Just to remind | you that many | had at Our Closing-Out Sale and to wish you the Happiest New Year you have ever known.-=T. P. ROE, ig Bargains are y et to be | 1 Y Troops at Amiens CORPORAL Formerly of Logan, and a nephew of Mr. Robt. Murray, Monkton. S. LEE HONEY y, hot afternoon towards the we had been in the line _ #6 the rumor of a relief rapidly. We front, directly in to be, concise, fh pread W Gers ¢ iit Pret pr VP} i "hat nana. 6 custom in wine D&ACe frou wood, and 'it fu! Sper was rere tor to go in for six days and to the eC / six in training some behind the The ru- jor soon became popular when it added to itself the whisper that we were not only getting returned but we were going away back near Bou- logne for a rest and Corps. training. Some of the troops were delighted at the proposal of getting back as far as the base camp, but the more exper- jienced were putting two and two to- gether and discussing the situation from a different angle, If the Corps was going out for a period of train- ing, a big attack was eminent. The following day was intensely hot, it was our sixth day in so three o'clock in the afternoon saw the platoon trooping down Ouse Alley, the long next distance lines, rested and marched down the Arras- Lens road to a point were busses were waiting and in a couple of hours we were many miles on our way to the senior officers knew nothing, the battalion was travelling under. sealed orders and therefore, moved from point to point without knowing the why or the wherefor. Neither did they know the program for the fol- lowing day, but rumor came to the rescue and all places of question or doubt were filled to the brim and kept overflowing. " The motor lorries in which we em- barked rumbled along for several hours over the dust laden roads and stopped in a pretity little village where we were greeted by some boys of our own battalion and told to climb out as we had reached home. The advance party were cross-examined before we had time to get out of the lorrie and one could hear the several questions asked by the several types all being asked and answered at the same time, but the main queries seemed to be: "Is there a "Y" in this joint?" "Is the bath workin' re "Any beer at the estaimenets?" An advance party that had good infor- mation on these points was considered successsful in the eyes of the troops whether or not they had found bil- lets and performed other duties for which they were detailed. In this particular village all three were to be found, so after a good supper we all went to the bath, had a whiz bang shower and a change of clothes, inci- dently a change of live stock, from the well fed and partly trained var- iety to the hungry, ill-mannered little for someone to come along and put on the shirt. arrival the "Y" was sold out, but troops must spend their coin so the "ene and chips" resort did business ~ for a while. Judging from the later- al road-space required by some, the estaminets. were doing business too. Reveille had barely sounded on the following morning when the Orderly Sergt. walked through the billet and started the ball rolling with half a dozen words "Stand to in"full march- ing ®:der' It-was raining, the first rain for weeks, the country needed it, mo doubt, but a combination of rain and march in heavy order drew some "real remarks' from the troops. Everyone from the Orderly Sergt. to the 0.0. was duly straffed as they 'were dressing and anyway every time it rains this battalion has. to move, it has always been that way, never saw it fail. After a hasty breakfast the various companies were formed up and marched off at inter- _vals of 15 minutes. Rubber sheets were tied over the shoulders and kept the rifle, ammunition and equipment, the latter three being the most im- portant, of course. In less than an hour we came to the junction of one of the main Arras roads on which we! noticed a long line of motor lorries apparently waiting for us. The pace minutes the whole battalion was mov- "we knew not where. . dicating the direction to Arras were pointing the opposite way, so we were leaving the front line, what difference _. did it make where we went? Before noon the procession entered a railway town, drew up at the station and ~ transferred all the "third ¢l ~ ogengers" to a waiting tr ears. These latter will ~ Chaveaux or forty hommes, a sign tacked on cither side of the car says sm there is no room for argument or Goub®. "fare again one trusts entire: ae whet 'hat the previous occu- pan ont: : : } somewhere. . As tg our destination, | beevars that had been waiting days; Within an hour of our} the upper pare of the body dry also | quickened instinctly and in a