Atwood Bee, 23 Sep 1915, p. 6

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

FIVE THOUSAND MILES OF KHAKI! peas _of the trenches, went to indulge in the 'A UNIFORM AT THE FRONT LASTS ABOUT A MONTH. --_---- Difficult Task of Clothing Great Britain's Vast New Armies. On the outbreak of war a statisti- cian at the War Office estimated that five thousand miles of khaki would be required to provide the new British armies with uniforms and overcoats, and this estimate was probably, roughly speaking, correct, says Lon- don Answers, By the middle of August every available mill in the North of Eng- land was turning out the khaki lengths as fast as the machines could do the work. A story was told to the writer of two manufacturers who set out on a race to see who would first produce one hundred miles of khaki, the loser to subscribe five hundred pounds to the National Relief Fund. For many days and nights the mills of the two manufacturers vibrated to the dull whirring of machines, for the work proceeded without an instant's stop. One night the two manufactur- ers met at their club at eleven p.m. They had each instructed their man- ager to telephone to the club directly the hundredth mile of khaki came off the machines, which it was anticipat- ed would be done some time before . midnight. Lost Through a Breakdown. So far, the two mills had been rac-} . ing almost neck and neck, and it was difficult to say which would turn out the complete hundred miles of khaki first. At about a quarter to twelve the telephone-bell of the club rang, and the waiter informed one of the manufacturers that he was wanted. He rushed to the 'phone, and his friend and competitor went with him. After a few minutes the manufactur- er rang off, and then, turning to his friend, said: "A piston-shaft snapped when they had done all but six yards of the hundred miles." Almost immediately afterwards the telephone-bell rang again, and the _.other manufacturer received the news "that the hundred miles of khaki had been run off the machines. - The loser at once sat down at the writing-table and drew a cheque for five hundred pounds for the Relief | the winner did but the same, Made in Stock Sizes, And while the mills were producing} khaki-lengths as fast as machines could make them, the Army Clothing Department were busy making ar- rangements for converting the khaki into uniforms and coats for the men at the Front, and for the uniformless armies training in different parts of the country at home. It was a titanic undertaking, this, of clothing millions of men, and whatever criticism may be levelled at the Army Clothing Fac- tory, the broad fact remains that it accomplished, in face of unparalleled difficulties, the immense task set it with almost incredible rapidity. The uniforms are made in different sizes, according to the standard measurements for each military unit, and a certain number are made in ex- cess of these measurements, to' meet the needs of such cases as exceptional- ly tall guardsmen, ete. In a couple of months a quarter of a million of khaki uniforms had been turned out of the Army factory, as against a normal output of about twenty thousand of ordinary uniforms in peace time. But this, of course, sufficed but to meet a frac- tion of the immediate requirements. Eighty per cent. of the uniforms turned out of the Army Clothing Fac- tory in the early months of the war had to be sent to our Army in France. Lasting a Month Only. The average life of a uniform at the Front is not much more than a month, In the trenches it is usually shorter. A soldier, after he has taken a couple of spells in the trenches of, say, three days at a time, with an interval of two days between, frequently finds his uni- form in rags, held together mainly by cakes of mad and pins. The next spell he gets in the trenches, he gets a new uniform, and the old one is burnt. ver four million uniforms have been sent to the Front since the out- break of war. A regular delivery of uniforms ig now made to the troops in ae but in the early days of the it was' possible to guarantee a rea ar supply. A story is told of a company of a certain regiment who, on coming out highly-prized luxury of a good wash- (Beret quantities. The writer heard of one irritable regimental qu who was constantly worrying: the clothing fac- tory for uniforms for his regiment. "You might, at least, send us our share of any uniforms that are avail- able," he wrote; "whereupon the reply came back: "All right; as matters stand at present, your share is one button, which is enclosed herewith." And when one considers. that ats that time there were probably not more than a few thousand uniforms to divide among the armies at home, the button was probably not much un- der