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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1918-12-06, Page 1L 0 -ta ^*, l_.•_+k. .y-.�'.=- rr-.rice aid FAY -SECOND 3tPAA,R WHOLE NUMBER 2660 { SEAFORTE, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1918 Greig Clothing Co'y WHAT THE WAR HAS DONE FOR each case, and ultimately indulged -a BRITAIN good deal of unwarranted ad Ireton It is well-nigh two years since Mr. for the amazing progress of ermany Brooks told in the National and unjustified werx�y about he con - Sidney GeographicM g "Wh t Great fessed degeneraey sof England. In Magazine a res a thousand other ways the two cc 'Second to .None " Britain Is Doing" in the war. His countries thousand s unlike as in this lack C1111111lIllaa article was an eloquent plea to Ameri- of capacity foraccurate self -appraise - cans to realize the part his country meet. ,There was plenty of room in was playing in civilization's crisis; ands the sun Tor both. ' The world needed there was need ChristrnasCrift Su; !CSt1QflS Nothing else doer quite so well for a . Christmas gift to anyone as something to wear. And the fact that it will be worn is the best test of appreciation. Our Store is Filled With Serviceable Gifts Even outside of our Holidaystock there isn't an article or garment in the store at would not make a handsome and most aceeptable gift. Look these over FOR MEN - Coat Sweaters House Coats Suspenders Neckwear Shirts Gloves Hosiery Caps Mufflers Umbrellas Handkerchiefs Sox Collars Suit Overcoat Fur -lined coat FOR BOYS Overcoats Sweaters Shirts Mitts Gloves Heavystockings Pair Knickers Caps Mackinaw coats Braces Ties Mufflers Suits Raincoats For Girls .and Women N an.cy Snit coat sweaters in great variety of colors Wool Sets Scraf and Cap to match 20 different colors Furs—Muffs, Stoles — sets to match is in taupe Wolfe, natural.wolt "Black ' wolf lynx, Persian 1am,b -sa sable be and many other not mentioned here; - Al in 3� garments1 article. �ta suit the r boxes u • for it. all of the best that; both could give. At that time I was in England. They ought never even to j'iave imnag- America's declaration of war was only ` friedthat they were sufficiently alike Ia few weeks ahead, but its imminence to be -capable of intense rivalry. was not generally realized either there And they never would have devel or here. Probably, save when the oped such an obses ion but for the po- two countries have been, at war, and liticai institutions ehich made it pose; during some trying months of our ible for Germany to be brought under Civil War era, there never has been the control of a wicked, selfish, design- • a time when misunderstanding - was ing, criminal dye e " is policy of world more acute,' on both sides, between conquest. The c�st between auto-"• the English-speaking countries. cracay and demos cy has been}going: on through all the ages. Because England and- German :' were on the whole the formost. European. repre- sentative's of tli$ ° antagonistic sys- c - "Xmas Chat" _ s inn/111111 Ism N am WOW m▪ an maicIM• P Even the best-informel Americans had but inadequate 'conception of the :burden. Britain was carrying. Preju- ' dice was rife in this country, and was sedulously caltivated in many quar- ters and by divers interests. On the other hand, opinion in Britain was settling down to conviction that Amer- ica would stand any humiliation, sub- mit to any insult, rather than fight. . Britain had without hesitation en- tered a war to which the enemy had not challenged her, because she be- lieved she was doing right. She wanted the moral support, and she sorely needed the material aid,. that the great daughter State could bring. Why was America so slow to see and understand ? Were we indeed as sor- did and selfish as the Anglophobes a- mong us were wont to charge Britain. with being. ? Were we merely- a race of. profiteers? To -day with our millions of soldiers and billions of wealth fighting along- side Britains, we may remind ourselves of those trying months, and the re- minder must make us grateful that_ things are as they are. It would be alike futile and foolish to ask how long our aloofness might have continued without creating incurable distrust be- tween the two Anglo-Saxon nations and bringing disaster to he world. For that she furnished the moral leadership, the instant ourage, the true perception of underlying issues, • Britain is entitled to recognition as the force which made this war, from its first gun, essentially a contest, be- twe e n n systems _ arther than tate a, idea ; ideals, not alliance _ be ween good inorals and bad metals. n t was. the confidence of the nations,. small ,and `great, near and fa , in this _ t tdership of'Britaln that_ saved w kL That - confidence. nerveda re its:to ba her tree*. Ito: th ffr t our,µ meet the first he k offinva- she --could awn moi ala .little,.timewhile. civilization"oould make their lar. That confidence brought Potatugali oldest of England's allies, :iiiathe field.. ,r It brought ;Japan newest and most • woeful' of Britain's allies, with shin- arinor- and well -tried sword, into the mens, as - sentinel of the eastern gateways, gua�"alian.oyer,' the peace of :the . East,atoo long ani •. "" eusly- J }tempted y the plotters of Berlin. It brought the colonies and domin- ' -lona of the world -flung Empire straightway to "shoulder arcs at the foot of Britain's democratic throne, bearing their