few, : ing on wheels once more and again | The arrows in- | ears. were clean on this occasion, so we were in luck. In avfew minutes the transfer was complete and the train ----- Oh, no it didn't, just wait till the army says "go" please. We were shunted.on to a side track jand according to orders would be movea 2%v minute, so it wasn't safe to leave the car. Howe? it requires a very rigid order to keep a bunch of Canadian troops in a box car on the theory that it might wake up and start down the track. The first ones to venture out brought back the im- portant intelligence "a "Y' within two blocks." A handful of silver was soon collected and a line of com- munication established between the train and the "Y",. The arrange- ment being that one man should take all the money and do business for the bunch, the others would place them- selves at equal intervals along the |way and -at the slightest. unfriendly |movement of the train all were to shout a warning to those out of sight and at the same time run for the "Y'? began to run short and limited ithe purchase to one france each, so, las a man spent his franc, he would ldrop out, come back and start over again, the others would all move up an interval. It was fortunate for us | that we stored in a few things that lafternoon as the dining cars and | sleepers were left at Halifax. We | pulled out that evening and after a long, tiresome ride, during which \time we travelled in all directions, \had frequent stops, shunts and jolts ibut never seemed to arrive at any iplace of importance. When the long bridge at Etaples was crossed and left | behind, the rumors of Boulogne train- 'ing camp was more popular than ever. i\It was getting dark on the second 'day of our trip, 18 miles more and |we would be at Boulogne. Everyone | was happy at the thought of getting jinto a semi-civilized part of the coun- itry again, but their joy was short lived. Instead of arriving at Bou- |logne, we discovered that our train lhad circled around and was now 'headed in the opposite direction and lspeeding along at a_ better rate. | About midnight we stopped as we thad frequently done during the jour- Iney, but this time the word was pass- ed along to unload. There was na- 'turally more or less confusion as the | boys were sleepy and the night was jintensely dark, We were finally lformed up in our various platoons and marched off in column of route. In a few minutes we found ourselves trooping along a sunken road through an agricultural district. The coun- try, which was new to us, had a de- climbing or going down grade. The heavy equipment seemed heavier than 'ever. A rest at the end of the first half hour was a welcome relief and } word that another half hour would |bring us to billets. lbut that half hour was a long one. (On reaching the village, each platoon iwas guided to a billet by a member jot the advance party. joon a very decent one was allotted, ha straw mow and the barn floor. With 'the aid of a few candles, we had a lnest made on short notice and once lagain nature had an opportunity to make the odd repairs. There were no blankets, of course, but necessity has taught most of us how to make a sleeping bag of the great coat and tunic. A knowledge that we weren't being shot-at or shelled, combined with fatigue, was sufficient to induce the soundest of sleep, as the Orderly Sergt. who tried to arouse us will | testify. | To the surprise of many, there were no orders for a further move in the morning, the field kitchen had ar- rived and a good breakfast was serv- ed at 10.80, the first hot meal for some time. The remainder of the day was devoted to inspection of kits, trench stores, ete., and the evening to giving the village and surroundings a look over. It was the beginning of harvest and nearly all the villagers jwere out on their- farms cutting wheat. There were quite a number of binders at work, most of them oper- ated by women or boys. They were | Canadian make and my hands itched \for a chance to go and hitch the hor- ses properly and see the thing run- ning as it should. The old men work- ed in groups of two or three with cradles and a woman followed each with a rake and did the binding. This was one of the finest parts of France we had seen. From 'the hills sur- rounding the village one. could see ferent stages of maturity. The crops grown are similar to those of Ontario but one never sees a field of corn. The nights are too cold for it, I be- lieve. Although this village was with 'cided roll, we seemed to be either|is during the rest the officers brought} Perhaps it did, | To our plat-| miles of small grain fields in the dif-| tants might have been in South Am- erica and had