HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1917-2-1, Page 6l
fl' HAPPENED
AT JOHORE
"Because he called me a name no
white man can stand I thrashed
Dutch Blauvelt in a cafe down in J0-1
bore and knocked out two of his ront
teeth, They left marks in my fist
that show to this day," said Captain
John Goodman, "Dutch swore he'd,
get the for it, and he mighty near:
kept his promise.
"I was a bit sorry afterward that
I'd smashed Dutch, for the man was a
bit in liquor at the time, but the life
we lead makes a man strike quick and'
think afterward. If he doesn't he's
likely to go where he rani think he -
fore very long.
"So I tried in different ways to
make it up to Dutch, and when he
came to me in Sydney while I was
skipper of the four -master Penguin;
and asked for a berth I shipped him
as second mate, my officer of that
rank having been locked up in jail!
for stabbing a boarding house keeper
whoobjected to the mate's somewhat
warm attentions to his wife.
"We ran out of Sydney that trip'
with orders to go to Surabaya and;
take on a consignment of coffee for
Liverpool.
"I was sitting one night on a coil of
rope, smoking a pipe and watching
the stars do queer danees the points
of the spar as the ship rolls gently to
the swell when Dutch Blauvelt, wh
should have been turned in, came t
me quietly and asked if I would ste
for a minute, as he had some
thing to tell me which he didn't wa
the man at the wheel to hear.
"To tell the truth, I thought h
wanted to mention the little affair a
Johore and tell me that he was sorr
for what he had said after all I ha
done for hint. I had seen the ma
eyeing me of Iate, and whenever
looked at him he dropped his eyes an
grew a bit red, after the manner of
man who feels embarrassed becaus
of his thoughts, just as though he ha
expressed them aloud.
It was not until we were. well for
ward of the house, where the helms
man could not see us, that Blauvel
turned and faced me and I emelle
liquor on his breath.
"The men had not been given grog
for several days and I supposed h
must have smuggled some on board
and made up my mind to give him a
few words of advice when the ex
planations should be over, for I want
ed to see the man en his feet.
"'Well, Dutch, what is it?' I ask-
ed, for he seemed to find it hard to
begin.
He laid both hands on my shoul-
ders in friendly fashion, 'It's that
little fracas at Johore,' he said,
"His eyes did not meet mine and I
did not quite like that, although I put
it down as embarrassment at the time,
Then I caught a glimpse of the whites
of his eyes. They were red streaked
and he moistened hie lips with a swol-
len, thick tongue, I knew he had too
much liquor in him, but still I thought
he wanted to make amends and I tried
to overlook the breach of discipline.
"`Now, that's all right, Dutch,' I
said. 'There's no hard feelings any
more. A hard knock more or less
needn't stand hrtweetr two sailormen.
Forget it!"
"Forget it ---hell:" said Dutch, and
at last he faced me. I didn't like the
gleam in his eyes, although his hands
were still on my shoulders in friendly
fashion. "We'll settle the score," t
Ing. The paha In my shoulder was
excruciating, but when 1 feinted for
his stomach and etruek him full be-
tween the eyes as he warded the mis-
leading blow I forgot the pain.
".Blauvelt went down on the deck,
but even as I sprang at him lie was
on his feet again and at me, 1 remem-
ber how he panted, and it gave tae
pleasure to hear his breath come in
short, loud sobs that I knew must
hurt, and then I realized that my own
breath was all but gone. The blows
which struck me no longer hart. I
was becoming dazed. Dutch stagger-
ed, but I knew that I was doing the
same and I rushed at him in a fit of
fury to finish the thing.
"I thought he had stumbled us I
struck, but he gripped me around the
body and slung one arm under my
left leg just above the knee. I felt
hint lift me from the deck and I struck
blindly, savagely at his face. I felt
the impact of my blows as I rained
them time and again upon his face,
but I could not get my feet under ins.
I felt myself flying through the air.
