The Brussels Post, 1918-11-21, Page 7•"w_
I aRfl1SH NAVY'S
PART IN WAR
DECISIVE FACTOR IN SUCCESS
• OF THE ALLIES"
Ii;eeping the (Wean Rader --Gradual
Dcal.rucdion of the German Men-
ace --Role or J?ue Fleet.
There is an elbow of road above the
Firth, of Forth from which the land
slopes steeply and the kindly land-
scape of -Scotland is suddenly super-
seded by thut wide floor of fry water
and the straddle of the vast bridgo
and, if one should cone to it in a
fortunate hour, by such a vision of
the apparatus of ':ca power, the ma-
chi.nery of Admiralty, as only Britain,
in this time of her destiny, ran dis
play.
It se the Grand Fleet, the hammer -
wed of that vast navy which alone
ens made war possible and victory
sure for the Allies. Mile after mite
of c;rcat and little fighting ships:
they lie folded away between low
^men cape.; of pasture, close neigh-
bors to the domesticity of the vil-
lages, a vieiblo and plain token of
that pert whielr every inhabitant of
Gime islands and of this Empire
possesses in the suzerainty of the
seas. Their bugles sound faintly
acres^ the water to quiet sreets
minima the noise of their traffic floats
over the patituree, it is as though
they spoke in reassurance to the quiet
see,tre lana which they alone safe-
guaed and maitain,
Ceaseless Activity.
When the air is ringing daily with
news of victories on land it may seem
an inappropriate time for a survey
of the naval siturtLion. The reverse is
tree. Never was there a moment
when the public more owed to itself
the duty of -realizing how much of all
that has i•ecertly happened is owing
to the vigiloree and the power of the
:Ft - Silas Navy, Not only is command
of the sea
. an c.;sci tial to the Allied
maw. as the atmosphere is to life.
The special effort of the last six
months, now beginning to yield its
har•.e.,t, would have been impossible
but for the eertiuns of the British
,ttcrr:antiie marine in conveying, in
e"n:hers that would ;sem incredible if
they had not been realized, rein -
for: ement: across the English ban-
ned and the Atlantic, and but4er the
succuss with which the British Navy
has peotected the transports from
enemy submarine;+. Six months ago
the situation seemed to hold no het -
ter prospect for the Allies titan a
orelongcd defensive against heavy
adds. 'lo -day, thanks to the naval
effert,the bafanec has been redressed
with a completeness that few dared
to anticipate, and is hourly increasing
o gainst (1errcany. Six months ago
the Allies would have been glad til
he aa:sured of safety by the end of the
year. To -day they have victory in
sight For that change they aro, as
they know, indebted.. to• the Navy,
wiihtut which their courage would
have been in vain.
On the submarine issue in the main
the naval struggle of the last twelve
months lam turned. •Since the Battle
of 'Jutland the German High Seas
Fleet has not ventured into the North
Sea. It has begat content with an
occasional cruise in the Baltic. The
role of the Germain Fleet has been
the avowed and the sound one of
keeping• the gate open for the snb-
amarines. Consequently, the function
of the British Grand Fleet has been
one of vigilant defence, far there is
no method known to responsible
naval strategiste of forcing out of
fortified harbors a fleet which bus
tletertoineci to remain there. But it
has not been a passive defence.
Course of Submarine War:`
Not a day passes but some units of
the Grand Fleet, and on occasion the
.fileist as a whole, have been in the
North Sea. From the air, on the
surface, and tinder the water its aux-
iliaries search the Heligoland Bight
and the enemy coast for signs of
activity, : Perines have been swept up
almost littler the muzzles 'of the
enemy guns, and British mines have
beets 'rid by 'tens of thousands, Even
that ceaseless activity could not pre-
vent each incidents as the raids on the
Scandinaviau convoy, on the fishing
boats off the Tyne, .or on the Dover
patrol, or the attempt to bombard
Dunkirk railway junctions last March
Any night a few German cruisers
may, under cover of darkness, make
a hurried dash on the Bast Coast. But
these enterprises have beconne rarer,
and they are not likely to increase.
