LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 44, 21 October 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Gunner A. F. Burred, of the Fiftl Reinforcements, writing to his niothei in Stratford under date 17th August reports that ho was wed alter a gooe, trip across. His particular part of the company had not then been actually engaged, though they had seen a' little fighting. He "jviis particularly struck with the splendid attention given to the wounded, who were sent straight down to the hospital ships, two or more of which are always' in the bay. About the Taranaki boys; he says'that Charlie Milner was hit in both arms by bullets, but the ambulance man who dressed him says it is nothing serious and that he was laughing and talking all the time. Those he had met and were all right were Bob Woods, Bluett, Lieut. Monro (who was with him), and Tom Laverty. The surrounding country', he says, was about the rummiest he had seen ,being all up on end and absolutely perpendicular'in «some places,' and what was not covered with scrub of all sorts was bare clay. He knew of only one valley that was cultivated. Gunner Burred states that he has taken to smoking a pipe now, to gei some relief from the -''smells that hang

around! When there was no wind during the night some of the valleys smell terribly lor the first hour or two in the morning. The day before writing they, were given leave to go to the beach for a swim, and the writer says lie never enjoyed a swim so much hefore; it was the first wash they had had for over a week, as all the water to be got was used for drinking and cooking purposes. Talkingof cooking, he says that "bin corned beef and broken biscuits boiled well make a good stew ; ground biscuit boiled in a little water is good porridge—add some jam .and.-there's pudding. A little bacon sometimes and a biscuit fried in the fat goes all right." Explaining the change in rank from private- to gunner. Burred says that he joined the machine-gun section. So many of the section had gone away sick that they were reduced to very low numbers, and volunteers were call-

ed from the infantry, so Graham Marr and the writer volunteered out of the Taranakf Company. The weather was becoming cooler during the day and decidedly cold at night. The cold, lto concluded, jolly near froze the flies, for they did not start to get about till nine or ten .o'clock in the' morning.

For the.first time'in the history of the automobile, it has been demon-. i strated that a car can be started from a distance by nieaiis of the' wireless telegraph.' This was proved at the Indiana State Fair where the motor of a' model 83 Overland was started every five minutes by a 'wireless spark from the Overland " headquarters *in Indianapolis, five miles away. A complete 1 wireless outfit consisting of motor generator, transformers, relays and other paraphernalia, was installed in the show windows of the city sales rooms. This was connected With an aerial on the roof of the building and by stepping the alternating current up from 110 volts to 16,000 volts the ap~

paratus made it possible to send messages ;300 miles. 1 s The Overland car o« exhibition at the fair grounds was'fitted' up with'a 'receiving'apparatus and the necessary automatic switches and ; rerlays for throwing oh and ' off the electric current of the Starter • and magneto. An automatic switch was "regulated so as to allow the car to run 'for forty-five Seconds, after which the magneto was cut off. The operation of -starting the car.was repeated at fiveminute intervals. One of the most interesting features of the experiment was the fact that the entire operation of starting the car was accomplished without the aid of a human hand. A time switch, installed in connection with the wireless outfit; in the city, controlled the entire operation. From the time Governor ORalston of Indiana put the car; in operation the first- time by touching a key at the sending station, until the last day of the fair, the starting and stopping of the car wa s taken care iof automatically. That this unique exhibit at the fair attracted more than the usual attention was evidenced by the crowds of visitors who watched for "the" crackling spark, which was the signal for the car's motor to start going..