Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder

Mr. Hugh Moresm, chief audit clerk in I the borough treasurer's department. Swan- sea. haa been successful in passing the final examination of the Society of Incorporated I Accountants and Auditors, and is, there- lore, now a fully qualified incorporated ac- tcnoftMBt. m

FROfVS EAR TO EAR. j GHASTLY TRAGEDY AT CWMBWRLA! I The tragic death of James Lewis (46), tinworker, of 1, Alexandra-terrace, Oci- bwrla, who was found in a dying condition in bed, wich hi" throat cut, on Thursday morning, formed the subject of an inquiry by tho Borough Coroner (Mr. J. C. Morris) at the Public Hall, Cwmbwrla. this morning. James Lewis, tinworker. of 8, Alice- I street, Cwmbwrla, son of deceased, identi- fied the body. He last saw his father j alive about half-past eight on Sunday night, aud he then seemed in his usual health. Three years ago his father poisoned his hand, and he had not seemed; the same man since. He had been out of employment for a fortnight. Tho Coroner: Had he tried to get em- ployment ?—Yes. Did he seem upset because he failed to do so ?•—Ho was a man who would boll depressed in a minute, if he was hcm& from work for a day or two. You think it is quite likely that the f blood-poisoning and being out of work de- pressed him?—Yes. He was stopped at the work. He was a very active man. Outside of this, witness continued, hi, I father iuul no trouble. He was last seen i alive by witness's mother about 8.30 on; Thursday morning. He was then in bed and read, a letter to her he had received from a quack doctor in reference to a slight rupture he thought he had. Was ho suffering from a rupture, or did he think lie was:—He thought he was, but he never saw a doctor about it Deceased said nothing unusual to his wife, viutness continued, and she then; ■.vent downstairs to get the breakfast, leav- ing-him in bed. She later,heard a groan, and rushing upstairs, found the bedroom door locked. Sho (veiled to her husband. ■ but received no reply. She then went for, assistance from the neighbours. William Brown Bowon, copper worker. 5, Alexandra-terrace, who was called in i by Mrs. Lewis, said he burst the door open and found Lewis lyirg full%length across the bed in his night attire, with his throat cut. There was a razor on the floor. He was not quite dead, but unable to say anything. When the. doctor ■arrived, about ten minutes later, life was extinct. Witness had known the man for some year-, and thought he would be the last man to take his life. Dr. Porter said the wound in the throat, extended from ear to ear, and was very deep. He concluded it was se!f-i:itiicted. and death must have taken r?'?s vtvy soon after. L??W4S was an excitable ma'). and would do tbi"s? on the impure of the moment. From his examination, hc.found I no evidence of rupture. The jury returned a verdict of suicide whilst temporarily insane. j

LICENSEE AND HER BOOKMAKER I HUSBAND. At Swansea Police Court Amelia Maloney, the licensee of the Old Duke i Hole], High-street, Swansea, summoned her husband Daniel Henry Maluney, tor ttureties of the peace. Mr. Ilej^ry Thompson, for the coinplain-j ant, said that his client was a most in- dustrious woman, whilst her husband lived on her. The parties had been married for 29 years. In consequence of his behavioiir* sbLe obtained a Reparation order in 1306. She did not ask for a maintenance order. Soon after the order was made the defendant forced his way into the house and made himself comfort- I able. He had once before been bound over. On January 2nd a row was started by defendant over his dinner, and he threatened to biab his wife with a knife. Mrs. Maloney corroborated this state- ment in evidence and said that with the presence of her husband m the house she could not properly carry on the business. Defendant stated that he did not Hva It upon his wife. lIe was a bookmaker, and had always paid her money. Last season he had paid her ?153, and had hired a carriage to take. her oat every Monday. Since the war started, his h!pk had been t out, and the result was that his wife wanted to get rid of him. The Bench bound over the defendant for 12 months in the sum of .22.11.