the share that could be fairly al- lotted to one regiment. Boots by the Million. But uniforms are not, of course, the only articles of a soldier's outfit. There are such things as overcoats, putties, socks, shirts, and boots, and all these articles, after the outbreak of war, were wanted by the millions. Something like five million pairs of boots were provided from the various boot factories in the incredibly short space of time of four months. The armies at the Front, of course, have the first call on the available supply. The quality of the Army boots. is about what would cost you 27s. 6d. per pair retail, and they last a soldier in the trenches about a month. The indifference of Tommy, by the way, to the manner in which he is clothed makes it sometimes rather difficult for the authorities to provide him with a proper kit.. Every soldier who is ordered from home to the Front is entitled to an entirely new rig-out from head to foot. A couple of days before a soldier is ordered from home to the Front he is instructed to attend at the quarter- master-sergeant's office to receive a new kit, but. he frequently neglects to attend to this instruction, and goes on active service in a kit he may have had for months. The new kit may be sent after him, but, in any case, it is generally some time before it reaches him, and it may be appro- priated by someone else T. A. Must Have His Joke. One company of a certain regiment received the kits they ought to have taken with them, when leaving home, ! . two months after they had arrived in Flanders. By this time the company were in rags. And so, unhappily, were the new kits. What happened was that the new kits had been appro- priated by another company of the same regiment, badly in want of a -ou the t themselves. ~ After and, for a joke, repacked the old things, aia sent them to the base for the company they were originally in- tended for. One most important article of the soldier's active-service outfit is his identification-plate, upon which is staniped his name, number, and_ the company to which he belongs, It is from these plates that the lists of killed and missing have often to be compiled, and hence mistakes acca- sionally arise. An Irish soldier once lost his iden- tification plate, and was reported as missing. Asa matter of fact, he was wounded, and invalided home. In the hospital at home he read, to his sur- prise, in a daily paper his name among the missing. "Begorra," he said, "and I'm miss- ing, am I? And it's small wonder I am with a German bullet inside me that they can't find. But when they do, it isn't me that'll be missing, but the bullet!" | ee MAKING WINTER GARMENTS. German Textile Factories Are Work- ing Day and Night. All the textile factories along the Rhine, and also those around Prague, Budapest and Vienna, are said to be working day and night turning out winter garments for the armies. Large orders have been placed with Swiss manufacturers of heating ap- pliances for the German army. A Ber- lin automobile manufacturer {is said to have discovered a system of curtain for motor cars which not only protects from the rain but also from the cold, and permits a ready change of the color to accord with the foliage of the country . The winter campaign seems to be looked forward to without much ap- prehension in Germany, as the mea- sures taken to economize food sup- lies have been so effective that no lack of provisions is feared. In Aus- tria, however, according to reliable reports, the situation will be more serious, as the same precautions were not taken and their application is not so easy as in Germany. oe. Weeding Out Graft. down. They were informed by a quarter-master that new uniforms had arrived for them from the base, and that their old ones would be burnt. The men gladly got rid of their rag- ged, mud-caked uniforms, which were' gathered up and taken off to be burnt by the quartermaster's patrol; but,' unluckily, the uniforms that had ar- rived had been taken possession of by, another company a few hours pre-. viously, and no more were available. for a couple of days. During that time, the unlucky company in question had to live in their overcoats and The French Government, which has been running down and prosecuting vigorously cases of corruption in the purchase of army supplies, has caused the arrest of two technical agents, one in the Marine and the other in the War Department. These agents were detailed to inspect shells manufactur- 'ed at the works of Saut-Du-Tarn. M. Leblond, Director of Works, also has been arrested. He was accused of having paid monthly subsidies to the technical agents, in return for which the agents are said to have been less rigid in their inspection. ce ' Hon. science. Cholera, plague