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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1915-7-22, Page 6TRENCHES ARE NOT ALWAYS BLOODY The tlea)th of the Troops Is as Good as That In the Barracks at Home. • One might have gone miles along the British front this week without hearing the sound of a gun, It seem- ed as if both sides were taping a holi- day from war out of respect for the beautiful sumxner weather, or else the silepce was significant of preparation and accumulation of shells by ono side or the other for some great effort, writes Mr, Frederick Palmer from the British headquarters in France, Beyond- the occasional explosion of a mine and routine shelling to harass the enemy's guns, to destroy new for- tification work, or to keep the enemy from taking life too easily, there has been no action. The soldiers in re- serve have been swimming in the canal, resting under shaded trees, playing cricket and football and tend- ing their flower .gardens about their quarters, which have been made to look like those one sees in. front of rows of cottages at this season in England. Summer Transforms Flanders. The flat and gently rolling country of Flanders and northern France, which was a forbidding, gray, leaf- less mire under chiliing winter mists, has become a pleasant land of rich crops dotted with groves, while long lines 'of motor trucks of the transport pass along stately avenues between poplars which line the roads. All fears of an epidemic of sickness in the hot months for the immense army billetedin the thickly populated lowlands are groundless. Thanks to anti -typhoid inoculation, the habitual personal cleanliness of the English- men and the strict enforcement of sanitary precautions by the Royal Army Medical Corps in the minutest details, the health of the troops is as good as that in the barracks at home. Flies are being kept down to a mini- mum. There are few even around the camps of the cavalry and artillery horses. The paths, roadsides and yards where the men are billeted are kept as clear of litter as a first class golf course or the lawn of a fastidious suburbanite. Tommy Helps Peasants. Tommy Atkins frequently lends a hand to the French peasant, all of whom, from boys and girls of 6 or 7 to bent old men and women, are en- gaged in the harvest, and by the way Tommy uses his scythe or fork one knows whether he is city or country bred. The correspondent has walked through the Iong communication trenches safely in broad daylight to the firing trenches which if approach- ed in winter except over open ground and stumbling through mud under cover of darkness would have been worth one's life. Siege warfare has been made com- fortable. Some trenches even have become a sort of Sylvian paradise where meals and tea are taken al fres- co, and flowers even have been plant- ed on the parapets which support the trenches. Trenches Comfortable Now. Where in winter men stood freezing in water up to their knees, mud oozed from sand bags and only continual pumping and bailing kept them from complete immersion and walls con- tinually falling in, now the only Com. plaint of the trench housekeepers is the want of water for washing, for the spongy subsoil is as dry as a bone and as hard as cement. The toll of casualties where titer are only sniping and infrequent shell ing has been much reduced owing no only to the increased adaptability the men in self-protection—the resul of experience in trench warfare—.but to an immense improvement in th protective character of the work. Though a trench may be on exaetl the same line as it was in Decembe spade work in the spring and summ has completely transformed it, afford ing small chance for either shrapn shell bullets or bullets fired by snip ere from trees or buildings to hit th defenders. Days Without Casualty. You can move only a few feet in straight line in this maze of bumar warrens. The zigzag traverses localiz damage. On dull days in the stale mate part of the Iine there have bee instances of not a single casualty for a distance of a mile in twenty-fo hours. It is when the artillery fire is co centrated and an effort is made to g through the barbed wire and take a trench by either side that the casualty list leaps like a thermometer thrust from an icebox into an oven. So used have they become to' trench life that some soldiers prefer life in an average trench on an average day to that in billets, because sniping has the. elements of Sport and excitement. The confidence and patriotism of the fighting men at the- front are shown in both officers and soldiers, even if they have only a few shillings put by, in subscribing to the war loan. Officers Not Discouraged. The professional opinion of officers at the front is that they are not dis- couraged by the German offensive in the east. They say the war must be won by the killing of Germans and that the further the Germans are drawn into the Russian quicksand the more wastage for them. This period of the war for the en- tente allies is compared to that for the North in 1868, at the time of Lee's and Jackson's suttees in Virginia and the confederate advance in Pennsyl- vania, before Gettysburg was won, Riding about the British front even an expert observer is unable to guess how many troops the British have in France, so easy of concealment is the