WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 203, 4 February 1915, Page 3

WAR NOTES.

BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES. THE VEIL LIFTED. "*" ' What is going on within the German linos, or, in other words, behind the screen which conceals from the outer world something like an eighth part of France and nearly the whole of Belgium? The veil has been lilted for a moment by "a person," who, amid thrilling adventures, has traversed the invaded departments, and Belgium, returning to France by way of Holland and England. Tin's is not the moment (says the Temps) to recount his adventures, but the impressions he has brought back are as follows: — The German hand lies harder and heavier on the occupied departments Belgium; There is a Kamniandantur iii every locality, and the ma,vor. and municipal councillors arc permanently at the disposal of the military authorities for requisitions and measures of public order. The Germans live on the country. They have requisitioned the able-bodied to thresh the corn, have laid hands on all the big mills of the Aisne. set aside for their field bakeries the amount of flour required for their own use, and hand over the remainder to the inhabitants. The same with the sugar refineries. Certain mines, those of Anzin and Aniche, are working regularly. There is a totall ack of salt, and the inhabitants are reduced to washing ashes in order to obtain soda, wherewith to season their food. Wool and all raw material has been seized, and sent to German mills and factories. Everything has been commandeered to the very shirts and women's stockings, under the pretext that the soldiers are without underlinen, but probably as booty to be sent home. The German soldiers live "amid perfect abundance and quietude," smoking big cigars stolen in Belgium, and convinced that if they have not been taken to Paris it is because cholera rages in that capital. Functionaries have been sent from Germany to assist the military authorities in administering the occupied countries. They display characteristic method in their task. Able-bodied men | are requisitioned as road-menders —the I routes are kept in an excellent state 1 of repair for military motor traffic. I There, arc signposts for those who do i not understand French (e.g., nach Cambrai, nach St. Quentin, etc), and at the entrance to the towns and villages there are signboards pointing the way to the Kommandantur and other services. The unfortunate inhabitants are invisible. "I travelled miles and miles," says the anonymous informant, "without meeting a single soul. The inhabitants are for ever straining their ears for the sound of cannon. If they hear it, they stealthily made for a vantage ground, their hearts beating with hope. 'lt's our men, it's dcliveranceL' they whisper, when the sound conies nearer —only to be the more disappointed when the sound dies away in the distance. One may say that the inhabitants of the invaded regions march to the sound of the. cannon. "It is the only voice which reaches them from France. For the rest, they are profoundly ignorant of what is go-, ing on. The Germans post up 'faked' communiques or impossible extracts. from Jingo Paris papers bitterly ae- j cusing themselves for having committed j the mortal sin of making war on Ger-1 many. "At Hirson, a journal is published and profusely circulated by the Germans. It contains, for instance, an article paying tribute to the valor of the French army and saying that the Germans do not wish to take Paris in order not to humiliate France, which now is being deceived by England, but which one day will be Germany's ally. "The German soldiers manifest the most ferocious hatred against the English. This doi's not, however, prevent them from doing us all the harm possible. At Douai I saw the Raquet quarter almost completely destroyed- One of the few 1 remaining houses standing is that of a courageous woman who was harboring a wounded Frencli soldier. I Fortunately for her, she had to deal with a humane officer. "You have a Frenchman in your house," said the officer. " 'He is wounded, that is all I know,' was the brave reply. 'I don't care if lie be French or German.-' "'You are a good woman; make us coffee,' and the officer ordered the wounded soldier to be taken to the ambulance." The traveller mentions a humorous trick played on the German troops by certain resourceful burgomasters, who posted up at the entrance to their villages notices- such as the following: "Typhus. The inhabitants are advised to boil the water in order to escape the epidemic." Such villagers were of course literally avoided like the plague.

SERBIAN METHOD. A Serbian colonel writes: "The \Swahos' are closing in on ti« like a pack of wolves, overwhelming lis o n every side with their superior numbers, and thinkin.!,' they have to deal with a manned corpse. Tn her long series of political I mistakes, Austria never made a higher mistake than this. We are only friving ourselves a little time to breathe, and then she will find it out to h-r cost. Not once have we been defeated in battle, and when we withdraw from Yalievo. we did so steadilv, our guns bellowing death ami fire at. overv halt, and keeping off the coward horde's who dared not come close to us. Kvery move of ours was methodical, and if'we knew that we were tired, the eiicmv did not know if The •'Swai)os - make a great ouerv whe n the\- have a small advantage. Thcv swore Oiov would be i,. Uek'ra.le fifteen da\ ; Jtfti-r the ultiI'lafwu. and though wv walked oil', leaving only a liandfnl of men in thee itv, tliev are hammering sfill at the gates ' "Aft.-r what I have seen <.f our soldi'Ts' eiiergv 1 deferieinafion. I must -••■ member that fhev are sons of Marki, Milosli Obilltsh. the nine brothers of Viignvifch. and Sfrahin Han. who faced the Turk when all Km-one laid low. in order lo understand our'resistance. We ollicers would be ashamed to relax, if we wore tempted, while Ihe spirit of the men is s„ combative. Once T felt, faint, and fhev took me on |h. ir shoulders, excusing me thus: Tfe is (own-bred, our colonel-his limbs are weak, but his head i- all right. If. is his brain, not his lcs we want.' And thev insisted on carrying me. ... X„.|r ,!„. y \\], m , „f lorofa we made such a -land (hat we were able to count al lei-lire (he dead ],.f t „„ (| lc . f ,.],| 'n„. livj|l „ made off and kept af a re-poclabl.. distance till Wl . Marled a:-ai'i. sh.wlv and f „ ~.,;,, ~„, ~,,!„,!„(,,,' ~„„;. •»'"*• • ■ • . The „,:,.„„■ suffered far more than wv did. (his time as always.