The Carmarthen Journal and South Wales Weekly Advertiser

1 A LOOK ROUND. S- [BY SENTINEL."] I Real and Sham Peace. A 7 E must be careful just now lest, VV like Job, we should darken counsel with words." There is, nat- urally enough, a Babel of voices telling the Government what it ought to do iiien with the German peace-bait. Happily, there are not many foolish enough to advise them to swallow it. The sink- ing of the Leinster stopped that. 0 p Righteous anger at the deed was only heightened by the fact that it was done at the very time when the Germans were hypocritically pretending that f power had passed from the Kaiser and [ his Generals into the hands of a people t longing for peace. President Wilson has probed these pretences to the quick, and the Germans are now pinned down to a choice which they cannot evade; either to bring forth t fruits meet for repentance, or to take I the licking which the Allies are already If ^beginning to inflict on them. K The Germans have thought they Pr could play the game of heads I win. tails you lose" with us. They told their own people and the world at the beginning of the war, that they L were "attacked," and that they were lighting in defence of the sacred soil I I of the Fatherland. It was a gross lie but they have stuck to it all through. If they could, they would like to make i peace while their armies still stand on the soil of France, Belgium, Russia, Italy and Serbia. They could then claim compensation for the loss and expense to which they have been put in fighting a War of Defence." The victories of the Allies, both West and. East, have put an end to that dream. The next best thing for them would be to get their armies back upon their i own soil, without a really big defeat, and then make peace without annexa- o i and without indemnities." (Ger- many does not object to annexations and indemnities when it looks as if she could do the annexing and get the indemnities. But the boot is now on the other leg !) If the Allies were to allow this, the German War Lords couid say: "We have won the war. The whole world tried to crush us, but we have kept. the soil of the Fatherland free from the foot of a single hostile soldier." And then the old game of preparing for another war of conquest would begin again. We are up to their dodges. We mean to have a real peace, not a sham one, and we know that we can never have a real peace until the Prussian War Lords are overthrown, and the German people made to understand that they have been beaten in the war. President Wilson has put the matter clearly. He has laid down as one of the terms of peace The destruction of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately, secretly, and of its single choice dis- turb the peace of the world. The power which has hitherto controlled the German nation (he says) is of the I sort here described. It is within the • choice of the German nation to alter it." Hohenzollern and Hapsburg must go from Germany and Austria, or, at least, alter completely the system under which they govern, before this demand can be satisfied. That will show a real change of heart in the German people. If they wish for peace, they must first forsake their unclean idols and abandon the cruel sacrifices they have offered up to them in the innocent lives destroyed by land. sea, and air. Lord Grey, a short while ago, said that "peace is in sight, but not yet within reach." He told us that a League of Nations to enforce peace, might follow as a consequence of our victory, but could not be a substitute for it. That is a point which some of those who pin their hopes for the future on such a League had overlooked. But it is plain enough. There could be no hope of a peaceful future for,the world if that evil thing which Prussianism has proved itself to be were embedded in the frame work of its new constitution. As well expect the body of a man to be healthy with a malignant growth in it. The cancer of military autocracy, rest- ing on might, not right, must be clean cut out before we can have a world of which the life-blood is not drained to feed the forces of destruction. Events are moving rapidly, and no one can say what a day may bring forth. But one thing stands firm and unmoved: the resolve of the Free Nations to win a real md lasting peace. We can, and we will.