thickly settled country. He passes bodies of infantry changing station or moving to the front without being any the wiser. Only a Few Know. Only Sir John French, commander in chief of the British expeditionary force, and a few staff officers really know. The average officer never asks, but attends strictly to his business. In the hard fighting in the Festu- beet and La Bassee region and the French offensive in the Arras region, though the changes show so little on the map, gains of a very positive tac- tical value for the future were made. If the opinion of a lay observer counts for anything the British army is far from making anything like a maxi- mum effort yet. The anger of officers and men at gas attacks of the Germans has not yet passed. Tommy Atkins always is seen in new trenches with a respirator in a bag slung at his side. In the trenches, these days at least, one hears no talk of any peace which is not gained by forcing Germany to her knees. s t 0 r, er e1 0 a e n ur n et AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR. Starving Russians Receive Aid From the Austrians. A touching story of one of those paradoxical friendships that occasion- ally spring up betwen two opposing forces in spite of the adverse condi- tions of modern warfare is told by Mr. Fritz Kreicler, in his book "Four Weeks in the Trenches." Intermittent truces, sometimes ac- companied by actual intercourse be- twen the opposing forces, were quite common all along the battle line. That very night I was hurriedly summoned to the trenches of the 18th Company, about half a mile east of us, in order to act as an interpreter between the major commanding that battalion and two singular guests be had just re• delved, a Russian officer and his or- derly. The pair carrying a white flag, had hailed one of the numerous Austrian outposts placed during the night in front of the trenches, and had 'teen sent blindfolded back to the major. The Russian officer spoke only broken French. He commanded one. of the opposing trenches, and from his narrative it appeared that his men had not received any food supplies for some days, and were ac- tually on the point of starvation. Not being able to stand their misery any longer, he had taken the bull by the horns and, with the utter confidence and straightforwardness of a fear- less nature, had simply come' over to Us, the enemy,, for help, offering a lit- tle barrel of water, anti a little tobac- co in exchange for some provisions. The major seemed at first, perhaps, a little perplexed and undecided about this singular request, but his generous nature and chivalry soon asserted themselves. One single look at the em- aclated and worn face of our guests, sufficiently substantiated the truth of. thou atony, fey', Nett men were utterly; exhausted and on the verge of col- lapse. The next minute messengers were flying to the diffrent trenches of the battalion to solicit and collect con- tributions, and the officers scrambled over each in their noble contest to de. plete their own last and cherished re- serves for the supper of the guests, Soon the latter were seated as com- fortably as circumstances permitted before a feast of canned beef, cheese, biscuits, and a slice of salame, my own proud contribution, consisting of two tablets of chocolate, part of a precious reserve for extreme cases. It was a strange sight to see these two Russians in an Austrian trench, surrounded by cordiality and tender solicitude. The big brotherhood of humanity and for the time enveloped friend and foe, stamping out all ha- tred and racial differences. It is wonderful how the most tender flow- ers of civilization can go hand in hand with the most brutal atrocities of grim modern warfare. In the meanwhile the messengers returned almost staggering under the weight of a sack filled with the : gifts of our soldiers to the enemy— piecs of bread and biscuits, with here and there a slice of bacon or a lump of cheese, all thrown pell-mell togeth- t er. Many a man mutat have parted with his last piece of bread in order not to be outdone by the others in generosity, for our own provisions were running very low. It is true that the bread and biscuits were mol - dewed, the cheese stale, and the bacon as hard as stone, but the boys gave the best they could, the very poverty and humbleness of the gifts attesting their own desperate plight, bearing proud witness to the extent of their sacrifice. With tears in their oyes and reiterated protestatiohs of thanks,' our guests staggered back through the night to their lines, undoubtedly carrying with them tender memories of Austrian generosity and hospital - No. 8998.9020 Quaker Collars Are Fashionable. The season has witnessed a great many changes—or revivals—which have been instrumental in affecting the methods of making up clothes, the materials used, and the styles themselves. The separate skirts and waists that have returned to favor have practi- cally superseded the one-piece gown, which, of course, is right in keeping with the revival of the fuller dresses; and they are, indeed, a pleasant re- lief from the tight skirts of a year ago. More interesting, however, is the return of certain fabrics to popular favor. Although it is the season for cotton goods, one finds organdie, dot- ted swiss, voile, lace, net, and even muII, everywhere one