yet- unsought pledges of loyalty and devotion, The princes of India, the Boers of Africa, the seen of Canada and Australia, the Maoris of New Zealand, trooped unbidden to their places in the ranks, Yet the wealth and resources of the Empire—in men, money and industry —were not the greatest ofBritain's contributions. More potent ` than these was the fund of moral credit enlisted in the cause on the day when Britain gave it her endorsement. The -scales of prejudice fell from a thous- and million eyes in that hour when men envisaged 'the contrast between autocracy, prepared, and democracy inspired. . What has the war done in Britain, to Britain, for Britain and through -Britain, for the world ? , The Y DIF KINDgassk • Warmer, NE▪ IL - The best and greatest thing that E 1-we can do in -life is to make stare :1 that lee are instrumental in E = making others happy When we learn perfectly this lesson we Et E hate mastered life's biggest E roblem teriis, clash between them was inevit- ! _ p able. two short cantur es had seen Euro - peon civilization spread ° its sway over moot of the world; Everywhere this outreachine carried' the conflict: The world could not e j t half slave and half. free: Under the spell of German egomania it was falling into a disposition to over-estimate - certain undeniable ad- vantages of close-knit, strong organiz- ation, and to exaggerate the equally obvious disadvantages' of that laxity and carelessness which tend to propa- gate when democracy rules and times are good. At the price of those sops which autocratic Germany tossed to the pro- letarian , Cerberiis, the forld might have been bribed to exchange freedom for 'a mess of welfae pottage. It is good that the contest came as •early as -it did. , . Discussing war and after -war prob- lems in a London club one day, an _ American• observed: c I Fred S. Savauge This war will be followed by a rev- olution." An Englishman in the par- c • Jeweler and Optician c ' There arespecial times and c ==" seasons especially adapted to _ this purpose—such as the Xnias 1 g season; there are 'also helps that IE are season—such as a good jeweler EE with a good ,store well-filled with good jewelry. and kindred = lines. Ei re E is MI▪ S Mon MIN IVO ;there.giveanythingideal—for • Brit- ainfor of-tosense.whichbuyButsupplies, • Seaforth - Phone Business 194—Evening 10 MEd sm▪ e IMO NOB k CLEAN BROS., Publishers $1.50 a Year in .Advance • Imaxi of about fifty years came running sown the street, threw her arms a- 1 roo d me and kissed much to the a- 1 mu ement of all the troops around: Everybody gave me a bouquet of flow- ers which of `course, I couldn't carry and had to throw away when - no one wa looking. At all the villages the • wo en came out with big pitchers of corn e and the troops surely fared. well. The civilians are a great assistance in a quiring the way., but are apt to be too nxious to ,please us. About forty or fty get around you and all jabber Fre ch at the same time, and so we hav some job to understand them. I can 'abber the French pretty well and can alwaysatleast find out where the .Bosche are and when they left. The people all yelled "Vive la Canada," "Vie e la Englaise," `but were a bit dis- app s inte.d .in not seeing any French sol . - rs. - T e people surely 'do hate the Bos'he. He has stolen everything, imp 'soned them for the smallest of- fens ffens - like failing to salute an officer. Yest rday a very excited civilian came to o r . line and said there was a Bost . e just out ahead.. We sent out a fe, mein who found the Bosche on the =round with half a dozen civilians trying to kill him. They kill Bosche l t` utsay get e e and from what they say the ye is in a very bad state. LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE hear that the Bosche navy has The following letters have ben re- ed and that there is a revolution ceived by Mrs. Westcott tef this town whatbadnight Nov. 11, 1918. Der Mother,—Did not have time to post esterday's letter so am adding a Iitt e more to -day. The armistice wasdeclared this morning with our battal on about a thousand yards or so fro the -Bosches. There is great ▪ rejoicing everywhere, but the people ▪ seems dazed; they can't realize that the war is really over. I am living in 511111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 0114 a very nice billet bel'ging to the 1111E Burgomaster or Mayor of the village. They are Belgians, but hate the Bosch ,° cordially. We went to bed- last nig'tl an upstairs room wonder' whetr we were going to get bloafik out them or not. He shell us all a - yesterday in the village, but. quit I t night for some reason that we di't find out till 1.got the wel-. cgme; ' `sage this morning that ,the wv ov a- > -people t 'p e hat Beliriatig. hati#are d nuha e eraneid rtnd y�B andI d en.he fo`I rings around - the- bsnd lanced' around .: like &jet of ghi1dre . .The -village- here• is_ , a' a kilometer or so, from Mons and from here We can plainly sea the -high ground. where the English made_ their - famous stand. A' pipe band 'came through the village this morning, :the first the people have seen since the Highlanders passed through here in 1914 ha that famous retreat from. »;• I. wouldn't have missed this show for the' world. I am mighty proud to be able to march into the outskirts of Mons • With my company during the last battle of the war and after nearly sixteen months of continuous service without even a