and typhus fever are xepented to. be "Good-Bye, Good Luck to You." ERE isn't much we 'aven't shared since Kruger cut and ru The same old work, the same old skoff, the same old dust and suny pa The same o}d chance that laid us out, The sume old Life, the same old Death. or winked Good-bye, good luck an' let us through; to you. DANGER OF DISEASE. Mr. Vigilance After War. In his annual Mport of the work of the Department of Agriculture, Hon. | Martin Burrell calls attention to the fact that the quarantine service of his department will probably be called on to exercise much greater vigilance when the soldiers begin to come back after the war, and a new tide of Euro- pean immigration sets in. "History tells us," says Mr. Burrell, "that war is ever accompanied and followed by pestilence. The present war, with its carnage quite unprecedented in the history of the world, and its enormous aggregations of troops, is already proving the truth of this, in- spite of the advances of modern sa ae ger of di cing bebaght by invalided or other scldiecs returning from the war zone. There is also to be apprehended the danger from the return of our forces at large when the war is over and demobiliza- tion takes place, and from the large a that will follow after the r wir. Burrell points out that during the past year Canada was saved by watchfulness at ports of entry from the inroads of any epidemic disease from abroad. At the various quaran- tine stations 253,608 persons were in- spected, and a total of 543 persons were quarantined. Asiatic cholera is reported in extraordinary violent form among the troops in southern Austria and northern Hungary, while typhus fever is stated to be raging in Serbia and Austria. The deaths from it amongst the soldiers, says Mr. Bur- oy are already said to exceed 60,- 0. Reference is made in the report to the fact that there are in the Leper | Lazaretto, at Tracadie, N.B., sixteen patients--seven male and nine female. This is the smallest number in years. Amelioration of symptoms and suffer- ings is claimed to be following the system of treatment now being carried out at the Lazaretto, and two former inmates discharged in 1912 still re- main "cured." oe It's the easiest thing in the world to convince the average man that he Burrell Expects Need of Smile Despite War's Horrors, Says THE WOMEN OF PARIS. ONE CLERK'S RECORD. Charles Maisey Officiated at 12,000 Marriages. . Charles Maisey, who has just retir- Se eee St. George' than any other man in the history of Great Britain. St. George's is the church of all others where the Londoner of wealth or title goes to be wedded, and Maisey as parish clerk, had geal an official part in every marriage re near- ly 40 years. On an ecetage 300 mar- Yiages are celebrated at St. George's every year. The squat old church, located little more than a stone's throw from the heart of the fashionable shopping district, has been a great place of pil- grimage for American travelers since Theodore Roosevelt and Miss Edith Kermit Carow were married there. Mr. Roosevelt, it is related, "walked in from Brown's Hotel in a bowler hat, with Sir Cecil Spring-Rice as his best man, and was. married with the mini- -mum of ceremony." The page in the register in which he described himself; as a "ranchman" is now almost dog-: eared from the attentions of numerous visitors, who have ever been accused | of trying to chip off small pieces of the old table on which the register rests. Since the time of the Roosevelt- Carow wedding many Americans have been married at St. George's, but the! list of English wedding outshines them from the point of view of the ished possession is a piece of silver- ware presented him as a token of gratitude for his share in the wedding of the Duchess of Marlborough to Lord William Beresford. At one of} his weddings the register was signed | by two kings and two queens, at an- other by four Prime Ministers. The Rudyard Kipling. The Paris Temps publishes = pri-. vate letters written from Paris by, Rudyard Kipling. the author says: "For the first time I see and really, understand the face of Paris. One knew its soul, but the outward aspect | was always 'masked. I was much struck by a certain look in women's eyes, a look not of dreams, but of realization, as if they already were regarding greater distances. What courageous vivacity and determination | they possess to smile despite every- thing. I bow before a manifestation of courage whose touch is so light.) pa mae thing I heard, i. never nommted Kt n va ory x laugh came tae a ey. number. "What a wondrous day in honor of ; , the dead France and England will fl Cele , brate together every year to come. foresee special ships laden with pil-| grims to attend the ceremony. Noth- ing