Alfred Noyes Believes End is Not Far Off.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 April 1917, Page 3

Alfred Noyes Believes End is Not Far Off.

< New York, April 20 0 “ Peacß will sborily ensue,” accord--7 ing to Alfred Noyes, tha British poet« 0 who is to lecture on E glish literature 1 at Princeton Uidver-iy. “It Americans shoald decide to seed ships ncrtsi the Atlantic arid convoy them, I believe firmly that would remove Germany’s h >r>9 of victory,” continued Mr Noye*. who v,ae in 'he war 3 zone for nine mouths b-.fere cotuiDg to 1 Princeton. ** “ I think the offensive no w progressing wiil determine the outcome of 'be 1 war on land, but if not, the Allies will oontinue fighting to thß end. At the present time my country has mors officers thau there were men in tho British Army before hostilities com. , mancad. The number of men now i working in the aviation corps is about equivalent to the oid number of officers. It seems almost incredible that the army since the beginning of the war has increased from 300.000 to between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000. This js the fighting force of Eiglaud at the present tioie. “ The formation of a gientWganisatioa could not have be*n' brought about in a week or a month. That was the work of many months. This is the cause of the long deljy before notion was started on the Western front. 'lhoeasly German campaign and Germany’s recent defiance of America were due to ihe Kaiser's knowledge that the great English army was about ready to strike ou tbs Western front aud her only chance was to get her blow in first and isolate England before it happened.” Answering a question about his impression on the firing line, Mr N yea ’ said : One of the most notable things I 1 saw on the Somme front was the presence of English aircraft and signal 3 balloons signalling to British guns, I did not see a single German aeroplane i engaged in that wo'ir, As the recent i German defeat proves, the resnlfci are ’ obvious, because the English big gua r fiio is making life in the German ■) trenches almost intolerable, whereas a i German shell rarely falls within 400 1 yards of the British guns, which are screened from observation. “I wae also impressed with tho wanton shelling of the Arras Cathedral. Only two of the walla were left standing, and the entire city wae J desolate.”