The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

MERE VAUCHARD'S CANDLES. [BY LIEUT. C. D. STELLING.] Lieut. Bobby Smart, of the Umpteenth Battalion, London Regiment, was feeling at peace with the world. He strolled along the main street of Vermoulu village, enjoying life, enjoying the war, and enjoying a cigar that had been presented to him by the Brigade Padre. Jolly good fellow the Padre, thought Bobby. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and Bobby felt clean. He had just emerged from a hot bath in a vat belonging to the Brewery now occu- pied by the Field Ambulance. The Umpteenth, relieved that morning after five sleepless nights in the front line, were to spend a day or two in reserve before they went out for several days' rest, D.V. Good enough reason for an Infantry sub- altern to indulge in a well-earned loaf and to whistle The End of a Perfect Day." Bobby's cigar having gone out, he hoisted himself up on a window ledge to relight it, and sit down for a quiet smoke. He drew from his pocket a box of wax vestas. From round the corner where the road leads down to the church appeared the bent figure of an old woman. Bobby remembered her. On his way up into the line a few days before he had learnt something of the story of Mere Vauchard. He recalled that she was waiting in the shell-racked ruins of her native village to keep a home for her ,,e prisoner son to return to, and he remem- bered the little shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows which the old lady tended daily with her own hands. As he watched her approach, he struck a match. The breeze, searching through the windowless cottage behind him, found way to the front and extinguished the flame. He flicked the wax end into the road, and tried to make a draught-proof shelter with his two hands. Three more precious matches were wasted before he could summon up the energy to jump off his perch and seek a less windy spot. At his fifth attempt he succeeded in relight- ing his cigar. It was at this moment that Mere Vauchard reached the cottage. Bon jour, madame," he shouted cheer- fully, and the old woman mumbled a response as she stooped and picked up something from the middle of the road. She stopped and peered eagerly about her. Her eyes found what she sought. She bent and picked up one, two, three more of the spent matches that Smart had flung away, paused, looked round, and moved her head in quick bird-like jerks, seeking the fifth whose flame she had seen. Sud- denly she pounced upon it, and then clat- tered away towards her underground home. The English subaltern had watched her in amazement. What on earth could be the use of wax match-ends to her? He hesitated an instant, and then started in pursuit. He produced a box of matches, opened it, and thrust it in front of the old lady. Mere Vauchard shook her head, and replied to him in the best Anglo-French: I, No bon, no bon." Bobby was puzzled. Why should this strange soul eagerly collect spent matches and refuse the gift of a box of unused ones ? He began to question her, bidding her "I zn reply slowly. By dint of much cross-ques- tioning and gesticulation light gradually dawned on him. The next day was the birthday of her son, Pierre, her only boy, who, fighting with the Territorials before Lille in October, 1914, had fallen into the hands of the accursed Boches. She spoke of him as though he were a stripling in his teens, and it was only by a chance remark that Bobby realised that he had been born, a posthumous only child, after his father's death in the war of '70. To- morrow was his birthday, and Mere Vauchard wanted seven candles to burn before the image of Our Lady in the ruined shrine of the church of the Sacred Heart. But Mere Vauchard had no candles and knew not where to obtain any, nor indeed if she had known had she the wherewithal to pay for them. For many weeks she had been picking up wax matches flung away by the English soldiers, and she hoped that the Blessed Virgin— she crossed I herself agairi-would forgive 0 her if she burnt seven times seven wax matches in lieu of candles. She would surely understand. Bobby felt a lump rising in his throat as the old mother's artless story unfolded itself. He drew out his box of vestas, pressed them into her hand without a word, and hurried away. Bobby rose very early the next morning, and marched himself off with two tin mugs and a little newspaper-wrapped packet in tlrj direction of the Place de TEgl'se. When Mere Vauchard arrived at the shrine of Our Lacly of Sorrows to perform her morning devotions, -he beheld a strange sight, almost, it seemed, a miracle. On either side of the image of the Virgin was a vase of flowers-poppIes and mar- guerites and cornflowers, the tricouleur of France ablaze in the sunlight that streamed down across the battle-lines, And in front of the Lady of Sorrows were ranged seven candles. True, they were not the tall candles that she would have placed there in happier times-two were but as high as her thumbs and none were taller than her middle fin-ers-biit. they would serve, oh, yes! they would serve marvellously. The derelict old lady sank to her knees and poured out tears of joy from a full heart. Now, assuredly, would Our Lady hearken to the humble prayer of Mere Vauchard of Vermoulu. It was nearly a month before the Umpteenth Londons returned to Ver- i moulu, and the incident of the candles had passed out of Lieut. Smart's mind. The sight of the familiar Vennoulu street recalled Mere Vauchard to him. He (Continued at foot of next column.)