LLANDILO PUBLIC-MOUSE. I Interesting County Court Action. I His Honour Judge Lloyd Morgan, K.C., gave judgment at the Carmarthen County Court on Friday in a case heard at the previous court in which David Jones, Cadoxton, Barry, claimed £50 damages from W. Griffiths, Railway Tavern Stores, Uandilo. Defendant owned the New Vino Inn, Carmarthen, and rented it to plain- tiff. who alleged that defendant repro- sented the trade done. Mr. W. D. Wil- liams, Carmarthen, appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr- Hurley, Llandilo, for the defendant. His Honour eaid the trade which plain- tiff did at che New Vine Inn, was of a most trifling kind, and the previous ten- ant only tooi¡: £3 during the week of the National Eisteddfod at Carmarthen. His Honour gave judgment for the plaintiff for £ 41— £ 20 of which would go for the payment of the rent, which was counterclaimed for.

WHY SHE DID IT. Daisy M. Holmes (21), domestic, was charged at Carmarthen on Saturday with obtaining a puree containing 15s. by false pretences from the Great Western Railway Co. Mr. T. R. Ludford. LI a nelly, prosecut- ing, said that a gentleman picked up a purse at Carmarthen Station and handed it to the booking clerk. Der fendant claimed it. She afterwards looked for Leeds, but was stopped at Car- diff. Defendant who admitted the offence, said she wanted money to go to Leeds to see her parents.. She was given a good character, and was bound ovc-r. The magistrates made a col- ie^ftion among themselves, and handed the girl 28B. railway fare to enable her to re- turn to Leeds..

SHACKLETON DELAYED. Endurance Held Up By Ice. In a message to the "Daily Chronicle," Sir Ernest Shackleton says:— The Endurance sails from South Georgia to-day. All on board are well. We have been delayed by the ice, which is unfavourable. Owing to this, I do not expect to clow the Continent until next season. This will mean a delay of nearly "a JIlIIØ. md unless tlte Endurance returns to South Georgia, where there is a trading station, no word from the expedition is likely to reach the outside world until the spring of 1916. The Endurance is sqoipped with a powerful wireless re- ceiver with which to receive messages From the Marconi station in South kmerioa, but it cannot transmit any.

M f '?'. '? ?r-?nnnif..???u, rxmt?j?-.siim e? rH?ARMER&C?? GOLDEN RET dr' s rat-simile of One-Ounce Packet. Archer's Golden Returns The Perfection of Pipe ToDacco. i Cool, Stest and Fkacrajit. 1 k 1 i I

MINING SCHOOL. ESTIMATED BALANCE SHEET OF THE SCHEME. A meeting of the Swansea Education Committe was held on Monday. Mr. Ivor GWynne ^.chairman) presiding. The borough Treasurer reported on the financial aspect of the proposed Mining School at Swansea. It is obvious, that the iinancial result of the scheme," ho said. must depend largely upon tho probable num- ber of stadents. This information, as well as other ligures relating to expendi- ture and grants, has been supplied to me by Dr. Varley. Based upon the data of Dr. Varley, the provision of mining edu- cation under the terms of the agreement with the County Council will involve no charge to Swansea, but any, increase or decrease in the number of students will automatically iIect the. financial result. Upon Clause 11 coming into. operaticin Swansea will bear a proportion of the. upkeep of the mining apparatus and eaiaries of staff. but as the great majority of the students will, it is understood, be drawn from districts outside Swansea, and the expenditure is* to be borne by the' participating authorities in proportipn, to the students, the expenditure chargeable will be relatively small. This cost will be amply covered^ by the class fees of students and grants which will still be re- tained by Swansea." An estimated revenue account was sub- mitted with tho report. The expenditure was. made up as follows: Building accom- modation to be proyided in connection with, scheme, estimated at G00 capital charges at 51 per cent., X57; fees of lecturers other than mining lecturers (estimate of three classes each of 90 hours per sessiouk-making 70 hours at 7s. per hour), ,294 lOR.; depreciation of engineer- ing and other apparatus installed at the Technical College, and lighting, 440; estimated surplus, X41 5s.; total, £1$5 15s. The income was estimated as follows: Class fees of (15 students at lis. each per session, vS35 15s.; grants recoverable in respect of 65 students at 11s. per teaching hour, say < £ 1(50; total, £ 195 15s. The Chairman said the estimate had been based oh an average attendance of 5(1. per cent., which was very much lower than the usual average attendance at the college. In reply to Mr. Milhourne. Williams, the Chairman said they were putting up an extra room for mining at the college, and that it would cost 111,000. Mr. Williams: Supposing we had to build an entirely new school for the pur- pose we would have to pay considerably more.? The Chairman: Oh, yes. The report was adopted. Mr. David Thomas made his quarterly report on the Aber, Penllwyngwent. and Cwmfrwch Collieries. Mr. Milbourne Williams, commenting on the brevity of the report, inquired why the