a better knowledge of the war. It is true all their avail- jable men were engaged in it, but the absence. of a train service, a news- paper, a corner stere or any means of getting the latest doings from,the front has naturally kept their news in a narrow channel. The old man who owned our billet seemed to have exhausted his knowledge on the sub- ject when he told us it was "no bon, no bon." The second morning, reveille was blown at the usual time and we had parades. as per. syllabus of a 'training eamp throughout the day. Orders were jsgued to the effect that no one was to leave the lines as we were under orders to moeye atany minute. The third day passed and nothing happened, but by way of change we were taken for a short route march. Two more days passed in a similar manner and then came Sunday. It was a nice, bright morning, we had a five mile march around the hills and were dismissed for the day. With |some other boys, I was outmost of |the day on the hills, having a quiet chat and feasting on the quiet rural seenery. After tea we stayed near the billets and wrote some _ letters. The days were long, it was quite light at 9 p.m., but a great number were getting ready for bed. Down at the communication trench, at two hun-| track. This game worked fine for|end of the street the bugler sounded "dred yard intervals. We passed the|some time and about a dozen were|the regimental --- everyone listened group of huts in which we usually supplied at each manoeuvre, but the | for what was to follow--'"the half 'hour dress," followed by the N.C.O.'s lassembly. The N.C.O.'s were soon assembled and the 0.C. gave'us a five minute talk during which time he was the fact that orders called for a forced march which wouldn't be un- der twenty miles. We were to do our utmost to get every man through. in battle order--well, that's some re- quest. However, we were all on the received orders to move off in column of route. It was just getting dark. saw us coming and lined along the road to wave a farewell. the village. so the troops caught the step from ing pace which helps so much to carry one along. that utes long march, was the order. a warm night don't help matters @ jthe road relaxing every muscle. become in a ten minute halt. sound asleep when the '"'fall be sounded. rom our destination, and a f 1 i¢ jtended to 15 or 20 minutes to allow little movement as possible during the} out making remar ed under the odd stragglers to catch up and|day on account of the odd « ny {the circumstances. They were dis- j at 6.15 a.m. we pulled in toa road-|plane that might pick up some infor-}tineuished by their headeliohts and He | side camp without having lost a man. | mation and carry it back to Fritz. usua got pond precedence. After fae |The other companies lost two each sk the battalion was formed! watching it for some time one would ae we were told. We had reached our/up a addressed by the Commanding | naturally think that it must be neat destination. Here we found our des- | Offic rise to hear | aij past but we were only watching tination and that was all. It was/}that Ws roing into act but | what had occurred on three successive eommencing to rain, we had no-shel-| what did surpriséwus was the scale on nights. Oné was struck with the ter, water or food. A party of men| which they planned to attack. Al anner in which it was hand! = were erecting tents and with our as-!the Canadian Corp here, --Each|the one word 6rd Exce sistance they soon had quarters for|battalion coming independently and)yhe 'srampi d th . the battalion. I got the section into | travelling by night, had reached here |, tent. From -th it a tent, spread the rubber sheets and|tnknown to the other. We were told | «; army'on wheels; there w slept until breakfast was called. The|that the blow was to be struck in the | noise except from the motors. Aji field kitchens came along with us, but it takes some time after a halt before they ean serve a meal. After breakfast was over we at- tended to our feet. There wasn't enough rain to form water holes so we took off our boots and socks and walked up and down a clover field, exerted muscles were beginning to stiffen and the places where the har- ness chafed, to smart. The-stretcher bearers came to each tent and used their bandages and liniment where required. thing on the list. ing more until about three o'clock when we were wakened for dinner. It was still raining, but not heavily, the tents were new so we had been kept dry. A hot dinner looked good so' we lost no time in getting out places in the line. and jam, I remember it well. said much, but the most important Half an hour to get the section out spot when our Company