USING THEM UP. _un- ._u- L THE KAISER" Hindenburg, it's going out. bring some more coal." HINDENBURG "Ail Highest, you must be careful, this is all we have"

I ONLY ONE THING TO DO. | I :— I A\ War at the best it horrible, but this war has been rendered horrible above all wars by the brutal methods which have been adopted by our German enemies, W methods all the more brutal because they have had recourse to all the resources of intellect or of science. W A wild beast is at large. There is no use arguing w w with it or reasoning with it There is only one thing \J7 W to do, that is to destroy it. It is our duty, the duty tw tyi of all the Allied nations, to set our teeth until that ? fhj end has been achieved. Qsj —Mr. BONAR LAW. 1 K

A SCOTTISH CANTEEN. A Canteen run by Scottish women for French soldiers.

THE WOMAN'S PART. ¡ Help for the Land-Worker. [BY MARGARET OSBORNE.] The Prime Minister, in his appeal to women rp n to save the harvest, calls upon every woman who has the great gifts of youth .and strength," to devote them to the service of her country. This is a great call, and the young women of Britain will respond to the utmost. But they cannot do all that is needed unless they in their turn are helped by those who have neither youth nor strength, whose work will seem trivial and inconspicuous. but will count a great deal in the long. hard struggle with nature which lies before us from the gathering in of the early fruits and vegetables, through the hay and corn harvest until the last potatoes are safely clamped in November. The part we other women must take, who cannot bear the burden and heat of the day, is the part formerly played by the farm labourer's wife. If lie was able to work for long hours in all weathers for six and sometimes seven days in the week it was because his home was kept in some kind of simple comfort. And if women are to take his place they too need a helping hand. The women who gathered in the harvest of fruit and vegetables in districts where women worked on the land before the war expected to have. at least, two days a week at home. They wanted a day to cook some food for themselves and their families and Sunday to rest and get straight." For most of the week they lived on bread and tinned provi- sions and jam. What we are asking _them now is to work for a full six-day week. But tinned provisions are now beyond their means, and they feel that they require more time at home than in peace years. They find that when they are asked to spend all their daylight hours in hard manual toil their homes will sink into squalor and their chil- dren lack proper food. It is here that their stay-at-home neighbours of every class can help them, Things That Tell. If every village housekeeper who has a good baking oven would bake half-a-dozen pies every week all through the summer for women who are working on the land if some- one in every village would sell boiled bacon or boil pieces of bacon brought to her by land- workers, charging them a penny a pound for fuel; if someone else (perhaps the squire's wife or the parson's) would have a copper of boiling water ready every evening and would lend garden or bedroom water-cans to land- workers to fetch it in; if every woman who does her own washing would wash half-a-dozen things every week for her hard-working neighbour if every girl in a village who h:1-- the use of a pony or donkey-cart would take tea (just tea to drink, no sugar and Rothing to eat) to women working on farms in her neighbourhood once a week, the women on the land would have a much more tolerable life. We should not think of these services as putting her under any obligation to us. She is doing a national service and it is we who are he: debtors and must try to repay a little of what we owe her. We have four months at most in which to help her to help her country. The Decisive Harvest. The women who are called upon to do this stay-at-home work are those who are too old or too young or too much occupied to work on the land themselves. They are not able to nurse soldiers or make munitions or save the harvest with their own hands, but they will help those who work. This is not new women's work, it is the woman's part time out of mind and in every country, only that in the past it has been there was families that women have worked for, now it is England that we shall save when we give a helping hand to the woman harvester. It seems a small duty, but it lies at our door and if we neglect it it will not be done. If you give this help you can go to the Autumn harvest thanksgiving with an easy conscience. This is the decisive harvest of the war.

