Abergavenny Chronicle

II. A WASPS' NEST. "Bv ONE WHO WAS THERE. "] Shell holes are a feature of the war, which cuts Loth ways. When a patrol is advancing they afford very useful resting places, where the situation may be dis- cussed and a plan of action for the most criticid part d the reconnaissance in hand may be made, or they may be used as a temporary refuge. That is, of course, when the shell hole is found to be empty. On the other hand, the shell hole may prove to be a very wasp's nest of angry Huns, so that reconnoitring them has an excitement peculiarly its own. It was on a mission of this kind that a second lieutenant, a corporal, and five men of the Hampshire Regiment left the English lines at ten o'clock of a blazing August morning. After a long and care- ful stalking tour, in which many shell holes and hedges were searched, the result was a blank. The m ission of the patrol had now really been accomplished, but the feeling against returning empty handed was so strong with the Hampshire men that the temptation to explore a ruined house in the vi« initv r-ould not be resisbed. (Continwd in nerJ column )

I BY THE WAY. I Random Jottings about Men and! Things. I The Secret of the Drum. i? ke?lf?umsof a famous Vienna •trcnestra .iviurmr. g 1 i 1 frj:n a Hungarian tour were 1 rVuni to contain flour and were confisM:*M. It is hardly in the nature J ?1), a drnin?k'?'ta.s?c'e?. | -W I A Traveller's Tribute, A jis.diargod soldier told the Maryu-uone magistrate that he had heard nothing so bias- ohenious as his wife's lan- j II guage since lie left Mesopotamia. That j blessed vvori .3 apparently on speaking terms with one or two vi all It's Another Colour Now." T' '? I That war is "a brutal, ] remorseless thing, says the j North German Gazette," comes home clearly to every one of as nowadays in cur very tlesh and j bmes." V?y ante rent from what they -1 1.?- c- i i ? tioin lhollC11tt 1 WJ. 'l T ?e *,I,,ev thought it wj.-?.?!!? to ue when thfyL?n?? The Falling Idols. 1 1 -rr t h ,?, H-T" R<.hrbach, the Carman j :Ldir,an cnric. complains of ¡  the 'y in which official! n:cs«ages disguise the serious- j ness of the German defeat. He asks, "Are Hindenburg and Ludendorff gods? Can they do no wrong ? Well, the German Press has always led us to understand so, but rofh and Haig seem to oe undermining the faih. The New Nation. The Czechs, who have just j been recognised by the British Government as a distinct i nation, following upon the brilliant services rendered by their ex- prisoners in Russia, have a history of nearly 1,500 years. In the Middle Ages their king- dom of Bohemia. was one of the foremost; States upon the Continent. The country was j frightfully ravaged by the German armies in ( the Thirty Years' War, and of its population of 4,000,000 only a quarter was believed to have survived The revival of tho C/ech language and the sense of Bohemian nation- ality was one of the most interesting features j of the nineteenth century. The whole nation bitterly resented the ord er to fight in A ustrw's quarrel against its Russian kinsfolk, and more than a quarter of a million Czechs surrendered without fighting. The popula- | tion of the Czechs-Slovak State, when it j comes into existence will be about ten millions. Savers of the Soil. The bulk of the French J fighting force consists of I peasants from the fields, j Here are two characteristic stories of them. Where they were fighting a j regiment was crawling under heavy tire through the cornfields next to some meadows, Some of the men left the protection of the cornfield and wriggled through the grass of the meadow. An officer shouted out: Wha-, are you doing there, exposing yourselves for nothing? The men, who were peasant soldiers, answered back: "We had rather stop heTe in the grass than damage that corn- field." The other anecdote of the peasant soldier is this. A regiment which had just been having a bad time in the front lines was put three or four miles back. The men were worn out, but. after a few hours' rest, some of the soldiers discovered scythes in the village, and went out top-cap the corn from the fields, saying We do not want this corn to be lost. and God knows what would happen to it if I those careless artillery chaps came after us." Certified Occupations. A new list of Certified Occupations is about to be j issued by the Ministry of National Service. It wl? i,? "a-' I siderably amend the list at present in use, I which appeared in June. 1917. and is there- fore somewhat out-of-date. The fact that news of the appearance of the new list co- incided with the offensive operations in France has given rise in some quarters to the idea that our present success had some bear- ing on the policy of the Ministry of National Service with regard to occupations considered to be of national importance in other words, that the meshes of the calling-up net were consequently to be enlarged. A little reflec- tion would, of course, have shown that this cannot be the case. The list of Certified Occupations has been compiled with the greatest care by the Trade Exemptions' Department of the [Ministry in closest con- sultation with the trades affected, and considerable time has necessarily been de- voted to its production. The Ministry is obliged to deal with the man-power problem many months ahead, and the sudden issue of a new list simply because we have won a victory or suffered a defeat is utterly out of the question. As a matter of fact, the real need for a new list arose out of the last Military Service Act, the raising of the mili- tary age making it essential to include a number of trades which did not appear in the old list.

