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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1916-10-5, Page 6fr A Dark Affair 1 Mr. Horace Benford, leaving his work at the War Office, strolled thoughtfully through the dimmed. streets on his way to see his fiancee, Miss Gladys Dayton, "Dash it all!" he soliloquised. "I don't know what to tell her. She's bound to make an awful fuss in any case. She's like that. Affectionate and all that sort of thing, but a bit exacting! And she expects me to call every evening. And I certainly did promise to call last evening, There's going to be an awful fuss, and I shall be in the middle of it!" Further, he reflected bitterly, the whole blame lay on Dicky Saunders. What did Dicky Saunders want to come home on leave from the Front for, and go getting his friends into trouble? What did he want to go tempting friends into spending an evening at the theatre with him, and so causing them to break promises Hoisting a Shell Into One of New British Big Guns TEIIS photo shows something of the intricate tackle necessary to lift one of the big shells used to the British offensive In the West. Recent red ports say that the big British guns are doing more effective +"au'k than the to their fiancees? l:,erman forty -twos. Mr. prehenssive Benfo moodd s in when atklaslt y ahe that his narrative should not be stare -1 ciously dragged her back out of the mounted the steps of Miss Dayton's ed for any lack of detail. roadway last night, although no dan- abode in Penehester Square. Strange!" she mused. "I was ger threatened her. The young man Nliss Dayton was awaiting him in, standing on the doorstep at that very then disappeared in the darkness. She the drawing -room. moment, looking for you. I heard then found that her purse had disap- "Oh, so you have come at lash" the clock sirike eight, quite plainly. , peered, too!" But I never heard a shriek! you leave the office?" It—it wasn't exactly a loud shriek, "Oh, no, of course I don't, but I'm "Oh, just on seven!" he replied you know. It was more of a—a moan. afraid she does. She's been to the nervously. , That was it—a moan! Thirty yards police about her purse, and she doesn't "Well, it's taken you a long while away, crossing the road, I saw a fen- mean to let the matter drop. Really, to get here," she said. "Just twenty, inine figure. Bearing down on the fe- there's seems to be a fearful mistake five hours!" • male figure was a taxicab, going somewhere. Of course, no one will "Twenty-five hours'?" twenty mites an hour or more! The believe for a moment that you stole "When you left on Monday evening, woman saw that she was doomed. It her purse. But think of the scandal! you promised you'd come straight to was then that she uttered that low Your position at the office will be me after you left the office next day, •but terrifying moan!" dreadful! Oh, and if the magistrate didn't you?" she asked stonily. "And: �ih!ch you heard thirty yards should make a mistake and sentence therefore, if you've kept your word, away, through the noise of the taxi- you- --" you must have started to walk here tab's engine? And you saw her, in "But he couldn't!" declared Mr. last night. And it's taken you twenty-; spite of the darkness? Well, what Benford, "because I could prove I five hours to get here!" she asked coldly. "What time did "Surely you don't imagine that I—" did you do?" knew nothing about her purse. I could - "But—" he faltered. Without hesitation I sprang for-: prove a complete alibi!" he added in - "Of course," she continued loftily, ward. The machine had knocked the cautiously. "I could bring Dicky "when you didn't turn up last night, girl down, but, by a supreme effort, I Saunders to prove that I was with any other girl might have thought managed to drag her body aside be- him irom seven o'clock last night till that you'd broken your promise to fore the wheels passed over it. And —" her. But I knew you wouldn't do a; that was all!" "Oh!" exclaimed Miss Dayton, mean thing like that, would you?" You managed to dash forward "Oh!" "No, of course not!" he answered thirty yards and—" "Well, I suppose the truth has got shakily. "At least—" I Don't ask me how I did it," he beg- to come out sooner or later," he said "Of course, after I'd waited an hour gad wearily. "It was all like a hor- wretchedly. "I did spend the even - for you, I began to get horribly wor- Tzd dream!" ing with Dicky." ried," she told him. `I knew nothing "But why couldn't you have come "I know," she replied, smiling. "And but illness would have kept you away. on here, then? You didn't come to when you tried to get out of it with So I rang up your chambers, and any harm. You dragged her out of such an absurd story, I just let you they told me you had not come home.: the way, and—" go on, and then arranged with Mrs. So I knew you weren't too ill to comeThere—there was another taxi— Parker to give you a scare. What a round and see me." lone I didn't see. It sent me spinning lot of trouble you'd have saved if "No, I -I wasn't ill," he replied , and reeling into the mud and—" you'd toldme the truth to start with. slowly. "I—I had a bit of a headache But what happened to the girl you this morning, though, if—if that. rescued? Wasn't she hurt by the counts?" he suggested, rather hope- second taxi?" No. I had just had time to deposit fu "(m sure I'm not at all surprised," her on the steps of an empty house, she observed icily. "Where were you, out of harm's way." last evening?" she demanded, aband-. But I don't understand. After ening sarcasm, and making a frontal you'd put her dote safely, did Why, Dicky Saunders rang me up, and asked pre the best time and place to be sure of meeting you, and I told him. But I made him promise not to say I knew you were going out with him. I wished to see how you'd ex- cuse yourself to me." - jump out into the roadway, r you "Gladys," he said penitently. "I've attack. "Why didn't you keep your �, y again, or been an ass!" promise to ma?" w at?" brain is a blank," said Mr. "Horace," she agreed, "you have! Mr. Benford realized that the dan-And that disposes of the whole affair, ger-flag was flapping vigorously in Benford, shutting his eyes. "It's no doesn't it? So we'll just say nothing the breeze. good asking me. 1 can't remember more about your wonderful adventure "Well, it was like this," he stated. anything clear; "I mean— Well, as a matter of ,"1v s,uPPose it was a verylast evening, shall we? We'll simply pretty lisp it dark!"—London Answers. fact, it was like this." ! , He stopped dead. The light in Miss : Not a bit of it!" asserted Mr. Ben - Dayton's eyes was not at all reassur-!ford quickly. "She was quite a plain "BREAKING" HABITS UNWISE. ing. ; g l' They Should be Displaced With Better "What was like what?" she persist-; , Some plain girls are very attract- Ones theEx arts Sa ed ominously. i rye," said Miss Dayton, evidencing p y. "Well, when I say it was like this,", jealousy. "And when their lives are Trying to "break" children of habits romantically saved—" he floundered. "I mean—" Is an error of method, The reason is "I shall be glad to hear what youI "She—she wasn't exactly a girl," that habit, according to William James, , he declared earnestly. "She— Well, a great psychologist, not only is second do mean!" she was, oh, quite ui a middle-aged wn- nature, but has become nature itself, "Well, you see, the—the streets man!" and that nature is not to be driven, but were very dark," he began, yearning must be coaxed and led. for inspiration to help him out. "Oh, "Was she prettily dressed?" asked Displace habit with something else., very dark you indeed. Quite dark, the inexorable bliss Dayton. Replace it on the pollee, of substitu- know. n • "Oh, no! Just—just plainly, you' ting some better activity. . An average "Yes, I do know. Please go on!" 'know. In fact, she—she was quite • child, even if only live years old, can, "Well, as I was saying, the streets' poorly dressed. Really, there's no according to Dr. Dearbbrn, head of a d— d one need for you to be jealous. I only children's infirmary, be guided Judi - were fearfully dark, an an said ' ciously 1f given careful, clear explant street seemed to be as dark as an- girl' because 'old frump sound- }tons adapted to lis year and pointing other. And I—I was walking along, ed so ungallant. But that's what she out things really fundamental or es - you know. Just—just walking along, was! sential. 'But one must start with'a gi and—and thinking hard of you, you „ I wonder--' mused Miss Dayton. normal nervous system and museula- know, dearest. And—and—and there Tell me, was she quite a plain old ture," The doctor explains that he was" --he closed his eyes momantar- lady, with a long coat and a little means outdoor exercise and plenty of ily, and made a dash at it—"and there black bonnet? was a sort of—well, a kind of acei- I "Yes, that's it—that's it!" he dent!" agreed eagerly, rejoicing that some "Oh, Horace, how dreadful!" she sort of corroborative evidence seem - exclaimed. "And were you badly,ed to be coming his way. "Why, did hurt?" you see her when you were on the "Well, not badly hurt," he inform- steps?" ed her. "You see—er—I--I wasn't "Yes, I did; And you're quite sure ask for. One day a customer enter - hurt at all!" I she was dressed like that? You have ed the shop and asked if he had any "But you said you were in an acei- no doubt?" trousers made especially for one leg- dent!" 1 "Not in the least! That was the ged men, "Certainly," replied the Mr. Benford breathed hard for awoman I saved! What more proof merchant, "What kind do you moment. I do you want of the truth of my 1 wane?" "Dress trousers," said the "So I was," he explained, a little' story?" (man. "The best you've got." Hur- belatedly. "I was in it, Simply j "None," she replied. "I know it to'rying into the rear of the shop the smothered in mud, I was! And—and I bo true now." 1 enterprising merchant snatched a a bit dizzy and stiff as well, you, Without explaining further, she pair of trousers and snipped off the know. I --I positively had to go quitted the room. Mr. Benford, a lit- right leg with a pair of shears, Bast, straight home and lie down. That's tie perturbed, but still confident of ily turning under the edges he pros - why I didn't come round to see you!" his ability to emerge suecessfully ;entad them to the customer. "That'd "Well?" she asked, with scornfulfrom the ordeal, awaited her return.. the kind I want. What's bhe price 7" hostility, I She came back five minutes later. 