The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-25
By FREDERICK PALMER.

France. July 24-Corporal Christy. the
bear hunter. took particular pains with
his shooting on that day of days. May
8. in the history of the Princess
Pstricia's Canadian Light Infantry in
Flanders. Instead of standing in the
trench and resting his rifle on the
parapet when the Germans charged, he
crawled out on the parapet. In keep
ing with Col. Fanny" Farquhar's in
structions that the way to end the
war was by killing Germans. he was
acting strictly according to instruc
lions. No danger of him getting buck
fever" One bullet-one German, AS he
had no clerk along TO keep account.
we shall never know how many he
got.
Nor was he the only marksman Of
the Princess Pats" who could shoot
the, eyes of an ane," as they say. The
story of the Princess Pat" will be
Told many thousands of times in years
to come between Halifax and Dawson.
II is the story of a corps d'elite; of
group of personalities drawn to-
gether as kindred fighting spirits from
a continents breadth. of A battalion
which in the midst of the vast imper-
sonal machine of modern warfare
never forfeited the gay and daredevil
spirit of the cavalier.
When they were mustered in Lans-
downe Park. Ottawa, and Princess
Patricia of Connaught gave them their
colors, which she had embroidered
with her own hands, they meant to be
worthy of their colors. of themselves.
and of the Princess. who is something
of a personality herself. Niven, who
was left in command during the or
deal of May g. considered himself lucky
to be a private in that exclusive or
ganization, when he had had no min
tary experience and 946 men out of
1000 wore war medals. mostly of the
South African campaign. He has been
hit to date only once. For Princess
Pat" not to have been hit at least once
is to have the luck of the man who
draws the one blue chip out of
hundred whites.
Men of All Walks in Life.
To Maj Hamilton Gault D S o. of
Montreal. belongs the credit for the
conception of the battalion. which was
something like that of the Rough
Riders. He put up a good portion of
ne funds to equip il. and f. P. Ben
let. NJ. P. of Calgary. the rest. There
we"e private men in il who had dealt
hand faro and who were deacons
If churches. millionaires and men who
lad TO borrow the train fare to OF
ava. and "dogmushers' and fruit
ranChers, and men who sat at their
iesks six days of the week. What they
we're did not matter. but what they
lad heen and were about to be.
There was no holding such regiment
naCk in the dreary business of prepare
ion in Salisbury Plain in winter slush.
These veterans had had their drill be-
ore: they wanted action. Sir John
French had action in plenty for them
waiting in Flanders.
Their colonel was Mai. Francis Farqu-
har better known AS Fanny" Farqu
bn tha sa NJ
naught at Ottawa when the war began
type of Englishman at home either at
.o'Iri in mining camp.
When the colonel looked at YOU" said
his men. you looked around to see what
ii behind yo" that he was looking
at"
He knew his Canadians and he knew
his British army. He had soldier brains
and soldier spirit, and the gift of making
men like him. When the Princess
Pats" reached Flanders they found
brougham in the stables of chateau
and drove Col. Fanny" about behind
four-horse team in something of the
style which heftted tine commander of
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light In
fantrF.
Too Busy to Dodge.
IF a German flare lighted at his feet"
said one OF the officers. illuminating his
figure to the German sharpshooters. he
did not seem to know that it was there.
He went right on talking. Did he duck
his head below the parapet of the trench
as he walked along? Not he, 1t never
occurred to him He was too interested
IN his work"
German sharpshooters being particu-
larly on the lookout for this kind of a
target it was surprising that Farquhar
lasted until March. He was shot through
the head which is where most men get
it, in trench warfare. Armitage, who
was graduate of West Point, was also
hit in the head. For of course there was
West Pointer in the Princess Pats"
There is bound TO he one in any legion
If this kind But Farquhar did not gol
till he had put his stamp on the "Prin-
cess Pats" Not till March, and after
st. Eloi. His men will talk about him
for hours. There is no use of arguing
with them He was the greatest soldier
hat ever lived.
From him they learned the A NJ C's Of
winter trench warfare In that salient of
st. Eloi-the kind of trench where il you
laid down your rifle and went to pick il
up again. II had very likely disappeared
in the mud: where at best a rife would
get foul with dirt in two or three days.
They were stuck out In an angle. where
they got an enfilading fire-yes. very
much stuck. with the icy water up to
their knees in places and in other places
up to their thighs.
Veterans In ..RouEhinE It,"
Steam heated hotel rooms in Montreal
= and cosy corners in slippers with your
evening paper under the lamplght
seemed far away. That salient must be
held against the Germans whose trenches
were anywhere from thirty to sixty
yards distant. Frostbite was a worse
enemy even than the German bullets. A
Canadian knows how TO battle with
frostbite, too The princess Pats" kept
moving and exercising; they kept their
blood circulating Most of them were
veterans of roughing II as well as war.
They were used to taking care OF them
selves, and they were physically tough
ened examples of the survival of the fit-
test before they came to Flanders.
The Germans were not content. They
wanted to get even closer. Always work
ing. these Germans, like the beaver and
the ant, So they began digging another
trench-that is. q sap-from their trench
out toward the Princess Pats" They
burrowed forward till they were within
fifteen yards. The nearer they were ths
more accurate was their bomb-throwing
and the more bombs they threw
Not once had the Princess Pats" had
chance to take the offensive All they
had done was TO stick to a trench in the
mud and have a few men killed and
wounded every day. Col. Fanny" Far