They arc 'nesse 'darigerous than they
were, and if the German Admiralty
Were candid it`would have to admit—
. what the British Admiralty has not
chosen to announce --the less of well
over a hundred surface vessels. in and
around the Bight of Heligoland dere
only"tile cleat twelve months.
In its main aspects the course of
submarine warfare has been revealed
to the public in -the speeches of Lloyd
emerge and the First Lord of the Ad-
niiralty. The Germans have denied
the Admiralty claim to have sunk at
least 1110 snbmarines. The rejoinder
is made in the farm of at list of 180
submarine commanders who have been
kiYlecl, eaptnred or interned. That the
list will be reproduced in enemy
countries is anlikely. The Germans
cannot afford to give their poople so
eornohtaive an opportunity of testing
the relative veracity of the British
Goveramont and of their own.
During the yens i.he rare bottvreh
stho production and the destruction
enemy submarines has pursued
varying course, depending on the ono
hand upon the fluctuatIons of the Ger-
man output, and upon the other on
the demands made upon the British
naval activities in other spheres, not-
ably in the protection of Transutlan-
tie convoys. On the whole, however,
it can be said that the Navy has kept
pace with the German shipyards, and
as protective (Judea diminish or are
shared by the Allies, the actual re-
duction of the enemy submarine fleet
will be resumed,
The Allied Fleetie.
It will bg noted that throughout
we have referred to the British Navy
only, Thi has been due, not to any
lack of appreciation of the assistance
of the Allied ?!'leets, but to the fact
h
that almost trio whole additional bur-
den imposed by war has fallen upon
Britain. France; Italy, Greece and
Japan have fleets of practically' the
same stgongth ns..those with which
they, started the war. The effort of
the United States. great us it has
been, is only now beginning to bear
fruit, IL placed its available re-
sources unreservedly at the disposal
of the Allies, but even so its propor-
tion of the total naval strength in
British waters is about three per
cent. and in the Mediterranean about
six per cent. 'There is a prospect
that in the near future the burden
will be lightened.
The British Navy .can survey its
past share in the war with 13'ride and
its future with confidence.
NAYF "GHOSTS"
A Noise Which Cannot Be Accounted
For is Naval Definition.
a THE BRITISH
The first lieutenant has just been
relieved, writes "'I; S. T." in the Lan-
don Daily Mail, and was wending his
way from the destroyer's bridge to
his cabin. IL was fairly calm but very
dark„auul there was little to be seen
' but a line of waves on each side and
the dins form of a second destroyer,in
station astern. Even for this "No. 1"
had no eyes, for he had a weary mid-
dle watch and bed was his only
interest. But he did notice a weird
figure, apparently human, crawling
'about near the "bandstand" of the
aft r gun. •
Ile went to investigate and fraud
the surgeon probationer, clad in a
chontois leather overall suit, in winch
Ito hed been steeping on the wardroom
couch lelow- los everyone must -steep
more or less clad, ready to tarn out
at a moment's notice. He was feeling
about in the dark, apparen`ly in
„march of s. methting.
"What on earth are you 'lain„*,
Doc?" he asked, hand got the brief
answer, "Laying a ghost" The lirtt
lieutenant grunted and disappeared
below, leaving the doctor to insert a
paper wedge between a rattling shell
and the side of the stand in which it
was placed
A ghost, in naval language, is a
noise which cannot be accounted for.
In a destroyer one becomes a con-
noisseur in noises. The steering gear
clanks heavily at intervals and the
rhythmic beat of the engines is al-
ways there, changing only when the
speed is altered. In heavy weather
the washing and beating of the waters
make a hundred noises, and if the full
force of a wave suddenly breaks on
the' ship's side it gives a sickening
thud, which may bring you bounding
from your bed for you never know
what niay have happened.
But ghosts are extra noises and
should be avoidable. Some misplaced
or ill-fitting article •or a loose serew
may cause the noise, and with the
ship's vibration it will knock or rattle !
with a regular persistency that will
drive the most placid mind nearly to:
frenzy, and sleep will rarely be the 1
victim's portion until he bus left' his
warm bunk and found the cause of
the trouble and the ghost is It;id.
