SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 February 1916, Page 8

SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR.

THE "DERBY BRIGHTS* The readiness of the British Tommies with an apt name has been frequently illustrated. The latest example is furnished in a letter from the front, in which Lord Derby's recruits are referred to as "Derby Brights." DARDANELLES ONCE FROZEN. An ancient chronicle states that in the year 7G3 the cold was so intense that the Strait of Dardanelles and the Black Sea were entirely frozen over. The snow in some places drifted to a depth of 50ft., and the ice was heaped in such quantities on the cities as to cause the walls to fall down. OXYGEN THE HEALER. A case of hand wound which "healed with marvellous rapidity" after an accidental oxygen hatli is described in the British Journal of Nursing. The patient, who was suffering from'tetanus, was being given oxygen when the endpiece of the tube fell away and the oxygan went on the wounded hand. The unexpectedly rapid healing of the wound, which was covered only by a thin layer of gauze, was presumed by the sirgeons to be due to the effect Qf the free oxygen. THOSE FRENCH. JIATu. J>. In his book. "With Our Army in Flanders," Mr. Valentine Williams says that humor is probably the. largest component of the spirit of the British aoldier. "A Jack Johnson burst close beside a British soldier who is lighting his pipe with one of those odious French sulphur matches. The shell blows a foul whiff of chemicals right across the man's face. 'Oh, dear! Oh, dear!' he exclaims with a perfectly genuine sigh, 'these 'eve French matches will be the deat hof me!"' "WHISKERS RAMPANT* Wilhelmshaven, the North Sea base of the High Canal Fleet, has boldly disregarded the protests of the Royal Academy of Art at Berlin, and other Prussian connoisseurs, arid duly dedicated its monumental statue, "The Faithful Watch," as an enduring memorial of Che German Navy's conservative and home-loving habits. The statue was ceremoniously unveiled.' It is described as "reproducing the feature of Grand Admiral von Tirpitz," and its outstanding characteristics are whiskers rampant.