The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-01-10
BELGIAN MAID PUT
AMERICAN TO SHAME
Needham Tells of an Adj
venture Near Dixmude
ROBERTS PROMOTED
PROMOTED
Famous Writer of Nature Stories Be.
comes a Lieutenant-Peace Dele
gate as War Correspondent.
Literary Gossip of London
BY HAYDEN cuuRcu

London, December 21.-(Sp III
the noses of British Journalists" Us
they like to be called, are not badly
out of joint at present, they (the
journalists, not the noses), must be less
prone to envy than most men, for all
the big, juicy plums in the way of
Interviews with prominent men have
fallen. of late, to their luckler Ameri-
can brethren. 1t must have been rather
bitter pill. for instance. to the London
newspapers. to have 10 credit Irwin
Cobb's talk with Lord Kitchener to an
American weekly-when tho editor OF
any one of them would have given his
eyeteeth for it--and before these lines
are printed. l understand, the record
of an equally important palaver which
Henry Beach Needham of Golfers had
recently with Prime Minister Asquth
also will have been given to the world
Needham, who was in England when
The war began, and who got back only
few days ago from the actual firing
line in Belgium, is now sojourning at
the famous White Horse inn at Hasle-
mere, or right In the heart of the beau
tiful Colbert White country" of Sur
reg. He came over here just as a plain
author, and not as war correspondent
and hence 1t is, one gathers that he
succeeded In motoring accompanied by
an American official who must be
nameless) right up to the line of battle
near Dixmude, so near, in fact, that
shells began dropping alarmingly close
to him.
Il was there for close on a fortnight"
he said to me, land one day the shell
fire got near thet l wondered how
soon one would get me. I honestly
was badly frightened and then, all of
a | Ri a
little Belgian girl carrying a tin pail
full of water. She was trudging along
absolutely unconcernedly, and 1t struck
me suddenly that If a little kid like
that could show so much pluck, I, too,
might muster up a little, so from that
time on l didn't let the Jack Johnsons,
as the English TONNES call them.
worry me quite SO much"
Interviewed Mr. Asquith
Needham had his interview with the
prime minister before he went over to
Belgium, being received by the premier
at famous 10 Downing street and
later, meeting Mrs. Asquith (Dodo) at
her tea table. The prime minister he
declares, was frankness itself, and per-
mitted him to have peeps at some high
1y'interesting documents. / understand,
by the bye. that the big interviews like
this and the one with Kitchener are
engineered by Ambassador Page, who,
81 course, as writer himself, appreci-
ates the situation, and does his level
pest to get American writer's of real
reputation next to the men who count
on the British side in this war.
had almost forgotten, by the bye
to mention yet another big story that has
been corraled by Needham The Tip"
regarding this story, the essence of which
i is that Winston Churchill personally con-
ceived the idea of the recent air raid on
bTfedrichshaven and planned 1t out in
detail. was given to the American writer
by q friend of the first lord of the ad-
mlralty. Later on representations hav-
Ing been made to Churchill the ruler
OF the Kings navy gave his consent to
the publication of the story in the United
States, so that you will soon be reading
It, II you haven't already.
Roberts Wins Promotion
Charles G. d. Roberts, who, though he
made his big reputation as a native
writer in the United States and is gem
orally described as an American, is really
Canadian who first saw the light at
Douglas n. b., has, so he writes me.
/, Just beeen sazetted as a full blown lieu-
tenant in his majesty's army. A resi-