collieries were not working. "If this property beyonged to me," ho said, 1 should protest most strongly against having reports of this description." Aid. Colwiil: It is not because there is no demand for that type of coal. As soon as negotiations started with Messrs. Cory for a renewal of the lea&e there has been a drop in revenue. The Chaii-inau; The rcaeon why that lease is not signed is because Cory Bros, cannot-go on developing as they intended to.. Aid- Corker moved that a meeting be held every month to clear up matter. The Chairman said the report was very unsatisfactory to him. The delay had not been on account of the lease, but be- cause of the neglect in the past in as- certaining the real boundaries of the estate. In reply to Alderman Colwiil, the Chairman said the committee could have had the lease signed twelve months ago if they had been prepared to give up some land that was in dispute. Alderman Colwiil About an eight of an acre! Mr, David Williams strongly denied that the land at stake was so small in area. lie supported the action that had been taken by the committee in the pàst. Alderman-■Colwiil persisted in his state- ment. ■■■■<: Mr. David Williams: Then all I can say is,, yfya don't- know what you are talking about, Ald. Corker's suggestion was adopted. The report of the Higher Education Committee together with the report of H.M. inspectors on the Technical Col- lege was adopted, it being also resolved to refer certain clauses in the latter's re- port on the subject of metallurgy to a sub-coir, mit+ee. Ald. G. ColwiH said the report on the Technical College was the best he had seen for come time. Mr. P. Parker referred to the new Brynmill Infants'- School, and the hold ing up of the opntract. He wanted to know when a definite decision could be made regarding. the aueestion of the pro- vision of the proposed read way. The Chairman said they had practi- cally arranged with the people con- cerned. Ald. Goo. Colwiil said with regard to building it would be as well if they looked round and saw what their neigh- bours- were doing outside., He referred to one building which was built of stonp, where the cost came out at £ 13 per head. Ald. Miles said it was not fair to call attention to the price unless they knew the circumstances. It conveyed the im- pression that this committee was anxious to spend money unnecessarily. Aid. Colwiil: It convoys nothing of the sort. The minutes were passed. The Chairman eaid they had practi- cally arranged with too Glamorgan County Council upon a price for educat- iBK their, border children. The County I CounciL contemplated buililina school at Cwmi,?ydvpeirw, which would inter- fere with Swansea's Rchool at Gra?g. He did not think the site they had" lelecfced would be the most convenient in view of the extension of Swansea borough, and they had communicated with the County Council to that effect. The Clerk (Mr. Halden) saM lie had received, a e ommumca t i o n from two teachers protesting against the new scale of wagcs for single men, upon which the committee had decided regarding those who had joined the colours. "It WM pointed out; that the teachers were drill instructors, and there was nothing to prevent them commit back if they desired. It was decided not to make any altera- tion in the scale. A letter was read from Mrs. Bertie Perkins, secretary of the Swansea Branch of the Red Cross Society, asking if the committee intended to start lec- tures in hygiene and sanitation, pointing out that Red proes' nurses were sup- posed to hold certificates in these sub- jects. r Dr., Varley said he oould arrange classes in these subjects, and on. the motion of Mrs. Williams it was decided that classes be organised forthwith. The Director of Educa-tion read an application from students who had. been attending .classes for.. stammerers at Dyfattv School asking that the. classes might be continued for a .further period at the half guinea fee. The students had received great. benefit from the in- struction. gr?,at- 'b en4efit froiii the iii- Mr. T. TI{)MxPrd the hope that the clasps woul w^o on, as they had been the cltws. W7ouf*go (>n, as they. had been It was decided to continue the classes as requesi f.i. Mr. D. Matthews, in view of the lumber of Territorials in the town, l'idg- ,t,-Aed that more classes should be held in ambulance and first aid work, and this wa& alio agreed tew