STRANGE GREEK FUNERALS
Boy Carrying Coffin Lid Always
Heads a Funeral Cortege.
There are queer customs connected
with funerals in Greene, At the head
of the procession walks a boy carry-
ing the lid of a coffin, which is deco-
rated with purple gauze, flowers and
tinsel. Then, after a nun Brous com-
pany bearing banners and candles
walks the priest, and after him is
carried the open coffin.
The body is dressed as fora festi-
val, Civilians are dressed for burial
in black clothes and white gloves, of-
ficers of the army and navy in full
dress uniform, and ladies in white
silk and flowers.
, Three years after the burial the
bones are 'dug up, washed in wine,
and preserved in sacks in the ossu-
ary or bone -house, Rows of these
queer sacks can be seen in the ceme-
tory at Athens, acid they are all num-
bered and registered for identifica-
tion, The bones of the' poor are
thrown into a common charnel -house.
There are many different loot' cus-
toms connected with burial. Almost
everywhere a `pitcher is broken inn
the threshold when the funeral
leaves the house. Tis Corfu the house
is not swept for three days after the
funeral, and when it has once more
been swept . the broom is burned.
Elsewhere all firma and lights aro put
out and not relit for a week, so Stere
tan be no cooking, and at the .funeral
feasts the guests bring tlitir own
prepared food
Pelnsicnl instruments composed
principally 61 wood suffer more :from
the climate of Thdie. them any other
wooden she tames,
CHANNEL FERRY
REASONS WHY IT IS DIFFICULT
TO OPERATE
Awl Project Is Only lalfeetuel Way
of Connecting British Railway
System With Continent,
Sir Arthur Fell, M.P., in an andel
on "The Channel Ferry," publishe
in the London Daily Graphic, asks
"Does it dispense with the tuna
project?" and says:
The government has permitted th
statement to appear that a Chinn
ferry service is now in operation be
tween England and France. A ferry
service means that railway carriage
and wagons can now be run directly
from the railway lines onto rails on
steamehips and he convoyed acres
the Channel and run out onto the
railway lines in France. ,By thi
tneans passengers can cross th
Channel without leaving the carriage
and goods without breaking bulk. Th
question is raised whether this solve
the problem of communication with
France and if the Channel tunnel is
still necessary for the future trade
and prosperity of this country,
The War Office has not publisheci
any details of this Channel ferry ser
vice, and whatever may be known by
individuals, the matter can only he
discussed generally from the lcnowl
edge we have of railway ferries in
operation, and which are well known
to travellers. There are such ferries
in the Baltic, from Germany to Den-
mark; in the Mediterranean, and on
the Great Lakes. These ferries are
running successfully, and that across
the Straits of Messina, uniting Sicily
with Italy, has proved a great benefit
to Sicily and enabled the oranges and
lemons of that country to be export-
ed at a profit to Italy and to Central
Europe.
High Tide in Dover Straits.
These railway ferries have, how-
ever, little in common with a ferry
across the Straits of Dover. They all
run in sea's where there are no tides,
and as the rise -and full of the tides
at Dover and Calais is about twenty
feet, it is clear that to run heavy
trains onto ships at either of these
ports presents difficulties which do
not exist in the Mediterranean fer-
ries. The passenger casually notes
that on alighting from the train at
Dover he sometimes has to clamber
up a gangway to the deck ofasteam-
boat, while at other times he descends
a steep gangway onto a deck far
below hint, In the Mediterranean or
Baltic !the steamboat's deck ,'would
never be morn than six inches or a
foot above or below the railway line,
This difficulty can be overcome by
engineers, but it costs money and oc-
casions delay, and the public will be
glad to learn how the and by what
means the government had solved it.
if the ferry service is tidal and the
hour of departure varies each day
with the tide, then the value of the
service is much diminished. This may
not be of so much importance with
goods trains, but it -would be fatal to
an effective passenger or 'mail service
to the Continent, and even trains con-
veying fruits, flowers and other per-
ishable goods would lose half the
value of those which arrived at fixed
hours to catch the"mor•ning markets.