1 "Thirty shillings." "Well, give me a "Ah, 1 see I shall have to tell you With her was an elderly woman, at- pair with the left leg off." A month the real truth!" he said. As a mat- tired in a plain black bonnet and a Iater the clothier was pronounced con. sleep. Snipped the Wrong Leeg- A London clothier was never known to acknowledge that he didn't have anything a possible customer might ter of fact, there was an accident, and long coat. that elute prevented me from turn- { "Is that the gentleman who saved ing up here, You see, it was a tie-' you last night, Mrs. Parker?" asked inenrlously dark night---" I Miss Dayton. "You've said that before," she re- "It is --it is!" said the elderly lady, minded him, exhibiting excitement, "AndP P 'r'a p s "And I was walking along, think- 'e'll tell me what'e's---" ing hard of you, dearest--.-" I "That will do, Mrs, Parker," said "You said that before, too!" the girt. "You had better go now, "Well, that shows I must be telling and leave the rest to m.e." the truth, doesn't it? Well, all of a The elderly lady withdrew with ob- • sudden, just as I turned the corner 01 vious reluctance. Mr. Benford, as thisi very square, there was an awful one waking from a trance, passed his shriek!", across his forehead.. What time was that?" "She's our charwoman," explained "Exactly eight o'clock, f---1 hap- the girl, "When she got here this lookingat mywatch at more PeSrocl to be t mg she told me an extraordinary the time," he answered, determined tale of tt young.ntan Who most offie valescent and on the right road to re- °every. To realize the hardness of this world step on a banana skin, The splinters in the banister of life are unnoticed until we begin to slide down. NUSSSES WAXT0113. A num er of applicants are deetred Hospital the raining School, for Nurses, Hospital for Insane, Toronto, Three years Course Lecture's start netobor 1, 1016, eAhati Here begin at.tit,o - a month, With board, gin;1,��rm and lechery..Apply Miss 76.. 'V;. West, Head Nrse, 00 Queen' t. W , Terov, to. DRIVING GERMANS OVER THE HILLS IDEA OF THE TASK THE BRIT- ISH ARE UNNDERTAKING, Able to Drive the Germans Before Them Slowly, It Is True, But Steadily. Despatches from the Western front have not made it as clear as might be that the British advance is over rls- ing ground, that it is now near the crest, and that when the high ground is taken it will be a comparatively easy matter to seize Bapaume, one of the chief objectives of the drive. A map prepared by the British Govern- ment and reproduced in the New York Times, as well as letter -press contri- buted by a member of the British Intelligence staff, gives a clear idea of the task the British are undertak- ing, and the headway they have made. From the Somme River where the drive began, the country rises in un- dulations as far as Martinpuich, though this village is rather beyond the crest. It then declines with few undulations to the Anere, rising again slightly to Bapaume, which is on about the same level as Fricourt. The hills that extend from the Somme to the Ancre are too small' to be noted • in the ordinary map. The highest peak is not 600 feet above the level of the Somme. Yet since the Germans have had a couple of years in which to turn them into fortresses it will be under - stead that an elevation of even ten feet just doubles the task of the as- sailants, An Uphill Fight, The British have been fighting lit- erally an uphill battle, and the fact is that they have been able to drive the Germans before them, slowly, it is true, but steadily. But they do not have to drive them uphill all the way to Bapaume. Once they are able to command Martinpuich they will be working downhill, and have only the village of Lesars between them and the River Anere, which is in a slight depression. Then Bapaume rises. { When the British advance has brought the army in sight of this now -famous • village, the German lines will have been sent back into an almost penin- sular salient. A retirement upon a long front will thus become necessary unless the German general decides to maintain an impossible position. It is also necessary to bear in mind the' fact that the further the Germans re- tire the harder it is for them to main -1 tain a foothold. They are in the posi-; tion of a man who begins to slip downhill. occupied by the Germans is thus de- fended, and the task of clearing the T•Iuns out is a tedious and a costly one. But it is -well to remember that such fortifications cannot be built in ! a day. The Germans have been