New-York tribune., 1917-07-29

stately mother swan sto~d on her neao
in an effort TO get the tender weeds at
the bottom of the river for her downy
feathered cygnets; now and then wa
ter rat poked his brown head out OF his
hole on the bank and scurried back
again; cattle rested on the bank or
stood knee deep in the cool river;
flock of rocks, perched on tree along
side an old monastery wall, Chartered
away incessantly; in q shallow pool be-
meath a dropping willow fish leaped
high.
And yet a little more than 100 miles
away this Sunday morning the sun was
looking down on a different scene-a
battlefield, where sweaty, dirty young
fellows were feeding giant howitzers,
where cursing Scctsmen and laughing
Englishmen were jabbing with bayonet
or hurting hand grenades, where lanky
Australians and stocky Canadians were
racing across "No Mans Land" in a
cloud Of dust and smoke, where men
were killing and being killed.
The stream varies; in some places
it flows swiftly and at others there is
hardly any current. As we neared
Reading the river was more animated.
The Youngsters who are still training
for the big game and those who already
have been retired to the side lines,
khaki-clad and blue-uniformed oars
men. manned the skiffs or poled or
paddled the punts. Sometimes the
craft simply drifted along with the
stream; sometimes the blue uniform
sat militarily and matestically in the
stern.
Once I saw a one-armed, coatless Of
ficer polling up the river. Reading is
the largest place on the river next to
London. Above and below Reading
there was lots of activity on the river,
but / do not remember seeing any
white -hanneled oarsmen.
The Henley Course
Il was too late for cocktail when
we got to Henley, but we could have
broken all the Food Controllers regu-
lations without half trying. Three
wears ago a couple of Harvard crews
slashed away over the Henley course
in the final heat for England's eight
Dared championship. There have oeen
no races there since, but the mousse
boats, the inns and the Red Lion are
unchanged. AS we padded over tne
course from the bridge to Regatta Isl
and one could only wonder when BRIT,
ain and America would match skill ana
strength again over this famous water
way.
And now'we we're in the region OF "a
nous estates and houses. 10 Amerl-
cans Cliveden, the Astor estate, nsd an
especial interest. Here, as at most
others, a white flag with a red cross IN
the centre flew prominently. and olue-
uniformed men fshed from the DanK OF
rowed in the river A couple OF Dlue-
uniformed girls padded swiftly oy IN
q canoe, and it did not need a SnerloIA
Holmes to tell they wore the maple
leaf. Electric launches cut through the
water as noiselessly almost as nylng
kite. The usual puff-puff of the motor
boat was missing. Gasolene is used IN
these times for tanks, lorries and am
balances, not for pleasure boats ana
vehicles.
Glimpse of Windsor Castle
II was early evening when we caught
our first glimpse of Windsor Castle
Where the boys of Eton used TO SWIM
there were a lot of other boys, older
and heavier, who were frolicking IN
the water with the joy and abandon
of Youngsters just out of school, Du1
their school gives a hard, short course,
with immediate graduation into the
Interest competition the world has
ever known. At the Eton boathouSe
shell upon she'll rested in the racks,
but there seemed little demand Tor
them.
Aliens are carefully questioned by
the Windsor police, but once they are
satisfied you are not carrying oomo
or IN the employ Of the German secret
service. like as not you may hear some
thing of the number of German ser
wants who were employed in windsor
Castle not so many generations back.
That night we slept in room across
the street from the castle gate, and we
slept soundly, with no dreams Oh air
raids or invasiOrs.
And in the morning we looked hur-
riedly for the communiques and found
the war was not over. For three days
we had drifted through a country
which was still and quiet and peaceful
after three years. The Thames is the
same beautiful river, but not quite the
same. The housebosts, the colleges
and the schools seem almost deserted.
There are two currents now on the
upper reaches of the Thames-one is
carrying down the chaps who three
years ago wore white flannel suits and
white shoes instead of khaki knickers
and heavy boots; the other is bringing
up the back drift from the plains Of
Flanders, Macedonia and Mesopotamia.
War is an old story to the Thames;
it knows everything about fighting,
pain and death. Maybe that is why it
preserves it's quiet, calm course.