is more interesting to me than to see our soldiers in France and the real solidarity between them. I hope soon we will extend our front. They speak | © of doing it by detachments. I was greatly struck by the healthy appear-, ance of the French soldiers, but the} new vision of Paris will remain in my | soul until death. ation for France couldn't grow. Iw. wrong and begin only just to under- stand what she is In the second letter Kipling says: "I just have time to thank you and try to write something of my impres- sions. It was a revelation, an ex- perience surpassing all words I can say, and of which I am _ extremely proud. Yet I maintain that a year ago France herself did not know what she was." Dy Twelve Brothers Killed. Josef Ploetzer, a Tyrolean (Austria) | beginning of the war. brothers were killed in Galicia and) seven on the Italian front. 18 years old. a is smart. a great remedy for ague. To "The Day." Some day fresh green will creep along the Belgian lanes, And wayside flowers will open to the May, And on the grave of my dear son grass grow again But not to-day. Some day the birds will build again round Lille, And on the Dunes will little Some day kind Time will stay But not Some day the widows of Louv And from the ashes of those ru Will rise-a city fashioned by t But not Some day the soldiers will co And Canada be decked with And I may see them marchin But not But on that Golden Someday w When trumpets blow and an My boy shall come to meet m And he The parting and the pain ha And I shall see, my ears shall children play. the aching of my heart, to-day. ain kn cease to weep, ins gre he nt world's love, to-day. me back from France banners gay, g comrades of my boy, to-day. hich the future holds, gels line the way, e down the glittering ranks will say: Welcome, brave mother heart, The Day at last has dawned, ve passed away, hear, my heart again grow young Up on that day. » ~ --F. CAMPBELL, Belfast. ¥ ~~ In his first letter' a i I fancied my i farmer, has lost twelve sons since the counteract the effect. The Five of the! Soothill, formerly the head of the The old- | est one was forty and the youngest which- he has a reputation as a schol- Aspen-leaves were once considered | former occasion was the marriage of | Lady Mary Acheson to Robert Ward, at which the signers were the present King and Queen (then Prince and Princess of Wales), King Edward and Queen Alexandra. The occasion was | the marriage of Mr. Asquith and Miss Tennant, and the four Prime Minis- ters were the bridegroom himself, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Balfour and Lord; Rosebery. whe GRAND DUKE'S VOICE. Clear Tones Seem to Thrill Czar's Soldiers. "The Grand Duke's voice is one of | the striking things in his personality," | ; says Rt. Rev. Herbert Bury, Anglican Bishop of Northern Europe, = de- , Deep, effect upon thq' | ear," earlelns the Bishop, "and it seems to me that his-soldiers listened las ae they loved just to hear him | spea rhe Grand Duke isa tall n, standing far above everyone else, and} - has a very serious, almost sad, pression. | | "There are three qualities which [| have observed him to possess. He is! a man of quick decision in emergen-} cies; he has the faculty of gathering, round him the best and strongest men} in the country; and he has the mod-' BS | esty and humility which is the mark | of real greatness. He has no desire! for popularity or applause; he does | social column. Maisey's most cher-| }, 'ant three millions. AREA LARGER THAN LIES IN RUINS: -- What Germany Will Have to Face in. the Way of Builders' Bills, oo ' The great war is not over yet. Inx deed, according to one of our 'greatest authorities, it has only just begun, No one can ever venture to prophesy - what the damage will be before it i finished, says London Answers. Up to date an area larger than th¢ whole of the British Isles lies in ruins, Four-fifths of Belgium, ten depart« ments of France, three-qua of Poland, nearly the whole of Galicia, a slice of East Prussia, part of the Bal- tic provinces. of Russia, as well as rapidly-growing portion of the Tren tino and South-Western Austria, ar¢ practically destroyed. Besides these, the Serbian capital and three hundred square miles behind it are laid waste, while the Gallipol Peninsula has not a town or village intact. ; Some months ago a well-known Belk gian lawyer set himself to estimat« the actual losses inflicted on his coun- try by the brutal and unprovoked in- roads of the German hordes. His nam¢ is Monsieur Henri Masson, and we give some of his figures in round um bers. * Running Into Many Millions. Liege and Louvain have, he says suffered to the extent of seven mil- lions each, Namur five millions, Din- At Charleroi not only the town but all the