HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton New Era, 1915-02-25, Page 3Thursday, iFebrtiary 26th, 1915.
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TRH tMLINTON IOW H*L
PAGE THREE
anhood Ever
to Instinct of
ices Suieior
ell- reservation
British Medical Man at Front Finds' That no Two Men Describe
Their Feelings Under Fire in the Same Way—Some Frankly
Admit Desire to Flee 'But "Second Courage" Comes
The man who has not been under
the always desires eagerly to know
what were the feelings of the man who
has been during this ordeal, says the
medical correspondent of The London
Times, in an article dealing with the
Psychology of courage. It ie probable,
says the writer, that he does not fre-
quently find the information given ;by
veterans either satisfying or enlighten-
ing. Being under fire for the first
time exists, as a psychological prob-
lem, only in the most shadowy form
until the idiosyncrasies of the indi-
vidual man have been taken into ac-
count.
It has been my good fortune to en-
joy many opportunities of talking with
soldiers who have been wounded in
action. I have visited Belgian, French
and British hospitals at arious periods,
and, as a medical man, have bean of
forded ' special facilities for study.
These opportunities have convinced
me that no two men feel quite the
same sensations whilst under fire for
thc'.".rst time, and also that a man is
capable, of experiencing gime different
emotions at different periods of the
same day, though his clrcumstancea
hove not changed.
For examples, from the statement of
a man who experienced shell fire for
the first time iu his life in the neigh-.
burhood '+f Arras, I gathered that his
first feelii,,'had been one of great in-
terest and curiosity. A "Black Maria"
Sell some hundreds of yards away
and sent up a Treat column of smoke,
en,l at the same time shrapnel was
bursting at no long distance. But sud-
denly there came home the realizatloa
that these ¢hells were: intended to
•- work., blanc; . • 3hd 'that, to fact, the
position occupied was full of danger.
"Then .I felt exactly as anybodywould
feel the moment after he discovered
that he was in a field with an angry
S Y
bull. Every instinct of mind and body
prompted flight."
Terror of Anticipation
A second man told me that from the
moment he came under fire -1n a
trench—he experienced the most lively
terror. "But the feeling passed away
after a while, leaving me rather tired
and only a little anxious." A third de-
clared tht.t he had been so nervous be -
true it is that a man develops a cer-
tain callousness, or rather indifference.
He learns first to control, ther to
measure, his fear. He learns to dis-
count possibilities just as the ordinary
r:way traveler 'does. And the work
in hand gradually engages and holds
more and more of his attention. There
comes a time when, In the words of an
army doctor who was wounded near
Ypres, "You want to go back not be-
cause it is pleasant there, but because
staying away is just impossible."
While therefore the man who has
not been under fire cannot safely -'ount
upon experiencing this or that particu-
lar feeling when his hour comes—this
depending so much upon temperament'
and circumstance—he can, I believe,
count upon achieving the second cour-
age which is the priceless possession
of the veteran. He can count upon
"making good" in a moral and spiritual
sense;; upon reaching courage even
through the deepest valleys of mis-
trust and fear. Under fire he may lose
every preconceived notion he ever
cherished or shunned; but it is at least
in the highest degree probable that
he will find imself. And it is also
probable that that self will be worth
the finding.
THE SUBMARINE'S EYE
The submarine's two great assets
in warfare are her invisibility and the
possession of those terrible organs of
destruction—torpedoes.
Yet her invisibility to others would
be useless if she herself ,ould not see,
and this faculty is made practicable'
by .the periscope.
Immense strides have been made in
the -Improvement of this medium of
sight. The first one was a short tube
capped by a reflecting prism, which
threw horizontal rays downwards
through the tube on to a foous. This
focus was opposite an eye -piece, on
which an observer was obliged to keep
his eye concentrated.
On the telescopic principle, the
periscope's length was increased; and
then the introduction of tbe well
known camera-obsoura idea enabled a
picture of the sea's surface to be re-
flected on a piece of paper laid eat
near the steering wheel.
The order of the Victoria Cross was
founded by the Queen after whom it Is
named on January 29th, 1866, at the
termination of the Crimean War.