TOMMY'S EXPEDIENT. I I FOURTH PHASE OF WAR ENTERED UPON. The following descriptive account I which has been communicated by an Eye-Witness present with General Head- quarters, continues and supplements the narrative published on 2nd iust., of the movements of the British force and the French armies in immediate touch with it. January 4. In the last summary of events it was stated that December 31 had passed un- eventfully. This was, however, incor- rect, for late on that evening some sharp fighting occurred on our right. A small position near the La Basse Canal was seized by the Germans, and shortly a r.e-taken by our troops. The Germans, however, again attacked during the night, and captured it. Our troops then made a second counter attack regaining possession of the ground and advancing beyond the original front. This advanced position was, however, found to be untenable, and the final re- sult of the fight was that our. line in this quarter was. re-organised, the particular point which had been the bone of con- tention being occupied by neither side. This fighting continued during the early hours of January 1. Our casualties, considering the nature of the action, were not severe. During Now Year's Day our guns in the right centre of our line shelled the Ger- man trenches with success, and are be- lieved to have inflicted considerable damage, During Saturday and Sunday, January 2 and 3. the enemy's artillery displayed more activity than usual, devoting their attention on the first day to our left and the second to our centre and right. On the third a German mortar was located opposite our right, aud was silenced by our guns. On the evening of this day a very bril- liant little affair took place on our right centre. About eight p.m. a party, con- sisting of one officer and 25 men, attacked a German trench, surprised the sentries before their could give the alarm, and bayonetted the occupants of the trench, twenty men in all, who were overpowered before they had time to make any resist- ance. We only sustained ihre6 casualties. During the last three days the weather, although milder, has continued very wet, aggravating the hardships of the men in the trenches. The River Lys is flooded for I a great part of its course, and in some places both sides had to evacuate their trenches—for the Germans are suffering no less than ourselves from this cause. Tho wet clay is so adhesive that even the stoutest of boots will sometimes give way under the strain. In order to keep as dry as possible many of the men go barefoot down the long communication trenches, and only put on their boots and socks when in the better-drained fire trenches. Even when active operations are not in progress, life in the fighting line is not so monotonous as might be supposed, for not only is continual work required to keep tho trenches dry and to prevent the earth in places from falling in, but there is daily and nightly work of more exciting naiure. There is the continual effort on each side to gain mastery in sniping, in sapping, and in bombardment by trench mortars and hand grenades. There is the construction and repair of harbed wire entanglements, the digging of trenches by night within close range of the enemy's sentries, and the carrying of messages by day over open ground swept by fire. All this calls as much for qualities of enterprise, coolness, endurance, and de- votion as any other form of warfare. The importance of establishing a superiority in methods required by trench warfare does not lie only in the material tesultRJ but in fiie moral ascendancy which superior weapons and greater skill gain for the side which possess them. The Germans attach great va'ne to all such forms of annoyance, and particu- larly to sniping, as is shown by their lavish distribution of Iron Crosses to sharp-shooters. But our men are not slow to repay them in their own coin, and even when no ground is being gained by either side a ceaseless struggle is being carried on to gain this ascendancy. There has probably never been a war which has presented sharper contrasts of comfort and discomfort-a life which is one perpetual struggle against cold, mud, water,and high explosive, is necessarily one of hardships and suffering, in spite of the cheerful endurance with which it its borne. But the sudden change from these surroundings to the security and comfort of warm billets, hot meals, and plenty of straw for bedding, where for all the signs of war one might be a hundred miles from the firing line, has intro- duced a new feature, and to the new comer is a never-failing surprise. Among the points in which we may fairly claim a superiority over the Ger- mans is that of clothing. Most of our prisoners express the greatest admiration of the excellence of our clothing, which appears to be considerably better in quality and warmer than theirs. It would appear that there is a good deal of sickness in the enemy's ranks. There have for some time past been a consider- able number of cases of typhoid, and some units have been withdrawn tem- porarily on this excuse- It is reported that the enemy has formed c ertain units, called field bat- taliona," which are maintained behind the front, and to which recruits of the ] class are sent to be trained- German '< m- panies now consist of a mixture of active soldiers, Landwehr, Landsturm, Ersatr Reservists, and Volunteers. These iaiter are considered to be very inferior. M ary of the Landwehr have been kept back until now in order to work in the mihes and in other industries, oJ lie Ellain that is being placed upon the enemy by the war is shown by an anno lacm^nt in the Bavarian press that on and after January 2 the military training institu- tion is prepared to receive volunteers be- tween the ages of sixteen and sixteen years and nine months, height not to be under 5ft. 3in.. The New Year has opened upon a more favourable