Difficulties of Ferry Passage. 8
help, and it will partly meet the
Italian demand for improved £acilities
if they are fo trade with us instead
of with the Central Powers.
London will nmeer be the railroad
centre of Europe and the tcrvninus of
the great express service to the
European capitals, unless the trains
can run throughout on railways, and
not have to be delayed and broken up
far a rasa voyage un hour after they
hove started from London.
- Thetas seem to be soave of the rea-
sons why a Channel ferry can at hest
be no more than a stopgap or substi-
tute for the link which is necessary
e to connect the British r ailwtay system
1 with that of the Continent. The mill-
; tory aide of the question In not re-
el forret] to; but it ie. obvious that ferry
steamers will in war be liable to at-
e tack by warships and submarines, and
e1 the value of safety of the tunnel corns
- munication will be lost, It may also
be noted that it MouldMouldrequire a fleet
s or mare than one h.audred ferry boats
to carry the trains which could pass
thraugh the tunnel in a day.
5 �......—..--sem......-..-.w.
s BUDDHIS•r'S HOLY SPOT
• Hermit's Shrino Located on Top of
Swaying Boulder.
e Sightseeing in Burma is apt to be
one pagoda after another, and at
t that the tourist misses most of them,
' One that he uaually does not see un-
less he is especially energetic, or has
an insatiable taste for pagodas, is
the Kyaik-hto-yo pagoda, one of he
mos holy spos in Burma in he eyes
of he Buddhist Burmese.
The Burmese say that the builder
of the pagoda was a hermit, a theory
which seems probable enough, for it
is built an the top of a steep hill in
a location which could appeal only
to one of solitary inclination. Eves
the crest of the hill must have been
too close to the world for the holy
man, for he located his shine on a
huge boulder, which may have been
steady enough in his day, but which
now seems ready at any tim,to slip
off into the valley several thousand
feet below.
Assured by the Burmese guide
that the rock has rested at this criti-
cal angle for many centuries, the
visitor, almost breathless from the
reckless ascent of a Burmese hill,
climbs a swaying bamhoo Ladder to
view better the old pagoda. Tha
great rock, with its shrine forming
a tiny pointed cap, seems even more
unsteady from here, but the guide
feels no uneasiness. He is confident
that somewhere below the pagoda is
a lock of Buddha's hair, and this
alone stays the boulder from its
fall.
In the early spring pilgrims from
all over Burma journey to this for-
saken spot to place flowers on the
rock and offer their prayers • and
gifts. Jewels and other offerings are
tossed with an invocation to Buddha
into the chasm below the rock. As
they leave they place lighted candles
outside9lss shrine and, as they cross
the plain in the evening they can
still see tiny points of flame mark-
ing the sacred spot for other pilgrims
who may follow them.
Another difficulty for an effective
ferry across the Channel is the stormy
and foggy sea to be traversed. The
present service of mail boats is only
eonducted with the greatest difficulty
during the winter gales and the fogs,
Small handy steamboats are then only
•r.un, and they make the French har-
bors with considerable risk. How far
:ferry steamers capable of carrying a
train of heavy sleeping and dining
cars could cross in bad 'weather ro-
maine to be seen. The French har-
bors are so small, and the English
also, with the exception of Dover.
that, ocean going steamships could
not bo used unless an immense out-
lay were incurred in creating a now
port in France, and the time and risk
of building breakwaters is such as to
bo an almost insuperable obstacle, for
they would mist millions of money and
take many years' time, and in the end
when the tunnel is built, it will -all'
have been money thrown away.
The last anti greatest difficulty is.
however, the fact that a Channel
ferry will have no effect on the pain-
ful bugbear• of seasickness, That is
the real deterrent to foreigners visit-
ing this island. They will not make
the sea voyage here when they can
travel to other lands without discom-
fort, The ferry stcnmhaats with the
traits on board will pitch and roll
es the present ones do, and seuisick-
ness will be just as eife among the
passage -Fe in a railway carriage "
which rises and falls as among those
o1 the deck or to the cabins of it
steamboat. To continue in .t railway
carriage under such conditions, or to
travel afterward in it to Paris or
Switzerland, is uathinknble. The
ferryboats, however, will have rabies,
and the passengers will alight and
shelter in them or on deck during the
passage.