The first colored soldier to be made
a V.C. was William' Hall, a member of
Sir William Peel's Naval Brigade in
the Indian Mutiny.
Aviators and Artillery
Co-operate in Warfare
The Flying Man Plays a Big Part
in Modern Battles—Gives In-
formation as to Range and
Direction to the Gunners.
That the close co-operation between
aircraft and artillery is one of the most
1developments of .no
remarkab a dern
warfare must be admitted by every-
one who has followed the progress of
the great European conflict. We read
of how flying machines, scouting '.or
the enemy's positions, have enabled
the artillery to locate batteries and
regiments, with the result that the
latter have been decimated or forced
to retreat by the big opposing guns.
To the layman It may seem a very
difficult matter for an aviator at a
fore going into action that the event height of perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 feet
put theraga 1pations of 3t to'shame.
d t communicate at once to the artillery
He had regarded himself as a dea
man, and woke up, under fire, to the
realization that his chances of coming
through safely were really very good.
e Each of these men acquitted himself
bravely; two of them were 'wounded.
Clearly, when physical instinct played
the coward (I use the word in no cen-
nodous sense) moral restraint effected
victory. There came a second coddage
a courage open-eyed and of clear
vision which, whilst not despising dan-
'gier, was able to discount it. Under
fire these men found a self hitherto un-
suspected, that elusive quality which
for want of a better title -s called man-
hood,
The achievement of "second cour-
age" is of course a well-recognized,
stage in the seasoning process of war.
I heard a little story from the lips of
a British refiner which seems to me
to illustrate the genesis of it very con-
vincingly—and the story is worth tell-
ing for its own sake,. At a certain
period of the present war some new
troops were sent to bold a particular
trench. They suffered a really terrible
bombardment with shells and shrap-
nel,:and at last about 100 of them
evacuated the position' and retired.
Presently, they met a senior officer,
who stopped them and inquired what
had happened.
Courage by Suggestion
On being informed the officer looked
grave and told the men he would be
very sorry to have to use any coercive I,
measures with men whom he knew to
Ile 'b'rave fellows. He spoke to them
for a short time and steadied them.
Then he pointed out that the way of
duty lay backwards towards the posi-
tion they had left. 'I'll walk back a
part of the way with you," He did so.
The men returned to theirr posts and
gave a good accountof themselves.
In the words of my informant, they
'were all right after that."
neAn officer who had himself seen.
much service told me before the be-
ginning of the present war that the
soldier who said he was indifferent to
fire was merely a braggart. That is
generally true, though I personally
i5now of a few exceptions. But equally
any discoveries he may have made.
The method employed, however, is
really simple when eroperly under-
stood.
nderstood.
As soon as the artillery commander
to whose batteries the flying machine
is attached has secured his position,
he explains to the pilot and observer
presuming the machine is a two.
seater—the direction of the enemy
and what he wi hes to be discovered.
The aeroplane at once rises to the
necessary height and Slee out over
the battery to find out the exact posi-
tion of the enemy's guns. Mean-
while, two large strips of white cloth
are laid on the ground to indicate the
supposed direction of the. enemy.
There are three kinds of observation
to be carried out by the aeroplane be-
fore the battery can 'firing its fire to
bear on the exact potnt desired. These
are, direction or lineof fire, ranging
or distance, and calculation as to the
point at which shells should be timed
to burst. To determine the direction
of fire the pilot steers his machine;
in the form of an elongated ellipse,
closely watching the burst o! his bat-
tery's shells on each outward jour-
ney, and signalling the result by.
means of colored lights or by dropping
messages on each return over the bat-
tery.
The course of his flight will always
be on that side of the battery which
is farthest from the sun, in order that
his signals will be easily seen. The
direction having been satisfactorily
reached by these methods, the ob-
server receives a signal from the bat-
tery, communicated by strips of white
cloth laid in certain combinations on
the ground, to observe for range.
He now steers his machine in the
form of a figure eight, always turning
toward the target, signalling the result
in the manner already described.
