WHEN ENEMIES SHAKE HANDS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 219, 20 October 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

WHEN ENEMIES SHAKE HANDS.

When it is considered how bitter ; s the feeling engendered by war and how overwhelming the conflict of interests and passions which compels men to slay, all the more extraordinary doe-: another aspect of war appear, tho friendly and complimentary side of it. The present giant struggle, mercilessly waged as it has been, is already rich in amazing but there really never was a war of any magnitude in which the antagonists at some time or another did not for a few hours s-nk their differences, and, figuratively, shake hands. The fiercer the lighting the stronger would seem to be the revulsion of feeling when it did come. Readers will readily recall the surprise, almost shock, caused by the discovery that British and German soldiers over several Imijles of fighting front had hobnobbed together for qui to an hour 011 ChiTs'tmas Day, 1914. I'o many people sucn a meeting seemed utterly incongruous .and inexplicable, but certain it is that it had not an atom of effect on the subsequent fighting, which indeed waxed more fiercely thai ever. Last Yule-tide German soldiers on French and Russian fronts, as well as British, sought, by aid of improvised posters, chalked in perfect English, to bring about an informal truce for a few hours and, as a matter of fact, though little encouragement was given them at the Russian side, there was a sort of intuitive understanding come to that nothing unnecessarily aggressive should be indulged in.

THE BREAKFAST TRUCE. But scarcely a day passes .which is free from these complimentary pauses. Soldiers fresh from trenches, within stone-throw of the enemy pits, as many are, will tell you that in the mornings, when the blue smoke rises from trencn mouth, denoting the cooking of breakfast, it is considered bad form by both contestants to indulge in any promiscuous firing, and seldom is the unwritten law broken. It is only quite recently that an extraordinary instance of this sporting feeling—for such it may fairly be called —occurred. A German soldier remained for several minutes plainly in sight of an almost certain target tor even an indifferent shot, yet not a single rifle bullet pinged its way towards him. "Let that poor devil alone." an officer Had said. "If he s not stark mad, then some Prussian brute has placed lr'm there as a punishment." Somo of these war courtesies are in reality drolleries, smacKing of anything but grim life and death. There is something .indescribably quaint about soldiers of the one side telling with flourishes all the good news to those of the other, and requesting their kind favours in the way of comments. Uf course, this is a game two can plav at, and played at 11 is nearly every day of the week with never ending variations.

THE CORPORAL S COFFEE. "Don't throw a beastly hand grenade whenever we give you a bt (f bad news, "ran one notice in glaring chalk characters. Back came the answer by a similar medium. "The grenade you delivered yesterday carriage forward put dirt into our corporal's coffee." A few minutes sufficed for the reply. "Lucky corporal to have any coffee at ail." Oceas : onally, however, a notice board, half facetiously shown ail enemy, strikes a note of apprehension, as was evidenced when some of our lads sought to give the hostile trenches opposite the revised estimates of the great naval battle, and were met with a seemingly earnest request that ti.e announcement might again be showi. But alter all there is nothing vevv new in theso little sidelights. Pas* wars bristle with them. A night or two preceding the uitterly fougJii Battle of Talavera. brave men of both sides met together, passed pleasantries, exchanged tobacco .for cigars, and end,ed up with an impromptu concert, after which a Highland serge.mt paid the French artistes a rare compliment and expressed the hope that thev would all survive what was in store lor them.

But Peninsula battles teem.ed with all that was liest and worst in war, and it has boon chronicled on more than 0110 occasion that weary and parched men of Wellington and Soult's armies slaked their thirst at the same pool, only too glad lor the time being to s"nk their differences. When th.e Russians wore at war wit.i the Swedes, and were closely besiegm.; Sveaborg, the Impregnable, that wonderful siege by land, sea, and ice, cite Russian General not .only permitted but assisted in the iorwarding to tin garrison of letters and papers addressed to it, and even offered a safe conduct and escort to the families of officers who wished to be spared the r'gours of the siege. AN ACT OF CHIVALRY.

A rare act of both chivalry and coiutesv in war stands to the credit of a distinguished British Admiral Lord Exmouth. Charged with the task of bringing the then turbulent Algiers to her senses, by recourse to a bombardment if need be, his Lordship sailed with a powerful fleet through the straits to discover very soon to his regret that extreme steps would be necessary. The ships took up their respective positions, and only waited for n s'gnal from the flagship to commence operations when the Admiral noticed a group of men silhouetted clearly on an exposed part of the city ramparts. Apparently they were so fascinated \y the unusual spectacle as to be oblivious of dangegr. The error was entirely their own, but Lord Exmouth suspended the fateful order to fire till, by dint of warning gestures, he had scared the rash spectators away.