PAGE FOURTEEN EI ---- Fhe Canadian V.C.'s How Men From Canada Earned the Empire's Highest Tribute for Bravery in the Field of Battle. y ve Piper James Richardson, V.C, 16th Canadian Scottish. Prior to the | attack he obtained permission to play his company "over the tep." A the company approached its objective it was held up by very strong wire | and came under an intense fire, which caused heavy casualties which momen- | tarily demoralized the formation. strode up and down with the greatest coolness. Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire neous. | Richardson, realizing the situation, | The effect was instanta- | with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the | position captured. Later, after participating in bombing operations, he was detailed, to take back wounded comrades and prisoners, he remembered that he had left his pipes behind. warned, he insistéd on returning to recover his pipes. again, and is accordingly presumed dead through lapse of time, BY CAROLYN CORNELL. How the skir] of the pipés led the Canadian Scottish to victory in the awful battle of the Somme, October, 1918, has only recently been fully told when the Victoria Cross was granted posthumously to Piper James Richardson, who performed this he- role act. It was between Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 that the action took place [n which Piper Richardson led the at- tack over the top and with. the wild music of the hills of Scotland fired his followers: to show the world what a Scotsman can do. The at- tack was victorious. - Canada was honored, but the young piper has t PIPER JAMES RICHARDSON, VC. Bone, Only his spirit remains to the country which strives to do him honor--a memory which thrills ev- ery Canadian boy and makes him proud of thisdand of mountains and plains and of the mother land acrogs the sea, of brave and valorous meh, Whoge history is full of such deeds as the fone performed by Piper James Rielardson, of the Canadian Scottish, in the valley of the Somme. Piper Richardson was the son of Chief of Police and Mrs. D. Richard- son, of Chilliwack, B.C He was born at Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scot- land. While residing in Ruther glen, Scotland, he was a member of the corps of Boy Scouts. The Rich- ardson family came to Canada about five years ago. James enlisted at the age of 17 years in the 72nd Sea- forth Highlanders, at Vancouver, in August, 1914, and went to France with the first contingent. He' was attached to the 16th Canadian Scot- tish, and was through all the big en- Bagements with the Canadians dur- ing the first two years of the war, including the memorable stand made at St. Julien in April, 1914, which placed Canada's name in the histo- ries of the world forever. - Previous to enlisting James Richardson was working in Vancouver, where he was well known for his piping. He com: After proceeding 200 yards Although strongly He was never seen --Official report. peted in the piping contests at the Caledonian sports in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria, and won valuable prizes His father is in possession of three gold medals which he won in contests. David Richardson, a brother of the V.C., is also in the army That young Richardson was not lacking in daring .and physical cour age before he went overseas is shown ip an incident which happened in Vancouver, where he-was working, in thre year 1914. The factory where he was employed is sityated near False Creek, Vancouver. One day, while he was working, the alarm was given that a boy was drowned in the | creek. James Richardson at once ran to the spot, dived under the wa- ter and brought up the bedy, but life was 'extinct It is now more than two years since Piper Richardson "played His men over the top" in his last gailant attack, and Lieut.-Col. C. W. Peck, then Major Peck, recommended him {for the V.(. at that time. Through | some technicality the award was riot | Bazetted, however, until last fall. | With three other pipers Richardson | played the men over at the beginrting |of the battle of the Somme, and con- tinued to play as the troops advanc- ed in a murderous fire. He came back safely ,but suddenly remember- ed that he had left behind his be- loved pipes. He had been helping to carry in wounded. He went back for the pipes and has never been seen since. Lieut.-Col. Peck, now offi- cer commanding the, 16th Battalion, who recommended the decoration for the heroic young piper, has since then been given the V.C. himself. An officer of the battalion telling the story of Piper Richardson's deed, sald: "Volunteers were asked for, one from each of the four compa- nies." The first four who came were taken I4 was the. first time any pi- per had gone out with the Canadian Scottish, or, perhaps, with any Canae dian 'battalions. It was a wonder ful thing to hear these men playing away at their pipes while the attack- ing party were cutting the wire, and it had a wonderful effect on them. The skirl of the pipes continued until the men got through. Then the pi- pers went forward with the men. Richardson was seen walking strong- ly towards the German trench, play- ing his pipes." : We are fortunate in naving several letters of the brave young piper, which speak volumes themselves of his high spirits, his cheeriness, his good hu- mot and bravery. He had many narrow escapes The fact that one of the most hair-raising escapes only | came out by chance leads-.one to he- lieve that he probably had then: ev- ery day, but did not mention them In the very first engagement