Serious Strike Situation.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 27 July 1918, Page 3

Serious Strike Situation.

THOUSANDS IDLE. Received tliis day, 11.5 a.m. London, July 26. The Conference of National En gineering and Allied Trades Coun cil at, Leeds reached a decision after a long discussion. _ It is understood there is considerable opposition to the decision which is as giving a serious set back to the hopes of settlement. A sympathetic strike has begun in South Staffordshire and East. Worcestershire where thousands are idle, . . • - . Notices to strike expire on bat urdav at Newcastle; • ' VSTSiSSSSBSSBSB-.

(Continued from page 2) honey in his dugout. Over there under the hedge is a pool of foetid water. Who knows what mystery lies beneath the surface? For under those wan waters, Many of tliem lie rotting, But at let go tli*> stone, and rise, And, flickering in a grisly light, Dance upon tho mere. The long legged mosquito and the erratic gnat skate on the surface, then away to seek whom tliey may devour.

Around under the lee of tjue hedge, there, runs a. deep muddy trench, at every comer of which stands a soldier dressed in dingy khaki. He is unshaven and unj washed, and his clothes are torn and stained from many weary .weeks of trench life and solid j fighting, but his eyes are as bright as the barrel of his musket. He bears on his shoulder a. decoration that tlie woild will never forget. It is tlie good old N.Z.R., worn by the men from far away New Zealand, "the Britain of the South," "God's Own Country," "the home of the brave, the land of the free." At intervals along tlie trench side open the mouths of long, slanting shafts of steel steps. Thirty feet under ground, at the bottom of these shafts, are noisome d ugouts where tlie tired but cheer_ ful soldiers devour their daily bread, snore loudly, play Crown and Anchor, or discuss the coming stunt. Down there the sighing shells and the erack.of the machine gun are'but dimly heard. Last night a party of these soldiers went out under cover of darkness and brought back four prisoners. They also left four German carcases the other side of No Mali's Land. Our ifuns keep opening out and shelling hell out of Fritz's lines down m the gully and on the opposite ridge. The report of the guii is heard away back, then the scream ing rush bf the shell through the air; then another report, this ti/me in front, and a spurt of smoke and debris and fragments of timber dud Bosches, and stones and soil shoot high into the air and come down with a "patter, patter, splash, splash, bump!' and a fj around tho jagged bits of shell screech through the air m all directions, seeking a soft resting place in tlie hide of some unlucky Hun. ' It. has just been forced on to my notice that the grassy bank on which I am seated is partly composed of an old barbed wire entan __ "•lement, and it pains me to be under the necessity of moving my perch. Here's a dreadful predica ment.! Am I to seat myseli among the buttercups and run the risk of coming in contact with the iagged edges of a. broken rum jai, or shall I risk that patch of nettles on the other side of tlie shell hole. Bisl) ! There's a sniper getting to work; perhaps I had bettei get hack into the .trench ! Inside the hedge has been a beautiful apple orchard, but most of the trees an* now shattered and torn with shells. A bit further over is the ancient cemetery, which has also been heavily shelled, as such places generally are when there is a war on in tlie neighbourhood. Over head is the "whirr of a big battleplane. It looks like a. bloated mosquito, so far up is it. Wonder if he can see me ? I have heard tho saying that when there is a poor apple crop m France, there is sure to follow a scarcity of champagne. There are certainly a great many orchards

here. I was down .'JO odd feet under ground last evening when I recei ved your letters. I ajso had one from" Will Whitaker, of Levin, who is having a great time in "Bliglity." He lias just had a (ouch of trench feet, and now he has been to Windsor .Castle, spoken to 'the lung, been served tea by princesses and duchesses, seen all over some of 'the. most.' famous old buildings, and all sorts. My word, it is hot to-day, like mid summer in - New _ Zealand. The nights are cold still, but I am one of the few that have a blanket. Most of the boys hav e been living about seven weeks now with just their overcoats as covering at night. Did I ever tell you about that billy you sent? First I iised it to keep the unconsu'med portions of my rations in so that the mice could' not devour them. Then Will Whitaker lost his dixie and could not get another until he salvaged one from some casualties ; then we kept the billy for boiling cafe an lait, etc. And when we came out of the front line we left it over looking the historic Somme river. So the old billy had a great history and a long travel and was very useful. I am still in tlie thick of it ajyl having a jolly good time as far as possible. I have a brand new uniform now as the old one was "wore out."

SERGT. J. DAVISON. j RECOMMENDED FOR A COMMISSION. Writing to his parents, Mr and Mrs J. Davison, of Levin, Sergt. J. Davison says he is still at Cod_ ford camp. His wound was not feeling so well and had begun to discharge again. The doctor said it would be a long time before he would be able to carry a pack again. He was still acting quarter imaster and kept fairly busy. "On Saturday" he continues, "three of we sergeants went out for an after hoon's sport shooting crows which ■are fairly common in these parts. ,«We started, off well-by■shooting ■Tme first : shot and very sooii hacl it stowed away in our bag. No sooner had we done so than we "saw a retired Colonel coming towards us and waving his arms about frantically. "Who are yoa ? Don't you know that' you are poaching on my estate?" he shouted. It was very funny. I pulled the crow out of the bag to show him that we had only shot one, but. it was no use ; he made us go with him to his house. He met his wife at the gate and called out

to her: "Look, dear, I've got tlie poachers." We had to laugh which made the old chap worse than ever. We explained that we were colonials and did not know the game laws of England. Eventual ly we departed still retaining the poor unfortunate crow, the cause of all the trouble. Next day we went out again, but in a different direction and had a very successful day's sport, bagging 29 young birds. The following night we enjoyed for the first time i' l our lives crow pie and very nice it was too." Writing again on May 25, Sergt. Davison says: "Yesterday the usual Empire Day sports were held and it was a beautiful day. Canadians, Australians, Tommies •and New Zealanders were competing, and the latter won most of the events. During the afternoon !an Australian airman gave an exhibition of flying. It was really | clever; unfortunately, long after the sports were over, he was taking Major Jordan (second in command of' the Codford depot) up for a flight when suddenly on e of the wings broke oil and the machine crashed to earth from a great height. Both occupants were killed. I happened to be on the Downs at the time and saw what happened. It was a tragic ending to a very enjoyable day. This morning another plane came down near the station and two more casualties resulted. "I will be leaving Codford m tho course of a few days, having been recommended from France for a commission and will probably go to the Officers' Training Corps at Cambridge for a five months training course. _ I do not know how my wound will stand, but will give it a go. If my shoulder does not fail me I will get through alright."