driv- en out of positions that they took years to prepare. It will not be such a serious matter to drive -them out of shelters that they have had to im- provise since the big drive began. CAUGHT A ♦HUN SNIPER. British Scouts Found Him Hiding in a Deep Hole.' ISonie of the most thrilling experi- ones of the front come on trench raids, undertaken at night between the opposing lines. A British officer in a letter home says : "It was in the blackness of the early morning when the examination of the German line was begun. In the first two of four shelters we drew a blank, and for the third time had to tack back from the line of the Bosehe v,4r of a sudden a rifle was fired under our noses. "The shot came from dead an the spat where we were making for. ' It was fair to assume the Bosche sniper who fired that shot would be facing our trenches, the same way we were facing at that moment, since we were working back. The edge of that sniper's hole was not sloping, but sheer ; and, crawling slowly along, I struck my right hand glean over - it into nothingness, letting my chest down with quite an audible • bump. Right before me then I heard a man's body swing round on the mud. I had to chance it then. I couldn't see him, but 'when I sprang the thing my hands gripped first was his rifle. ""It was rather like tom -cats coming to blows. I think my spring, slightly to his reit, knocked him off his bal- ance. But, though I got bis left wrist and covered kis mouth with my chest, I was a bit uneasy about his right hand, which for the moment I couldn't find. But Hankin found it, and we hauled him up to his feet and marched him into our front trench." "SCOTS WHA HAE!" Has Never Become A Real War -Song Like the "Marseillaise." Carlyle- said that "Scots Wha Hae" finest was the nest war -song ever penned by man. It was composed on horse- back whilst Robert Burns was cross- ing a wild moor in a thunderstorm. But it has never become a real war - song like the "Marseillaise," which has had the power to fire the French to a white heat of patriotism for more than a century, and which still re- tains its hold upon the nation. America has some ehlendid war - songs. Who can estimate the power of that song, born in revolution, on the troops of Lincoln, `John Brown's Body"? It was like fire in their veins, with its terrible chorus, "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!" Our own lads sing it yet as they march, says Lon- don Answers. The Southerners had a song, too— the famous "Dixie," a theme which has been exploited in ragtime, a rage which the war seems to have killed. Singularly enough, the famous "Watch on the Rhine," which the Ger- mans are so fond of chanting, has lost its meaning since 1870. There was some sense in it before, because the great river was one of the bound- aries between France and Germany. • The "Gleaning Bell." The "gleaning bell" is known in some places—as at Driffield, Yorks— as the `"harvest bell," and is sounded at five in the morning and seven in the evening to mark the hours of labor in the fields, says the London Chronicle. Among the old records in the parish chest at Barrow -on -Hum- ber is an instruction to the parish clerk "to ring a bell every working day morning at bread of day, and also every evening at sun -setting, until harvest be fully ended, and for this service each of the cottagers shall give him two peck of wheat." Wonderful Defences Destroyed. Too tittle has been said of the task so far accomplished by the British' on the Somme. In the matter of miles won the advance has been paratively slight. Nevertheless it has been such an advance as is made' to crack a modern chilled steel vault. An inch through the Harveyized steel represents .greater effort than a yard through ordinary iron. The Somme I defences have been of the former character, as compared with the sweep of the Russians, for instance. Never in the history of warfare have such defences been built. For the past two years when the Germans I have not been fighting they have been toiling with concrete and steel to make their defences impregnable. They have dug themselves in 30 and 60 feet deep, and have roofed them-` selves with such steel plates as Dreadnoughts are lined with. In these subterranean caverns they have• constructed veritable cities, hospitals,! armories, parade grounds even; they, have tapped subterranean springs for water; and have stocked their re- treats with machine guns, mortars, and all the implements of war, Underground Warfare. "When the Allies open a bombard- ment the Germans retire to these caves, and remain in safety, except for the odd chance of a shell falling through a single opening. The most powerful explosives may burst over- head and do no damage to the en- emy lying 60 feet below the surface of the earth. In the meantime, of course, the Germans occupying these dugouts can do no harm. They become active, however, when the infantry at- tack follows the bombardment. Then they climb by ladders to the surface, hauling their machine guns, and