"Then came the shock of cold, sting-
ing water. I tried to call out, but my
mouth filled and I sank. When I came
to the surface I shouted for help, but
the lights of the Penguin twinkled
fifty yards away and my weak voice
would not carry that far. I suppose
it was about three in the morning
when I was thrown overboard. and
the sun rose at four. The scene was
beautiful beyond description, hut all
its warm Ioveliness struck terror to
my heart.
Belgian Refugee Children Arriving at Ellis Island, N. Y.
The most interesting travellers among the 965 who arrived on the liner
New Amsterdam, a few days ago, were the Belgian children sent to the
United States by Father John De Ville, They will make their homes with
relatives or friends of their parents in Chicago and other cities. in the
Middle west. They wore the warns clothes sent down the bay to the steam -
01 "Rage burned in my heart in that ship for them by
° moment of despair and doubt. I would
ep have beaten impotently on the un-
feeling sea and wasted my strength
tit' in worse than unreasoning temper.
I raised my hand to curse all thing
e' but with the act the water closed owe
t my head and I choked. The grea
Y relentless enemy was there all abau
d me, ready to seize remorsely any op
n' portunity that offered. With th
I' slightest relaxation on my part
d; would be dragged down, overcome
a My foe was tireless, vigilant. abso
e lutely unmerciful.
d "For a while I tired myself wit
crazy, frontic swimming, whither
-' knew not, but with the first feeling
-! of exhaustion I came to my sense
t My sole hope of rescue lay in keepin
d myself afloat until some passing vas
sel picked me up or tho Penguin re
• turned, which it was not very likel
e :she would do after all this time, Th
,1 struggle resolved itself into a cul
;reasoning fight against infinite, un
-' thinking forces.
-1 "Gradually the freakish currents o
the sea had carried me into warmer
water—or I was becoming numbed,
felt sluggish, and I think conscious
Iness was beginning to slip away from
me, for I began to forget things. Thai
suddenly a horrible thought seized me
I —sharks might attack me.
' I wondered what fashion of finny
creatures there were in the waters
;about me. I had even greater horro
of some slimy, freakish reptile fish
than of the sharks. I feared my mind
was going, and I gripped myself, but
' the thought returned, and returned al-
ways stronger.
"Then I shrieked aloud in fear, for
!as truly as the sun shines I felt some
scaly creature brush against my side.
A fever dream, perhaps it was ---but to
me it was as real as the fingers on
' your hand. Wildly I struck out with
farms and Legs and thrashed about to
scare it, but although I could not see
the thing it seemed as if a dozen mon-
sters of the sea were brushing against
my side.
"Slimy creatures played in the
waves about me. To some I tried to
talk, but they only laughed and mock-
ed me, and I raged against them and
tried to strike them with my fists, but
they parted in twain where I struck,
and then the parts, swimming off,
joined together again and mocked me.
"There loomed in the distance a new
monster. Black and high out of the
water it was, with great white wings,'
and it ploughed up foam before it, so
fast did it forge ahead. It was dim
in the distance, but I was eager to do
battle with it and swam toward the
thing.
"Closer and closer it drew. I knew
I must kill it, and swam slowly to pre-
serve my strength. When I drew close
I saw it was not one monster I must
fight, but many, for out from the side
of the parent dared at fleet little white'
creature with many legs,
"This I swam toward, to kill it be-
fore attncking the larger ane. As it.
approached it roared with many
voices, and its legs churned the, water, -
One of the voices roared in a sing-
song, regular fashion. Suddenly 1
felt something strong lifting are. The
monster had me, I thought, and 1 reel
conscianeness.
"When next I opened my eyea 1 was
ying in my cabin no board thel'en-
guin. i1+t'r. McTavish, the fist mate,
was by my side.
" `Tt"e a fine eecoiul mate you ship- f
ped,' said he after he had spoken of
implo things to sen if I was myee.lf. t
"'Where le he?' I asked.
"'In chains,' said Mac'Taviah, where
he's likely to stay till we reach a Brit-
sh port. I've had the whole story t
ram you while you were deiirin is
ad Blauvelt has admitted it.'
