The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1915. WAR NOTES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 January 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1915. WAR NOTES.

We are constantly reading about soldiers ''digging themselves in." Of course this is tough work for those uot used to navvying. Shovels and picks me, of coure, used when there is time and opportunity, and when the tools themselves are available, but the ordinary soldier who finds it necessary to protect hinisell against rifle hre would be in evil plight if he had to wait for a. supply of the regular tools <jf digging; so every soldier carries his own tools with which he can throw up some sort of defence-, if it is only sis inches oi earth, and: which can be enlarged: into a regular trench. The trenching tool used in the American war was twenty-two inches long, and weighed a paund and a half, and it is practically this same tool that is used to-day, although of course, with modifications. The present model is usually lighter, the best design being that used by the Austiians. it is less than twenty inches in length, the blado being eight inches long ; by six inches wide, one side having a cutting edge, and the other a saw edge. A tool «;f this kind can be used by a, soldier while lying down, and a lew vigorous strokes are enough to throw up some sort, of temporary protection, which can easily be enlarged if the position is to be held. Both the British and the Belgians are clever at this temporary entrenching work, and it is surprising the rapidity with which they .sink into the earth and disappear', leaving nothing to show their whereabouts except heaps of soft earth that render bursting shells almost innocuous. Trenching drill is hated more than anything else by soldiers in time oi peace, but that same soldier acquires a positive love for his little epade after he has once been under fire and so discovered for himself the salutary qualities of a little mound of earth in front of him. The soldier in. a good trench is absolutely safe from well aimed shrapnel, or from shells that happen t>o 'burst u the trench itself, which, of course, is a rare happening. THE RISE IN , PRICE OF FOODSTUFFS. The public is growing very uneasy over the rise iu foodstuffs, and the New Zealand Times asks what the Governmej] is doing to prevent exploitation. — Our contemporary points out that the housewife just now has her bills mounting every week. Bread, vegetables, fish, sugar, almost all claeses of groceries, and certainly most classes of wear ing apparel, have increased , in cost. Are all these rises justified? Are they made for genuine reasons? That, is foi" the Government to find out, and it is the duty of Mr Massey and his colleagues to tell the people whait they are doing in this direction. Why, for instance, should a 561b bag of sugar cost 3s more than it did six months ago? Why should a 41b loaf of bread coet 2d more now than it did a few weeks back? There is possibly justification in the inoreased cost of living. The Empire is at war and war means heavy expenditure, with burdens upon tho people. But there are members of the community who would take ndvantage of the war or any other circumstances to bleed the people. Will tho Government tell the people '.v'i:it it is doing , to prevent their pockets Veing emptied by unscrupulous expbitation. The "Wellington Post says ten l the great majority of the public began months ago. to believe that the war The Kaiser to the Sultan of Turkey.— "They are accusing me of atrocities now! That is another bond of sympathy "between us." The Sultan.— "Pardon me, your All Highness is thinking of my predecessor. Abdul H"a'irira. Your Imperial anS Christian Majesty has the advantage of me in that respect."—Westminster Wazette.

was being exploited by some retailers as a pretest for an unwarrantable squeezing of the buyers, and time has added to the ranis of those who refu.se to admit that all the rises in prices are fair. The Post says the raising of prices is a warning to New Zealanders that they must learn to practice economy. Wβ would ask what lias this to do with the rise in foodstuffs? t No douibt housewives as a rule are very careful-of expenses, but why is it that t the- rise in price is affecting bread, _. sugar, vegetables, fish, and almost all classes of groceries?