situation for the allies than any they have known since the commence- ment of the campaign. So far as the British are concerned, the small Expeditionary Force of four divi- sions which took the field last August has now swelled into a army which is steadily increasing iu numbers, has become inured to war, and can look back on a record of hard fighting such as British troops have seldom sustained in the past. The struggle of the last four months has passed through three distinct phases, and has now entered upon a fourth. The first phase was repre- ¡ sented by a great outflanking advance of the Germans and the retirement of the allies, the second by our advance to the Aisne, and the third by the gradual ex- tension northwards on both sides to the North Sea, followed by the desperate at- tacks o the northern portion of the allied line. During all thect tinit neither side ob- tained a decisive victory, but each was striving to obtain that necessary prelimi- nary to victory which consists in gaining the initiadave-that is, in one adversary forcing the otihetr to confirm to his move- ments and subordinate his actions to those of his antagonist. On surveying the course of the struggle in the. western theatre it is soanotdmes difficult to say which aide has been at any given nomi.nt in this favourable position. The Germans certainly possessed the in- itiatiye during the first phase, and lost it in the second, while during the third they gained it by dint of greatly superior num- bers Drtfossed against one section. of our line. iVoaa, tim third week in October till about the middle of November the contest took the form of an attempt on the part of the enemy to break fhe allied line and gain tihe pai ta of Calais and Dunkirk, and on our part to prevent this attempt. In Lie essence, therefore, our immediate ob- ject at that time was a negative one, although regarding the war, as a whole the part then played by the French and British in the retention of large forces of the enemy in this theatre of war was a supremely important factor in achieving positive object. Since that time, however, a slow, but none the less marked, change has taken place, resulting in a definite passing of the initiative into the hands of the allies. The contest has thus entered upon a fourth phase. This is not shown so much by material results obtained, although at most points of the allied front ground has, been gained, and at some very marked progress, resulting in the capture of guns I and strongly entrenched positions, has been made. But our advantage lies in the j fact that it is now the allies who for the past few weeks have assumed and main- tained the offensive role, while the enemy has been acting, on the., defensiveo In order to understand what this implies it is necessary to bear in mind that the opera- tions in the western theatre must be riewod as a whole, and that progress must be judged by the sum total of results along the whole line and. not on any selection of it where, owing to the local conditions, the state of the country, or some other I consideration, a forward movement may i have been temporarily suspended. The fact also that the enemy is acting on the defensive does not mean that he has given up attacking altogether, as the; strong attacks delivered against the Bri- tish on Deeeinber 19 and 20, as well as against various sections of the French line at different times, sufficiently wit- ness. But these have all been in tho nature of counter-attacks, undertaken either in order to regain ground previously lost or to relieve pressure on some other part of the German line. It is only by balancing the total re- sults of these attacks on both sides one against the other, and by understanding the difference of the motives inspiring them, that a clear idea can bo obtained of the really marked progress achieved by the allies. The German defensive 58 active only if founded on the axiom of war that the weaker a force is and the more hardly it is pressed the more per- sistently should it attack. But it re- mains true that such action is none the lem easenti'?.Hy defensive, even though here and there one of their c<mnter-? attack may succeed in regaining pos- session of a trench or in driving back a small section of our front. It has frequently been pointed ontl that the present form of warfare is neither more nor less than siege opera- tions on a gigantic scale, and that pro- gress in such operations cannot be measured by the standard of field opera- t40ns. But the importance of such pro- gress as is now being made lies in two factors, one being moral, the other material. If we retain the, initiative it will mean that the German soldier will gardually become increasingly conscious that he is no longer marching on Calais or Paris, that instead of pressing forward his role is merely to maintain what has already been won, and that even this limited ob- ject is not being attained. Hitherto he has continually been told that reinforce- ments are about to arrived and that an advance in force is imminent, while re- ports of startling victory by land and sea are disseminated broadcast in the