The timing of the fuse is then ob-
served from the same position, and
when this information is obtained and
communicated to his battery the ob-
server will fly to a position vertically
over the targetand watch the general
results of the fire, reporting his obser
vatlons from time to time by flying
over the battery and dropping mes-
sages.
The code of signals from aeroplane
to battery is formed of red, white and
green lights in earloua combinations.
As an •instance, one white light signi-
fies, "I am over the target;" and one red
and one green indicate that the range,
direction, or timing of tho twee, ac-
cording to whichever is being obsery
°ed,' is correct. The code of signalling'
from battery to aircraft is equally in-
teresting; the white Strips of cloth al-
ready mentioned are roughly arranged.
in the Shape of letters with their
heads to the direction of theenemy's
lines, each of which convene a differ-
ent meaning.
to
The French army bullet is not made
of lead, at all. It is solid bronze.
OUR NEW DESPOT
(The new Defence of the Realm Act permits the suspension of ail the or-
dinary law of the land: Right of Property, Freedom of the Person,
Liberty of Opinion, are ell nt the mercy of the War Minister)
Lord Kitchener: "You have given me a giant's strength, and it is up to
me to see that I don't use it tyr annously like a giant "—Bert Thomas,
in London Opinion.
fQualities
Four Chief Have
Soldier Should
LIFE ONMtD[RN1ARSflIP
Courage, common sense, Dunning,
and cheerfulness! The cultivation of
these four attributes is, in the opinion
of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, quite as
important es drill in the making of a
modern soldier. The question natur-
ally arises can courage be cultivated?
In the opinion of Sir Robert It can,
and without it a soldier la practically
useless in the field.
He tells a story to illustrate his
point of General Nogi, the great.
Japanese leader, who displayed In his
life and in his death the highest per-
sonal courage. General Nogi once said
that, though timid by nature, he had
developed this quality by stern selt
discipline. When'he found a job which
caused him apprehension or fear, he ,
forced himself to face It, and to re-
peat • it again and again until it no
longer had any terrors for him. "It
is that taking oneself firmly in band,'
says 'Sir Robert in bis book: "Quick
Training for War," "that enables a
man to stick it ont,against the impulse
of his kneel to give in or to run away
in a crisis."
Courage, is born of confidence, and
no matter now timid a soldier may be
at first, it he knows that he can handle
a rifle and sword well, manage a horse,
has some good officers, and in healthy
enough to march with the best, ho can
very moon cultivate it.
In regard to the second of the C's-
common sense --Sir Robert pointe out
that, aitt ¢ughAke_ ecieeponef strategy
and unities looks torrniidabie int e
test -hooka, these really only Lay down
definite principles and examples which
serve to guide the leaders whoa apply-
ing. their common scone- to the situ-
ation in hand. "No two situations,"
he says, "are ever precisely the same.
and it to therefore impossible to lay
down exact rules that, should guide
in every case,"
They have an effective way of teach-
ing common sense among the South
African police As a rule, the police
patrols go about the districts in pairs.
When However;: a man 1s notsuf-
ficiently intelligent or self-reliant, he
'is sent alone on long journeys in or-
der to cultivate, and develop his com-
mon sense and self-reliance, "De-
velop,' says Sir Robert, "the intelli-
gence of the individual, and the whole
unit will be efficient." e.
One of the secrets of Napoleon's
TENDER SOLICITUDE
Private Smith (getting the non -arrival of German attaok
us over
which his company had been to ld to expect) : "Hope nothing's 2iap-
pened to the blighters l "-MacMi chael, in London Opinion,
WHEN WEATU['» 15 OU6II
Jack Tar of To -day is ,Not so Well off as His Predecessor of the
Time of Nelson—Unwieldy, Low -sot Fighting Machines
Very Uncomfortable in a Heavy l3ea
"Battened ') wn" means much more
to the modern sailor than to him of
Nelson's time. In weather of which
the old ships, with their high free-
boards and, protecting bulwarks, took
little notice, the `modern ship is bat-
tened down. The open, unprotected
upper deck is swept fore and aft by
high seas, and ;he smaller the class
of ship the more is she affected,
Everything that science can contrive
bee bean done to alleviate the dis-
comforts of "battening down," which
is closing .til upper deck batches to
keep the seas which sweep over tbe
deck from penetrating to the interior
of the ship, but even then the mess
decks are often awash. However, It
is the lack of exercise and fresh air.
that tell most heavily on the health
of the crew.