'runnel is a Necessity.
The only benefit passenger.; will
deriye from the ferry service will he
the saving of the trouble o1' loaving
the train with the hand baggage alai
walking on the steamers, and the
sytme•bf the :snivel at the other side.
LITTLE DEEDS OF MERCY
Of Many Beneficent Acts May 13e
Mentioned That of Englishwomen.
There was a time When people were
fond of teaching their children a cer-
tain little song about "Little deeds of
kindness, ilittle words of love"—It
must be that those children are the
men and women of to -day who are,
literally; going about the world doings
deeds of mercy instead of singing
about them. For it is a fact that
every deed of frightfulness to -day is
matched by._thousands of deeds of
touching kindness and mercy. The
best verses of that simple little song
are being set to music that sings
itself into the hearts of those who
needed the kindness more than any-
thing else in this world. Because the
workers are so sincere few persons
know of their song.
Ilowever, it happens. that two Eng -
Belt women, sisters, have been doing .
a work for which, iso doubt, many a'
Canadian woman will bless them.
When Belgian refugees began pour-
ing into England these two sisters,
the Misses Tebbutt began distribut-
ing chocolate and cigarettes to Bel-
gian soldiers who landed at. be docks
of Sonthainpton. It was not long be-
fore a hospital ship arrived bringing
British wounded. F:vel' since that
day, these two girls, unaided, have
met every hospital ship (witis very •
few exceptions) and have given to
each soldier and of!ieer this thought-
ful little greeting. They wear no
uniform end are the only women on
the berth. They never get in the way
and always manage to greet all tate
men, Considering that one sister has
to don whole ship alone when two
ships happen to dock et the sante
time it is easy to see that their self-
imposed mission is not an easy ono,
Special boxes have been made ear
eying several kinds of cigarettes and
eltocolatea and fastened to this is
n pouch with many pockets holding
post cards pencils, snatches and news-
papers. At first the entire cost watt
thorns by these' splendid girls and
their friends but now the plain'oho•• 1
eolato and cigarettitts nr. from n
fund collected in the town, while the
milk checolato, poet cards, pencils,
etc„ m'e still the contribution of the
.aster'.
BATTLI1FIELD LINGO
Some War Words That Will Have a
Permanent Place is Our Language.
The English language 14 a very
"elastic" one, and ever receptive of
new words and phrases, says en Eng-
llrh writer. At the present time it Is
getting saturated with terms of mili-
tary, French and American origin in
, particular. The use of en expressive
word has indeed become "a work of
national importance." This term
itself is ono of the hest evolver' in
the present crisis, and its powerful,
unmistakable meaning, has affected us
aU,
"Going West" is another which has
• a profound and poignant signiflcanee,
' IMs origin is doubtless from "some-
where in Nortlt America," and its
peculiar applicability is seen as one
thinks of the aan sinking to its rent
at eventide behind some of the etca•nol
hills. "ActIseding to plan' i:+ a mill-
: tory idiom which has been frequently
ineed of late, and has in' ria signifl-
,ianee,
Among the phrases which have
come to stay is that str trinat French
one, Its no passerontpas" (They
Y
shall not pass!), It tells of grit and
perseverence on the part of brave
men against fearful odds, and will
ever be an inspiration to future gen-
eratione.
Much discussion has taken place
recently over the meanings of words
1 "decimated" and `offal." The first
word is frequently used by •eeir ear -
respondents to express great slaught-
er, but really it only mean; one in
ton, being derived frcan the Latin
"decimue," a tenth. "Offal," agaiin,
has a very displeasing a and to most
ear:=, as meaning just refuse. But if
we divide the word into its parts—
"off" and "fall," --it loses its offensive
quality, and denotes :'imply good
waste meat.
