WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 214, 17 February 1915, Page 2

WAR NOTES.

■ JOFFRE'S FATTII. An officer iii tlin Froiicl] army givs finii! notes (if a conversation lie Ji •■< ! 'id with General JoK'ro at some •i: - I. mied place at the from. He wivs: ''With si calm and unslinl; ' i voice, the General expressed his cor, ,- deuce in the coming victory—a mathematical victory lie called it. First of ) a]l he told me lie had to forge the wea-1 pon which was placed in his hand. Re- j liable generals had take n the place of I those who had been found wanting. At present tlie Frencli military machine is in such a state that the German attack, broken in its firs* onset, will dash itself upo„ it in vain in the future. "When I alluded to the -victory of the Russian troops I expressed the view that the necessity of pushing forward reinforcements would weaken the German armies in the west. "General Joffre replied that he was not anxious for them to decrease the number of their forces in the west. In that case the Russians, lie went on. to say, would be able to advance at a greater rate, for lie. was in a position in the future to dispose of all the forces which Germany can bring against him on this front. "'Was that bluff?' it may be, asked. No; it was only the quiet confidence of a man who is conscious of his strength. This is the man who on the day following the victory of the Marne, replied to the congratulations of an officer, who told him that he had just won the greatest battle in all history, by saying, 'What I have won is an early rest in my little home in the Eastern Pyrenees.' " ! ' FRENCH SAILORS' .HEROISM. How the heroic self-sacrifice of six French bluejackets made possible the capture, of St. Georges, a town less than two miles from Nieuport, is described by the. Matin's war correspondent in Flanders. He says:—

"The attackers had driven the Germans from the advance trenches, but | taking refuge in the houses in the village, the Germans soon.placed their assailants in a difficult position. The situation of a force of Belgians isolated on a strip of land surrounded by a flood, became critical and the artillery alone was able to effect anything against the enemy. The British batteries at Ramscapelle tried, but their shells burst over the French. "Six bluejackets then loaded a threeinch gun on a large punt and poled along the canal behind the village, running the gauntlet of the German rifles. As one. was hit, another took the pole, and continued until he. too fell. The sixth man was mortally wounded as. with a last push, he sent the punt to the where the French advance guard was' waiting. ■ . "Tlie gun was quickly loaded, and a few shots at 300 yards brought down the houses on top of the Germans, who retreated into the arms of a battalion of Belgians. The latter completed the enemy's rout. "Meanwhile, the French column triumphantly took possession of the heap of rfuins which was formerly St. Georges, and before night the engineers had established a bridge head enabling the Allies' artillery to debouch on ( thc right bank of the Yser.—San Francisco Chronicle.