Norwich bulletin., 1914-08-27

One highly interesting and important | sidelight on the present European war given on Wednesday by Attorney Will ! liam H. Shields, who with Mrs Shields | had reached this city the night before from London, was that England had troops in Belgium seven weeks before the battle of Liege took place. In this MT. Shields sees the explanation of the reason for, the bold stand of the Bel gians, who knew before they ever fired a shot that they had the unqualified support of England.
 Mir. Shields explained that he oo- tained this hitherto unknown fact of the presence of English troops in Bel gium so leng before the battle through acquaintance with an English woman who told of a relative of her that had lost his employment as driver or a London notorious, and who gave the information that the government had taken them over and was removing all the seats from them The next chain in the evidence came through a young man. an English officer. who happened the beginning of the battle of Liege and was awakened by an extraordinary rumbling in the streets What was his surprise when he looked out of the window of the hotel to see London mo- torbuses filled with English soldiers rumbling through the streets of Brus- sels towards Liege.
 When MT. and Mrs. Shields were coming out through the Straits ->pf Dover, a week ago Sunday, they saw the London motorbuses aboard boats | filled with wounded English soldiers i on the way back to England. | London newspapers said not a word about the movement of English troops at home or abroad. The streets are full of marching troops, but not a word | ing.
 Mir. Shields was enthusiastic in his admiration of the English troops that he saw, which. he said. he did not be- lieve could be matched in the world They were a body of earnest, stalwart without trace of rowdyism.
 Everywhere on the island the trooI trains are moving towards the south
 the government having taken over al
 the railways. and all passenger traffic
 has to stand aside.
 England is an earnest, united people
 on the subject of the war, he says, anC
 all minor issues have been dropped
 Every suffragist in prison has been lib erated: They couldn't get hearint
 now, for the people are too busy talk
 ing. The Irish question has beer , dropped and the Britons are openl,
 expressing their admiration of thi! stand on the part of the home rule ad . The Boy Scouts are coming into us,
 as guardians of bridges, culverts, tel
 egraph lines and other things tha might be damaged by Germans or Aus
 trians in England
 | One of the remarkable circum
 stances in the experience of Nil Shields in London was that while h
 was trying to arrange with a maj } who had two tickets for passag across to sell, a man stepped up t . him and asked: Aren't you Nil
 Shields of Norwich. Conn? I've see
 you trying cases there?"
 Further questioning brought out tn ' fact that the man was a stepson O 2 the late George Osborn, who died man years ago.
 Buying the tickets brought out an 2 other interesting circumstance. MI l Shields bought them from d man an d woman and noticed that the woma signed the name of Violet kembe
 Cooper. The middle name led M
 Shields to ask the lady if she had an . | relationship to Fannie Kembell. tn f great actress. for whose art he has Q profnud admiration. Yes" answere ,, the lady: 'I am related to her and tn f Siddons."
 Then she asked MT. Shields if h
 had ever seen the play Peg O'M | Heart and when the Norwich attorne = replied in the affirmative, and that
 had been in New York, he was moI
 than surprised to have her tell hiI {. that she had played the character
 the English girl in the New York ru II of the play and must have been th | one whom he saw Mir. Shields wa | prompt to express his great apprt 1 citation of the admirable portrayal T the character which she gave and CT = joyed a delightful hour or two in tf
 company of the two people during tt .o complications which the transfer
 the tickets involved.