Tlrr use of the word: -i "fl•:" anti
"flee" in our war journalises has also
been confusing to some. "Fly" means
to move with wings, vfiile "flee" is
a general term. end denotes moving
with rapidity. • In speaking of the
Kaiser and his people's Conduct, haw
many of us make any discrimination
between the words "cvime,' si'i," and
"vice." Yet each have quite different
meaningsd,
Our ol. well-worn friends. "Bligh-
ty" and "camouflage," hardly need
reference, but the first named is
doubtless derived from "bilati," the
Hindu word for home, and bronf;ht to
this country by- our soldiers from
overseas. "Camouflage" is a French
expression, meaning literally, "to blow
smoke into another's eyes" --therefore
a very effective temporary "blind"!
GIBRALTAR STRAITS TUNNEL
With Dover Tunnel it Would Link
England With South Africa.
Interest has lately revised in the
scheme for a tunnel beneath the
Straits of Gibraltar, which, ]las, like
that for a railway link between Eng-
land and France, made an appeal to
engineers far a generation or more.
Some of the technical aspects of the
project have been under discussion
before the French Society of Civil
Engineers, and it does not appear to
be thought that there are any ob-
normal difdcnities on the engineering
side. Owing to the depth of water
and character• of the sea bed and the
underlying strata, it would be neces-
sary to construct such a tunnel at a
depth, it is believed, of some 340
metres; and the length between Tar-
ifa, the suggested point of departure
On the Spanish side of the Straits,
and either of the alternative points of
emergency an , the Morocco coast,
would be about 18;s miles.
It is assumed by the advocates of
the scheme that the cost of construc-
tion would not exceed 510,000,000,
but necessary port improvements
would call for an additional ±4.000,000.
There can be no doubt that the link-
ing of the European and African rail,
way systems would give a great
stimulus to French and Spanish trade
and on the resumption that the tun-
nel beneath the Straits of boner is
constructed, the tunnel would provide
over the Trans -African railway a
through route between England and
South Africa,
The scheme now pat forward by M.
Henri Bressier does not differ in its
essentials from that planned by Ber-
lier. twenty years ago; but it Is felt
that the case for the tunnel hes been
strengthened in the interval, and it is 1
believed that the capital could now be t
found''without seeking any financial
aid from either the french or Spanish
Governments.
The Dead to the Lining.
0 you that still have rain and sun,
hisses of children nail of wife,
And the good earth to tread upon,
And the mere sweetness that is life,
Forget us not, who gave all tlteao
!Poe something dearer and for you]
Think in what cause we crossed the
seas!
Remember, he who :fails, the chal-
lenge
rails tie, too,
Now in the hour that shows the
strong. -
-
The soul no evil powers affray•-.;
)rive ,straight against embattled
Wrong;
Faith ]snows lust one, the hardest
way.
Enduite; the emu is want the thgoa,
Give, give; mad bare, and again
hare!
Ott, to that Wrong's great overthrcwl
We are with you, of you; ta'o the
pain and
Victory share,
,lapin has beau added to the ronnt-
tties using motion pictures for edu-
For goads wattle !1 'ail be a great cationol purposes,
U.S. TROOPS
USE CAMOUFLAGE
EN Kill MYSTIFIED BY YANKEE
TREES
Steel Cores in Make-lit•lieve Forest
Cenceel Hidden Observers Who
Watch the Foe.
A franc -believe forest stands along
ih' edge of the road at the entrance
to the Anmerieme camouflage elation
here. It looks as natural as the real
woody along the fighting front, with
the shiny silver hark of the beeches,
Ile rough, jagged trunks of the old
apple trees, and the sprouting tops
cf the dwarf v'iilmes, same a wet• ctsr-
rennoni'.ent.
Yet, every tree in the camouflage
forest hos a steel cote within n •hi'lt
an ober"er peers forth to watch the
movements of o r enemy or ,t and, rials
gun i$ loceted to ..weep ferih from
its hidden relent. They is e nuly one
of th;, many . tr:ntge da,vr ee to de-
rel-' and mystify the enemy which
this camouflage stati ar i -a saucl'ng
faith to the army.