scratch. I expect we will be marching through Belgium soon en route to Germany. Brussels is only about 45 kilometers from here. We don't know what the terms of the armistice are but suppose we will have to go forward and occupy at least the frontier ! of Germany. My leave is about : die, but I'm not coming home just now—thanks. I'm goingto see Germany first if possible. I will try and send you a cable to -morrow let- ting you';know I'm all right. You will have no more worries pow. It has been an anxious , time for .you,I know, but I can't tell you how thankful I am that it is all over. The burgomaster has just given me apicture of Albert, King of the Belgians; which I'll try and get home with me. Your affectionate son, BOB. been for the greater part voluntary, accomplished through the cooperation. of a , willing public with. a patient food administration. Never in Britain's histo - have so manypeople been amply re fed;r 1� P , b� p � never have so few- been- hun ; Never, it = Aadded ..thea- !c ` en- jo tso nearly uric ti to a ty. rim s,.those. aristocratic d gest1 -afl; -- ,men life he w oimti ut . e e- t tb . I�� eating, not wisely but too well. `• search -.warrant would .hardly rdly 'fiud a dozen- respectable cases of -goat • in the entire Kingdom. Armies . of people in* Britain are for the first time wearing their old clothes, and glad to do it; other arm- ies, are for the first time wearing good clothes and are equally pleased; We have heard quite too much about the extravagances of the munitionettes• who buy Astrakhan furs and impossible jewelry. After all, pew ,associate nrtorr, w;n 1 more inti- mately With. their clothes than with any other incident of life. To be decently cladis the first es- sential to self-respect. Other and more exalted tastes are presently in- duced. The factory girl who begins with -dressing like a lady. presently finds herself disposed to be a lady. And the community is making ar- rangements accordingly. In ,recogni— tion. of her services in shops and fac- tories, in offices and on they farm, niaunffacturing explosives at Gretna and doing the work of tens of thous- ands of men just behind the firing lines in France, woman. has been given the ballot. The monarchic democracy of England has reached the goal of universal suffrage several laps a- head of .-America. The organization—it can hardly be called a system—for public educe= tionin Britain is notoriously inade- quate. Many people knew that before the war, and the war's shock- aroused the to acti nation t t York, I have sat through two absorbingly interesting sessions of the House of Commons. } (Continued Next Weeek) a LETTERS FROM FRANCE The following interesting letters were, written by Capt. Bob Hartry, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Hartry, of town. Captain Hartry has been in the trenches for some sixteen months and was with the Canadian troops at Mons when the armistice was -sign- ed: Before the war had even approach - edits& climax Britain discovered 'that it - faced a shortage, among other things of milk. The government guaranteed very high prices to induce production; but - the sacrifice of herdp, plowing up of gnats -lands and• deficiency of labor rendered - stimulative efforts futile. There was not enough milk'to go a- round in the old, "easy way, and ad - ,ministration stepped in to insure first :against profiteering and second that those who Most needed it should have; their share of the milk. Observe the results. Some months ago the British Medical Association discussed some remarkable vital sta- • For the first time in the:modern his- tory of Britain there had been milk enough for all the babies, and good milk. But -'if the adult patron of a public eating -house buys and drinks a glass of milk as a beverage, he is liable to a fine of five pounds, and the proprie- tor subjects himself to a like penalty. Belgium, 10-11-18. . Dear Mother,—They; say it is Sun- day, but I can't prove it, so suppose it is. - I wrote you the other day, but many things have happened since then. At present I am in a billet inhabited by French people who were evacuated from Arras and Baupaume by the Bosche: I never drank so much coffee in my life. as I did yesterday.. The people here would give you the shirt off their back provided the Bosche had- n't . already stolen it. I got into the billet about ten o'clock last night and then we had coffee and bread . and meat as they had they insisted on us having it. I have the only bed in the house and slept last night in a bed with sheets, not a thousand yards from the Bosche. We have been advancing and-yester- day ndyester-day just -took back fifteen kilometers from the Bosche. We are in a very famous part of the country, as little did I think yesterday that I was to be here on the scene of one of . the war's greatest battles. The people yesterday nearly went x crazy when we came through the vill- ages. The old men and women reel kids came running out of the Teataes waving flags and insisted on shaking hands with everybody. One o`.l .vo- FROM WITLEY CAMP The following are extracts from let- ters from, a former well known Sea- forthite, W T. Hays, who has been overseas ;with . the Canadian, Army . Medical Crps for the past two years: Dear ]other,—Well the war- news ought to be quite pleasing, to you these day. I see the, Germans have till 11a.m°. en Monday to decide "yes" or "no.". They are prety drastic- con- ditions o