CORRECTED PUNCTUATION OR THE THREE FULL STOPS. The Kaiser, in his proclamation to the German people at the beginning of the fifth year of the war, said, "The worst is behind us." With the addition of three futi stops the sentence has an entirely different meaning. and one much nearer the truth. Lord Reading, our Ambassador to the United States, says:— In no direction is the spirit of wholehearted co-operation more striking than in the magnificent contribution which America has made and rs continuing to make to the man power of the Allies. When, in the grave anxieties of the end of March, at the request of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, I asked the President to order with- | out delay the acceleration of the despatch of j American troops and to allow them to be | trained and used with the French and j British troops, his answer was an immediate and wholehearted assent, his only limitation [ as to the numbers of men being the shipping capac ity to carry them. It was an historic | moment which imry in the future be regarded as the turning point of the war.'

L?HY ?WE MUST USE ?F?RL I WHY WE MUST USE FORCE. | VU The Prussian of to-day can only inspire the nations W/ /A\ of Europe with a deeper hatred, can only goad them (M W to demoniac frenzy. Prussia will rob them all she can, W ? and what she steals she will want to keep. Those (y) ? whom she has conquered and oppes.ed will remain )? W for ever under her heel. She will force every foreign vQ) ? people to subordinate their civilisation 10 her own /M W barbarism. She believes in nothing but brute force in w domestic and foreign politics alike. She recognise* nc xx power on earth but compulsion." VVi (From the Diary of Dr. Muehlon, formerly a director (y/ of Krupp's armament xvorks at Essen, Germany.) M

ENEMY MACHINE GUNS. I Writiih Official. I In the recent fighting In France thousands of machine gung, like those being carried back by our men, were captured from the enemy.