Camouflage is one of the. distinctly
new products of the war, even in the
name:, which was used for the Chet
time by General de Ca icu,'u, Chief
of Steff of General Joflra.. The word
ie not good French, but comes frena
the arget, or French slung the veth
"e:merger" being used by Fiench po-
lies to indicate any disguise teed to
capturecrintinnls, Tor example, a de-
tective camoufieges 1.' "f by •lr?ss-
ing AS a coachman.
Follow Allies' Methods,
Earl;, in the war the fermate por-
trait painter. Giron clew Sireia, con-
ceived the idea of disguising batteries
' and buildings by painting them in
fantlstic patterns blending with the
landscape. IIe laid the Ilan before
General de Castlenau, n'ho, struck
with the nrsetical value of the plan,
!exclaimed "Camouflage," And from
' that time the word grew and with it
grew into a tremendous magnitude
this art of misleading the enemy.
The American array has been ma:k=
ing Kull use of the strange new w•ea-
eon of warfare end the camouflage
plant is one of the moat complete in
existence with a working force of
namely one thousand end a staff in-
cluding many of the well-known
mural artists anti cle'ot'utors and
sculptors of America, all of them en-
gaged in producing these carious de-
vices by which military art deceives
the enemy.
But there must be something more
than 'stage properties in the produc-
tions of these artiste. They must be
practical and suited to the used of
nvarfare, and it is the part of Colonel
Bennion., head of the camouflage sta-
tion, to keep these extistie protium
tions within practical 1amits,
NAME FOR TANKS
They Were Rivetted Up Near Front
Line But Hidden From Men.
Jest how the armored tractors,
used for the first time by the British
against the Huns, were given the
name "tanks' is told by Horace Gaul,
a veteran of the war,
"I was sent across with Canadian
troops shortly after the outbreak of
the war," said Mr. Gaul, "as a mem-
her of the Eighth Batta•+lion, First
Division, the 'Little Blank Devils.'
In the front lines we used to get
our supply of water from small tanks
conveyed from the purifying plants
to the trenches by motor cars, Itt
a few months we began to hear the
sonnei of rivets being driven. This
went on clay and night for months,
and when we asked what they were
malting they told us 'tanks.' For a
pear this went on, and we began to
think they must have had enough
tanks made to carry all the }nater
in the world.
"Ono day there carate a huge, lum-
bering steel fortress on wheelas. It
wept right across No Man's Land
and 'cleaned' up a party of Hons.
flight then and there they were
christened 'tanks' by the men, and
that mune has stuck to them ever
since,'
Food Situation in Italy,
In order to meet the enarmous
army demands for meat in Italy, the
slaughter of cattle for the civilian
supply hat had to be reduced frons
the pre-war consumption of TO gram-
mes a day per person to a grammes
a day. The extreme shortage of beef
has reacted on the consumption of
snbt:titutes so that there is now a very
great demand for these, espoetaliy
fish of all kinds and pork. 'There has
also been a climinuation of over 80
per cent in the production of milk,
butter and cheese. Another argument
for more Canadian girls troths; in for
dairying.
Oldest Timber in the World,
What is described as the oldest.
timber in the world which Isis been
used by man is found in an ancient
temple of. Egypte This timber is used
in connection with stone work, which
is known to be more than 4,000 years
old. This wood --send the only wood
employed itt the construction of the
toanpla—is in the form of ties which
hold the end of one stone to another,
The ties appear to Ito tamarisk, of i
,HEROIC CONDCCT
OF CANADA'S SONS
TURN DEFEAT INTO VICTORY BY
DARING DEEDS
t1
Some Example» of the Magniflaent
Bravery and Inspiring Leader-
ship of Dominion Soldiers.
Dere are more tales of personal
heroism during the battle of Cern-
bral:
A Lieutenant of a Nova ideotia regi-
ment, finding the advance of lila
brigade held up by heavy' machine
gun fire on both flanks and the thick,
nevelt wire still before the enemy
trr,clae;, crowded forward alone
through a hail of fire. Ire found a
emall gap and through this he led,
his men, organ sin g bombing parties.