ranks. But such fabrications can no longer carry any conviction when the Troops realise that. instead of attacking, they are stationary or even retiring, and the morale of the enemy must inevitably be- come affected. The more thoroughly they are now deceived as to their true position the greater will be the disillu- sionment if they realiae that ultimate victory is unattainable, while upon an army such as that of the Germans, which! has been taught to exalt the cult of the offensive almost into a fetish, the mere consciousness of being reduced to act on the defensive must have a most dis- couraging effect. The other factor is the material advan- tage in the cumulative effect of a con- tinued advance, however slow. The cap- ture of some village, hill, or line of trenches may not be a great feat in itself, but it may enable the attackers to bring up their guns to a more favourable posi- tion to enfilade some area, and so render it untenable,, or to direct fire on the enemy's communications. The final consequence of repeated small successes such as these may be that the enemy is forced to abandon strategically tactically important points such as towns. railway junctions, and river crossings, and fall back to another line of defence alto- gether. The effect of such a success will depend on the direction of the attack, on the extent to which it t1. -eatens the enemy's communications, and the extent of territory which on that account it compels him to abandon. It must not, however, be thought that this is other than a very slow and laborious progress, or that this result is within immediate reach. Yet, every capture by the allies of a trench represents a loss of ground for which the enemy has expended much blood and treasure, and is a step forward in the process of attrition which will even- tually bring the war to an end. In order to find any parallel to the general feature of such warfare as is now waged, it is necessary to go back to days when nations sought to defend their ter- ritories by continuous lines of entrench- ments or fortifications. There have been instances of this both in ancient history such as the great wall of China and the Koman wall in Britain, and also in modern tioMfc I Curiously enough, the very part of Flanders where the British army is now operating was in the early eighteenth can- tury defended by euoh continuous lines of fortifications—the famous so-oalled Ne 1'1 us Ultra" line, designed by Vauban, and consisting of an elaborate system of dykes, canals, and entrenchments stretch- ing across the low-lying valleys of the Scheldt, Scarpe, and Lys to the sea. The method of overcoming such resist- ance does not differ in principle from that employed in those days, and there is first the careful selection of the most suitable points for attack, the preparation by bom- bardment, the advance by sap and para- llel, the organisation of assaulting columns, and the minute preparations made for establishing a foothold in each successive outwork as a point d'appui for a further advance on the main line of works. It is such operations as these j which are being carried out on a front of socie 360 miles, and it is only by bear- ing in mind the limitations neeossarily imposed by such warfare that the allies' I progress at this stage can be estimated. January 8th. During the last four days the weather has been warm, but still continues rainy, the rainfall during the last few weeks having been altogether exceptional, even for Flanders. Some further details are now to hand of the extremely well-planned and dash- ing attack carried out on the 3rd inst., which 't£l.' referred to in the last sum- mary, when a party of twenty-five men under an officer rushed a German trench and bayonetted twenty of the enemy. The trench was a sap-head, which had been lengthened, to admit of its being held by about twentv-fivo men. It was, there- fore, an isolated post in advance of the enemy's main line. The party advanced across two hundred yards of open ground, and crept up to within a few paces of the sentries. The night favoured the enterprise, for it was pitch dark and raining. The 6entries heard nothing and saw nothing until our men had crossed the parapet and were already in the trench. Not a shot was fired from first to last, and the work was done in grim silence with cold steel. More- over, it was done thoroughly. Having cleared the trench our men dug through several yards of earth which separated it from a ditch full of water, and having drained the water into the trench and thus rendered it untenable for the Ger- mans, withdrew, with a loss of only three to their number, to their lines. On Monday, January 4, the enemy's artillery, which during the previous two days ha,d maintained a vigorous bom- bardment on various sections of our- line, was much less active, although there was heavy shelling on our left. Our artillery on the right was especially successful. An explosion was observed in the enemy's lines south of La Baesee, caused either by the blowing up of an ammunition wagon or, possibly, of a magazine by one of our shells. A hostile battery was also silenced to