turns, Many are the possibilities of choice in the popu- lar materials of the season. The return of separate waists and skirts will be particularly welcomed by the home dressmaker, who can readily make a shirt waist in a day's time. A simple and practical model is Ladies' Home Journal Pattern No, 8978, cut with a yoke, to which the waist is plaited in the back and gath- ered in the front. The pattern cuts in sizes 32 to 46 inches bust mea- sure, requiring for size 36 3% yards of 27 -inch material, Skirt No. 8896 is a three-piece circular model, open- ing in the front, and cutting in sizes 22 to 82 inches waist measure, requir- ing for size 24 3Q'a, yards of 36 -inch material. The wide popularity now enjoyed by Quaker dresses is quite satisfying, for one cannot help but admire their sim- plicity and grace. The Quaker dress illustrated by Ladies' Home Journal Patterns Nos. 8996 and 9020 is an excellent and comfortable smart sum- mer dress, The blouse, No. 8996, has three tucks running around the waist just below the bust line, and the back of the waist extends over the shoul- ders to form a shallow yoke, to which the front of the waist ie gathered. The sleeves may be full length or short, as desired and the one-piece plaited skirt is finished with a hem and two tucks. Pattern No. 8996 cuts in sizes 82 to 42 inches bust measure and the skirt in sizes 22 to 32, waist measure; a• dress in medium size re- quiring 8% yards of 86 -inch material with 1 yard 36 -inch contrasting goods for collar and cuffs. The patterns, 15c. each, may be ob- tained from your local Ladies' Home Journal pattern dealer, or from the Home Pattern Company, 1838 George Street, Toronto, Ontario. LAMPS THAT LIGHT THEM- SELVES. The Panama Canal Is Now illuminat- ed by Them. The Panama Canal from end to end is illuminated by a string of brilliant lamps, which light themselves at sun- set and put themselves out when the sun rises again. This marvelous fairy tale of modern science is due to the efforts of Swedish engineers to find some economical means of lighting their long, sparsely populated coast. The reefs and narrow inlets are a menace to skippers and fishermen, but the expense of engaging light. house keepers and providing them wih the means of livelihood was so great that many dangerous points must necessarily be left unguarded, according to the Afnerican-Scandinav- ian Review. The discovery that acetone dissolves great quantities of acetylene formed the basis of the invention by which Gpstaf Dalen created his boon to ma- riners, the self -tending lamp. It af- forded a practical and economical means of transporting large amounts of this highly illuminant gas; the Aga gas accumulator,which was fin- ally evolved, contains 100 times its own volume of gas andis at the same time safe and nonexplosive. Instead of needing constant attention, it can be fixed to burn for a year or evena longer time without being touched. The Aga flashlight apparatus makes it possible to give the marine lights a distinctive character by producieg flashes of any desired duration or combination. As the flaeh character now generally adopted requires the flame to burn for only one-tenth of the time, this means great economy. Most marvelous of all to the layman is the sun valve, which extinguishes the light during the day, thus further diminishing gas consumption• The lighthouse of Gasfeten on a little' reef at the entrance to Ronnee by in Sweden was the first in which the Aga light was installed. This was in 1904, and the , experiment proved so satisfactory that it has since been adopted practically all over the world. Lighthouses and buoys have been placed where it was im- possible for even the most hardy keep- er to live. Difficult passages like the Straits of Magellan, where dan- gers known and unknown lurked in the way of the sailor, have had their haunting terrors dispelled by light. The most brilliant triumph of the Aga lamp, however, came when it was chosen in competiion with all known lighting systems to guide the', ships of the world through the new Atlantic -Pacific highway. KAISER'S GIFT TO LONDON. Statue Near Kensington Palace Was Sent From Germany, It is not generally known that the statute of King William which stands outside Kensington Palace was pre- sented to England by the Kaiser. It bears the 'following inscription:— "William III. of Orange, Ding of Great Britain and Ireland, 1689-1702. Presented by William II., German Emperor and King, of Prussia;.••„ to King Edward VII., for the British na-, tion, 1907." A very short time ago the Kaiser presented a colossal statute to Nor- way. This is a statute of Frithjof, the great Norse hero, who is the sub- ject of an Icelandic saga assigned to', the fourteenth century, and relating his adventures. It is designated to commemorate the Kaiser's twenty- fifth cruise to the Land of the Mid- night Sun. The figure of the mythi- cal hero is forty feet high -about ten feet shorter than the Kaiser thinks himself and stands on a pedestal thirty feet high. A dozen men lunch- ed in the chest cavity of this colossal statute whilst it was in course of erection. SET'T'LERS' SLASH, • .A Prime Cause for Thio Year's V'orest Fires, While forest fires since the begin- ning of May have been kept down by the fire ranging systems to a fraction of bast year's destructionenough