- aginaoy sheep jumping over a stile, is that you must keep your mind awake to keep on doing them. As soon as the mind drowses the pro- cess ie apt to stop, and this stop- ping is apt to jerk the would-be sleeper back from the very edge of sleep. That is why these plans so often fail. But watching the breathing needs no mental effort. It goes on whe- ther you think of ib or not, and the soothing regularity of it is apt to hill the mind speedily to slumfber. It will fill the mind, too, and pre- vent, .stil other thoughts from enter- ing, getting the louder as sleep comes nearer. The plan is not to think of the breath as coming from the rising and falling of your chest, for this makes you think of ohe,sts, then of colds, and ao on, till your mind is distracted with scattered thoughts again. The correct way is to keep your eyes, in imagination, looking at the breath as it comes from the nostrils. On the. Itoak11 "Has he reformed1" "Not exactly. He is just flirting with conscience." First Countryman—We're dein' fine at the war, Jorge, Second Ociunersmano-Yes, Jahn ; and se be they lerenehieg. First. Countryman —Ay, and sr) be they Belgians and Rooshians. Second Q.ioun toyege,n _— Ay, an' so be the Allies, I do 'be oncerboin where they some from, ,Tahn, but they be devils for fight - in'. Rea r -A dilated Sir David Beatty tempt to silence two Chinese guns at Tientsin during the Boxer Re- bellion. Even though twice wound- edhe still gallantly advanced with the 200 bluejackets in the storming party attempting an impossible task. He proved, however, that he pos- sessed just that quality which used to make Marshal Soult so angry. "These English," Soult used teeny, "know nothing about war, they ne- ver know when they are beaten," For this exploit David Beatty was made a captain—a captain at twenty-nine. Great Nelson's ghost, something was wrong! Grey-haired men shook their heads and feared that the service was going to the devil. But Beatty, quite unabashed by their prophecies, proceeded the next year to snake another oonquest and married Ethel, the only daugh- ter of Marshall Field, the American multi -millionaire. Rumor had two remarks to make concerning the marriage, the one that every 'even- ing after dinner Admiral Beatty drank to his wife's beautiful eyes— ond this not merely a5 an excuse to have an extra, peg, The other that Mrs. Beatty would not allow her husband to take a title, However, now that lie has :beet mads a K. 0. B,, Pais wife becomes Lady Beat- ty, doubtless very much against her Hew Americans are maligned. He has a splendid town house, a Ons shooting and eahing at Inver- eauld, Where he has entertained royalty, and a beautiful place in the ,shires, Wee their ever a, mom luecy man? Pub oto no bit of bate luck be Etas had, Some Aare ago thieves broke into his residence, Brooksby Hall, Melton Mowbray, and robbed him and his wife of • thousands of pounds' worth, of jew- calory and valuables, They did the thing quite in motiou picture style, with a motor ear, shaded lamps, etc., and they got off safe with the swag. None Of the ii0QtY was ever recovered save Beatty? medals and decorations, which in their haste they dropped in the grouude. RearvA.diniral at 39. When thirty-nine years of age he was made reer-admiral, .enti as be- came an infant prodigy, was by far the youngest admiral in the service, Even Nelson was a year older be- fore, he got flag rank. Years ago, however, Rodney, who was thirty- one, and Koppel, who was thirty- seven when made admirals, heat him in the race, for promotion. Still he has not had much to complain of from fortune, for in .addition to the trifles already 'mentioned he was made an A.D.C. to the King, one of whose •elhipmates he formerly was, and on Mr. Churchill coming into office he could not retied a mars of such dash and courage as B.eatty, and made him Secretary to ehe First Lord of the Admirety. "Ho is un- doubtedly a man of ability, but don't you think he is rather too in- clined to run risks " said a, col- league to Winston. "There is only one thing he would rather run and that is a horse," replied Churchill. And Beatty is fond of :horses; was there ever an Irishman who was not? Became it runs in the family, his brother, Major Charles Beatty, is one of the most successful train- ers at Newmarket. History -Raking 1)ays. History has filled pages rapidly of late. In 1913 AcknirelBeatty hoist- ed his flag on, the battle -cruiser Lion as reareadmiral of the battle - cruiser squadron. In June Of last year he an.d, his ships were enter- tained by the Russians at Revel and Kronstadt .stred immediately deer - wards in the Kiel Canal by the.Kai- ser. What Englishman could have pierced the fog of Germen deceit and treachery, and known that even when feasting -tame' the Kaiser had decided on ever—that "the day" was at hand? On July 20 the King called Admiral Beatty on board the Victoria, and Abert and personally invested him with the Order of K. C. B. By this time the mutterings of the coming dorm were How it broke all of us know. Vice -Admiral Beatty's luck is, of eourse, phenomenal. Ever since he was a middy he has always happen- ed to be in the right place at the right moment, and by the same to- ken