THE DUMB SOLDIER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2343, 28 December 1914, Page 6

THE DUMB SOLDIER

"When the grass was closely mown.-. '; Walking : on the, lawn.alone, : '■." ,In the'turf.a hole. : I found ■ , And.hid a'soldier-underground. ! ; : Spring and daisies came apace; , Grasses hide mjvhiding placo; ■ ■ Grasses;run like a green sea "■■' ' .. O'er, the lawn up to my kaee. •:■ Under, grass'alone he lies,, ■ .Looking-up with leaden eyes. , Scarlet.coat and pointed . - '•. ;: To the stars and to the. sun;.-'; When the grass l is ripe .like grain, When the scythe ie stoned again', : When the. lawn is shaven clear, '■ . Then shall reappear. ' '. I shall find him, never fear, ■ I 'shall find my grenadier; .' ; But.for all that's gone,and come, ; I shall find my soldier dumb. ,He has seen the. starry hours In the ■ grassy i woods of • spring; . Done, if he could l tell me true, Just; as I should ■ like to do.' ' ■ ; . . .He has seen the starry houre \ And the springing, of'the flowers; And. the fairy things that pass .. In. the forests of the grass. '•; In the silence ho" has heard .'., .-'.' Talking bee and ladybird, : y Arid the butterfly has; flown . O'er him as he lay alone. • ' Not' a word will he disclose,' : Not. a'.word of all he knows.' .-',.. . I must lay him on the .shelf, 1 And make>up the tale myself. . • ' —Robert Louis. Stevenson, in "A Child's Garden of Verse." ....'. • A correspondent of the "Secolo," curious to discover the temper of tie Indian troops, addressed one of, them in,'camp in France; "Are you glad," he asked, ."to have to come here to fight for aoountry which is not.'yours— France^—at the bidding of country—England—which ■~ dominates you?" The. Indian looked at him with eyes full.of wonder and indignation, and replied: "India , ; is. not; oppressed by anyone; she is part, and not a small part of a great' Empire. Therefore, the Indians are not elaves of this 'Empire, but subjects, as are the English, the Scottish, and'the Irish. , The English Empire is menaced: bj , a nation called Germany, and to defend itself it has appealed to. all its eubjeots. If the Empire were menaced in India, the English soldiers would have gone there, but as u it is menaced.in Europe, we have come here." He added in accents of profound pride; ."We are English!"

Cavalry are playing an qnexpoctedly large part .in , the war, and the weight carried by cavalry horses in the various armies is of interest. Our cavalry is armed with the short Lee-Bnfield rifle, the magazine of which holds ton rounds; tHe .sword, which is carried by all ranks_ except signallers;■■■•and the revolvers,' carried by. warrant officers, staff-ser> geanta, sergeantsj trumpeters, and drivers. Each trooper carries one hundred rounds of ammunition in a bandolier over . the left' shoulder. Lanoer iegiments carry the lance. Altogether the British troop-horse carries about tv-euty stone. The Cossackpony carries about seventeen stone. The average weight carried by the Indian troop-horse when ready for war is about nineteen stone. The , Austrian "troopers" carry a weight of between twenty-one and iiventy-two atone, and the average in the French and Gorman armies is about the same.

In the event of attack by Zeppelins, Westminster Abbey is well protected against lire. In the south-east tower, some. 160 ft. above the ground, ero tanks containing huge quantities of water, by. means of which any part of the building could be flooded, or, if need be, the whole of it, in,a few minutes. More than a century ago, Sydney Smith'i when a canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, had tho New River Crmpany's mains taken into the Cathedral, and tanks and pumping machinery placed at various levels inside. Last year several dry mains were laid from the ground to a. height of 60ft., and by means of smaller pipes connected with the top of the dome. With these auxiliaries the motor-engines of the London Fire Brigade can throw i big volume of water right over f.ho 'eross which surmounts the Cathedral.

A gentleman writes: "T«"o bottles' of '!?AZOL' cured me. I liad.aii attack of Influenza, with Soro Throat, Cough,' and Nasal discharge. 'NAZOL' gavo mo quicker roJicf Uiau ouytluns I OVOJ , trieA&rA<M» • ■ ' . ■