OUR ALLIES. The Cavaliers. [BY V. C. C. COLLUM.] Just as the British light cruiser is the smartest naval vessel afloat, so is the French Cavalry the smartest of all the mounted trc,ops in the world. The very name for a French horseman suggests the spirit of our Ally's mounted soldiers; lie- is no mere trooper—he is a cavaher, .& word that suggests all the picturesque romance of the days of King Charles. Like our own cavalry-men, the French cavaliers have had a dull time of it since the first battle of the Marne until quite recently, for they were dismounted, half a battalion at the time, and sent into the trenches to act as infantry for spells of a fortnight, while the other half of the battalion stayed in the rear with the horses. At least once a year the whole battalion would be withdrawn, and brigaded with the regiment, and then the entire brigade would be sent to some manoeuvring ground far behind the lines, in order to undergo cavalry training with the division to which it really belonged. In this way the French, while making use of their mounted troops in the trenches, and holding always half of them in reserve, were also able to keep them and their horses fit, and in good training for the day when they should once more go into battle over open country as real cavaliers, armed with sword and lance. I happened to spend my three years in France in one such cavalry manceuvring- ground-a beautiful plain country, dotted over with immense woods planted in Napoleonic days. Over this ground the Germans marched towards Paris in 1914, and into it they pushed their way once more this spring. We came to know a certain cavalry division quite well, especi- ally one regiment of dragcons that came back there again and again to be billeted in the villages around. They were a fine lot of men, with a gallant Colonel and splendid officers, and prided themselves on their horses; when they were fighting, dis- mounted, on our front, many of them came to our hospital wounded. They were decent men, whom the wives and mothers in the villages loved well, and did not fear for their young sisters and daughters. From the Colonel downwards, they liked the English, and would do anything they could to please and help English folk. Once, when we all thought that the great offensive that would take us to Berlin had begun-it was in the early spring of last year-I stood at our hospital gate and saw the whole division ride away, having received the unexpected orders to go north—towards the British front. We I thought, and they hoped, that the chance of the cavaliers had come and that they would ride at last, lance in hand, against the Boches. It was a grand sight. They rode four abreast, and it took the whole morning for them to pass. There was something very knightly about those sturdy young figures in their horizon-blue coats, looped up on either side to a button on the hip, their beautifully shaped blue steel. helmets, and their tall lances; and the coat of every horse shone in the sun- light. Each regiment had its machine- gun detachment, and its baggage waggons and ambulance. It seemed to me that each squadron must have possessed a dog, for I never saw such a number of pets going up to the front. There was one on every cart! When our own regiment of dragoons rode by, many were the salutes from the officers and the cheery farewells of the cavaliers who had been our patients, or our neighbours, and friends of our own wounded. As they disappeared down the road, into a wood, I realised the wonderful invisibility of the French blue, for the woods were blue in the distance, and the blue cavaliers seemed to melt into them. Since then they have fought bloodily and lost heavily, as dismounted reserves, in the Forest of Villers-Cotterets, and they have spent another long year in the trenches near Rheims. And now I read that the Cavalry of General Gouraud's Army pursued the fleeing Germans into country that has been .theirs since 1914. I can imagine how they charged, those dragoons and hussars and cuirassiers and- chasseurs! This is how a French dragoon, a friend of mine, describes a charge: "Suddenly, above the noise of horses' hoofs, the one word Charge! repeated by four thousand voices. I shouted, too. It seemed as if a frenzy had taken us, a sacred fury, so that we no longer belonged to ourselves. Things rushed by-they may have been trees. From the noise of the horses' hoofs on hard ground I knew that we crossed a road I felt as though leaping into a precipice. Then the con- fused impression of an avalanche—it was a horse and its rider falling, disappearing under the flying hoofs of my own charger. Others fell; there was a shock, cries, the noise of steel on steel. Tightening rein, my eyes full of dust, my face bespattered with mud and stones, seeing nothing, dis- tinguishing nothing in this cloud of the cavaliers riding beside me, boot to boot, I only knew that my horse, as though he had wings, leapt over a great struggling, formless mass Well—nothing will stop them now! Well done, the French Cavaliers I

YOU MAY SMOKE( I [Brilis,'L Official'. One of our men gives a German prisoner a light at a field dressing station.

LOOKING FOR HOME. [British Official I Australian soldiers help a French mother and child to look for their home in a shelled town.

I ON ST. MARK'S, VENICE. [Bruish Official. Ouon»rs of i<i« Italian Navy practising with an anti-aircraft gun.