FOOD TOPICS. Items About Production and Rationing. fBy SMALLHOLDER."] Something for the Pudding. Tile announcement of the Ministry of Food as to a distribution of dried fruits b.a9 caused quite a flutter in the domestic dove- cotes. What with the absence of fresh fruits and the modest ration of sugar, housewive9 are a good deal worried about the pudding question. The present distribution will help them for a time, although the quantity r6' leased will not go a long way—about a cui" rant a head was the suggestion of an ine\" i- table wag. who sees a joke in everything. Of course, you will understand that it is purely a question of shipping. If the Government an spare the tonnage, currants and can be had in considerable quantities. Any Complaints? We should not be sons and daughters vf John Bull if we did not grumble. Grumbling is a national habit, but it is a weakness that I should be suppressed at the present tinle- The happy man who keeps on smiling is h-elf ing to win the war. If you have a genuine grievance about your food supplies, take it to your local Food Committee and see if they cannot adjust it for you. Don't write to the papers or worry the Central Department 1 1 Some people are complaining that tradesntf11 are showing favour to certain customers to the detriment of others. Where such charges are well founded the Food Committees have power to deal with them. It is said occasioll- ally that shopkeepers or their assistant* accept bribes as an inducement to give pre' ferential treatment. Such a thing is made 811 offence under the Prevention of Corrupti4oO Order. If definite evidence is obtained, tb* matter should be reported at once. Feeding Harvesters. From now onwards most rural districts will receive a considerable influx of men, womeV, and boys, and haymaking, harvesting, fruit Cr hop-picking, potato lifting, and so on, aDd special provisions will be made for their VIC' tualling. In the ordinary way, what is knovvll as the Visitors' Declaration Form procedure will be followed. That is to say, one of these forms, obtainable from the local Food Office. will have to be filled up and deposited with a tradesman. Where it is necessary for a farmt, who is expecting a party, to get in supply, against their arrival, he may procure a periOJ from his Food Office, which will enable hrf1 to purchase from specified shops suffici-ev rationed articles to last for a week. He muit detach coupons from his visitors' books in rt" spect of the food. If local supplies alloill Food Committees may give permits for tP* purchase of tea in quantities exceeding tb normal allowance during hot weather. The Labour Difficulty. The latest comb-out" for the Army b-i undoubtedly left some farmers in a state provoking uncertainty as to where they st#*1.. for harvest labour. Nobody likes to be dependent upon the efforts of scrateb helpers—which is the state of matters prevli" ing in practically every sort of busing to-day. With six million men passed into Army, everybody is compelled to accept amateur and make the best of him-or, should more correctly say, of her. And the l.ø of her is that, though inexperienced, she usually very willing to learn and very pluery in bearing the unaccustomed call upon strength. The demand of an army fight*fl| with ''their backs to the wall" constitut as Mr. Prothero has said, an overmaster1^ necessity." The only course is to make best of the substituted labour that is offet6^' Mr. Prothero mentioned the case of one to which 120 skilled German farm-worIte were sent without one of them having his vices used. Yet it is by employing the 1^°^ of her war prisoners that Germany is abl€ make the fight she does. The Hen that Lays the Golden Egg. Eggs represent good money in these <la.Ys; and it is clear that if a General Election oo off in the autumn, there will be no stale oneg- left for the traditional purpose. Thanks to the cost and scarcity of feeding stuffs, however poultry-keeping is not the pleasant and profit able industry that many would have us be lieve. An experienced breeder declares that the expenditure on a pullet before she starts laying is as much as lis. 6d., without reckon- n I ing establishment charges. Of course, that estimate* includes the worth of the eggs for t n(,s. sittings. Note should be taken of the fact that a rationing scheme for poultry is in process of completion, and those who wish to avail them- selves of its privileges should get in touch with their local committee. Committees are being formed all over the country for the pur- pose of administering the scheme. Feather-Eaters. Feather-eating during the early summer months is generally due to over-heated condi- tion of the blood, the omission to supply a well-filled dust bath made with dry ashes, lime, and powdered sulphur, also the absence .-If succulent green food during the hot weather whilst if the bill of fare is examined, it will be found that heating foods have been given too liberally, which has set up a heated condition of the blood, A teaspoonful of powdered sulphur given in soft food for ten to twelve birds will be beneficial.

