IN QUEST OF NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 319, 27 October 1915, Page 3

IN QUEST OF NEWS.

(By ALBERT DORRINGTON)

It is a great sight watching the ammunition ships cros 6 the Atlantic America is serving us well. Nearly every vessel that leaves for an English port is loaded to her decks wuth every kind of war material. Gun carriages, rifles nad shells are descending upon us in avalanches, and everyone is asking why the general advance is being delayed.

A week ago I left London for New York, witjh the intention of supplying this paper with the very fullest information on the European crisis. Up to date, the British war correspondents have had a bad time. All reliable information concerning the coming advance into Germany seems to have teen cornered by the Yankee Press agents. They print news that is unobtainable in England.

A "JUMPY” VOYAGE. ! I travelled by the Saxonia; we fob ( lowed cn the heels of the ill-fated Ara- ■ bic, and for the first three nights we slept and ate in our life-belts. The • slightest rumble or jar of the propeller , would send a score of men and women , to the boat decks, grabbing their worldly goods in botih hands. Engineers, officers, and sailors suffered from torpedo nerves, and -he man who has noce been torpedoed rarely forgets it. THE LUSITANIA RECALLED. Adjoining m,y cabin was that of a Catholic young lady named James, who was aboard the Lustania when the German submarines finished her. Miss James was drawn down by the sinking liner and blown again to the surface by the exploding boilers. The water around her was almost at boiling point. She floated for two hours. Her only objection to being torpedoed a second time was the fear of being drawn down hte funnels by the tremendous suction. Her description of the scramble on the Lusitania’s stairways, when the first deaih-fish struck them, beggars description. The passengers were stunned 1 by pieces of flying glass and machinery Children lost their way and their mothers. and were never afterwards seen There were deeds of heroism and acts of savagery in that fight to reach th° boat fecks. Men struck men with stools and cabin furniture in the hep' of clearing a track for themselves. Women left p’aces of safety in the boats, to run below, in the hope of saving seme worthless gem or trinket and were never seen again. A CAPTAIN’S EXPERIENCE.

The skipper of the lately-torpedoed Arabic remained on the bridge till the last, and as a reward for his pluck was sucked down one of tihe giant funnels. He found hmiself struggling in the black interior of the big stack with a quantity of deck-chairs, stewpans,and two live draught horses, to say nothing of the ship’s rats that seemed bent on keeping him company. NOBLEST DEED OF THE WAR. The London Press is enthusiastic over one feat which it regards as the noblest deed of the war. In the beginning of that terrible retreat from Mens, wheih the genius of Sir John Frmoh a 1 one saved from being an absolute disaster there came a time wfhen a section of the Irish Guards were told to hold the road at all costs. Most of the officers had been killed, or were so badly wounded that they could no longer lead, and the charge fell on a greyhaired sergeant-major, who swiftly seized a corner shop commanding two roads as an ideal place to hold the Prussians until our rear-guard was in safety. As he was about to place bis two machine-guns, a woman stopped him, and said: “You cannot stay here, sergeant. There is a woman in labour in the room above.”

The sergeant told eff ten of his non with stretchers and blankets to wait until the child was born, then to convey it and its mother to a place of safety, after that to return to their section. In the meantime, he advanced an eighth of a mile and fortified a weaker spot as well as he could, rcolding hi s men the while, and telling them not to make too much noise else they would alarm the “babhy.” And so, in a place which left them exposed to the full danger of a Prussian attack, theses Irishmen fought until every man was either killed,wounded, or made prisoner, rather tha" disturb a woman in the crucial hour of maternity. The whole British agree that this is one of the noblest stories told of a war. Even Thermopylae is insignificant,beside it. r ' vp n the least patriotic of us can imaeine Germans paying so heroic a triVmf e of respect to womanhood when the fate of an army was at stake The “Outlook,” in a tribute to the bra - '"' ac*-, pa.vs: “We shall try to undcrrt'vnd the Irish in future.” This sounds like a candid admission of neglect in the past.

Although the expenditure incurred by New Zealand on the display at the Panama Exhibition will be nearer £20,000 than the £15,000 originally voted, Mr. Mark Cohen, of Dunedin, who hao list returned from America, considers that the taxpayer lias no reason to grumble, seeing how far ahead wc wore of Australia, who has spent twice the amount indicated above. “The feature of the New Zealand Pavilion, 5 * said Mr. Cohen to an Auckland interviewer, “was unquestionably the fine display of our woollens. Tnese excited general admiration, and when the timer came for selling, they called forthspirited bidding. Under the capable guidance of Mr. E. Clifton, a good, showing was made of the principal products of this Dominion, and, being in the main' building, close to the fin«* display by the United States Government, our pavilion attracted the attention of thousands who otherwise might, never have seen it. That New Zealand should have gained 478 awards, inclusive of no less than 14 grand speaks for itself. ’ ’ Mr. Cohen remarked that credit shouM also be given to Messrs. M. O’Brien (who will see t® the 'dual disposal of the exhibits), A« Macphcrson (who returned by the Niagara), and B. Twinning (who had charge of the musical instrument section).