turn them loose on the enemy that has supposed all the defences to have been destroyed. Often they have caught the attacking British in the rear, and have made it necessary for the attack to be halted, while bombing parties creep back, hunt out the entrance to the shelters, and silence the defend- ers by hand -grenades. The Work of Snipers. They have also established their snipers in a Most diabolical manner. They have dug tunnels in front of their trenches, and on either side, and. then have run up openings at various points. In *wee openings the nip - era station themselves. Their hiding- 1 laees are masked with dthe ebris of warheacleverly of brush, shatter.ed wagons and other litter, In these hiding -places crack marksmen are stationed. When the British advance comes too near the sniper can dodge down, and, using the communicating 1 tunnel, rejoin the main body of his comrades. Every house in the villages We May Now Walk on Air. Walking on air is no longer an ex- aggerated expression. One of the new inventions to be placed on the market soon is a pneumatic sole put forward to share the popularity of the rubber heel. The new sole is pre., mimed to take up the jar of walking. The new device is attaehod to the eather sole by plates and screws, and ff punctured can be readily removed and repaired. Another genius, work- ing alonm g the sae lines, has devis- ed a pneumatic plug for use on the heel of a thee. It is claimed that the new contrivances make not only for ass nervous exhaustion among people but also 'a means toward safety on slippery pavements, From Erin's Green Isle NEWS BY MAIL FROM IRE. LAND'S SHORES. Happenings in the Emerald Isle of interest to Irish- men. Oats on sale at Rosscommon re- cently fetched the record price of $6.28 per barrel of 14 stone. . The recruiting campaign in Belfast to secure additional reserve!• for the Ulster Division is making satisfac- tory progress. The death has occurred of Mr. Charles Lowry, sub -sheriff of the Co. Meath, head of the firm of Charles Lowry & Son. A public post office has been opened in Sackville Hall, Upper Sackville street, to serve temporarily as the G.P.O. for Dublin. Mr. Wm. Murphy, horse dealer, Waterford, was seriously injured when thrown out of a training gig while driving a spirited horse. Torrential rains fell recently in the Roscommon district, and houses were flooded to a depth of nearly a foot. Many farmers suffered a serious loss Mr. Forster says the War Office possesses information 'showing that large quantities of hay have now been released for the use of civil consum- ers in Ireland. Under new regulations of the De- fence of the Realm Act, . the Secretary of State may prohibit from going to Ireland any person not a British subject. A serious fire broke out in Crosse's posting establishment, Corlc, and con- siderable damage was caused. Twenty- eight horses in the stables were res- cued with difficulty. Negotiations are proceeding amic- ably between three of the cross Channel steamship companies and the dock laborers in their employ- ment in regard to an increase of pay. Sir Horace Plunkett, who has been seriously i11 for the last seven weeks as the result of an accidental burn- ing while undergoing treatment by the X-rays, is still confined to his bed. The Local Government Board have appealed to the Enniscorthy Guard- ians to tpstitute legal proceedings against the more persistent of the 3,000 vaccination defaulters in the union area. The death has occurred of Mr. R. Hamilton.Stubbes, D.L., at his resi- dence at Durrow,.Queen's County. He wase large landowner in the county and was Master of the County Hounds for ten years. Field -Marshal Viscount French, Commander -in -Chief, Home Forces, inspected troops in Cork Barracks, consisting of the Royal Irish Regi- ment, Leinster Regiment and Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The Lismore' and District Red . Cross Committee have presented their, hon. secretary, Mr. E. D. Trundle, with a silver salver, "as a recogni- tion of valuable services rendered as hon. secretary," Twelve overseas delegates recent- ly visited Belfast, and were enter- tained at luncheon by the Lord Mayor in the City Hall. They after- wards inspected shipbuilding yards and linen factories, INEXHAUSTIBLE RUSSIA. Can Double Germany's Output of Sol. diers Every Year. The German military experts are presenting a gloomy view as to the inexhaustible resources of, Russia. They say the Russians can put 1,000,- 000 new soldiers into the field every year, where the Germans . Can pit only about 450,000 at the utmost, The birthrate in Russia is the highest in Europe, being 47 for 1,000. By this calculation Germany can only put into the front one new soldier for every two that Russia can recruit her army with. The only hope that the Ger- man experts can give their people, is that Russia cannot produce competent officers in proportion to her recruits, and that she will break down finan- cially. They point out that the last attempt of the Finance Minister to