WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 143, 11 November 1914, Page 8

WAR NOTES.

THE DRAMA OF IT. "Paris itself,"- says Air Gibbs, the war correspondent, "is one great hospital, and in the centre and south of France any town of any size 'has it* Red Cross organisation, overcrowded w.th maimed and crippled men. Hundreds of times I have stood and watched the arrivals of ambulances, fascinated by the drama of it, yet also faint and sick, Generally, it is in a railway station l , where the vestibule is swilled with chlorate of lime like a shambles. One typical scene occurs to me out of many tragic- memories. A German olliicer was- the lirst to be brenght from the train. He had been wounded in the, stomach, and his case was hopeless, hub a young French doctor, who could not speak Geraian, gave him some morphine and tried to relieve siis suffering. The officer knew that he was dying, and he begged as a last favor that his love should be sent to ;his wife and children. He tried to give their names and addresses, but the young French doctor icoitld not make out the (meaning of the sounds which came from the lips of the dying man, who struggled desperately for just strength enough to say these words. He died suddenly." ROUMANIA. (Roumania ihas much to hope for from, the partitioning of Austria-Hungary, while a victory from the Dual monarchy would dash her almost cherished dream, that of absorbing Transylvania. Half the Roumanian race lives outside Roumania, and most of the exiles are in Transylvania, which Roumania regards with as longing eye, as Italy casts on the unredeemed "provinces. Among Roumanians there are racial differences which are fairly strong, but which are subservient to a national sentiment that deplores the fact that five million patriots are lost to their country. 'The war strength of the Roumanian* army is estimated at 7011,001). and it is now believed to be more advanced iu organisation and training than any other army in the Balkans. Moreover, the Sfi'te escaped the drain to which her neighbors were recently exposedJL and ye* gained territorial advantage' from the war. In the Black Sea, Roumania -has a protected cruiser of 1320 tons, a training ship, a composite brig of 350-tons, seven gunboats, and six first-class and two second-class torpedo boats. It is true that Roumanians have a grudge /against Rirsia. for faking a slice of their best country, Bessarabia, in -i particularly cynical fash am-at the tin;" Roumania secured her'freedom, but all considerations of self-interest must move Roumania to fight against Austria in the hope of profiting by her dismemberment, and a shrewd* self-interest has been the keynote of the Roumanian policy. HISTORIC SCOTS GREYS. The Scots Greys Second, Dragoons) are ganvng fresh glory in the' oounlrv wucre they have helped to make history for centuries. Their latest achievement was to charge German pujns through a defence nf ditches and barbed wire. They sabr-vl. (he gunners and silenced the battery and then returned under cover of the fire of French 7<> mm. guns. It raav !>.- worth while to ■note the regiment's former achievements in Vhi'gle-s, 'pip. c:„ n | s were at Schellcnherg (1704)' and lost'in killed and wounded 3 -officers and 24 >rn. They were also at' 'Blenheim i (1704). sustaining only a r,. w cnsuaHios, llaruillios (!7<in). OudcraroV (1763), and [Malplannot (170!)) also saw them in ; action. Records of their casualties in | those actions have not been nrc-scrved. | They fought under George TL at Defc- ; tmgen. (17-13). where one officer was killed. At Waterloo, the Scots Gre.-s, I suffered severely, losing 11 officers and | 183 men. killed and wounded. Two of , their officers received the 0.8. distinction, which was first granted for military .service in this battle. Thlnelava, Scbastapol, Kimbr-rlev, ami Paaroeburg are famous incidents in the history of the regiment.in other parts of the world.

THE VAXDAUSM AT HTTETMs! IJUKXIxr; OF CATUKDirAL The correspondent of the IJaiiv Mail at bhcuns, under date of Monday, Sentember -21. gives a ~torv bv the Mibe tam 11 of the terrible secret i'n the cVlie clral when it was set on fire, 'lie seal"lt was all over in an h 0,,,-. There were two separate fires. We mit the first out with four buckets of' water, all we had m the place, but soon another shell struck the roof, and the vi'id drove the names alone; the rafters i'a snle of the nave. Wo' rushed up a™in but it was (laming all along, and as we .tould do nothing we hurried down I i'ero were holes in the wiling of tile' nave, and sparks began to fall'through them into a great heap of straw luft high and 20yds long the Germans had piled along the north aisle. We tried to catch the sparks in our hands as they ,iMI, and such of the German woued4 as wore able to walk helped us. j;., t t!"J'.r.;t spark that fo>l „,! the „ij., Jt it blazing. There was time to think of ''''..lung but getting out the wounded lliey screamed horribly. We carried many 0 f those that could not walk, while others dragged themselves pa'h.ifully •along to the side door in the north eish' TlioA' who had only hand and arm wounds helped their comrades. We ->ct «»t all except Hi, who.se bodies "ji, liere now. When, at last I c"'ue cut of the (laming buildings C found th» whole body of wounded Imddledol.t'r around the doors. Opposite to then, w, -\ 'U'-'o'isly hostile crowd of c'viihirof iH'town, *'«( tlo,r rides. ; lUW dy levelled! i

sprang lonvanl. 'What are'vou doi.m-.' J cried. 'They shall ail l»;rii!' shouf.'l tlie soldiers in answer. I'ltev shy 4 ■■■., bark to the eathedra! or ~-,. "will" shoot tnem here. 'Y 0!1 ~,.,, „ ):u ,,, f ~w i. ,i v ~, an reply. 'Tiiiuk of what this mV'm '■ All the world will hear of ( : i„. <■■;„»,'/:,; licrni.'UiH have committed here, and'" you shoot th «,M the iv,irl.l will know tiiat rrancelnis been as crmmn.l in heturn. Anyhow; I said, 'von sba'! shoo; me first, for 1 will not move.' •Tir.viil"V'v the soldiers lowered ti.-ir viile' and f turned to siv lleriean '■liieevs >•■'.' w-iv ...,.„„..; th- ,v,m:,:,! : ,| s ml -.J-X'.i they would obey uie wm l do e\ervf],;„,:■ I old them to They ivM they • «'l asked th:,, !„ tell their ,„..„ >„■ do the same. Then ] ])laii ,> them „,. in a solid body, those who eo.dd v-'ll-unaided ean-yin, or helping tho' • wi i could not. 1 out iv,v,,,'|f\ l ,. t , u , , "J ami iv, set od'to tile iloie'l de Yiih'. which is only a f, v , } mu , lml ~; away." .i.ue. n T ' o '^"^ T i c r " >r! ' : ' T " ' r "° lo ' ;t t!,l,t ''"*- tie of DI\T:O ErOALYI'TCS i„ thecone!) yesterday can get another af Mr .illen Veale's for one. shilling. omieal, and most enjovablc of all coffees is "Camp." Give, it a trial. All grocers' The most easily maSe, the most econ-