the north- east of that place. During the day pumping operations were heard in the enemy's trenches op- posite our centre, and it is thought they may be using pumps to drain the trenches worked by electricity from the electric power station at Lille. In some places the Germans have re- cently been discovered attempting to pump water from their trenches into ours but this, owing to the flat nature of the ground, has been singularly unsuccess- ) ful. I The problem of how best to get Tid of the water is one which is engaging the! attention of both sides. Muddy water has been found difficult to pump, but I this difficulty is being overcome. Con- tinual baling pumping are required. On Tuesday, the 5th, the cannonade was again more brisk. Our left was shelled heavily, though with extremely little re- sult. Among other points the village of Neuve Eglise was selected as a target for the enemy's guns. In this quarter our artillery proved itself superior to that of the enemy, and effectively checked the bombardment of our trenches. There was also heavy shelling on the right centre. The enemy's trench mortars were very active. On Wednesday, the 6th, the Germans shelled the suburbs of Armentieres heavily, but on tho rest of the line the day passed quietly. We continued to make steady progress on the right, in spite of the difficulties produced by water. According to the reports of aviators, whole districts in Southern Belgium are now needed, for the Schedit, as well as the Lys, has overflowed itsj! banks. On the night of the 6th-7th the enemy on our left showed unusual activity, parties of men being observed moving I about in the rear of the hostile trenches. Our men opened fire on them, and prob- ably inflicted some loas, for stretcher- bearers were seen later in the night searching the ground. On Thursday, January 7, our artillery drove the enemy from one of his trenches opposite our centre. On the right centre our trench motars scored a success by. destroying a house which was be-ng rs»d by the enemy's snipers, and it is believed' that the occupants were killed. i The Germans are reported to be collect- ing all the brass they can find— no doubt for the purpose of extracting the copper required for making fuses. For this pur- pose the towns and villages behind the front are systematiclyransacked and everything that contains copper is seized, from church bells to household utensils of all kinds. A good deal has been said in the press about the bad feeling always latent be- tween South Germans and Prussians. It is easy to exaggerate this feeling, but there is no doubt it exists, as any conver- I sation with prisoners proves. Our Saxon. I and Bavarian prisoners not in- frequently indulge in abuse of their Prussian comrades, and it is re- I ported that on one occasion a Saxou dir- I closed the fact that certain trenches j which had been occupied by his unit were going to be taken over by a Prussian battalion next morning, and j expressed the hope that we would start shelling them after the relic-f had taken place. Information continues to come in as to the prevalence of typhoid in thi) enemy's ranks, and the military hM- pitals in Belgium are reported to con- tain many cases. The German losses appear to have been very heavy during the fighting of the last few weeks. According to prisoners the average strength of com- panies in corps which attacked the British on December 20 had been before that date 120. but after it they did not muster 70. Some interesting statistics of losses in a German company have been obtained from a oolotfr-sergeant's pay list which has fallen into our hands. It covers the period from the outbreak of war to October 10, during which time the company lost 70 per cent. of its strength in non-commissioned officers and 60 per cent. of its strength in men. But a point which is of great interest is the very high proportion of killed to wounded, being no less than 35 to 91, or about 38 per cent. Of a draft of 78 non-com- missioned officers and men who arrived during the week of September 8 49 are recorded as killed, wounded, or missing 11 uring the ensuing month. From SgurM ,hich have been obtained relating tc other units these losses are certainly not exceptional. Various means of enabling men who have suffered from exposure and hardship in the trenches to rest and recuperate have already been mentioned, such as fchf use of baths after their turn of duty ie over and convalescent homes for those who temporarily requi re rest. All these means are combined, and can be seen to the best advantage at the large establishment at the General Headquarters which is being used as a convalescent home, capable of accommodating one thousand men. The building is a jute factory, which has only lust been built and has not yet been used. To this are brought men who may be suffering from minor ailments, su-dh aA swollen feet, rheumatism, neuritis, and exhaustion, the results of life in the open in such weather as we have experienced. On being brought in the men axe at once given a bath in a shed heated by steam, which runs along one side of the build- ing. Their clothing is