SEVEN PLAGUES OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2666, 11 January 1916, Page 7

SEVEN PLAGUES OF WAR

WHAT. SOLDIERS SUFFER RATS IN THE TRENCHES A British', officer, invalided home from tho front, told mc (writes tho London do [respondent of tliio Melbourne "Age"), that the armies in France and Handera have to suffer from what he describes as "the seven' plagues of war." These plagues lie classes, ill the order named, as Bosches, high explosive shells, rats, mice, lice, fleas, and, iii winter, frost-bite. "Tlia Bosches ivo are killing off,", he says; "the shells we dodge as far as we aro able; strong disinfectants keep down the smaller vermin to some extent; til© mice are comparatively harmless, and frost-bite will not be so bad tbis win,ter as last."

A worse plague is that of rats. Hie trenches in 'Franco and Belgium literally swarm with, these creatures, who, rendered bold by hunger and the unnatural state of things which havo made men underground dwellers for so long, have completely lost their fear of men, and search fearlessly through thp trenohes and dug-outs in search of food. Some strange stories are told of the voracity and boldness of tho rats. A wounded officer told mo that it was vory difficult to get sleep at night on account of these pests, which swarmed over the sleeping soldiers, ceaselessly hunting in search of food. Bat bites are, of course, of common occurrenco,. and it is a singular fact that these trench rats show a predilection for noses,_ and "when loaming over sleeping soldiers frequently bring them out of their slumbers' with a sharp bite which takes off tho tip of the nose.' The soldiers,_ when possible, sleep in their billets with their heads covered. Sometimes they havo a rat hunt at tho front, and then the obnoxious vennin are slain in hundreds. If a good sharp terrier is available tho tally of the victims is increased, and the soldiers stack the dead bodies in neat heaps for the inspection of their officers. ' ' "As Largo as Catsi" "The rats you meet more oftei; are those of the trenches, large and sleek as cats, or as the original bodies of the Huns, who are fabled to inhabit them," ■says a British officer. They infest the vicinity of every trench, and are responsible with their rustlings for more alarms and night excursions than the whole Germany army. There is nothing mere uncanny and crawly than to lie out. waiting and listening for sounds in tho pitch-black of a moonless night outside your trench, and suddenly to hear behind you a stealthy rustle in the long grass. ■ It may be anything, and there is no .describing the icy-cold, clammy feelijjtT that slides down your epine till tlio -thing runs over your leg and squats down » front of you and grins in your face. A certain regiment is never tired of telling/the tale of how a daring young subaltern left his trench in .the darkness and pursued a stealthy »o)se for some hundreds of yards, bringing it to bay on the edge of a stream, where he emptied ,his revolver at ithow the colonel, alarmed for his safety on. hearing the shots, sent out a rescue party, and how the rescuers found the objeot of their search mournfully regarding the carcass of an emaciated rat. I myself always admire that officer for his skill. I tremble to think how many rounds of expensive revolver bullpts I have spent on moving rats and with what poor results* Eat shoot mg is a favourite diversion of the trench, and very fine. practice it is, both for quickness of hand .and eye and accuracy. In one of my trenches I had a well-known piece of rat shooting, where a tiny rivulet ran. through our lines and many cold dawnings have I spent sitting motionless in a sandbag nook waiting for the long dark forms to slip along the bridge before plunging into the water. Poor fun, you will think, but we have to take trench fun as we find it, and it isn't easy to hit 'em as it looks, either. "Indeed, so totally sick do you become ot these beastly creatures that a brilliant young officer once worked out in" detail a scheme, whereby, tho rats should be driven by clouds of poison (?as in the direction of the Germans, who, he argued, would immediately flee, or else stay and meet a horrible death'.' The scheme, unfortunately,.fell through owing to tho failure of the 0.0. to sr&sp its valuo. ."But rats are not all evil. There is a story—believe it or not, as you will—of a sentry asleep on his post, which in war time spells death. The time of the major's visit came round, and still he slept. Suddenly, just as the approaching footsteps sounded in the nest bay of the trench, an escaping rat leapt right in the face of the sleeping one, bringing him to his senses not a moment too soon."

Amongst the Tommies. The following story js told of a company or British Tommies who were billeted in a rambling old deserted farm house on the banks of a sluggish stream, overgrown with creeper and weed, and this particular ill-fated platoon Qwelfc in a large, rickety, much-bestrawed barn, much pleased with their lot. All- "went well during the day, the men settling themselves down to rest after their long spell of trenches, and night arrived with an absence of grumbling that was too good to last. Silence enveloped the bam, but not for long. " 'Ere, Bill, come orf it ; keep yer bloomin' fpelers to yerself • got me right on the beastly shin!'' Garn, ain't been within a mile of yer nasty shins." "I tell's ver yiu ; ave.'' "Ain't." " 'Ave." "Ain't." ■ "Take that, then." .This little dispute having been settled somewhat summarily by an irate sergeant useful with his hands, silence once more prevailed. But, strange to relate, that was not the only disturbance, and bofore dawn a full halfdozen such differences liad been cuffed into surly grumbles, with the result that it was a very ruffled band of injured victims who compared notes over their injuries in the morning, tlicir joint investigations, of course, ending with the discovery that they were all suffering from the painful consequences of rat •bite, not the bites of Bill and 'Airy at all. It is a singular fact that 'birds readily acclimatise themselves to camp life in war time. The experience of this war has proved that. Anyone visiting a military camp for the first time is at once struok by tho tameness of the birds to be seen about it. The camp consists of tho usual corrugated iron huts, built on piles on tlie slopes of a hill, and its being in the heart of the country and far from a town may in a measure be responsible for there being so much bird life_ about it. Having little to occupy their spare time in such a place, many of the soldiers' turned their attention to the hand-rearing,' during the recent nesting season, of tho young of the commoner species of birds, including the blackbird, thrush, starling, jackdaw, and magpie. These make excellent pets, and aTe easily reared by hand. Numbers of them may now be seen about the camp flying in and out of the huts at will during the daytime. Many of them have lost their natural fear of man, and \vill readily feed from the hand.