he has always been able to take full advantage of the opportunities that have offered. As a writer of despatches he is by no means a dulard, as his despatch on the Bight of Heligoland affair shows. What a vivid pen -picture of the power of the battle -cruiser Lion we have in the following words; "At 12.56 p.msighted and engaged a two - funnelled eruiser ahead. Lion fired two salvos at her which took effect, and she disappeared into the mist burning fiercely and in a sinking condition." At the time thee two salvos were fired the enemy cruiser was steam- ing at high .speed at right angles to the Lion, who was herself steaming at 28 knots! Then : "She was sight- ed again at 1.25 .p.M. steamingS. E., and with coleys stileflying, Lion opened fire with two turrets, and at 1.35 pen., after receiving two saves, she sank'—a foretaste of what will be later! A GUARANTEED IYIEDICINE FOR LITTLE ONES Baby's Own Tablets are a good medicine for little ones, They are guaranteed by a Government ana- lyst to be. absolutely free from the opiates and narcoti•es found in so- called "soothing" mixtures. They cannot possibly do herrn—they al- ways do good. Once a -mother has given them to her little ones she will use no other medicine. Con- cerning there Mrs. Jos. Dearosiere, St. Alphonse, Que., says "Baby's Own Ttablets saved my little one's life when he was suffering from worms, and I would not bo without them." The, Tablets are sold by medicine dealers or by mail at 25 cents a box from The Dr. Williams' Medicine Co., Brookville, Ont. Guard the Tongue. You would net think of taking your neighbor's life or wounding hien with any physical weapon. But you perhaps" do not realize that when you say an evil thingabout him you are wounding him more grievously than you could possibly wound him with gun or dagger. You may be killing his reputation, which may be a worse calamity to him than killing his body. It is strange indeed that this terrible item of wrongdoing is se easy and so wide- spread. It is hard to understand the peculiar pleasure which many people seem to feel in saying un- kind things about others. B.a,r1 as it is .simply a.s a, breach of good neighborliness and good oitizenahip, it is unspeakablybad from the 40,114point of Christianity and the teachings of .Christia,nittesis launder. But, alas! The things we want to do are usually the things we The automobile has it on the horse in ono respect. It doesn't shod its hair in the spring, ENGLISH SPARROW A PEST OAS BECOME VIM TROUBLR', SOWN IN ..otraucAt Spread All Over the Country in the Space of Sixty Ilene% The English sparrow was intro- duced into Amer -toe, about 00 yeeee ago, and is now distributed over nearly all of the United States arid Southern Canada This rapid dis- eemination is e result of the bird's hardiness, extraordinary fecundity, diversity of food,. agre.ssive (Re- position, a,nd niftiest complete im- munity from natural enemies, says the New York Sun. Ned Deariborn, biologist ol the Department of Agriculture, is' se- vere on the English aparrow, He says they are cunning, destructive and filthy, although admitting that sparrows consume quantities of eneseed•s0ed and in summer nuentro.ue ivete During an investigation of birds that destroy alfalfa weevil in north- ern Utah English sparrows were found to he feeding their nestlings largely on weevil larvae and cut- worms, both very injurious to alfal. fe. Wherever this birds proves use- ful it is entitled to protection and encouragement. Under normal conditions its ohoice of insects may be unfavor- able Out of 522 English spari'ow stomachs examined by the biological department of the .A,grioultural De- partment, 47 contained noxious in - seats, 80 held beneficial insects, and 31 contained insects of practically no importance. The Agricultural Department does not sae, what was found to the credit or discredit of the other 394 specimens ex,aanined. A report on only one quarter ofethe apecimens examined can hardly be considered satisfactory to earned people enquiring into this subject. Destroys Fruits. The English sparrow is condemn - ,ed for its destruction of cherries, grapes, pears, peadhe,s, buds and flowers of cultivated trees, sprouts and vines. In the garden, the scien- tists say, sparrows at seeds as they ripen, nip off tender young vege- tables, especially peas and lettuce, as they appear above ground. We have never experienced this trouble although sparrows are abundant about the garden. They are a nuis- Many years ago, before' most of the motors of to -day were thought possible, man used the horse to turn the wheels of his machinery by means of a tread -mill. In this way the horse came to stand for a unit of power according to the size of the machine he could work effeotively. When engines began to displace horses, ,because they could develop several times the motive power, it was natural to refer to their capa- city on the basis of a, horsepower unit, by speaking of an engine as being able to do the work of two, three, four, five or more horses. And so the custom was established of making use of the term as de- scriptive of power. The fact is that a "horsepower" —or simply hop. as it is generally fsgurss in engineering' descriptions —really means a greater power than is expected of a horse and greater than he is capable of. It means the power to lift 30,000 pounds one foot in one minutest. The continued use of the old term to indicate this modern unit of power for an engine or motor illes- trates how, for want of a suitable substitute, custom will keep /dive a term that has lost its apparent sig- nificance. 