IS HE INDIFFERENT?

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1917, Page 7

IS HE INDIFFERENT?

A 'FRENCHMAN'S VIEWS. M. Andre Tudesq, special correspondent) on the British front, speaking of the reconnaissances on, the Flanders front, says:— We want to see the work of the counter batteries north-west of Lens. From this expedition I shall retain a lesson of the tranquil, robust,' beneficent activity of the armies at the front. Bee these relief troops, these storming troops in reserve, these linesmen and gunners, who simply do their task iwith a sort of grave pleasure, which ennobles their tanned faces!- ' They do not care if the war finishes in weeks or years. They go about their work as if the trade of Hell in which they are engaged were to remain for long the law of man. Seme steaming tea, a ground sheet, a tin of corned beef, some fresh bread suffice these men, who may die' to-morrow, and who, as a precaution, get as much pleasure as they can out of life. The sight of them comforting. Their company effaces all anxieties; one feels better among them, sure of the future, more confident. What a contrast with those people of the towns, who worry lest a bit of sugar may be wanting at their breakfast! Nothing can equal the school of confidence and good humor. These reflections were suggested to me by an officer of the line, a philosophical fighter who was saddened by .the rulings of the present day, and who thus summarised'his thoughts: One tires of doing nothing in the rear; one never tirea of always doing more at the 'front— Daily News. ,