CLEANINGS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 February 1915, Page 4

CLEANINGS.

jjioro lugim uiaicmiig, and at length we reached atrazeele. Wo haulwxi lierc, as tno oiieuiy was in fore© and our guiio w> cieai- wio way'tor us to advance. Wβ lay in held all day, and juat utiore dusK we gatuered together a, m\v pain anu sLaxieu eiiiguig ciiorused.' xou can navo no <x>ucepLion oi wnat it sounoii JUie to near two or tiiree inousana men sing iu tno open-air and amidst rain ana aarKness. Our colonel muse nave a tleal oi sentiment in nim, ior ne asKed us to repeat Annie JLiaurio ior nis special benent. His emotion was as overpowering as he asked us to sing tne old bcottisn song a. second time tnat he could hardly speak, and it was with a mighty ettort that he managed to articulate "Thank you, ooys.' XItAVELLING WORKSHOPS. "Oui' company ooneiste of 08 lorries, and this include** two store waggous, itire>& hret-aid lorries (breakdown oars),,-* one omee, and two repair workshops, me two travelling worKshops are wonuers, and are in duplicate. They axe xitted with electric light, and have on uoard lathes, di-illmg and "boring and slotting macnines, electric riveters, roiges, anvils, and everytning required in a work&nop; even melting pots ior running in Habbitt's metal in the wornout bearinga before being turned up afresh. The machines are driven by a motor. . . . There are other waggons which carry heavy stult' euch as portable forges, grindstones, spare springs ior cars crow-bare, jacks, and heavy tools, and hundreds of other things. If we never came into contact again with civilisation for six months we could still keep going except for petrol. Two waggons carry petrol, and tney always get a fresh supply when going through a town. SPORT AND THE WAR.

An officer who was recently resting in France with hie regiment, describes the amusement which the recreation of the British soldier causes the inhabitants. He says:—"We had a paperchase on, our half-holiday. A British officer, dressed up as the Kaiser and mounted on a piebald horse, rode about eight milee across country, dropping bits of paper. Then about fifty of us chased him on horseback, and nearly caught him. Villagers turned out to see the fun. They thought he was a real German as he wore a big helmet and was covered with iron crosses." THE COST OF THE WAR. The cost in money ol the war is no doubt heavy, far heavier than any war yet waged by the Empire. The Napoleonic wars Masting over twenty years cost 831 million sterling. The Crimean War cost 211 -million, and it lasted four years, but the costliest year of any of the four was only 71 million, while for one year of the war against Germany the estimate is 450 million. And this huge sum has been saddled' upon us by Germany, and thereis no eaying how much more will still require to be paid, for there is no saying how long the war will last. One thing, however, is certain: Germany cannot carry* on this war indefinitely. Whatever were her hopes of success to begin with they certainly have not reached fruition, and seem us far off as ever. She certainly had a strong army to begin with, but with even the censored accounts of the fighting to go by her losses in killed and wounded must have been huge, and the ranks of that certainly strong army must have been fearfully depleted.