5 Why Lead 1; So Heavy. frightened by the discharge of the gun at ;the first floek. Traps Are Beet, In many places traps must be em- ployed where a gun cannot be used or where it is not desirable. Besides being safe, properly designed traps have other adventagee. Native birds 'caught in the traps can be lib- erated 'unharmed and trapped spar- rOWS can be kept alive for food like poultry, In Europe sparrows have been utilized for food for centuries. In captivity the birds must he kept clean, supplied with fresh, clean waterdaiiy, A variety of food is re- quired to keep them in good condi- tion; bread, oats, wheat, corn -meal mash, lettuce and cabbage will be relished. To mercifully kill as trapped spar - Tow place the thumb pail at the base of the 'skull and dislocate the. ;Tea by hard and quick pressure. To dress .sparrows out off the legs, the wings at the outer point and the neck elose to the body ; strip off the skin, beginning at the neck; make a cut through the body 'wall extend- ing from the 'neck along the back- bone till the ribs are severed, then around ;between the legs to the tail, and remove the Vieera. Sparrows may be cooked by any of the 'methods employed for reed - binds or quail, and compare favor- ably with the 'best kinds of small game, We rarely appreciate gams for the food itself, but more often for the name. 'Several yearn ago a party of duck hunters arrived tired and hungry at a tavern near the shooting grounds, and where they were to put op for the night. The host hare the reputation of setting a splendid_ table, the . food usually consisting of fish or game. A bird pie was served for dinner and all agreed that it was delicious, the :best quail pie they had ever tasted. In England sparrows are trapped with a sieve, one end held up by a short stake to which a long string is tied. The trap is baited with bread crumbs, oats or wheat. The birds are permitted to eat the bait until a number have gathered under the sieve, when the cord is pulled, re- moving the stake and allowing the trap to fall over the birds gathered under the sieve. '5' • HORSE P 0 WEB. HOW and Why the Term Came tobe Used. ance with their muss, buildieg nets in troublesome places, in the gut- ters on the roof, causing the -water to overflow and littering itp the building generally, but this is the worst charge we are able to bring against the English sparrow. Mr. Dearborn says the English sparrow reduces the number of some ef our most useful and attrac- tive native birds, such as bluebirds, house wrens, purple martins, tree swallows, cliff swallows and barn swallows, by destroying their eggs and young and by usurping nesting places. It attacks the robin, wren, redeyed vireo, catbird and mocking bird, causing them todesert parka and shady streets of towns. Unlike our native birds, whose place ib usurps, it has no song, but is noisy and vituperative. It defiles build- ings and ornamental trees, shrubs and vines with its excrement and with its bulky nests. No where is the English sparrow included among .the birds protected by law, and as individuals and flocks have an extremely narrow range, each flock occupying one lo- cality to which its activities are chiefly eonfined, they are easily ex- terminated. When aplaee has once been cleared of sparrows it will be some time before it is reoccupied. English sparrows are good to eat, and their use as a food is recom- mended because of their nutritive value and as a means of reducing their number. Sparrows feed in close flocks, and when thus assemb- led a large number may be killed by a. charge of shot from a small bore, 12, 16 or 20 gauge Parker shotgun. Sparrows can be baited by scatter- ing grain about, shooting the birds and then rebaiting the places. The baiting places should he far enough apart so the birds at the second and third feeding places will not be Although lead is the softest metal in general use it is very dense. That is, its particles are very eompactiy united, and there is no room for air to circulate in between these parti- cles. Most apparently solid sub- atances are penetrated by more or less air, and this, of course, affects the weight in proportion to the hulk. A piece of wood is lighter than apiece of lead of exactly equal bulk because the little partieles which make up the piece of wood are not very close together, and it contains a, lot of air. DONTIAG, SPIT, SNEEZE, CURE YOURSELF I BREATHE HCATARRHOZONE" 1 Gives Instant Reliefs, Clears Out Nose, Throat and all Breathing Organs In this fickle climate, repeated colds very easily drift into Catarrh. The natural tendency of Catarrh is to extend through the system in every direction, Exposure to cold or dampness inten- sifies the trouble and nasal catarrh ie the remit. 