"It seems when the watch was ;
hanged they found Blauvelt lying
armless on the deck. I was missing,;
nd the canny Scotch first mate had it
guessed the situation. Blauvelt swore'
that I had •shacked Him and fallen
overboard during the scuffle. At any .
rate the Penguin was put about and t
I was picked up by a part of the crew
in the dinghy which 5 had taken for'
the smaller monster, after I had been
Imrethirteen Imre in the water. I b
the American Red Gross, and tugged along bundles of the
thin and worn apparel they crossed the ocean in.
"We touched at Singapore and turn-
ed Blauvelt over to the authorities
s, there, who attended to his case, I
thave never laid eyes on him since."
ti DUTCH DEFENCES.
I Gigantic Undertaking in Holland For
Military Purposes.
The Zuider Zee will become in time
I a mere memory. Little Holland, al
-
h ways on the look -out for defensive
I measures for her little kingdom, pro
s poses to drain her famous waterwa
s, andsite. to erect military stations on it
g 1
-, A Bill has recently been introduce
into the Second Chamber of the Dutc
y'States-General providing for this tre
e mendous operation, the cost of which
d is estimated at over $45,000,000, an
- the undertaking will cover a period o
.fifteen years.
1, It is proposed to shut off the Zuider
Zee by a dyke running from the
I North Holland coast, through Amstel
-;Diep, to the Island of Wieringen, and
from this island to the Frisian coast,
t near Piaam. It is then proposed to
drain four sections of the Zuider Zee
;when thus closed—namely, the north-
west, south-west, south-east, and
north-east sections.
r; An even more stupendous feat has
lately been accomplished in Bombay,
India, though there the measures
were reversed. Three huge reservoirs
;have been constructed by the dam-
, ming of the River Shirawata, and it is
only because of the great war prob-
lem now before us that this extraor-
dinary piece of engineering skill has
not been accorded its due meed of
praise. The largest dam erected in
correction with this work is over
8,000 feet long and 93 feet high, and
contains more masonry than the fam-
ous Assouttn dam on the Nile.
The reservoirs, which will be used
for working the native cotton -mills,
will render Bombay a particularly
clean city, as hitherto Indian coal was
used to drive the mills, the burning of
which caused huge palls of smoke to
overhang the city.
y
s
d
h
f
"With that he gave me a mighty
shove with his left, arm that sent nee
staggering from him and at the same
time struck out at my face with his
right. It was his own attack that
saved me. He had pushed me so vio-
lently that I staggered out of reach of
his blow. Before be could strike,
again 1 recovered my balance and,
lunged at him, but he dodged.
"'We'll finish it now,' he said, and
his left fist landed on the side of my;
jaw: The blow maddened me, 1'
might have cried nut and aroused the
crew. The helmsman would have been
at my side in a minute, but the ani-
mal in 'HS both was roused. We were'
alone there, he in his bare feet and I:
in my sucks. It was not likely any!
one would hear us, and, as Dutch said,
we would finish it,
"Round and round we circled and.
I felt with joy that the deck was
steady under our feet, for although
the Penguin was driving ahead the
wind was astern and she rode the.
(texts of eons for seconds at a time
as steady as the floor c,f a house. '
"1 bit the bone. of Blatvelt's nose'
erunt•h under my knuckles with the.
(stet blow I drove hone and I became
vomnletely a mad mu.
"Ife epat and the hied rushed from
his bettered face, but ht his moment-
ary Windiness he reached for my
throat, jute to the right of the :\,dem's
apple, and the muscles of my neck e
tightened about the windpipe as,
though an iron hand were strangling
ase. But for the moment I had the
advantage unci before he recovered I i
landed a blow that sent, the wind out 1
of him with a grunt. But my whole a
strength had not been behind it and
Blauvelt kopt his feet,
"'Pretty,' he murmured, 'hut how a
about this?' And with the words his a
bony fist crashed glancingly against
fay left ca'. He had struck forthe
eye, but I had warded In time to break
the blow, He clinched with me then
and buried his teeth in my shoulder,
but I got my tilt against bis stomach
and battered and battered with short,
terrific: jabs until he broke away, curs.
