LATE WAR NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 197, 30 April 1915, Page 3

LATE WAR NEWS.

GERMAN GAS ATRCCI"'. ■;:..".'..

CANADIAN:-; sUCCUSI' . I ross Assoc i-::; '.on. —Cop' -' chl. LONDON, A; it 28. The War-Office officially st-Oes tfe't • doctors' report -tlmt o. • number of Oanr. j dians died from tiic effects oi ! poisonous gases; which were used contrary toThe Hague Convention. The Wai-.Office has issued particulars of respirators against asphyxiating, gases. Thc,y are composed of cotton v, 00l or stockinette. The War Office is inviting the public to supply these. ■ A CANADIAN'S STORY. A VIVID DESCRIPTION. \ THE DEADLY WALL OF SMOKE. . . LONDON, April 28. - A Canadian who was present at 'the lighting on Tuesday, stated that nt ■'•■ o'clock in the afternoon the pickets ic--ported that -the French were retiring along the Yprcs-LangemaroTc road. A strong- nov-tlj'-oasti wind w«= »nov;:^ ? what looked like-a wajl of vivid..green. smoke, four feet high, nad extending to within three hundred yards .to the left of the Canadian lines. Through the green,"mist," which was becoming thicker and patch}', came a mass of dazed men, reeling like drunkards, who fell as they passed our ranks. '' The majority were not wounded, but their frees were agonised. Meanwhile the Germans advanced and feverishly entrenched until i) o'clock, when the Canadians prepared to attack. They advanced, slowly, in order not to tire the men. They found heavy fighting proceeding at St. Julien, where the 14th Canadian Battalion Avas putting up a stiff struggle. • A Midnight Charge. The night v?s very dark. We foundthe Gentians •entrenching in a ~ wood near the British lines, whence they must be driven 0.0 with the bayonet at all cost,-;. -0.0. '.■'..,> had to re-take the British guns. The 10th Battalion was in the van. Colonel Russel Boyle was . killed while leading the charge. Wher we reached a low ridge, and in full view of the wood, a I . Hellish Fire Was Loosed from the German rifles and machineguns in the 1 undergrowth skirting tin wood. We fashed on. cheering, ycl 7 - ing. and swearing.' First the Germans . fi.rcd too high/ and our losses wora ; slight until with!n 50 yards. Then our • chaps began to"drop, and the vrhoJe Front Lino Melted Away, only to-be instantly closed up. "She—'■ ing, we jumped over the wounded. No!'one Gorman with the machine-guns- ■.■"■-■ , caped. but those in the wood fought doggedly, though man}- threw up •tKctr hands. Pressing on , into the woo - the struggle became hand to hand:"■•■•-*•• '■• fought in clumps and batches, tlicr li I .'" i insf struggling over the dead and dving. At the height of the fight thvmoon came out from the clouds. T'-"' > clashing i Bayonets F'ash.ecl Like Quicksilver and faces were lit up as by limelight.

Sweeping >•:■, we came to a Hue or .trenches hastily thrown uy, which could not be stubbornly defended. All who •■o±:*Uh\ were bayoneted, and the iC? I sent to Cue rear. l - C-ASES. U.--ED ON" CANADIANS. CKEM.r: T TO INVESTIGATE. ' Dr. John [T~hb~.no has boon ajr.t to gas, reported to the War oY/u-e. Fost mortoms re.v.deo that deaths were due to ociite brc-u'liitis, caused by the use of an' irritant gas. Symptoms indicate that it is either chlorine or eh mine. The facts, also adduced, indicate the use of Gorman shells combining irritant substances, though, in sonic cases, these agents are not of the same brutally barbardus character as the gas used against the Canadians. The effects are not' those produced by ordinary combustion explosives. Captain Bertram, a Canadian, states that he saw 24 men lying dead from gas on. a small stretch of the road leading from the advanced trenches.