I THE WOMAN'S PART. Notes about Preparing Green Salads. I [By MAEGAHEI OSBORNE.] Before the war our dinner talks hardly reminded us whether it was summer or winter. We shared in all the fruit harvests of the world, and the plentiful supplies of orangey and bananas gave town children nearly as-cheap and easy a chance of iruit in wmter as in summer. Australian apples, ripened when our trees were thinking of coming into lud, could be had fresh and beautiful when the last of our shrivelled and wrinkled store was coming to an end. And jams and tinned fruits, fruits bottled in water or in syrup were available from X-J\V Year's day to December 31st. Our Frwndless Winter. Last winter tilings were very different. The dups which might have brought us oranges and lemons and bananas were wanted for other and more important thing-. There were very few of these fruits, and currants, raisins and sultanas were very scarce even jam was difficult to get. We grumbled, but we did not suffer in health, because our bodies are so planned that we can do very well with- out fruit when fruit is not in season. Modern progress has not altered their constitution, which carried our ancestors through a winter without any oi these things; unless the rich man had a few spiced and candid delicacies from the East, or the yeoman dried prunes or preserved wild strawberries, or the tiny gooseberries of those days in honey. They ate fruit enough in the summer to make them independent of it for the fruitless months, and last year we did the same. But this year the fruit is wanted for jam for the troops we are getting very little of it now, we shall not have much jam in the wdnter, and the orange and banana ships which were busy carrying corn and meat last year will be wanted to bring over American solders to help us to final vctory. How shall we fare in the winter if we have not had our year's dose of fruit this snmmer; We Must Make Up With Creen Food. We shall do quite well without it if we make the best of our chances in the summer months now though the chances do not include much ripe fruit. Our bodies are made to allow for this deprivation also. Before the days of coach-roads and railways the many districts of Ireland and Scotland and some of England where little fruit ripens and that little is not of the kind that keens. had to go without fruit whether the country was at war or peace. But they ate much more uncooked vegetable food than we do. What they called a "green sallet was a most important part of their meal from the time that green shoots first appeared to the day when all vegetation died down in the autumn. If we are content to see it only once a week carefully arranged in a bowl with garnishings of tomato and cucumber, we are not taking our chance of the good things that summer offers, and we are likely to feel the lack of it before the summer comes again. The want of this food will not, of course, show itself in any definite disease, but in low health, disinclination to work, headaches, languid or restlessness. Some people will say salad does not agree with them.. This may be true. But it is more likely that what doe.s not "agree is the vinegar with which they are accustomd to drench their lettuce or cucumber. A little vinegar is not a danger- ous thing but a great deal is. Fortunately, it is not easy to buy a great deal I Enough as Cood as a Feast. Then some people eat too much salad at a time. They imitate rabbits, which will cheer- fully eat too much of almost anything and rabbits at any rate nibble their salad indus- triously, while the people with whom salad fails to agree generally bite it very perfunc- torily. A very little "green stuff," a little mustard and cress in a sandwich, a leaf of lettuce with cold cooked vegetables or nicely seasoned cold boiled rice or macaroni, or with hot meat, as Frenchmen like to eat it, is the thing. Salad should be a relish," not a meal, or rather the green sallet is a relish and the salad which is to form a meal should be composed mostly of cooked food. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a very little will make no difference. I Use Discrimination. Of course salad is not very wholesome for young children, and fortunately children, who can liai-e fresh milk do not need it. Children between three and twelve may with advantage have a little, but should on no account be allowed to eat it with vinegar. Remember that dried eggs, dried vegetables, custard powders, preserved suet, condensed and dried milks are very valuable in their way, but their way is not the natural way. The more we rely upon these scientifically prepared foods, the more necessary is it to remember that we cannot ever be independent of the natural fruits of the earth in due time." I CUT THIS OUT. 1- MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. Marrow au Cratin.—INGREDIENTS. —1 young marrow, t pint milk and marrow stock, i oz. cornflour, 2 ozs. cheese, seasoning. METHOD.—Peel the marrow, quarter and seed it. Cut it up into convenient-sized blocks. Boil in enough slightly-salted water to just cover it till tender. Then lift out and drain the pieces. Put them in a fireproof baking or pie dish. Coat over with cheese souce, made in the usual way with milk, marrow stock, cornflour, and some of the cheese. Shake over the remaining cheese, and bake till the latter is browned. Brain Cutlets.—INGREDIENTS.—1 oz. fat. I oz. flour, i pint milk, small onion, teaspoon chopped sage, brains, salt, pepper. METHOD.—Blanch the brains, pick out veins and skins, and chop them. 31ejt the fat in a saucepan and cook the flour in it for a few minutes, stirring all the time. War-flour needs more cooking than is allowed for in pre-war recipes for white-sauce. Let the sauce cool and add the sage, tin onions, chopped up and lightly fried, and and as much chopped brains as will make a stiff mixture. If the quantity is too small, the cutlets may be made partly of brains and partly of boiled rice, which must be well seasoned. Egg-and-bread-ciunib and fry in hot fat. The same mixture may be sprinkled with crumbs and baked in a greased fireproof dish. Sheeps' Tongues with Savoury Pudding.— INGREDIENTS.—4 sheep's tongues, 1 onion, 1 car- rot, 1 turnip, 1 oz. cornflour, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. For pudding.—4 oz. flour, 4 oz. cold porridge, 2 oz. sago, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 1 tea- spoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, salt, pepper. METHOD.—Well wash and scrape the tongues, the 4 will weigh about 11 lb. Lay them in & saucepan with enough cold water to cover them, and a little salt; bring to the boil and skim. Add the vegetables, cleaned and [Ccntinucd at foot of next column.]