pub lie and private -owned timber in this province has been given to the flames to compel a close investigation of the aus. Itt is esasserted by expert forest engin- sore that while railway and lumber companies can greatly reduce the risk to the forests from locomotive sparks and the debris that follows cutting operations; immediate steps must be taken by the Provincial, Governments to curb the evil of settlers' fires. Every wooded province attributes much of its great annual loss to the burning of brush by farmers. It is absolutely necessary, of course, that farmers should clear up Chir Made and burning is usually the ode cheap method. The only restriction asked by those concerned in forest protec- tion la that permits shall be issued to those intending to burn the brush on the edge of the forests and that in- spectors shall establish the safest method of doing it. Scores of eases eould be cited where a settler, often innocent of any harmful intention, started a fire in his property to pro- vide for a hundred dollar crop and ended up with destroying scores of thousands( and in one case three mil - ions) of dollars worth of timber. In the area : covered by the St. Maurice Forest Protective Association in Quebec Province, 231 fires were en- countered and fought last year and of this number no less than 80 were due to careless and unthinking. settlers. In 1913, out of 306 fires, 161 were traced to the same cause. Had it not been for the highly -efficient system of ,fire - ranging, the timber burned through the attempt to clean off a few agri- cultural acres last year would have more than equalled the cost of the entire 80 farm's. Every province shows annually just such unreasonable re- cords of waste by Settlers who take brush burning into their own hands. In Ontario there is practically no restriction upon settlers' brush burning operations and the province has paid up in charred and useless strips of woodlend. The Quebec au- thorities have a good law and make a serious effort to regulate the setting out of fires by establishing a closed season during which no fire shall be set unless by permit issued by a fire ranger. The enforcement of such a law is obviously difficult and a large staff`will be required to give it the success which the situation demands. British Columbia supplies a first- rate example of an act covering the permit system for settlers' slash. No forest engineer in that or any pro- vince attempts to hamper the farmer unnecessarily in clearing his land. At the same time it is established that no haphazard citizen, in a hurry to burn his waste stuff, shall have the right to lose the province half a mil- lion dollars of good timber and men- ace the safety of towns and villages. From May ist to October 1st is the "closed season." 'Wherever possible the area to be burned is examined by a forest guard. The -duration of the permit averaged last last. year from seven to fifteen days, In,eertain dis- tricts, owing to dangerous weather high winds and numerous fires, the permits ofthe district bad to be can- celled altogether. Of 11,528 permits issuedto settlers: in 1914, only 128 fires escaped beyond control, which is about one per cent. This is a re- markably small proportion of damage to the credit of settlers, for in some district of Canada the settlers are responsible for thirty to forty per cent. of all forest destruction. Even of this one per cent. in British Co- lumbia, under the permit system, quite a number were due to extraor- dinary accidents; in several eases sud- den high winds ,lifted . the burning material into the forest and started a serious blaze. "Nothing is more certain," remarked Chief Forester MacMillan, "than that had there been no permit regulation the results would have been disastrous in the extreme." NEW NERVOUS DISEASE. Sir William Osler Tells of Types De- veloped by War. Sir William Osler, regius professor of medicine at Oxford,' gives another interesting 'sidelight on England as seen from the medical viewpoint. His letter is published in the Journal of the American .Medical Association. Types of nervous disorders seen very rarely in this country or in Europe have manifested themselves as a result of the extraordinary stress and stfain of trench fighting. One of these disorders is a temporary para- lysis without actual injury due to close proximity of an explosion. This is known to military surgeons as "Shell shock ,parapieia." Another is the "Psychic knockout,". in which the victim remains in a stu- porous state, With loss of memory and complete speechlessness or stammer- ing. Recovery follows in a few days as a rule, but extreme nervous irrit- ability may persist for weeks. In many cases the walking gaiter chang- ed in all sorts of curious ways. One remarkable case is described in detail by the patient himself. Here the ef- fort at balancing the body when walk- ing resembled a tight rope walker's efforts. Gas poisoning is spoken of also. The high explosive shells; the hand grenades and shrapnel all do great damage, but none of them is quite so frightful as the deadly gasses used by the Germans. Victims of gas pois- oning do not always die at once, but drag out a lingering and painful death, caused by a suffocative swelling in the lungs. Recently about six miles from Ashcroft, B.G., J. G. Collins and his son Bert