Tim enemy center -attacked in force,
and, running short of bombs, the
eontpay found itself in • a critical
esituatian. Although wounded In the
head, the Lieutenant went back alone
to our attacking line, and going from
company to company, gathered a sup
ply of bomhs. Ile received a slight
wound in the side during the trip.
On his rettmn- he found but a mere
handful of men, but immediately or,
ganlzed them and then started bomb-
Log the enemy out of his defence=ays-
tent, whirls ]fere consisted of numer-
t as email detached trenches, a few
fret long. He was, therefore, obliged
to emerge over tate top from one
to another, but succeeded in clearing
the system himself, killing eleven
anti taking twenty-five prisoners, He
etea'lfas tly refused to he evacuated,
remaining with the coinpany for two
daps, until badly wounded in the back
and gassed, when he was ordered
out by senior officers, e made hie
report and then collapsed,. having
been sustained only by his passionate
devotion to duty.
Rallied at Critical Juncture.
In the some battle a Captain of a
light infantry regiment assumed
command of a battalion whoa the
senior officers became casualties. At
on September 30, when three
companies on the left were "badly
diem -garden:, and were even begin-
ning to withdraw from positions so
hardly won, he went forward, rally-
ing men at this critical juncture and
succeeded in penetrating to their ob-
jective. By his cheerfulness and un-
flagging energy and utter disregard
of danger, he so inspired all ranks
that they willingly followed him
through a most intense shell and ma-
chine gun fire. It was entirely due
to lois magnificent work that part of
Tilley, which was of critical strategic
importance, remained in our hands
on that day.
A Captain of a mounted rifle batb-
talion, when his men were being deci-
mated by machine gun fire, al-
though wounded, dashed forward
alone into an enemy machine gun
nest, and armed only with rifle and
bayonet, killed four ad tock eight
prisoners. He gathered his men to-
gether and under a withering fire
organized a Harty to fill in the gap
on the flank and reinforce the troops
attacking Tilley. Hearing that the
Commanders of two other companies
advancing on his right were casual-
ties. and seeing that the stubborn re-
sistance of the enemy was holding
up the entire line, he undertook,
amid a storm of fire, the reorganiza-
tion of these platoons, and. taking
command of our leading waves, con-
tinued to advance. His magnificent
bravery and heroic leadership turned
an imminent defeat into victory.
e--.0--
DYES
.-0--
DYES OF EARLIER DYES
Were Obtained From Natural Objects,
as Plants and Inses'.e•.
What did people no for dyes be-
fore the days of coal -Car derivatives?!
Dr, Louis J. Matos says that dyers
were accustomed to rely upon the
indigo plant for blue, madder roof;
for a brilliant ('Turkey) red, safflow-
ers
afflowers for a beautiful pink and saffron
for yellow, supplemented by dogwood,
Brazil wood, "lac," bukthorn berries.
and kerntee" for crimson. There were
other kinds of tropical woods and
barks; also tumeric (a plant of the
ginger family) for yellow, and, by no
means to be forgotten, cochineal
Cochineal, lac and Lames were
(and are to -day) derived from tiny
ineeets --the fist -named being com-
monly propagated on a species of
ratites, their natural food plant, culti-
vated for the purpose.
From the wools were derived reds
and browns meetly. They were ground
OP rasped to a powder and sold in this
shape to the dyers, who boiled them
to get the wrote, the infusions bouts.
obtained being called "liquors."
Those were days when the art of
dyeing held many secrets that woi.o
handed down from father to son, with
valuable recipes for coloring wool;
cotton and silk:
When the war l,raupltt a fanzine of.
teal -tar dyes, the dyes fell back on
the old -tine colors, which fetched
fancy prices for a while. But, unfore:
tunate{ly, they did net know Trow to
use, thentt. The ancient recipes were
lost and the craftsmen wlgo under.,
stood there were long dead.
No artitleiul dye quite equals ipdigo
for blue or madder for rod, The same
s true of'log;ivatod for Meek. To -day'
o. ood is the standard against
Web artificial blacks aro fudged
which the ark was eonetrueted.