A SHEAF OF WAR STORIES. Thrilling Incidents of the Fighting on Land, on Sea, and in the Air. A Brave Chief Engineer. A steamer was making six knots against a strong breeze, and? there was a choppy sea running. Suddenly the track of a torpedo was seen. and a few seconds after- wards there was a crash as. the torpedo struck and exploded amidships. So great was the concussion that several of the crew were momentarily stunned, some being thrown from their bunks and in- jured. The master realised that the ship was sinking rapidly, and it was a question whether he would be able to abandon her before she went down. It was at this moment that the chief engineer performed a deed on which, in all probability, the -lives of the crew depended. He was not in the engine-room at the time, but by the steady throb of the engines lie knew well that steam had not been shut off. To lower the boats in a choppy sea while the ship had so much way on was an impossibility,, for they would have been capsized the i-fi-oment they touched the water. Already the deck was almost awash, and through the great hole in the ship's side the sea was pouring, but the chief engineer, with splendid disregard of his own personal! safety, rushed below and shut off the engines. It was not a moment too soon.. As the ship lost way, the boats were lowered and, with the exception of one man who had lost his life, all the crew were able to get off. First the injured were passed down, and then the others took their places and pulled hurriedly away to avoid being sucked under as the steamer took her final plunge. From the time when she was torpedoed to the time when she disappeared was less than five minutes, As it was, with one 1 exception, all the crew were saved; had it f not been for the prompt and heroic action of the chief .engineer, the tale would have been very different.. Heroism on the Otranto." When the British cruiser "Otranto" collided with the steamship Kashmir," near the Irish coast,, a magnificent piece of rescue work was carried out by the "Mounsey," a British torpedo-boat de £ trover. The destroyer was called to the spot by a wireless message, and, by skilful handling, it succeeded in taking off some three hundred United States troops, more than two hundred of the crew, and some French sailers. This was a great achievement, and another wonderful ex- hibition of bravery was shown by the men on the "Otranto." Mr. T. L. Campbell, an American Y.M.C.A. Secretary, has told a representative of the Times some details of the collision. Lieutenant- Commander Simmons, of the 'Otranto,' he states, "tdvised the men on the decks to remove all their heavy clothes and to prepare to jump. When the collision occurred,, the men had proceeded imme- diately to their assigned boat stations, and there was absolutely no panic or excitement. The men removed their boots, leggings, and overcoats, and put on lifebelts. The destroyer made four trips to the ( Otranto,' coming up alongside and sheering off again with the heavy seas. Each time a proportion of the men jumped. Engineer-Officer Cook, of the destroyer, called out each time. to our men to cheer them up, telling them to keep a stiff upper lip,' and assuring them that they would be taken oft, Unfortanately, many who jumped, missed the destroyer, fell between the vessels, and were drowned or crushed," Mr. Campbell spoke in the highest terms of the heroism displayed by the officers and crew of the British destroyer. "Words fail me," he said, adequately to describe their behaviour, It was beyond all praise. They took the chances of almost certain defsth, and at the greatest peril to themselves and their ship they saved, scores of our men who would otherwise ha;ve been drowned. The officers of the Otranto also displayed am absolute devotion to duty, and at no time was there; any c-oiif usion. The Devonshire Regiment. A finely written history of the Devon- shire Regiment was published in the- Times a few days ago. It was from the pen of the Hon. John Fortescue, a-nd contained a quotation from General Berthelot's Order of the Day, on August 20th last. This French general, com- manding the Fifth French Army, wrote aSi follows:—"On May- 27th 1918. the 2nd. battalion of the Devonshire Regiment repelled successive enemy assaults with: gallantry and determination, and main-- tained an unbroken front till a late hour. The staunchness of this battalion per- mitted defences to be organised and their occupation by reinforcements to be com- pleted. Inspired by- the sangfroid of their gallant commander.the few survivors, though isolated without litspe of assistance, 0 fought to the last with unhesitating I obedience to orders. Tlifus the whole battalion, colonel, 28 officers, and 552 non- commissioned officers and; men, responded with one accord and offere-d their lives in ungrudging sacrifice to- tike sacred cause of the Allies." This is the tribute of a foreign general to an English battalion. Sir Douglas Haig republished it in General Orders, for the information of all ranks.. "Their opportunity," writes Mr. For- tescue, came at last, and; they seized it. Every officer and every man was required .to.fall; and the Devons answered to this supreme appeal as to all others. There is a pride too high for words and a mourn- ing too deep for tears. The epitaph of this battalion is written on the colours of the Devons: 'Semper Fidelis.' It is sufficient, for these men were faithful illdeect-faithful to their King, faithful to their country, faithful to their regiment, faithful to themselves." This is our Job. According to the London correspondent I of the "Western Morning News," a. British officer is telling a capital story illustrating the grand spirit of the troops. It appears that, while the Canadians were struggling forward under fearfully heavy fire from machine-guns, they were rein- forced by tanks, to their very great relief. On the approach of these tanks, however,. a Canadian boy stepped out, held up his. hand like a policeman on point duty, and waved the tank back, shouting: Look here, Tank, you take cover! This is our job, and don't you interfere with it!

"The British Grand Fleet is the foundation stone of the cause of the whole of the Allies." -ADMIRAL SIMS (United Status Navy).