taken away, and either destroyed or cleaned, and they are then admitted into the main "building, with its rows of beds, where they can rpot until well enough to return. The com- plete change, and, above all. the effecte of a good wa&h work wonders, and a few days are generally sufficient to render them again quite fit for work. When re- covered they are not at once sent back to duty in the trenches, but are given light work for a few days at the headquarters of their units. Experiences of this war have caused many profound modifications in tho theories commonly held before it broke out, but no factor was, perhaps, so under- estimated as the effect of high explosive projectiles fired hy runs and howitzers. The opening of the war found tho Allies in a position of inferiority to the enemy in this respect, an inferiority which has, however, since been made good, and the Germans are now experiencing to a far greater extent than before the de- vastating effect of these missiles. The suecessos of the Japanese at Port Arthur had given an inkling of the potentialities of heavy howitzers against permanent fortifications, but the deci- sive effect of high explosive against troops in the field in well-concealed en- trenchments has come as a complete sur- prise. The gunner, and more especially the garrison gunner, has come into his own, for this arm of the service has assumed importance greater probably than it has ever before possessed, and certainlv greater than it has known since the time of Napoleon, who, an artillery officer himself, placed great reliance on th43 moral and material effect of fhe fire of massed batteries concentrated against that section of the enemy's line which it. was his intention to break. But for the last hundred years, against troops in the field, artillery has, generally speaking been depended on to create a moral effect rather than to achieve anv great material result, and it has been re- served for this war to prove that it is the chief agent in destroying the enemy's power of resistance. It is extremely hard to conceal positions of trenches from an aerial observer, and once their position is notified to the guns and the exact range is obtained it is not long before whole lengths of trenches will be blown np and entanglement trous de loup (wolf traps) and every form of obstacle, however, in- genious, swept away. That the moral effect is very great is shown, by written and verbal evidence of prisoners who have lately been captured. The allied artillery is general assuming superiority over German, a factor of great importance in the prosecution at oui general offensive.

IJP! f"UiP": 1 -=-II- Try what a refreshing, easily digested, anti I speciaHy nourishing food beverage may be j; made with Benger's Food in combination with l| tea or coffe e, cocoa or chocolate. Benger's Food, prepared with fresh || new milk, forms a dainty and delicious cream. If half Benger s Food so prepared, is mixed with half freshly made tea, etc., its digestive advantages are added with | great success to the refreshing qualities 01 the tea. t Senger"s Food also mixes agreeably will LH 8 I stimulants when these may be medically rm- FOOD ? t FOR INFANTs.INVAUDS, ¥ I "AND THE AGED. W ■ o¡d by chemists, ttc.,aJtryw!zen. ':? "1kn"r'. Food nnd how 10 uee i1.- '!W ? (f p-r-TiW. Fj- 1 ■"—— ^7 The infomati?,f .11 F-d WJ i'jf JfA S i 'jl IH r-oolclets lent post free on applic*. j; tim to If f\W l7Z/ BERBER S rOOD, Ltd., 1 Wfr/I '???' '????'? ? MANCHESTER, Eng. 1 !"¡ty Branch OFPTCES 'h II/ Vw ?'? (U,S.A.) "2. Villi™ St. ]; ? //?/??*<?Y& f\ ?'' ?\'??  ?????''??w ey (N.S.W.): 117. P,tt Seet. ??'?<V ?'??*? '? ?? SydN JrJ'i l /A i\ JO? Canadian Agent*.■ G"br'l StIft4 Uwr«E«, 11 V Co.. Ltd, 34. (? ell, .d b.-h. tb,? .t Canacia. ,i á amu—ILUI^W

SWANSEA COMPENSATION APPEAL In the Court of Appeal, the case of MoCardle v. the' Swansea Harbour Trust was mentioned to the Master of the Rolls, Lords Justices Swinfen Eady and Phillimore upon an application for lean. to entertain an appeal although the time limit had expired. It was stated that a workman named McCardle died from the bursting of an aneurism. He had been employed in moving weights. For his death a claim of compensation was made. This the County Court Judge at Swansea decided in favour of the employers on the ground that death had -not been substantially acceler- ated by the work at which the man was engaged. It was important before the applicant appealed that her advisers should see the notes of the judge, and these could not be obtained until after the expiration of the usual time for appeal. Their Lordships gave leave to enter the appeal as asked for.

LIGHT. PASTRY and Dainty Cakes & Buns easily made with iKgnmr njanufactured from purest wheaten flour scientifically MSm, combined with the correct self raising ingredients, 0^; S9I Goes further than plain 9 flour and baking powder gives more uniiorm results. Cenuine "Red Rins" Flour is old by all Grocers m special WUS Det weight bagS with two rod — j r bands. Price 2id. per lb.   ? ?? Be particular to ask for ?.. J ■ "4"~RED R1' ,;?"and se* \<.?-.?? ? yo.?.? ??t't<tHttnF t* ——