Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-10-06
SideHQhtS on the Great War

Rotterdam, September 13.-An Aus.
trian captain, wounded in the battle
of Siabats, is quoted in The Bohemia,
a newspaper published at Prague, in
part as follows:
THE Servian infantry is very brave,
but does not shoot as well as it might.
The only good shots the Servians have
are the Komitadje ~irregulars, who, con-
cealed in the foliage of bushes and
trees make a specially of shooting
| down the Austrian officers.
.'The Servian artillery is excellent,
accounted for in part by the circum-
stances that fighting in it's w coun-
try it is fully familiar with the terri
tory. As a result their range is good,
all the more so since they are given by
the natives information which we can
not get, of course. Generally n direc-
! ton of advance of our army is given
by the Servian peasants to their army
by the lighting of great straw fires. IN
the sepulcher under the church IN
Siabats we found a telephone station
with wires running to the various Ser
Wan headquarters.
"But the Servian soldiers are brave.
Some of our tactics are peculiar. NOW
and then numbers of them permit
themselves to be made prisoners OF
war for the mere purpose of supporting
a plan of ambush. Cases, too, have
been known in which prisoners OF war
made attacks on u men with hand
grenades concealed by them. The con-
fusion resulting from this has in many
instances allowed the escape OF the
prisoners.
1--WE have found that women fight us
with rifles, while even children are en-
ployed to throw bombs. A twelve year
old girl, who was shot through the
legs. and was taken into the hospital
at Neusatz, boosted of having thrown
sixteen bombs among Austro-Hungar-
ian troops"
London, September 10-The rapidity
with which the wound. of soldiers are
healed. and the practical absence of
blood poisoning cases, has been a sur
prise in view of the deadly effective
ness of the modern army weapons.
"The a%ntiseptic treatment of Wounds
almost Immediately after their inf1ic-
ton has a great deal to do with the
fact that cures are effected in such a
short time as has been demonstrated
in the London hospitals" said n OF
the physicians in attendance upon the
wounded British soldiers.
while surgery has made wonderful
strides in the last decade, the results
might have been different were it not
that antiseptic preventive measures
have been applied with the utmost ef-
.fciency.
Another very important reason lies
in the fact that the bullet fired from
a modern rifle travels with such veloc-
ity as to obviate the danger of a rag
ged wound, and unless a vital organ
lies in the path of it, the recovery pre-
sents no over difficult problem.
London, September 15.-The war has
brought tbout two innovations in the
leading London theaters, a reduction
of prices, and the privilege Of sitting / n
the best seats without wearing even
ing dress. The stalls of London houses
which correspond to orchestra seats in
America, are ordinarily sold at two
and a half dollars, but several of the
principal theaters have reduced the
prices to two dollars. Although there
was no hard and fast rule there was
a custom which only a few independent
people had the temerity to violate that
every occupant of the stalls should
wear evening dress. The exceedingly
fashionable theaters controlled by Sir
Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Sir Geo.
Alexander were among the first to rec
ognize that war is a time when formal
tiles are at a discount.
When people are cutting off their
Injuries, and many in mourning or op-
pressed with anxiety for relatives at
the front, theater going suffers a sharp
decline. In the interests of the many
people who depend upon them for a
living the managers are doing their
best to keep their houses open. Profit
sharing has been adopted by many
London and provincial establishments.
Leeds SeDtember 15.-Lord Charlie