Commander The villagers coming out of church A bend in the road passed and we were out of The roads were good, the front and in a few minutes had steadied down to that uniform sway- Five minutes rest at the end of the first half hour for adjusting equipment, etc., and after |lying parts were badly cut up and the ten minutes after each 50 min- |vecent rains had filled the holes with It is a; water, hike under the best of condi-}and wade through." tions and battle order, darkness and} any. At 12 o'clock most of us were hungry, but we knew that a meal to use it, although the two ran almost | was an-impossiblity, so trudged along. | | I always made it a practice to keep | the road space at all times, a couple of hard tack biscuits in my} was a continual stream of motor lor- equipment for emergency and for- lries, motor ambulances, cavalry, light | tunately had them to fall back on. No matter where we stopped, I loos-| Between two columns med the equipment and lay flat on | we 4 It; continue our wonderful how refreshed one will |again comfortably settled in a str Many of the boys, including myself, would Daylight found us an. hour's march weary | V joking bunch; the last halt was ex-\ tres hon wash. By this time the over} A big sleep was the next} I remember noth- | with our mess tins and taking op] After dinngy oy- | ders were issued that the ba¥talion | wou. Hyves off at dusk. We. were! adjust subluxations of the spine, re- not disappointed as one day Was en-| ough in that particular place/ For| supper we had tea, bread, boiled rice There some of it for emergency ration, as experience had taught us t% always ith-| have something in the mess vip, : jim sound of the "heavies," the inhabi-| During the evening, the cloudy be- Consultation and Examination Free. gan to break and the rain to fall at intervals, shortly before the 'fall in" it stopped raining altogether. The i roads were very muddy and the low lying clouds didn't reflect any extra light. Rumor said it was a compar- atively short march, perhaps twelve or fifteen miles. We hoped it would be a short one as the old equipment rubbed the sore spots as it had the previous night. However, it was soon over. About twelve (midnight) we met a member of the advance party who had come baek a couple of miles to show us the shortest. route to the new billets. The last of the journey was soon paced off and "'toule suite" we were comfortably quartered in a oa 8 WE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF WISHING ALL FRIENDS A Prosperous and Happy New Year! 7 barn. A few inches of straw makes a wonderfully good bed when one is tired. , By this time we were beginning to think that no order that could pos- sibly be given to the unit would be a surprise. We were always packed up ready to move up or down, so Setid | g along any old order at all. Well, here is where the army slips one} lover again. Instead of moving orders | lit was "fall in for pay" and if that | didn't surprise the troops there was a remarkable little pamphlet is-| sued to each that would. It began with "Keep your mouth shut," in block letters across the top and the remainder of the page was devoted to the why and wherefor. By talking | about military operations, informa- tion was given away. Information to the enemy endangered the lives of our comrades, so don't let anybody | else talk either. We Stayed in this village all day. Orders were issued to keep out of sight during the daylight so we spent the day cleaning our Lewis guns and | ammunition. The little pamphlet| was the subject of discussion, while} the above duties were being carried | on. For some days past there had | been an undercurrent of excitement | among the older troops.. There is} something big in the making, they} said.. "Hither Fritz or we will start; | LADIES' COA From Now Until dan. Ist Only Good for CASH or PRODUCE COATS a big operation soon." That evening we moved up a few kilos. It was an easy march, com-| pared with some of the recent ones, | In the twilight one could read the} fingerboards and road stones. We| were 10 kilometres from Amiens, | when we turned off the main road and | Q License No. 18314, Milverton travelled slightly north of east. The i Sih unmetalled road that we took showed | gjss Se evidence of excessive traffic, the low It was a case of "break off| Darkness found us trooping along easily toward the Amiens-Roye road, We crossed one of the main Am-}a splendid highway, treed on either jiens roads and it was then we under- 'side and having a good width metal- we had an opportunity of seeing what I ch could assemble on a point in a single hour. The shain of troops and vehicles d down the road was aston- The