IN THE WEST.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1915, Page 5

IN THE WEST.

THE KEY OF SUCCESS. SOME TIMELY ADVICE. Received Nov. 7, 115 p.m. London, Nov. 7. The Morning Post's correspondent in the north of France has no doubt that the situation on the West front, on broad lines, is steadily improving, though there is spectacular advance. A great deal to much had been made of certain local successes by a public anxious for some big event, and the same public became depressed because a local success had not proved a smashing blow. However, each local success was not only of great importance in itself, but was a part of the great plan, the key whereof is in one man's hand, the hand of a strong man, General Joffre. THE CREED OF HATE. BITTERNESS OF THE FORCES. GERMAN PAPERS TENSE DESCRIPTION. Received Nov. 7, 5.5 p.m. Amsterdam, Nov. C. The Vossiche Zeitung gives a vivid description of the fighting on the Western front It says: "The wild day 3of the battles in September wrought a new spirit in the trenches. The fighting in Flanders, Artois, Champagne, and Lorraine is more virulent and cruel, and the embrtterment of the great offensive still vibrates in the air. "Hitherto the most merciless fighting was confined to the Argonne, where the woods favored horrible methods, which have now extended along the whole front. The oldest forms of weapons, combined with the most modern engines which science has devised (steel arrows the fire-arrows of aviators, and liquid fire), recalls the ancient days when slings were used for pitching' into trench mines. Some Roman weapons, such as hand grenades, were important in the seventeenth century, and even the oldtime visor has been revived as a protection against poisonous gasses. , "The present day masks make their wearers resemble ghostly figures, associated with the inquisition, and even horses wear masks in the poison zone. Thus the battle sways, with thrusting, wrestling throttling, biting. Men are even fist to fist, and throat to throat, yet the General Staff daily report "nothing new." •'The occasional courtesies of the earlier summer are things of the past, and the troops no longer exchange harmless jests. When missives are exchanged they are of the most unpleasant and hateful character. Thus the bitterness grows and the mutual scorn deepens until the day when the enemy accumulates sufficient ammunition to attempt another assault."