found a nest a rattle- snakes and lulled 96 of them. WHEN IN DOUBT Serve Ice Cream CITY DAIRY Service makes this possible. We have developed a method of shipping Ice Cream put up in attractive boxes — Enough in a box to serve five or sig. persons. We ship thousands of these boxes to discriminating shop keepers everywhere. You get it in the original package just as it is put up in our sanitary Dair Look for the Sign. TRON ®Os We want an Agent in every town. NEMS FROM ENGLAND. N111WS Ile DIAL AT;QU'T JOHN MILL AND 1118 T'EOI'T411. Oeourrenees In the Land That Reigns Supreme in the Com- mercial World. In London last week 'there were 1,983 berths and 1,130 deaths. No tower than 6Q Nottingham po- liosmea have joined Lord ICitc3ener'a Army; Within a radius of dye =idea of Bob- ton town he31 80000 colliers have. en. lis tad. There are now 36 girl ticket Cole lectors at the Loudon Bridge station of the Brighmton lino. Lady dank clerks are being employ. ed in the Blackburn district to re.. place the men on active servdee. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 Italian waiters in London going back to their country to serve In the war. The Tottenham council has en. gaged a number of lady clerks to re: place the men who have joined the colors. Maur eases of ptomaine poisonine. have occurred at Newport through the eating of tinned salmon and tomatoes, Kew Gardens, London, is to have a giant flag stair 216 ft. in length, made from a fir pine tree grown in Britishd Columbia, Tho 600 girls employed In manufac. turing`manitlone at Vickers° Works' at Barrow are to be imsnedtately aug- mented by another 1,000. The Stafford Playhouse, a theatre which has been in existence Aver ':.a century and a quarter, has been cosi pleteJy destroyed by fire. Progress is being made with t,£e' Government housing scheme at Wood. with. Plans have been passed for the erection of 360 houses, Factories for the manufacture.. of. high explosives., shells and fuses are being erected at Nottingham at the request of the Government. It is stated that nearly 100 mem- leers of the Caledonian Club have fall- en in action, a percentage higher than that of any other olub in London. The silk weavers of Sudbury, Suf- folk, who have suffered from unem- went since the war broke out are now learning to make toys• and dolls. The new Malde. Vale stattoa on the Bakerloo Railway, which has now been completed and is to be opened soon will be staffed entirely with woe men.` There are 1,916 women patrols or- ganized by the National Union of Women. Workers, operating in the neighborhood of camps in different parts of,the country. In the course of the last four months the total arrivals and eatlings from Witte'. ports numbered 24,442, a strik- ing proof of the excellent work of the British Navy. In the contests for honors in the Cambridge university tripes examina- tion only 387 candidates have this year presented themselves, compared with 1,002 last year. Owing to the demand for men in the armament branches of the Govern- ment departments in Sheffield women labor is being introduced into several branches there. Mr. C. Heat Clark, J.P., of Croy- don, has severed his conaection with bhe Society of Friends as a member, as be feels bound to help in the fight in defence of civilization against or- ganised barbarism, As a man named Masters was driv- ing a dray along East St. Parnham near Aldershot, the dray fell into an open trench for gas main, with the result that there was a terrible ex- plosion, and the flames shot forty feet high. Horse and man were burnt to a cinder. An order prohibiting all forms of alcohol before noon and after 8.30 p.m- to army and navy men and offi- cers has been issued by Brigadier - General Townley in Birmingham. On the instruction of the Chief Con- stable of Lancashire all pigeon racing is banned under the Defence of the Realm Act. Neither short distance events nor long distance races are al- lowed. Divorced at 11 a.m. at Towson, Md., Ludwig Hoffman got a new marriage license in 15 minutes, and was mar- ried again before 11.30. Two American boys, Archibald Mohan and Harold Hennelly, of Wo- burn, Mass.,have been released from the British army on official request. Dr. Edward E. Rowell, Jr., prom- inent physician of Stamford, Conn., missing since May 256, was found a day labourer in the west. The liquor men of New York are enlisting the aid of cigarmakers, cheese men, bakers and Iaunrymen to back their business. I' ONLY THREE OUT OF 1,000 DIE. Wonderful Figures From American hospital. Only three of the first 1,000 disabled Brtish patients cared for at the. Am eriean Women's War Hospital at Paignton, England, "which is under the direction of the American Red Cross, have died. A striking fact disclosed by Dr. Beal, the surgeon in charge, is that so few of the injured men bear any marks of hand-to-hand conflict. Fifty- two per dent. of them are suffering from gunshot wounds and 40 per cent. were struck by shrapnel. Only six -tenths of 1 per dent, received bay- onet injuries. No gas bacillus infec- tions are reported, and there have ben no deaths frpm blood poisoning, in spite of the fact that four of the wounded Men treated waited 3 clays before even a primary dressing was placed on their, injuries, and twenty - ,live bore their wounds for a day or more before first-aid was applied.