NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1834, 1 June 1918, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

A traveller ' for a Christchurch implement firm, while passing along a road in Ashburton district recently, noticed a naan ploughing in a neighbouring field. The traveller jumped over the fence, intending to inquire for the address of the farmer, and was greatly surprised to see the man leave the team and set off at top speed across the paddock. The traveller, who did not investigate the matter further, said that the incident gave him causp for considerable thought, and naturally enough visions' of a deserter were foremost in his mind.

A story of a nurse’s splendid heroism in a troopship disaster in the Mediterranean is told by Driver H. Bevan, Crurnlin Street, Pontypool, Mon., in a letter to Mr L. Daniel, his brother-in-law: —“On reaching the water, our boat capsized, and we were all pitched out, but struck out for a small raft which was carrying eight or nine men, and we helped others in to the number of 25 to 30. We ought to be proud of our women; they were great, .... Fancy seeing a

nurse strip off and jump overboard, ■saying, ‘Excuse me, boys, I must save the Tommies.’ She saved a dozen by swimming out to them. I did not see one girl give way, and I think there is only one country in the world which can breed women like them.”

An intersting account of the manner in which he was wounded during the fighting in Flanders last year was given by the Rev. C. Houchen, M.C., at the welcome tendered to him at Parnell, states the Auckland Herald, Mr Houchen, who received a serious shell wound on the side of the head, which resulted in the loss of the sight of the left eye, facetiously described the injury as a “shell hole,” and said that after receiving the wound he “went to sleep and did not come round for a fortnight.” His nerves, as he expressed it, had “all gone bung,” and the process of recovery, as might bo expected, was not a rapid one. Mr Houchen, who wears the Military Cross, received the decoration for gallantry in tending Avouuded under heavy shell fire during the battle of Flers in October, f 915.

Deploring during the recent political crisis in England the campaign of recrimination which is exasperating the nation and weakening the alliance, the Times pays a striking tribute to Mr Lloyd George. It says that he has been badly served. Half his troubles have been due to hurried appointments and dismissals. He has his defects, but he also possesses great qualities —enthusiasm, breadth of mind, and imagination, and Celtic courage. He is by far the best Prime Minister available. He is whole-heartedly inspired for the great causes at stake, and is bearing ’his colossal burden of responsibilities with incomparable resilience. He has succeeded in breaking down through his personal insistence the insular prejudices which were hampering the West front operations. He leads the only Government possible to cope with the great social problems inherent to war.