in which he took part, the taking of the little wood near St. Julien, in April, 1915, he performed a feat of darifg wor- thy of decoration itself, Through his nerve the battalion was able to secure its position. He did not men- tion this event for more than a year, and then only on the request of his father, who had had an imperfect ae- count of it from a returned soldier In writing to his father in June, 1916, Piper Richardson said of this experience: "1 would like very much to know the name of the man who related my experiance to you. There were only three men in the battalion to my knowledge who knew of my experi- ence, and only one man saw me actu- ally go through it. It is. now over a year since this incident happened during the Germans' second attempt to take Ypres, and it seems funny to start to relate a story so long after, but I suppose I will have to do so, "Well, you will remember we made a charge at St. Jultey on the 22nd April, 1815, and wood from the Germans. Ane we had carried the wood some of us kept go- vancing about 30 yards on the other side of the woods the party, about 50 men, started to dig in, but I kept going on my own, although the thing was ridiculous. Well, I may tell you I didn't get very far ahead; farmbouse, and sure enough Fritzies were all clustered round it sheltering i | | | | ing on Fritz's heels; and after ad-| THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1919. Don't Coax! Your Little Pet Needs a Candy Cascaret Look at the kiddie's tongue! Then hurry! Give Cascarets to work the nasty bile, souring food and constipation poison from the little liver and bowels. Children love 'Candy' Cascarets. Harmless! Never gripe! Never disappoint! Cost 10 cents a box. rf out if we intended to hold our posi- tion through the next day Well, as the farmhouse was an ideal sniping post for the Huns, the mafter was re- ported to the artillery, which, need less to say, put the farmhouse out of business." That the youmg piper had a keen sense of humor 1 shown in many li tle stories that he related Espe cially in letters to his mother does he tell these stories In the follow- ing one he concludes with the pro mise that he will not frequent the more dangerous route any more. "The letter was dated May 1916. He says: "Well, I had a nice little spin on the bicycle down to brigade head- quarters with a message. By the way, 1 have got a bicycle here for my own use, that is; for carrying mes- sages, ete. and it is certainly a very handy asset when moving from one billet to another On two occasions last week I got messages to take up to the firing line, and without think- ing 1 started on the bike and deliv- ered the goods. On both oceasions I was told that I did the trip very quickly, and, of course, 1 just said that I hit the high spots only, when doing daylight trips up there. Well, there was nothing more said until a couple of days after when I was de- tailed as guide for an officer going to the trenches . The officer asked me how far we had to go by my route, so I said about three miles each way, and this fairly tickled the officer, as he was told he would have six miles to walk each way Well, we got about half way and turned in to my road, as I call it, and the, officer looked at me as much as to say, 'Are you sure of the road?' He stopped, and we went fnto a shell hole by the gide of the road, where he took out a plan of the country which he studied carefully. After a pause he in- formed me that the road we were on was exposed the whole way to the Germans, and therefore we couldn't proceed further. Well, when we got on to the main road we started off through woods, across fields, over ditches, etc., and at last, after about six miles' walk, we got to the trenches. Leaving the officer there I thought I would risk the road once more at the double 'knees up." Well, I got back safely, but, believe me, the road seemed very long with my new information, and 1 had a great yarn to tell my nals. They said, 'T wot Jimmy won't take that road again,' and 1 don't intend to, either. ns y (% MOTHERS! When your child is irritable, feverish, when the little | tongue is coated, breath tainted, give harmless Cascarets to thoroughly | cleanse the stomach, liver and bowels--then don't worry! tions for children's dosage at all ages on gach 10 cent box. Full direc» a te nat Naren cay "You would have laughed at this little incident if you had been here, While we were busy unloading the | ms a stray bullet came over and fed' a ehap right through hips, whereupon he shouted, 'I've got a blighty.' He just lay down where he was and laughed like to burst his sides, passing remarks that woulll soon be having a good time in Scotland, while we were still carrying 'on' out here." In a letter to his brother and sis- ter after telling about pushing up the line, he says: "I was at a town yes- terday on f , where we were billet- ed over a year ago, and 1, went to a house there which 'I used to go to, ind the family knew me right away The old lady has a fine daughter mn Ama . Coughed, Coughed Bh All Night Long Terribly wearing on the system is he cough that comés at, night and events sleep, "Sometimes it is a constant cough, cough that will not be quieted. Sometimes 'it is a choked up, stuffed-up feeling that makes breath- ing difficult, and sleep impossible. Whatever kind of a cold or cough you have, Dr. Wood's Norway Pine syrup is the Yemedy you need to cure it, for the simple reason that this valuable preparation combines all the lung healing virtues of the Norway pine tree with which is com- biped