The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1916. A MARVELLOUS VICTORY.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 27 October 1916, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1916. A MARVELLOUS VICTORY.

(With which is incorporated The Tai hapc Post and Waimarino News).

One cannot help being filled with wonderment at the brilliant victory of the French army at Verdun reported yesterday. When we remember that in military matters the very word “Verdun,” is something to conjure with, it brings to our mental vision the bloodiest struggle in history, with the largest concentration of heavy guns, of munitions, and of all the diabolical accessories, including poison gas and liquid Are, that Hun deviltry could call to its aid. We can picture the nature of the weeks of bombardment the French defenders were subjected to, and we mentally see the living masses of Germans marching to the attack of decimated trenches and other cover, falling as they wave on like corn before a scythe, as the French machine-guns pour out their utryost in sheer desperation. Germans fell, not in hundreds, but in thousands and tens of thousands during the battle lasting throughout last May and June, until they were reckoned in hundreds of thousands. Never was human life held so cheaply; no events in the history of savage peonies can commence to compare with the

savagery wilfully, designedly, and callously practiced without a qualm so far as the spilling of human blood was concerned. The life of vermin could not be subjected to such pitiless and remorseless slaughter, and all that German pride and love of power might be gratified. Wave after wave of the pride of the man power of Germany was ordered to march into the incessant hail of French machine-gun fire, assisted by the famous seventy-fives, which reached the Kaiser’s men instantly they left cover, rendering it possible for the butchery to commence as they leapt to their parapets, thousands not getting a dozen yards from the trenches they had just emerged from, the air being thick with flying arms, legs, and other human fragments, falling into the trenches and over the ground the living masses had only momentarily left. It is necessary to cast our minds back over all this fearful Verdun battle, which went on without intermission for two months. That for two months the brave Frenchmen, in defence of their land, were subjected to the most colossal and bloodiest effort that had ever been exerted, suffering huge losses of life, and yet the boasted invincibility of the Hun millions could not move them. Great as the French losses were they fell far short of the result of the abandonment and profligacy of the German command. This

retrospect is necessary to a full realisation of what the French have accomplished in one day with an insignificant loss. In only one day they •have recaptured all the ground it took the Germans, in the bloodiest and costliest struggle known to mankind, two months to take from the French. The moral effect of this will be felt keenly in Germany and in the countries of her Allies. Verdun, which was to be the key to unlock the door to peace, is no longer to be in view even of the aggressive Huns, and they are driven back like dogs in one day out of sight of the town. What must be the inner thoughts of intelligent people of Kaiser-lorded lands; The achievement was so unexpected that war experts representing British

newspapers at the front were not prepared to discuss or comment upon such an event. They report that the Germans were completely demoralised where there was not very marked superiority of numbers. It is a sure indication that Germany will court disaster on the west front if line-thin-ning is practised for assaults elsewhere, that Germany no longer has the numbers to withstand simultaneous pressure on ail fronts. It was at Verdun Germany elected to crush France, it is at Verdun that Germany has received a demoralising defeat at the hands of Frenchmen.

WOOL PROSPECTS. Many New Zealanders have been anxiously awaiting the report of the opening of the London wool sales, which came to hand yesterday. It appears that out of a total of 7639 bales offered 4944 bales were from this country. From fragmentary discussions and reports cabled from time to time, it seemed evident that values would be fully maintained. This has proved to be the case, and in many instances crossbreds have advanced another five per cent. Merinos, in which we are not much interested, also advanced similarly, but they seem to have been bought up by America, who gave more than British buyers were prepared to pay. This is an indication that the future market is likely to be more advantageous to New Zealand growers when the time arrives for their clips to reach England. The supply in Britain is short; mills are full of orders, and the British Government is arranging for labour to keep all combing establishments going. Taking all indications into eonsideation, the outlook is very satisfactory indeed. How much the Main Trunk territory around Taihape is interested may be gathered from the fact that over 20, 000 bales were railed from this district last season. It will be readily calculated what a five per cent rise means to us. The gross income looms up somewhere in the region of half a million of money. Unfortunately shipping firms may nullify any advantage the market may give, and the same thing seems to be the case w r ith meat.