WAR JOTTINGS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 745, 13 February 1915, Page 7

WAR JOTTINGS.

Russia's army in the Caucasus which is rendering such a good account of itself against Turkey, ÜBed to be, and still is, to a large extent, a kind of Foreign Legion, recruited from all nationalities, European as well as Asiatic, and the life stories of some who join it might form aB romantic reading as those of their compeers in ' the Legion of France. To-day the Caucasian army is reckoned among the most effective units of the Russian forces, and the eager ness with which officers seek admission to its ranks is not wholly due to the pay being higher than in any other divisions of the Imperial army. Farmers' sons form a large percentage of the Southland quota of the Expeditionary Force, and the first tangible evidence of the manner in which the primary industries are likely to be influenced was obtained at the meeting of the Southland Land Board, says the Southland Times. Fourteen applications for transfer of sections were dealt with, and in seven cases it was stated that the necessity to transfer arose as a consequence of the previous lessee having gone to the war. It was stated that one farmer had been deprived of the services of three sons, who had gone to the front, and that he could not work his holdings without assistance. In another case not included in the seven applications for transfer the lessee of a section in the Aparima Hundred applied for exemption from residence during his absence with the Expeditionary Force He stated that he had made arrangements regarding the payment oE rent and the carrying out of improvements during his absence, and the Board approved his application, as it did those referring to transfers.