wild cherry bark and the sooth- ing, healing and expectordant pro- perties of other excellent herbs and barks. Miss Margaret Landly, Bristol, P, B.I., writes:--*1 am writing to tell you the benefit IT have received from Dr. Woods's Norway Pine Syrup, Last fall 1 took a severe cough and cold in my head. I was unable to de anything. At night I could not sleep , but cough, cough, all night long. A friend advised me to use Dr. Wood's Norway Pine Syrup, and be- fore the second bottle was used, I was entirely cured, and I have found this the best cough medicine I can buy." Do not accept any other "pine" weparations when you ask for "Dr. Wood'S." This remedy has been on the market for & quarter of a cen- tury It is put up in a yellow wrap- per; three pine trees the trade mark; price 26¢ and' 60¢. Manufactured only by The T. Milburn Co., Lamited, Toronto, Ont. wa str Le the | on well with 1 he f she would come me (Ho! Ha!) was at the to | but she war, so vith my old company, but 1 t very few old faces {Of course I with hem with the | { pipes when in billets only, then wheg | we e back t he line 1 go back | on the ration hd only see the | trenches one Father asks | | i mov a 'week me aboyt the cooking job. Well, 1 {think I told you. that I got fed up | with it, and as it is optional duty I} quit. I had te cook for 18 men, {and had no help, so it was no soft [ job You must remember that one {hasn't things fixed up out here to { make such a job easy ads a case jol getting bricks together for a fire- place, chasing after water, which is | sometimes hard to find, and then | nothing but grousing if you put salt {instead of sugar in the tea (some {good reason for a grouse, eh?) You | would have laughed here one morn- {Ing at such an incident. The morn- {ing was very cold, and here was | 'Your Humble' sitting on a box, fry- | ing bacon, while the water bpiled for tea, There was a wind blowing, jand, of course, the dixie was taking extra long to boil, so the men started {to gather round the fire as a hint for {me to hurry up the grub. Well, the {pot at last came to the boil, and I |put in the tea, taking the dixie off. 1 | then asked one of them to 'sling' me jover the sugar, with the result that {he*passed me the salt, and I, like a | silly clown, dumped the salt in before [noticing the mistake The language that followed made another dixie of | | water boil right away | I have not composed a tune yet The old ones. are sufficient for me yet. We are going to strafe' Fritz some of these fine days, and I sure mean to let him hear the "Braes o' Mar" if I get the chance. I can as- sure you if I get the pipes going Fritz will get it on his neck This mob of ours takes no prisoners. Fritz can be big and [fat if he likes, but he | hasn't the nerve, thergfore I wodld | rather face him in a charge than be a Hun and have to face this mob. Well, IT think I'l stop bletherin'; in the J meantime, 80, so long hid | Major Gavin H. Davies, of the 16th | Canadian Scottish, when he heard of | At | the conferring of the Victoria Cross he brave deed of Piper Richard- Ov | for t json, wrote the young hero's father as | | follows ' ° {© "It was with the greatest pleasure |in the world when | saw this photo {and réad the good news about your | 'Bonny Boy' had at last been award- | led the greatest medal of all. He {was a delightful chap, and in my | company when we Jeft Vanconver. | Never tired, however long the march was ,and always redfly with a will |ing hand to do anything and give the boys a tune, and always anxious to lead his company 'oyer the top.' He was a great loss to the battalion, and I am sure greater to you. I had al- ways hoped that he would receive the V.C I was in the fight when 'Jimmy' went back for his pipes, but has never returned "You have my deep sympathy in his loss and best of congratulations | on the great award." John Stephen, of Hamilton, Ont. composed the following lines on Pi- per Richardson's heroic deed, which were printed in a Toronto paper with an account of his award and his death: of it "Over the top and awa' awa'. Come, Piper, gie us a blaw, a blaw." The biper played as he forward strode A merry. cil road tune for a rough old {He played the lads through the mud i {and fire; | When the men were held by the ugly wire; | 11a played and strutted up and down As if on parade in his old home town. The day wds won and the men were proud 'Where is the crowd; The wounded he tended back to light, But he has gone into the night. piper?" called the The pipes are lest and the piper's gone, The men are forlorn without his| Song; | But forever floats his brave old tune! Where seas are murmuring to the moon. : Where the crowds are jostling in the - street, Where brave men march with rhyth- Like a Tune up your pipes Tune rer the 'Fune up for a blaw, a blaw." plans and loves. even in the midst of work. around itself and marvels at time and space and warm ecstatic life and all its tasks, The use of the ordinary kinds of baking powder is 'not attractive to the woman that regards purity and nutrition as important factors in home baking. Wo- men are coming more and more to realize that Magic Baking Powder is the perfect baking powder and that foods containing it have increased nutritious value, Sand name and address for free copy FT THE MAGIC WAY" E. W. GILLETT CO. LTD. DA ' TORONTO, CA WINNIPEG it understandable. Good and bad, both. But honestly abreast. For true things are passing by at every hour. of every day. I talk to this Me of mine. And it talks to me. 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