SHOCKS THAT CURT: SHOCK;.
New Cures as Well as New Maladies
Result From the War.
The war has introduced new mala -
'lieu. But it has also introduced new
cures. Failing downstairs, for in-
stance, lately cured a man from shell -
shock.
If a doctor were to prescribe smok-
ing with the lighted end of the cigar-
ette in yourmouth, you would prob-
ably consider him a lunatic, This
operation, nevertheless, was complete- ;
ly successful in curing another case of
shell -shock, and in giving the sufferer
hack his speech, says London Answers.'
Soldiers have been more strangely
cured from shell -shock than from any I
other malady. Music has cured nu-
mercies victims, and temporary dumb -i
ness has heen banished by over -ex -1
"itement at cards. One man --a Can-
adieu- -found his lost voice through
Ids appreciation of an entertainer. He!
reared with laughter, and suddenly
found himself saying to a neighbor, 1
'Ain't he a peach?"
The shock of being phatographed by
lashlight and the agony of having a
tooth pulled out --without an anais-
hetir. cured twu other men who be-
haved t.Hty. had forfeited their sptcih
f '1 t'vut'
Even tt guilty r,u,sciettee bete pnw"r
t, heal! A Tommy who could not
.peak used a pencil and paper for con -
eying his mess tea, One day in hos-'
,ital he duet his pencil, and decided to;
,orrow one lying on a shelf above his
neighbor's hal. His neighbor was
sleep, but awoke ju;et as the pencil
van being removed.
"I-- I'rn SO sorry," stammered the
man, In confusion, "I was nal; going ,
°--_ -"
Cured! 1
But the ignorance 01 a lawyar i•t,'t'
liar for his client
SUBMARINES CENTURIES OLD.
Used by Alexander the Great More
Than 30,0 Years Before Christ.
According to researches which have
been made by a French professor, it
would appear that submarines have
almost as hoary a past as aeroplanes,
which, as is well known, involved
ideas which are 'centuries old. It ap-
pears that submarines were built as
early as the beginning of the seven-
teenth century. The origin of the in-
ventionis older still, Aristotle tells
how Alexander the Great made use of
submarines during .the siege of Tyre,
more than 300 years before Christ.
A Dutchman named Cornelius Van
Drebel astounded London in 1620 with
a submarine that held twelve oarsmen
and some passengers, among whom
was King James L Previous to this,
in 1534, a monk suggested the idea
that a ship be constructed of metal,
so as to be watertight and able to re-
sist the pressure of water. A sub-
marine was constructed according to
the monk's idea, and was shown to
be practicable to a certain degree.
In 1537 a ship with twenty cannon,
eighty sailors and many hags of
money on board blew up and sank in
the port of Dieppe. Three years later
a Frenchman, Jean Barrie, called Pra-
dine, built, according to the old monk's
ideas, a submarine with which he pro-
mised to rescue the bags of gold and
silver from the wreck and possibly
some pieces of artillery. The great
Pascal, then a little boy, was an eye-
witness to the experiments of Pra-
dine, which were carried on till 1050
with ultimate success.
IS TOMMY AFRAID ?
Sense Strange Delusions of Soldiers
Under Influence of I11 -Health.
If you were asked the above ques-
tion you would reply with an indign-
ant "No!" and regard the questioner e
as one who ought to be interned, a
There are, however, certain things e
of which Tommy is afraid. Not when t
he is in health --while the deadly shells c
are screaming around him he coolly a
bete with his companion as to where
they will fall --but under the influence a
of shell -shock or trench fever,
He is often haunted then by strange k
hallucinations. He believes that the s
trench has been lost and cannot be f
got hack, or that he will fall asleep on v
duty, or fail to carry out some import- lye
ant instruction. Such ideas as these
form his night -mates. His fear is
rarely a bodily one.
