THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 148, 17 November 1914, Page 7

THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

INCIDENTS OF A WAB, THE STRANGE '.AND IIERRY. HIGHLANDERS AS UIILANS, _ Even the grim tragedy of war has its lighter side. Two Highlanders, with sixteen other British soldiers, -were made prisoners by the Germans. They were not prisoners long. They were captured in the morning, but before midnight they had escaped, and each took with him n horse and a lance. This is how it happened. The Germans, of course, disarmed their prisoners, who included, be- , side tli'e two Highlanders, some cavalrymen, and some Grenadier Guards, and they made them march along the road for several miles. It was the Germans, however, who pot tired first, and after locking the prisoners in a barn, the guards went to sleep. It was not long before a -London soldier, who knew something about locks, had the door unfastened, and the IS men stole out in the darkness while the guards slept. The British made their way to where the. horses were picketed, and each man took ft horse for himself. One of the cavalrymen suggested that they had better take lances as well, in case of trouble, and the party were helping themselves from a convenient stack when the noise woke the sfeeping Germans. The Britishers rnn for their yiu'r-pprlpd in petting away amidst a rain of bullets. They wandered about the country together for some time, sometimes losing each other, and often losing themselves. Once or twice thev fell in with Uhlan patrols, but these thev alwavs defeated." The picture of the. two TTishlanders riding side-saddle like ladies, on German hoTses and armed with Uhlan lances' and heating German cavalry at their own game is immortal.

CHARGED BY HAD ' An extraordinary incident is related by Mr. Mithouanl, president of the Paris Municipal Council. At 'Montreau, near Sezanne, lie found on a hillock, the dead hody of a bullock, surrounded l>y the bodies of eighteen Herman soldiers. An inhabitant of the district, who witnessed the incident, told him that when the approach of the enemy was announced, Hie peasants opened all the stable doors in order that the cattle might have the opportunity of escaping in safety. Among the cattle was the bull. The animal rushed out into the road, snorted. la.slied its flanks with its tail, and glared around. At that moment the sound of the cannon was hoard. The brute rushed forward, and out of. the village towards the mound, where, a Herman company had just taken up a position. The bull, with its horns down, and mad with race, dashed right into tho midst of the Germans, and began to bowl them over like ninepins. The soldiers, taken by surprise, remained stflpefied for some moments. Then one fired at tin: animal, stopping it for an instant, but only inflicting a slight wound. It continued its mad career, and dashed hither and thither among the affrighted Germans, tossing and trampling them until a storm of bullets ended its life. By that time the bull had killed no fewer than 18 Germans, and the. little hill resembled a shambles. i

TEMPTED BY GRAPES, . A wounded man of the Irish Guards now in a London hospital states: —"In the last fight we were posted near a wall over which hung the most tempting grapes you ever set eyes on. When you have lain for nearly a day ir. a hot sun without bite or sup grapes seem more tempting than ever. Though the Germans seemed to concentrate llieir whole fire on the corner where those grapes were, most of us couldn't resist the temptation and risk of stealing out to get them. "What you had to do was to crawl along the top of the trenches, and then make a l>ig spring up and catch what you could before the German shot caught you. We weren't always successful, and there's many a lad of ours owes his wounds to touching that fruit."

PRUSSIAN RECEIPTS. The hostilities in Poland are taking a very embittered and cruel form. This is the result of the behaviour of the Prussians to the civil population. Special indignation has been caused by the receipts with which the Prussians intended to pay for the supplies they requisitioned. These documents were written in the German language, which the peasants did not understand, but were nevertheless accepted by them in good faith. They have since discovered that these "receipts" in many cases beur such inscriptions as, "I am obliged to you for your beautiful horse," or "Whoever presents this at the end of the war will be hanged."

LEFT lIIS MEN BEHIND. An interesting story is related by a wounded private of the Middlesex Regiment concerning a young officer of his company, who was the 100 yds sprint champion of the Army a few years ago. Ordered by the colonel to take, a certain hill, the officer and his platoon started oft' at the double. The officer, in liis zeal to get to grips with the enemy, unconsciously outdistanced his men and arrived at the top of the hill a couple of minutes before them. Greatly to his surprise, he found a German battery of eight guns deserted. AVhen the platoon got up, they immediately set to work to destroy the guns, and in the, midst of it a body of the enemy appearand made signs of wanting to surrender. Not to be caught napping, the officer ordered his men to (ix bayonets and reload. They then took the Germans prisoners and inarched them to headquarters.