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Horowhenua Chronicle, 30 April 1915, Page 3

A sparrow-shooting contest was progressing to the north ot Levin last ' night. The night being wet, the sparrows were flying low, and the sportsmen were taking full advantage of the moonlight. The season for wild duckshooting opens at 6unrise on Saturday morning. At the Ashbii'rton County Belgian Relief Fund fete, held at Ashhurton yesterday. 10,000 people were present. Two thousand and fourteen tsheep, ten head of cattle and ten horses, etc., given to the Fund were auctioned and brought in over £2000. The Queen of the carnival compeition resulted in the recording of 633,560 votes representing £7,900. It is exepeted that when all the receipts come to hand the total for the fete will he £147000. . The Calais correspondent of the "Daily Chronicle" says that the Alliee are no longer fighting a nation, but a scourge like cholera. A curtain of asphyxiating gas advanced like tl.e yellow wind of northern China and rose to a height of sixtocn feet. Evidently the Germans placed big reinforced 'bottles of gas compressed at a high pressure at the top of their trenches and opened them when the -wind was certain to carry the gas to the enemy's trenches. Many French died at their posts. Their corpses turnal black. Those escaping spat blood owing to chlorine attacking . the mucous membranes. These effects were felt over 6ix kilometres by two. Elsewhere the gas was too diluted to kill, though ; t suffocated many. After tho gas had escaped for fifteen minutes masked Germans took .possession of the arni6 of the dead men. They made no prisoners. When they saw a soldier whom the fumes had not quite killed tho j* threw his rifle into the Yser and ironically' advised him to lie down and thus die better. Incidents occasionally happen that are calculated to make the average sceptical Britisher wonder .whether the shopkeeper is sincere when he protests that the only reason for stocking German goods is that the purchaser will have them on account of cheapness (says the "Auckland Star"). This morning in a leading Auckland store a sustomer asked to be supplied with 'enamel cups. Ont* every one of the articles tendered for his inspection was the inscription "Made in Germany." The purchaser pointed it out jto the shopkeeper and asked for a British article. There was no choice I in tho matter. Even in such a com- ; moil articles of manufacture the buyer who was -desirous of cutting out the enemy goods, could only be supplied with the German article—the only one stocked. Truly.' we are a patriotic ■ people!