One of the strangest delusions is the el
delusion of blindness. Men declare em
they are totally blind, only to diseov- al
11
th
THE INVASION
OF PALESTINE
BBRIT1SH-EGYPTIAN FORCES ARE
NEAR TURKISH BORDER.
Britain May Obtain Control of Ar-
menia and Southern Part of
Holy Land.
The victory of the Anzac mounted
troops and the Imperial Camel Corps
at Rafe, within a few miles of the
Palestine border, and only 35 miles
from Beersheba, the Turkish rail-
head, is important, not so much be-
cause of the magnitude of the affair
itself, but because of the conditions
that make it possible. The blowing up
of an important bridge on the Bag-
dad railway, near Adana, a few weeks
ago, prevents the Turks from sending
heavy reinforcements to Constanti-
nople, The speed of their evacuation
of El Arish betrayed their surprise at
the sudden offensive by the British
Egyptian army, and it is likely that
their Palestine army is unprepared to
withstand a strong aggressive move-
ment. If aid from Constantinople is
long delayed through the interrup-
tion to railway traffic, the British -
Egyptian forces may gain possession
of Beersheba, and then be able to
work northward along the railway.
The possession of the railway is a
vital factor in the attempt, apparently
projected, to capture Palestine.
Preparation for Offensive.
Only now is coming to light the
magnificent preparations for the of-
fonaive. The British have London and
South-western railway engines haul-
ing freight trains far out in the
desert as quickly and' easily as in
England. Motor roads have been
built over the sand with a light stone;
30,000,000 sandbags were used for the
Suez Canal trench defences, and the
transportation facilities that made
such preparation possible have been
extended to connect with the roads
the Turks built to haul artillery over
for the attack on the canal. British
ingenuity has introduced a new type
of temporary road for infantry—five
widths of heavy wire netting laid on
the sand. The mounted corps has had
to do most of the fighting, because in
every case attack on Turkish columns
has been a question of speed. Tho de-
struction of the Turkish forces at
Maghdabah, at Rafa, and, later, of a
relief column several miles east of
Rafa, indicates magnificent organiza-
tion, military and engineering. If
progress along the coast can he con-
tinued, in conjunction with an ad-
vance on the railway from Beer-
sheba, the British forces will eventu-
ally obtain control of Palestine sea-
ports, bases from which provisioning
can be conducted by the navy. The
avoiding of the long desert haul
would be a splendid gain. It would
enable the employment of far bigger
forces, and operations on a scale that
might lead to an ultimate junction
with the Russians near Erzingan. The
possession of adequate sea bases, and
use of the Palestine railway, which
oins the Bagdad line near Adana,
would be half the battle.
British Outlook in Asia Minor.
Whether or not the invasion of
Palestine is vigorously prosecuted, the
Turkish threat at Egypt is definitely
tided. British troops will, in almost
ny ciitumatances now, be found oc-
upying the lower part of Palestine at
he and of the war, With the Allies in
ontrol of Armenia on the one side
nd much of Palestine on the other
the Bagdad route would be a vulner-
hie "corridor," and its value for Ger-
an purposes much depreciated. Tur-
ey will, apparently, have the choice
eon of either withdrawing divisions
tom the Russian front or of losing
aluable strategic territory in Asia
er that, when the doctor raises their
lids, they can see perfectly!
Illness of this kind is frequently
hard to detect, and itis inevitable that
in certain cases a good cleat of hard-
ship oscura, Recently a boy of nine-
teen; was accused by his sergeant of
falling asleep while on sentry duty.
Fortunately, he was examined by a
doetar before the impending court-
martial, and he wax found to be in a
stupor, which lasted ten days,
She Did Not Buy.
Mrs. Jenkins had a passion for the
d and curious. One day when rum -
aging about in a brie -a -brae shop
ie noticed a quaint figure, the head
nd shoulders of which appeared above
ie counter. -
"What is that Japanese idol over
ere worth?" she asked.
The salesman replied in a subdued
tone:
"About half a million. That is the
proprietor."
A petrhed up quarrel always looks
the part.