I FOOD TOPICS. I I Items about Production and Rationing. j [By SMALLHOLDER. "I I The Hen's Rations. The date for applying L,r special poultry rations has been extended to September i. Poultry-keepers should apply for form. t8 the Secretary of the Feeding-stufti Com- mittee for their area, whose address can tA had at the Ministry of Food, New Goanty Hall, London, S.E. 1. More Plough Land. Sir Charles Fielding says this year's grain harvest is the greatest garnered since 1863, and he says we are yet going to have many million more acres under the plough. Farmers everywhere are tumbling to the fac4 that it pays to have their own tractors and 'JO buy the best reapers and binders. They &avo la bour and expense enormously. A Desperate Situation. When you read of a German profiteer beinc fined £ 75,000, it only means that th9 ha authorities are at their wits-end- T-M situation is so desperate that even capital punishment could not restore order and fair- ness to the Food Control. It is so desperat* that the Food Controller himself has givea larger rations to Berlin than to the oth- towns. As in the (.lays of the French Revolu- tion, the capital is to be favoured at the expense of the provinces. And now com"a poorish harvest I The Allies' Common Table. It is in view of all this, and of the fair and wise division of sufficient supplies amonf the Allies, that Mr. Clynes is justified in say- ing that food will have a good deal to do witk winning the war. If we only pby the gajiw, it must soon be won. The moral effect ol recent victories in depressing Germany haa been tremendous, and no wonder. When tht Germans realise what is meant by the Inter- Allied Food Council, what security it giv<e« us. and what relative plenty sitting, as ll were, at a common table, they will under- stand at last that, for them, the game is up. Our victories will find them without hope. But we have to hold fast until they kuow the position as well as we do. A Striking Contrast. Some of the daily papers have given prominence to the following cürnparison ol weekly food allowances, made by th* National Food Journal Butter and Margarine London, 5 oz. Berlin, 2k oz. Meat London, average 16 oz. (many kinda oi meat are ration free); Berlin, 8i oz. Sugar: London, 8 oz. Berlin, 64 oz. Potatoes London, Unrationed; Berlin, 3 Ht. 4g oz. Bread London, Unrationed; Berlin, 3 Ih.. 134 oz. This is very good as far as it goes, but in regard to supplies, the rest of Germany is muca worse off than Berlin, whereas the rest of Great Britain is) on the whole, better off thaa London. The German, rationing system hjut actually broken down- I German Failure. If you look at the German papers, you see butter advertised at £1 per lb., and this means that there are people openly defying food Orders that fix the maximum prices--ia certain districts at 2s. 6d. and 3s. You see other defiances in plenty. You find the local food authorities themselves conniving at them. The Government have made good laws aboafc food and issued no fewer than 30,000 order* in vain! How has it happened ? It haa happened through the desperate scarcity ai supplies. When there is not enough food to furnish the legal rations, or when these are too small, farmers find that they can get enormous sums by selling their stocks to profiteers secretly. Hunger is such a dim thing that they and the profiteers and all who can pay high prices defy the laws boldly, and. even local committees are less concerned to enforce these laws than to feed the people ar. any cost whatever. There is then no check. There is nothing even to prevent speculative trading by strings of middlemen—what th. Germans call "cliaiia trade." The rich pay readily, although they grumble; the poor starve.