'Unless a complete cure Is effected, Inflammation Passes rapidly to the throat, bronchial tubes and then to the hinge, You Can't snake new hings—henee Conetumption Is practically incurable. Ilut Catarrh can be cured, except in its final and always fatal stage. Catarrh sufferers, meaning those with colds, sore throats, bronchial trouble, etc., can all be cured right at home by inhaling "Catarrhozone," In using Catarrhozone you don't take medicine into the stomach—you just breathe a healing piney vapor dlr. eot to the lunge and air passages. The purest balsams and the greatest antiseptics ere thus sent to every spot where catarrhal trouble exists, germs are killed, foul secretions are clesteoy. ed nature is given a chance and euro comes quickly. Colds. Aid throat troubles opal last 11 the pure healing vapor of Catarrh - ozone is breathed,—meezing and ooughlua cease et once, because irre Wien 11 retrieved. Use Catarrhosone to prevent—use it to cure your winter ilia It's pleas- ant, Bil10 and guaranteed in every ease. Complete outfit $1,00, Smaller sire 60a, at alledealers. NEWS OF THE MINIS'. litIEST' BETWEEN ONTARIO 1,NO BM— TISH COLU611111A. ,/ Items Prom Provinces Where 3I0n)" Ontario BOYS and Girls tiro Living. Alberta will vote on prohibitions an Wednesday, July 21, On Dec, 31, Edmonton had $2,- 500,000 unpaid taxes on ite books. . In the last five years, organized. territory in Alberta has doubled. Winnipeg building permits for libs. past five years totalled $813,748,700. William Graham, Brandou, Man.,„ has a ,Stradivarius violin made in. 1720. Dr. Mack, of Gilbert 'Plains, kan., sold his section and a quarter for $28,000. In a suburb of Winnipeg 69 homes. were built last season at a cost of $'750,000 The Olympia, Hotel has jest been. finihed at Winnipeg at a oost of $400,000. Edmonton district exported near- ly $2,000,000 worth of goods to the- tJ.5, last year. Most of the creeks are dry round, Spruce Creek, Man., and many farmers are sinking wells, At Sifton, Man., women are afraid to hang out theii. washing for fear the cattle will eat it. More cordwood is being shipped, out of the bush in Manitoba than. for many winters past. There is said to be more demand for earm land in Saskatchewan now than there has been for years. Colonization officials predict that, Alberta. land will sell for big prices. inside of the next 12 months. To date farmers in the vicinity of Morden Man., have •contributed '770 sacks of flour to Belgian relief. Hog cholera bas broken 'out o0. the farm of W. Moston, of Fairlight, Man., Several i farms are quaran- tined. At Portage la Prairie. Man., sixty ladies have agreed to meet regular- ly to make clothing for the Queen Mary Needlework guild. The Knight Sugar Co., which has beeo operating in Raymond, Al- berta, will move its plant to Lay- ton, Utah, unless it is purchased by Alberta parties. Alberta farmers are being urged to breed horses, as it is estimated that horse flesh will he high fur 10 years after the war is over. At Winnipeg, the C.P.B. is ina,k- ing improvements to its terminals and the Royal Alexandra. Hotel which will cost a milltun and a helf. When projected improvements to Winnipeg schools are completed, they will total, between buildiees and sites, o value of 86.000,000. At West Kildonan, Man., bur- glars broke into the house of A. \V. Collinson while the family were at church, and ransacked the whole place. Al Russell, Man.: the C.N.R. has purchased a large tract of land and will make that town the first divi- sional point west of Winnipeg on its short line to Edmonton. MORE ABOUT It ULTUlt. Belgian Women and Children Used as Screens for Germans. Women and little children Were forced to spend a night on bridges by the German troops that invaded Belgium, to prevent the French from destroying the structure, it was asserted in the first report of the special Anglo -Belgian commit- tee appointed to question Belgian refugees, made public recently. !Belgian nuns and priests suffered the same treatment, regardless to climatic conditions. From the first moment of invasion, the Germans used old men, women and children as screens to protect their advanc- ing troops. Tho fact that not only the emallest .patrols, but entire armies employed the same means led the Belgians to believe thee this use of non-combatants in war has been drilled into. the Germane as part af their army tactics. The Germans inflicted the most cruel treatment upon Belgian civil- ians taken prisoners, and trene- ported to G.ernaany. They were styled "Fra,notireurs," herded in filthy cattle trucks tend lodged in most unsanitary quarters, it was oharged. In some instances they were insulted by mobs, and often left without food. Belgian military prisoners were fairly ,well treated, but were given no clothing ea. step, and were not provided with sanitary co•even- knees. B1'11.81108 The wealth of the United King- dom. in 1814 was computed at about $12,500,000,000, while e con:sena- ties estimate would place it now ltb about 886,000,000,000, an increase of 580 per 'amt., while population , has grown 1130 per cene. The income of the British people in tide period has increased 700 per eent,--from $1,500,000,000 to $12,000,000,000. *— Many s married man wonders just how small &portion of hie eV logs he is really entitled to,