CUT THIS OUT. MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. Maryland Cabbage.-INGREDIENTS.-One or two fresh, firm cabbages, 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped cooked onion, 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped nuts, 2 tablespoonfuls of stale bread- crumbs or well-boiled and dried rice, 1 hard- boiled egg, 1 tabkepoonful of vinegar, oz. of dripping. METHOD.—Carefully boil, drain, chop, and season the cabbage. Mix the onion, nuts, rice, or crumbs—or some of each-with the chopped egg and vinegar. If this mixture seems crumbly, add a little stock. Grease a piedish, put into it the cabbage in layers with the onion mixture. Let the last layer be of the latter. Spread the dripping over the top, and bake in a hot oven till thoroughly hot and lightly browned. Serve with thickened brown or other sauce-one with a few finely-chopped, home-pickled nasturtium seeds added to it is excellent. Spring Pudding. INGREDIENTS. I lb. of rice; 2 oz. of sugar; 1 tablespoonful of jam or jelly; 2 oz. of tapioca; 1- teaspoonful of baking I powder. METHOD.—Soak rice and tapioca separately overnight in cold water. In the morning boil the rice for fifteen minutes. Add the tapioca and a small te-icHul cf the water in which it has been soaked. Add the sugar and baking powder, Grease a basin well, and put the jam at the bottom. Put in the mixture, and steam for two and a-half hours. Turn out to serve. Ox Heart.-INGREDIE-.NTS.Half an ox heart or two or more sheep's hearts, two carrots. pint of cooked butter beans, 1 onion, It pint of brown gravy, £ lb. of tomatoes. METHOD.—Well wash, then trim off the rough pieces, and next soak the heart in tepid salted water for half an hour. Cut it in four length- ways, then into long slices about £ in. thick. Put these in a pan with the warm (not boiling) gravy, the carrot cut in small cubes, and the onion chopped. Simmer very gently for about an hour, or until the heart is tender. Add the beans half an hour before serving the heart. When cooked, arrange the slices neatly in a hot dish, strain over the gravy, and garnish with heaps of the added vegetables, and with the grilled, fried, or baked tomatoes cut round in halves. Serve plenty of baked potatoes with it. An Economical Fruit Pudding (Hot, Boiled). INGREDIENTS.—Two ounces of flour, barlcv flour, fine oatmeal, and ground rice or potato flour (or a mixture of any flours you can get). 4 oz. of small sngo, 2 oz. of chopped suet or dripping, 1 lb. of any fresh fruit (rhubarb, cooseberrv. or anvtlnng in season), l large tea- spoonfnl of baking powder, 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar or other sweetener, a teaspoonful of salt, water. ,\IF,THC) D.-C are fullv prepare the fruit, accord- lUg to i.ts kind, and if u is rhubarb chop it into rather small pieces. Mix all the dry ingredients well add the fruit, and mix into a soft, siie,miy sticky dough with cold water. Press into a greased basin and cover with a clean cloth. Boil steadily for at least two hours, then turn out carefully, and serve with or without sweet sauce. [Continued at foot of next column.]

(Continued from column 1.) wondered how she had fared, whether she j was still in the village, whether she had any news of her absent son. As soon as he had seen his company settled in their t, billets and reported to his Company Com- rnander, he made his way towards the church to seek out the old lady. Suddenly a figure sprang out from a house beside the road, and pinioned him by both arms, j He found himself vigorously kissed on each cheek by a bearded French soldier in horizon blue uniform. C'est iui, Pierre," cried the voice of Mere Vauchard in the background. It is he! It was indeed Pierre, the long-awaited i ,v Pierre, the prisoner son. Bobbv heard their story, told in alternate gusts from mother and son. Pierre had lon» planned his escape with a comrade gunner. All his plans were complete, and it was arranged to make their attempt on Pierre's birthday—the day might bring them luck. Fortune favoured them. Not Fortune (interrupted the old mother), but the Holy Virgin herself, who has listened to my prayers—thanks to the candles which the brave English captain had placed at her shrine."

[Continued from previous column.'] Savoury Pie.—INGREDIENTS.—Two large breakfasted fuls of broken stale bread and crumbs, 1 large cooked chopped onion, 3 tea- spoonfuls of powdered sage, t teaspoonful of powdered herbs, 4 tablespoonfuls of hot fat from baking-tin, vegetable stock to soak bread, seasoning. METHOD.—Break the bread and put it in a basin with cold stock (or water) to cover it. Let it soften a little, then beat well up and bring ■» boiling-point. With a fork beat out all lumps. Add the onion, sage, herbs, 3 tabiespoon.fu the hot fat, and seasoning. Ihe mixtufe mu be moist enough i^t to drop heavilv trom spoon. Spread it evenly m a piedish wel greased with fat from the cooking mea bake in a sharp oven about half an hour, or till the top is well browned, Ten minutes before lhe cooking is finished pour over another spoom ful ()f the hot fat and gravy from the tin. Serve frizzling hot in the dish. 1 frizzling hot in the dish. Mackerel, with Caper Sauce.lNOREM^ ■ -One filleted mackerel, 1 cupful fish toe | cupful milk. 1 tablespoonful cornflour, 1^1 spoonful flour, pepper, salt, dessertsp capers. fish ail METHOD.—Stew the backbones o:E i t(j of hour to obtain the fish stock. Coat the fish, with seasoned flour, fry, "am {be hot. Moisten the cornflour with stoc: floor stock and milk, and pour ihe corn when it has just reached boiling-pomt, eti well mixed, return the sauce to the p_ai j bring to the boil again, then add seasoning caper- Later in the year nasturtium seed* be used instead of capers, and make a g cheap substitute.