(Continued from last coltiiiin.) Shaking out into extended order, the patrol cautiously approached the building, but this was indeed a wasp's nest. A machine gun and thirty rifles opened fire, and most unluckily the young English officer was severely wounded in both legs, almost at the first shot. The German force now advanced rapidly against the Englishmen, who were outnumbered bv six to one. The situation was indeed serious for the latter, but the corporal was of stout stuff. He at once took command, and the patrol dropped into some shell holes and kept up rapid fire at the advancing enemy—that rapid fire which has been the envy and despair of the Ger- mans since 1914. Several of the Germans dropped, but the remainder rushed on until thev were within fifteen years of the little English force. Seizing the opportunity, the corporal shouted to his men to hurl their bombs at the enemy, and then to break off the fight at once. The bombs were hurled with deadly effect, and in the con- fusion thus caused the patrol managed to get safely back to our lines. Later in the day a patrol under a second lieutenant succeeded in bringing in the wounded officer. He was our only casualty, while the Germans had suffered very severely. The work of the patrol was a typical example of the English non-commissioned officers' initiative and powers of leadership.

[Cont'nued (ram prerivus column.] cut in quarters, and let all simmer till th08 tongues are soft when pierced by a skewer. This should be in about two hours if the pot 11. .been gently simmering the whole time. Peel the tongues and trim them, dish and pour par*- ley sauce over them. The sauce is made by mixing the cornflour smoothly with a little milk or cold water and stirring it into the boiimj stock from which the tongues were taken. Un- less the stock is thoroughly stirred while mixing, the sauce will be lumpy. Cook gently for five minutes; add parsley and seasoning. To make the pudding mix all the ingredient* thoroughly, and add water enough to make a soft dough. Steam in a well-greased basia for 3 hours, or boil in a pudding cloth for I hours. It will save fuel to make the pudding mixture stiff instead of soft, form it into small dumplings and boil them for about half au koiur with the tongues. Lemon Trifle.—INGREDIENTS.—1 pint lemon- ade, 1J oz. cornflour, i pint water, pint eta- tar j powder custard, t oz. grated cocoa-nut. METHOD.—Make a pint of lemonade with crystals, using rather more crystals to the pint of water than is directed on the packet. Bring it to boiling point in a saucepan and stir in th.e cornflour smoothly mixed with water; bring to the boil again, stirring quickly till quite smooth and thick. Simmer for eight minutes, stirring occasionally, then pour into a bowl and leave zo get cold. Make i pint custard with packet custard and sweetened condensed milk. Whea cold, pour it on the lemon mixture. Scatter the cocoa nut, lightly browned in the oven, oa the top. f Vegetables in Batter. —INGREDIENTS. — 3 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon chopped suet, 2 preserved eggs, i teacup milk, salt, nutmeg, breakfast cup of cold cooked vegetables. METHOD.—Mix the preserved eggs as directed on the label. Dried eggs are improved by stand- ing rather longer than the directions advise.. Mix smoothly with the flour and milk and beat till little bubbles appear on ti.e top. Add the suet and a pinch of salt. The batter should b4 of the consistency of cream, and may need little added milk at this stage. Let the battef stand an hour. Slice and chop ths vegetables (the more variety of these the better) into pieoes half an inch square. Stir the baking powder into the Latter, then the vegetables, bake in a pie-dish in a quick oven till well-risen and brown, taking care not to burn the top. Chocolate Mirror.—INGREDIENTS.—LI pint custard, 1 tablespoon cocoa, 2 tablespoons hot milk, teaspoon butter, 5 drops vanilla essence. METHOD.—Make one a half pinta of custard. according to directions on packet, using cOD- densed milk to sweeten it. Pour into a bowl or deep dish. Mix cocoa and hot milk, stir la butter and vanilla, put it in a cup in the ov4sa for a few minutes to heat, then spread it over the custard in the bowl. It should be quite shiny on the surface. Ii.