$25.00 FOR
A SETTER
CAN YOU WRITE ONE
Thirteen Prizes to be Awarded
in a Letter Writing
Competition.
Some years ago the Dr. Williams'
Medicine Co,, of Brockville, Ont., of-
fered a series of prizes to residents
of Ontario for the best letters des-
cribing cures wrought by the use of
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale
People. Hundreds of letters were
submitted in this competition, and
yet there must have been thousands
of other users of the pills who did
not avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity to win a prize. To all these
another letter writing competition is
offered. Thousands of cures through
the use of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills
have never been reported. These will
furnish the material for the letter to
be written in this contest. There is
no demand upon the imagination;
every letter must deal with facts and
facts only, -
THE PRIZES:
The Dr. Williams' Medicine Co., of
Brockville, Ont., .will award a prize
of $25.00 for the best letter received
on or before the 17th day of Febru-
ary, 1917, from residents of Ontario,
on the subject, "Why I Recommend
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills." A prize
of $10.00 will be awarded for the
second best letter received; a prize
of $5.00 for the third best letter, and
ten prizes of $2.00 each for the next
best ten letters.
THE CONDITIONS:
The euro or benefit from the use
of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills described
in the letter may be in the writer's
own case, or one that has come un-
der his or her personal observation.
More than one cure may be de-
scribetl in the letter, but every state-
ment must be literally and absolutely
true.
The letter should be not longer
than is necessary to relate the bene-
fit obtained from the remedy id the
case described.
Every letter must be signed by the
full name and correct address of the
person sending it. If it describes the
cure of some person other than the
writer of the letter, it must also be
signed by the person whose cure is
described as a guarantee of the truth
of the statement made.
The writer of each letter must
state the name and date of the paper
in which he or she saw this announce-
ment.
Fine writing will not win the prkie
unless you have a good case to de-
scribe. The strength of the recom-
mendation and not the style of the
letter will be the basis of the award.
It is understood that The Dr. Wil-
liams' Medicine Co. shall have the
right to publish any letter entered
in this contest if they desire to do so
whether it wins a prize or not.
The contest will close on February
17th, 1917, and the prizes will be
awarded as soon as possible there-
after. Do not delay. If you know
of a cure write your letter Now: Ob-
serve the above conditions carefully
or your letter may he thrown out.
Address all letters as follows:
The Dr. 'Williams' Medicine Co.,
Brockville, Ont.
Letter Contest Department.
Test bf Popularity.
The coeonel of a regiment now at
the front' is, to say the least of it, not
as popular with the troops as is Sir
Douglas Haig. Recently this col-
onel visited the trenches, and during
his inspection he stood on the parapet
for a considerable time, while an en-
emy sniper made ineffective attempts
to shoot him. That night, when the
colonel had returned to the base, the
regiment made a successful charge,
took the enemy trenches null many
prisoners. amongst whom was the
sniper who had been busy earlier in
the day. "Yer'Il be shot to -morrow
if I can git it done," said a sergeant,
who recognized him. "Mercy, kame-
rade, mercy!" yelled the unhappy
sniper. "Mercy, be --, yer great t
1 nkin' 'UnI What? Yer its the
cheek ter ask for mercy after a -miss-
in' of 'im seven times,"
The average woman is vain enough °
FROM OLD SCOTLAND
NOTES OIe INTEREST FROM HER
BANKS AND )3RAES.
What is Going On in the' Highlands
and Lowlands of Auld
Scotia.
David Smith, of Cordon Placa,
Aberdeen, who died recently, left an
estate valued at 8116,000.
The new Lord Chancellor, Sir Rob-
ert Bannatyne, is Unionist member
for Edinburgh and St. Andrew's uni-
versities,
Andrew Stewart has been elected
chairman of the Glasgow Parish Coun-
cil. Ile was also elected chairman of
the District Board of Control.