have to consent to but it will have o be done sooner or later. There are mors around the camp all the tiino hese days of peace being declared b t so far, they are only rum- ors. I would like to be in London when peac is declared but that is out of the queseion. There are over 20,000 Canadians in this camp aid I expect there will Abe something doing when peace coin s. I am afraid discipline will not a omit to much. - The floor ,was a har place to have to lie on again ° afte over three months in a bed but am' getting used to it and soon usually ha e a pretty good rest. My some but think legis both�rin me e lank I it (or they)- always will. Hope you are both fe ling well, Dear Mo her,—Well it is all over. As I am wr ting the bands are playing all over ca pa Some the French na- tional anthe , some "The Maple Leaf and some " h, Canada" Word came officially a ew minutes ago that the armistice ad been signed. There have been a l kinds of rumors around the last _e days but this seems to be authentic,. It brings Scott back to nnie more than ever to -day. If we could only haveone back together. But that is impassible and he is one of from members of the 47th Battalion, with which her son, Pte, Clarence Westeott, was fighting in France, when he was killed in action on September 29th: -Trance, Oct, 6, 1918. Dear Mrs. Westcott,—It is hard for me to write to you at this time, as I ani an utter stranger to you, but I felt I must write you a few lines in regard to the death of my dear com- rade and pal and your fine son. I was will him when he was hit and bandag- ed him and he only lived a few min- utes. I did not think it was so ser- ious, or I would have asked him for a message to send to you, but he went to sleep with the angels and did not suffer much, He was hit with shrap- nel in two places in the right lung one in the right shoulder and one in the - right forearm. He did not bleed much outwardly but the shrapnel must have pierced his lungs so that he bled in- ternally. :doubt you have had a•letter from +( .. chs lain... so this p ) is about I. can say. I have his lodge ring which Lewin send you by registered mail. We were al .l year sorry indeed to lose Clarence ask you to aceept the sympathy er. ne in the co _ .,.�. may'. which Iia' was; with y: . n °your 'sail be» vr. eut.. = Thee is zee. aanso ion thaV=is, he is req 'sleeping with the angels and, not here among the dan- gers and trials.- I am, your sincere friend, • Lance -corporal L. O. Hogarth - France, October 2, 1918 Dear Mrs; Westcott.—It is with deep egret I beg to inform you that your son, Clarence, was lulled in action, on September 29th. He was rely batman . and a fine, tilling, brave little chap,. His Toss is a verypersonal one to me. He died as he lived --a gallant soldier —with his face to the enemy in a vic- torious advance, May _Gad rest him 'and give you strength to bear your sad bereavement is the wish of, yours respectfully, Justin C. Smith, Lieut. France, Oct. 26, 1918. Dear Mrs. Westcott,-1 am writing to assure you of the sincere sympathy of our whole 47th battalion with you in the death of your son, Pte. Clar- ence V. Westcott, who was killed in • action on'September - �29th I had hoped to write to. you sooner, as I wrote at once to your - son, Arnold, bat since September we have been almost continually in action or on the move and this is the first rest period we have had. On September 29th, the 47th was lying in front of the villages" of Railleneourt and Scilly, - which we had captured the day before and your son's company was occupying a shal- low trench, About an hour before they were to be withdrawn from the line, the Germans began to shell the trench and one shell exploded just on the edge, only a few feet from where Clarence was. `He was instantly kill- ed by a piece of shrapnel in the head • and the same shell killed -Mr. Sharman and Stretcher -Bearer -Leach., I am enclosing one or two letters hich# I found four days later close to where Clarence met his death. I have known him intimately, dear Mrs. Westcott, since April `and there was no one in the battalion who lived a more earnest and upright Christian life than he. Through May and June when we were out on rest I was able to carry on a regular Bible- class and he was one of the most devoted members: The last little gathering we were able to have was about two weeks before his death, when seven of ' the members, survivors from our two previous bat- tles met and talked over our experi- ence. I know from what Clarence said that night that he was prepared and ready to . go should God call him, Now having indeed fought a good fight for all that is pure and honorable and of good report he .has received his Great Promotion and in the more im- mediate presence of God, there must be nobler service for one who used his talents ; so well here. Those who were associated with your boy in the 47th will never forget him and I shalt remember him particularly at the Holy Communion of which he partook from my hands often. There was a sweet- ness about his character that is rare hi the rough and ready atmosphere of soldier life and that helped everyone with whom he came in contact. May the knowledge of his self-sacrifice fol- lowing in the footsteps of our Lord help you to bear your loss and God in his mercy c comfort tan d sustai n you "until the day" breaks and the shadows free away." I remain, very faithfully yours, A. H. Priest Chaplain. rf