fine factor: ies in the neighborhood were destroy: ed. He puts the damage there at over twenty millions. Antwerp has suffered to a similal extent, while the damage to rural dis- tricts amounts to fifty-six millions. Railways and other State property have been destroyed to a value ol nearly fifty millions. The total of the age to this one little country is probably two hundred and twenty-fivé millions. Later, a paper was read before the Royal Statistical Society in Londor byyMr. Cramond on "The Cost of the War." In this he estimated the dex struction of property by the Germans in France at one hundred and sixty millions. In round numbers he gave the dam< age roe Pitan! in Galicia by the one hundred millions, but East eal ges herself. has done doubie that amount of harm in Russian Poland. Making an Early Start. As for the damage done in Russia herself, in Serbia, and in the Trentino,' we have no figures. Put it as low ad fifty millions--an absurdly small esti-' | mate--and we find that at the present ; moment nearly eight hundred million | pounds' worth of property has been! wasted and destroyed. France, with characteristic pluck, | has already set to work to repair} damages, and the Northern Railway / alone has contracted with a_ British! firm for a hundred steel bridges, for, not care who gets the credit so long as} | rolling stock, rails, sleepers, etc. EXPLAINS WAR TO CHINESE. Former Head es Pekin University | Gives British Side of Case. Britishers in China, whose interests | have been seriously affected by the publicity campaign of their German adversaries there, are erated Lg /Tai Yuan Fu University, has written' a paper in the Chinese language (in ar) explaining the war from the Brit- j ish point of view. In the document, which is being cir- culated throughout China, he says that hitherto Germany has possessed | a distinct advantage there, because of | the Chinese name for that country--_ "Ta Te Kuo," or Great Virtue Nation. The name conveys the idea to the or-: dinary man, the writer states, that, Germany is distinguished above all | other nations for its Te (virtue). The' names applying to England and France are respectively Ta Ying Kuo (Great Brave Nation) and Ta Fa Kuo (Great Law Nation); and it is inter- esting to note that applying to Ameri-| ca is Ta Mei Kuo (Great Beautiful Nation). . Can't Sell Books on Germany. One of the minor problems of the war is vexing London publishers and booksellers exceedingly. That is, how | to dispose of the great quantities of | book son Germany published before | the war which they have on their 'hands. Many of these books are in a decidedly eulogistic strain, and for that reason find no market in Eng- land of these days. War books about Germany have sold well, but all other kinds are a drug on the market. a To tell the difference between dia- monds or crystals and glass or paste touch them with your tongue. Dia- monds and crystals feel very much the colder. \ ne yo ee eee hee | the thing is done," | wo in the world will not be able so the fact is that all the steel e pent with the railway reconstruc- tion alone; while, as for a a ing of houses, every maso: ated in Europe will find "his: faa ee take the roads. Thousands of | miles of highways have been absolute< ly destroyed by the haulage over them of huge guns and great trolleys \carrying stores. There is no ques- | tion of remetalling. They will have | to be remade. An Aid to Peace. This country has, so far, happily, escaped being an actual area of war. | With the exception of comparatively 'trivial damage done by raiding cruis- ers and Zeppelins, our homes and fac- tories are intact. This is very good for us, for immediately after peace is declared we shali be swamped with ' orders for all sorts of material oe making good war's damage. | United States also and Canada will find their hands full. All this will make for future peace. Men all over the world will be so busy with the reconstruction of houses, | roads, railways, and the like that they will not have time for casting cannon and shells. And, as Germany will no longer remain as a_ threat to the world's peace, it is not impossible to hope that this is the last of the great wars. fe Do Big Shells Cause Insanity. Dr. C. Burns Craig, of the New York Neurological Insgitute, has jus{ returned to New York-on the Frencl liner Espagne from the Americat Hospital in Paris where he spent tex months making a special study of the effect of gun-shot wounds on the ner vous system. Dr. Craig found tha' the noise of the big shells has been re. sponsible for a good deal of insanity among the men, The base hospital aj Boulogne he found equipped witl 20,000 beda, all constantly occupied,

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy