The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-09-25
HALIFAX AND THE WAR


HALIFAX AND THE WAR
CONTINUED from Preceding Page.l
keep the children till he comes back,
or if it be the will of God to take him,
they and / will know that he died like
brave man. l hope that no wife in
the province will try to keep her hus-
band back Another woman wrote
that she had sent four boys to the war,
and would send another if the conflict
lasted until he be old enough.
Two brothers, Bentley, went from
New Brunswick to the war. Soon,
one of them was wounded and sent to
The surviving brother "a captain),
writing to his mother in Canada of the
bereavement, concluded his letter as
follows: Now, mother, the only things
that are any good, in a crisis like this.
are men and shells, and worry will not
do any good to any person. I, earnest
ly, hope that you will see things in
this light. This is rotten piece of
business that has got to be cleaned UP,
and the sooner the people realize it
and start in, the sooner we will have
peace. I do not want you to think I
am heartless, but, from the way I size
things up, we are in crisis where
personal feelings must go,and all work
toward the greatest good to the great
est NUMBER Personally, would soon
er lie in Freeland's honored grave,
than be in any Home Guard in Can
ada"
The newspapers of the Dominion
are full of this contempt for the stay
at-home.
The ferocity of the war is revealed
in letters received from the trenches
by Canadians on this side. The Hall
fax Herald published one received by
a Moncton man, a paragraph of which
read: Men here are not themselves.
To give you a small example. A Ger
man patrol appeared opposite our
trench, which was fired on. Only the
officer was hit. He spun around one
or two times and then made for our
trench. I now think that he was
blinded. Anyhow he got through our
wire and climbed up the parapet.
Could we save him? No. They went
for him like terriers at a rat. The
first chap got him through the throat,
and when he fel over the parapet into
the trench-well, he would not hold
water. at least after they were
through with him. This was all done
by way of diversion. Speaking along
this line there are things you see that
don't think enc will ever tell
An example of patriotism is the en-
listmcnt of husband Games BIue)
and three sons of an Ontario family.
One son came all the way from Texas
to enlist. He had been a soldier of
the United States army, and now is n
sergeant in France. The second son
enlisted in Regina, and the third at
Campbellfofd, Ontario.
A common excuse for not enlisting
is that certain favored young men of
the community do not enlist. This is
drawing the class line, and is a greater
deterrent than any other; for it is true
leisure class are not rallying around
the flag for king and country in very
great numbers. To yeomen and rich
alike newspaper says on this sub
ject: Zone thing is certain, that if
the efficient and able meE of the
country do not defend it. there will be
no country to defend. War is war,
whether the unfit go OF not; they
must go or the war will go against
u.s.
vagabonds should be taken first. To
this the same paper says: 1T has
been the boast of British men
that they needed no urging and no
stimulus, beyond the example of their
fathers, to move them to their duty.
The new view is that unless the loaf
ers and the unfit, the criminal and
the worthless, go and do their part
first, the young and able, the intelli
gent and the well-to-do should stay
at home and let Britain burn
Three British warships. which had
been lying in the upper Halifax har
Der for some time, quietly stole out to
sea, in full view of the roof garden of
the hotel, just as dark was closing in,
one night. First came H. M. S. Suf-
folk; then within ten minutes a small
er vessel; finally the third. Painted
gray, lights out, not the sound of a
bell, not a note of command, no ex-
haust of steam. the union jack atop,
the uncanny procession, borne by the
tide, slipped into darkness and out to
sea.
The departure of these ships was
not heraided by the afternoon papers,
and the morning papers contained not
a word Of it, although without doubt
day, newspapers in the United States
printed a story that President Wilson
had given an order for some coast de-
fer.se work to be done; adding that it
was designed to be a secret, but thar
the news was given out by high
The contrast marks the
between patriotism and So
called "enterprise."
A few days after the departure of
these ships from Halifax, three war
ships were sighted outside of New
York harbor: probably the same yes
sells, but here high authority" was
loyal to king and country and their
identity or mission was not revealed.
Before these cruisers slipped out to
sea, we encountered three sailors on
shore leave from them (pardon the
personal proncun; there were two of