infantry kept to the ex- lartillery trains and infantry troops. of the latter} ed to dodge through and | By Inwn we were aawn we were trip. the direction we were to take and in-] cidently to see if we were ready to move. The sky was red in the north-east, a = " ie 5 arte A ei | : 'i ed . : " . i - ° ' |stood why our unit was not allowed!led. The traffic to-night was terri- but the sun wouldn't be up for some | We were in the midst of heavy batter- fic, we didn't have far to go and time--'2 minutes to go." The still-jies and didn't know it. How the parallel. The traffic occupied all) therefore, gave way to more impor- ness was intense, all were looking to-|shells all found room on Fritz's side | + : ° . ' ° a nets | cant commands. During these halts ward the front line, but none spoke.|I cannot imagine. He managed to was beginning to wonder if zero had been postponed a few minutes. land immediately discharged 'thefr ipieces. From the Ieft, right, fro land rear came the quick succession of barks making a continual roar. shoot up a few 8.0.8. calls, but his artillery reply was practically nil,-s¢ we were in no danger whatever bac} The (Continued next week.) right of the road, motor lorries d artillery, limbers and other veh- running two lines abreast re- most of the road space. The single line of traffic that endeavored to work its way west had to be satis- fied with what was left. Through it {mow of a shell shocked town not far | { | behind the lines, The sun was hot! breakfas mud soaked | to 7 and incidently cleaned up. There $s nothing much to do while here, but it was most import after putties, beots, e put out eles See ex Fae int to nave a early morning, Aug. 8th, and that} wee confident as to the result of the our bajtalion was to be in close sup-| operation in hand, but the inevitable port. We were to move up to-night jrice was causing the most frivilous and be in position before dawn. ome concern, Our unit reached the required point in good time, about midnight. We took up a position some distance be- i hind the lines and were all ready to [ie advance an hour later. As most of Bm us were hungry, the 24 hour's;rations § that we carried proved a temptation, ja iso we had a little lunch of pork and § beans and bread. Zero hour was set g at 08.40 and as it lacked a couple of hours of that time, we had time for a sleep. The night was chilly, but"by Be the use of our rubber sheets and 4 great coats and by lying close togeth- er most of us managed to keep warm enough to sleep. The platoon of- | ie ficer wakened me in good time with fie 'Have your gun crew ready "in ten ie minutes, Corporal." They were eas- : ily wakened and in less than the re- | quired time we were ready. We had 15 minutes to go. The dawn was al-| Be ready with us, although the stars -- were still showing. The air was still § and cold. Instinctly our eyes kept'} turning to the east and our thoughts = 899) FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER A, Spinal analysis will there is hope. discover the cause and CHIROPRACTIC lieving impinged nerves. Health is the greatest of all gifts. | Let us tell you how many people have acquired and preserved it. was plenty of rice left over 54 a num-| ANSON B. KILBOURNE __ were with those in the first line who ber of us lined up again &nd took CHIROPRACTOR { had "15 minutes to go," "13 minutes to go," "10 minutes to go." We talk-~ ed in subdued tones as the long min- utes passed. Our officers came over Office at the Grand Central Hotel. Every Tuesday and Friday. _ Office Hours: 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. ' % sa Wi Cee Alt St? StOC?s i £O0C% The Next Pair of Shoes we would like you to come here and see what this "Homeijof Good Shoes"' has to offer you We have received many serviceable lines during the last few weeks for Men, Women and Children and we can ay without fear of contradiction that we now have the fin- ever under one roof in WE HAVE ALWAYS: 7 Ale to give you something just a little better for less money than you have been able to procure elsewhere and our im- mense number of satisfied customers are proof that we have attained our object. Our prices are absolutely the lowest that good, de- pendable footwear can be sold at and no matter how low priced a shoe you desire you can obtain it here. EVERYTHING RELIABLE HERE We handle absolutely no seconds or shop worn goods +verything is new and up-to-date. Every pair bearing 6ur own as well as the maker's guarantee, as to the quality and workmanship. For the remainder of this week we have a large number of footwear lines at specially reduced prices Morrice Shoe Store Headquartors for Skating Shoes -- gta Fs eee i i