obtain a large loan in London and Pails has been a Were, No Diferent, "What sort of a woman is Perking' wife 7" "'Che ordinary kind. I guess Per - ;tins has as much trouble With her as the rest of us do With our wives," nr i n r A A ab e is de makes her hype a present of a Spear, and a tent. ARMOR FOR BODY AS WELL AS HEAD THE BEST STEEL IS NEEDED FOR THE PURPOSE. Designer of British Helmet Makes Some Further Interesting Suggestions. Dr. C. W. Saleeby, who urged the adoption of the steel helmets now a feature of the equipment of the Brit- ish soldier, is asking for armored pro- tection for the soldiers' hearts also. In speaking of the value of light ar- mor for vital parts he says: Late last summer many of us who count every soldier sacred urged that our men should be armored. The French had evidently profited by their: helmet, and no other reply than ar- mor to the machine-gun was then or yet is in existence. The recognized answer of the sol- dier to the surgeon had been that the weight of armor reduces mobility and so involves more danger than it averts. To this one pointed out that modern surgery, which was made in England, enables the Listerian pupil to save not only the life but even the limb or other injured part, in a large majority of cases, provided that the injury be not in itself mortal. We ask—or rather, Sir Arthur Cnoan Doyle and I, who are not surgeons, asked on their behalf—that the au- thorities should armor only our sole diers' vital parts, and the surgeons would go bail for the rest. The fac- tor of weight would thus be dimin- ished beneath consideration. Accordingly it was decided to imi- tate the French helmet. This task was undertaken in a fashion so bad and disastrous that my attempt to publish it here at the time was forbidden. But in one of the reviews in November I (argued that the French helmet might be much improved upon. 4,11 1 asked, and more, has been devotedly done by the Minister of Munitions. Our helmet is made of one piece, being none other than a sheet of tested steel, moulded into the uncomely but blessed form "of a soup -plate." But as to my three points. The only steel that serves is man- ganese steel; again made in Eng- land. ,Sir Robert Hadfield, of Shef- field, put his brains, for no less than a decade, into the making of this most wonderful alloy, into which alone we can safely put our soldiers' brains to -day. Our helmet, weighing only two pounds, is bullet-proof to a Web - ley automatic pistol at five yards; every helmet now supplied to the troops must be, and is, proof against a shrapnel bullet, 41 to the pound, with a striking velocity of 750 feet per second. It can be laid on the floor and thus struck with all one's might, and though the line of the blow may be depressed, this amazing steel does not give. Poor Steel Dangerous. Accordingly I now call upon all the outfitters who have been displaying and selling helmets and body shields, not tested, not made of manganese steel, and deadly to the wearer, to withdraw all such murderous rub- bish forthwith. As for body shields, last November I protested against some on sale. Many have been, and ,are, made of mild steel. Such are bought, tried, condemned by officers at the front, to whom steel is just steel, and so no progress is made. The shape of the helmet has been considered. The French helmet struck me as having too vertical a front. If we give the projectile a smooth, rounded, oblique surface to strike, we immensely aid the inherent resistance of the steel. Our helmet is accord- ingly low in pitch, and is much less likely than the French helmet to be - imitated in women's headgear, but it serves its purpose better. Obviously the shape of a policeman's or fire- man's helmet would be unsuitable here, and every fraction of an inch that the helmet rises above the scalp is a disadvantage. But we cannot simply clap n cap of steel upon a living head and be eon - tent. Here we must have the very best knowledge of cranial and intra- cranial surgery that the world can afford, so that we may know what to fear in the way of concussion, eon- tusion, and fracture, and how to guard accordingly. Sir Victor Hors- ley, the incomparable pioneer of cranial eurgcry, and the greatest sur- geon of our century, was of course the man to name as consultant. Accordingly, in the British helmet we have really a' double structure. It is, first, a soft cap, bounded all round its edge with thick rubber studs—now made hollow for greater resilience, This cap has a double lining of felt and wadding, so that even if the hel- met, at point-blank range, may be pierced, the scalp is guarded from the steel. Upon this padded cap is pois- ed the casque of steel, The interval between the two serves for ventila- tion. -I I No Room to Turn, Laura gazed intently at some sar- dines lying in an opened can, "What seems to interest you?" her Mother asked. Pointing a pudgy finger the little girl anelGorodt "1 Was just thinking what a lot o trouble that middle fish would have if It wanted t,> turn over