The death occurred recently at St,
Andrew's of Professor Purdie, who
for many years occupied the Chair of
Chemistry at St. Andrew's Univer-
sity,
Gas fumes from grain lying in
the hold of a steamer at Ardrossans�
harbor caused the death of six work4
men who were helping to unload
the cargo,
Owing to the high price of flour,
the bakers of Dundee have raised
the price of bread to tenpence a loaf,
and say that it may yet go as high as
a shilling. �.
Ono of the oldest and best-known
merchants. of Blackford, Perthshire,
passed away the other day in the
person of David Lawson. He was 96
years of ago.
Colonel and Mrs. Henderson, of
Bilbster, have given 81,000 -for the
endowment of a bed In the Bignold
Cottage Hospital, Wick, in memory
of the late W. A. Henderson.
James Carnegie, formerly their -
man of the Brechin Farmers' Mart,
has died in Aberdeen after undergoing
an operation. He was well known all
over Forfarshire as an agriculturist.
A vigorous war savings campaign
is now being conducted in the city of
Edinburgh. The citizens are urged
to purchase war savings certificates .
and join war savings associations.
The Glasgow Distress Committee
have decided to sow with oats this
year the 163 acres of land formerly
used for grazing purposes. This, it is
believed, would be found more profit -
Several complaints were made to
the Musselburgh Town Council at
its last meeting of the poor service
given by the local tramways. A
committee was appointed to look into
the matter.
•
BOOTLESS BRITONS.
Invention of Belgian Bootmaker Helps
Solve Leather Problem.
Tommy's needs are taxing the civil-
ian rather severely now in the matter
of hoot -leather.
How do the following figures sound
for orders now before the British
leather trade? 3,200,000 feet chrome
sides for Reid -service boots, 7,000,000
feet for ankle-boots—both for our own
Army; 18,000,000 of meniel, and 9,-
000,000 feet of upper -leather for our
ally, Russia; 2,500,000 feet of russet
kips for Italy; a shipment of 1,000
tons of sole -leather, and a further
consignment of 40,000,000 feet of up-
per -leather to Russia as soon as pos-
sible.
In the midst of all those alarming
figures it is really a matter of won-
derment that there is any leather go-
ing around at all just now, for the
British output is not nearly sufficient
to cope with the demand, or even their
own needs.
But someone has, at least, conte to
the rescue of the shoeless civilian, A
Belgian bootmaker named Thill has in-
vented a rubber sole for repairing
boots. The sole is cemented on to the
worn leather of all old'boot--wr, if
necessary, the process can be carried
out on new leather. The rubber ad-
heres to the leather, and remain.; firm
until the sole is completely worn away
—•a rather slow process. The slew
method is said to be quite satisfactory,
and certainly it solves the leather tilt.
ficutty to a very gretit extent.
A DOUBLE TRAGEDY,
When Plate Glass Was First Used in
Carriage Windows,
Both lady Caroline, the younger
laughter of William Charles Keppel,
earth Earl of Albermarle, and her
ister, Lady Mary Stephenson, were
ont to declare that during the whole
f their long London lives they never
ad a carriage of their own. They
ere both great walkers, and slid all
to believe that she isn't.
1104.1111,1111•. 1111W-111.111,1111,..•
' (the biending
is pciional
w
their calling and shopping 00 foot.
To this may perhaps be attributed the
fact that they both lived to be more
then eighty years of age. Occasion-
ally their kind friends would offer to
lend thein a carriage, and Lady Chn'o• '
Iine one day accepted the offer of Mrs,
Lewis Ruth's broughan.
Plate glass had ,just begun to super-
sede the old method of glazing ear-
riage windows, Lady Caroline set off
on her drivel wishing to give the
coachman an order, she promptly put
her head through the plate -glass win-
dow to do so, for she dirt not perceive
that It was shutl A great smash of
glass was the result, Lady Caroline
was horrified at the disaster; and when
shortly afterwards she saw bMrq, Huth
passing, she determined to stop the
carriage and explain matters. This
she once did,h ut in so doing she
put her head Hemet the opposite
plitte•glass window, with the same un-
fortunate result!