The difficulties with which old -gime
Admirals had to contend, as far as the
health of their men was concerned,
were not bad weather but leek of
fresh provisions and fresh water.
These do not affect the modern sea-
men at all, as plenty of fresh water
can be distilled and fresh provisions
can always be replenished at the same
time as the coal bunkers ere refilled.
An old-time sailing ship would ride
out the heaviest of gales without tak-
ing much water on board, and even
when forced to batten down the dis-
comforts' of between decks were in-
finitesimal compared with those of
to -day.
It may not be generally known
that with nearly every new type of
ship the living space afforded to the
men has grown less and less. This
is due to a multitude of causes—in-
creased speed, increase in the size of
guns, and the multitude of auxiliary
engines with which a warship is fitted
—so we no longer find the great, airy
mess decks of everthirty years Lgo,
but a multitude of iron boxes which,
at the beat of times, have to be ar-
tificially ventilated. When all natural
ventilation is stopped the iron beams
and sides begin to sweat and the at-
mosphere becomes foul and rank. Yet
it is doubtful if in a general way the
men trouble much about these con-
ditions; cards and other games are
played or sleep is wooed; the sailor
now has a little motto of his own:
"More wind less work," and St really
works out like that when the upper
deck is merely a mass of tumbling
waters.
As a spectacle a modern fleet in a
gale of wind is en imposing sight, and
one hardly knows whether to give the
palm to the ,stately leviathan or the
perky torpedo craft. A battleship can
hardly be called an ideal sea -going
success was his abnormal cunning,
which enabled him to formulate plans
o". his own >r counteracting those of
the enemy which were reported to
him by his intelligence officers. For
quick training in Dunning the best
school is that of scouting. "The first
steps;' says Sir Robert, "in making
a good scout are to teach him obser-
vation and deduction, noticing every
detail about the enemy and deducing
a meaning from the points observed.
Then, by a little imagination, the
enemy's movements or intentions are
read and counteracting steps can be
taken with every advantage."
The Boers, daring the South African
war, won many a fight: through their
cunning. Like the. Germans in the
present war, who have scored in the
vital manner of concealing their ar-
tillery, they were clever in hiding their
field gnus, when they wore able to
shell the Britleh troops for a con-
siderable time before the latter could
locate the position of the Boors' ar-
finery sufficiently well to reply to it
effectively.
"The Hero of Mafeking" lays great
stress on be value of cheerfulness.
"The spirit," he says, "which peseee-
ses the men is a tremendous factor
for success in war, and the presence
of a few infallibly cheerful men in the
ranks, and more especially among the
leaders, m of a value that cannot be
overestimated in an arduous cam-
paign or when things are going
against you. . . . I have known
of more than one officer who was ac-
cepted for service,: not so much on
account of his military ability, as for
his andampable spirits, which invariab-
ly develop a brighter feeling among
those: around • him."
German Historyln Three Lines
"The following 'History of the Ger-
man Empire in Three :nines' deserves
mention;' says a Petrograd corres-
pondent:
Kaiser ,Wilhelm I. was Its maker,
Friedrich Wilhelm, his heir, just its
taker,
And Billy, the grandson, its, breaker.' "
A Versatile Monarch
He was an ordinary newspaper man
for along time, carrying a police card,
visiting police stations, and doing what
would be known here re "ship news."
flLcoE1
A�BOXER
in the Briti.h armyandthe
navy
great game of boxing has long been
the most popular sport of both officers
and men.
Perhaps 'a majority 01 the ()Hirers
and tars of the British navy to -day are
clever boxers, but, age and weight
considered, there isn't a better lxUc
gladiator in His Majesty's navy wne
can give a better account of himself
than Vice -Admiral Sir John Jellicoe;
the commander of the North Seat fleet,
The admiral has passed his fifty -'fifth
milestone, but he is still active and
strong and fond of r, stiff bout with
the mitts.
In his younger days the little eon
fighter—he is only five feet four inches
in height—was the bantamweight
champion of the British navy. Stories
of his fistic prowess are still current,
and it is said that hescoredmany
victories over lightweights and welter.
weights. In those days "Jelly," as be
was popularly called, always entered
the ring a favorite. At Rottingdean,
where he received his 'and education,
he was a fargbus football player, al-
though he weighed only about 116
pounds.
Through his fondness for strenuous
sports he developed a constitution
which was strong enough to bring hiss
through many perils on sea and land,
and without which he would never
have lived to reach the high honors
he holds tc-day. •
craft; she is much too massive to be
buoyant and too cambered with top
hamper to recover herself easily. So
she staggers along butting at the seas
but never trying to ride them; down
will go her nose right up to the fore
turrets, then, as she rises, hundreds
of toils of water are lifted to be flung
aft ingreat torrents. Ande
ytLor
some reason known only to itself the
navy prays `hat when it goes into
action it :nay be in a gale of wind.
Our men believe, rightly or wrongly; ,
that no other navy has had so much
sea training as itself, and that, there-
fore, the worse the weather conditions
the better 11 will be for them In action,
The small cruiser.. and torpedocraft
have nothing to do ` with weath,e�r,�sr'
their job at sea is to get from "rt
destination to another es quickly aft
possible. How they live through it,ts
a mystery, for very often the only
things above water are the bridge and
the funnels; then one may see them
poised on the crest of a wave with
fifty feet of keel showing at each cid,
Navy and Army.
Candid German Editor
Admits Cause of War,
His Country Wanted it, He Says,
and There is no Use of Trying
to Excuse the Action.
Maximillen Harden is about the only
German editor who is well known out-
side of his native land. Before the
war broke out he was the steadfast
critic of many German institutions.
1row he says boldly that Germany
brought we the war because she wish-
ed to do ea Sbs denies the right of
the world to judge her. so long as
Germany approves of Germany's ac-
tions no more is to be said. '
He asserts in a recent article that,
however terrible is the scourge of
war, it is less terrible than other
scourges that threatened Germany,
though what these: are he fails to men-
tion, War was a Divine necessity for
Germany. Therefore he bids those
who attempt to argue about it to be
silent.
"Therefore cease the pitiful attempts
to excuse Germany's action. No lon-
ger wail to strangers, who do not care
to hear you, telling them how dear to
us were the smiles of peace we had
smeared like rouge upon our lips, and
how deeply we regret in our hearts
that the treachery of conspirators
dragged us, unwillingly, into a forced
war.
"Cease ale°, you popular writere,
the degraded scolding of enemies that
does not emanate from passten, but
out of greedy hankering for the ap-
- '••",dJN . • y
Mouse of the masses, and which cis®,.
tinuaily nauseates us amid the-,
of this hour. Because our state
failed to discover and foil shrewd plana
of deception Is no reason why We mew
hoist the flag of most pious morality.
Not as weak -wined Dluadarers have
we undertaken the tearful risk of this.
war. We wanted it Because we had
to wish it and eould wish It. May
the Touton Devil throttle those whiners
whose pleas for excuses make us
ludicrous In these hours of lofty ex-
perience. We do not stand, and seek
not place oureeives, Drone the c ti
of Europe. Our power shall cs
new law in Europ. Germany strik ,
It conquers new reales for its genial,
the priesthood of all the gods ' 1l
sing songs of praise to the good war."
Germany wages war, he say be-
cause she believes that as a result of
her achievements and in proporttga
to them she Is entitled to a wider.fiieid
for the exercise of her genius.' There
was no room there for Germany. "To
hoist the storm flag of the empire on1
the narrow channel that opens and'
locks the road into the ocean" --this,
says Harden, is why Germany is at
war. With the Belgian coast in her
possession, and with German mortars
pointing at England, the British Em-
pare would have to come into a friend-
ly agreement as a power of eeual
strength, entitled to equal rights.
The campaign white. produced the
most V.C.'s'was the Indian ithbt , mi
which 182 were won.
k" is here.
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