The Cordova daily times., 1918-04-15

beds; In fact, we had to use some of
the 'ay to 'elp out, sir"
1t is needless to say that the serv-
ants dispensed with their soft beds
that particular night.
Nevertheless II is not the fault of
the individual officer, it is just the sur
vival of quaint old English custom.
You know an Englishman cannot be
changed in day.
But the average English officer Is a
good sport. He will sit on a fire step
and listen respectfully to Private
Jones' theory of the way the war
should be conducted. This war is
gradually crumbling the once insur-
mOuntable wall of caste.
You would be convinced of this If
you could see King George 90 among
his men on an inspecting tour under
fire, or pause before q little wooden
cross In some shell-tossed field with
tears In his eyes as he reads the in
scription. And little later perhaps
bend over a wounded man on a stretch
er, patting him on the head.
More than once in hospital / have
seen a titled Red Cross nurse fetching
and carrying for wounded soldier,
perhaps the one who in civil life de-
livered the coal at her back door. To-
day she does not shrink from lighting
his flag or even washing his grimy
body.
. V,nlrno AIhorA ~ Del Ao
cause he is not a pusher of men; he
leads them. With him It's not II case
of take that trench" 1t Is come on
and we will take it"
1t is amusing to notice the different
characteristics OF the Irish, Scotch and
English soldiers. The Irish and Scotch
are very impetuous, especially when 1t
comes to bayOnet fighting, while the
Englishman, though a trifle slower,
thoroughly does his bit; he is more
methodical and has the grip of bull
dog on captured position. He is
slower to think; that is the reason why
he never knows when he is licked.
Twenty minutes before going over
the top the English Tommy will sit on
the fire step and thoroughly examine
the mechanism of his rifle to see that 1t
is In working order and will fire prop
erly. After this examination he Is sat
listed and ready to meet the Boches.
But the Irishman or ScOtchman sits
on the fire step, his rifle with bayonet
fixed between his knees, the butt of
which perhaps is sinking into the mud
the bolt couldn't be opened with a
I team of horses it is so rusty-but he
spits on his sleeve and slowly pOlishes
his bayOnet; when this is done he also
is ready to argue with Fritz.
1t is not necessary to mention the
colonials (the Canadians, Australians
and New Zealanders), the whole world
knows what they have done for Eng
! land.
The Australian and New Zealander
/ is termed the "Anzac," taking the
name from the first letters of their of
fetal designation, Australian and New
Zealand army corps.
Tommy divides the German army
into three classes according to their
fighting abilities. They rank as fol
lows: Prussians, Bavarians and Sax.
OnS.
When up against q Prussian regi-
ment it is "a case of keep your napper
below the parapet and duck. A bang
bang all the time and war Is on. The
Bavarians are little better, but the
/ Saxons are fairly good sports and are
/ willing occasionally to behave as gen.
/ tlemen and take it easy, but you can
not trust any of them overlong.
AT one point of the line the trenches
were about thirty-twO yards apart.
! This sounds horrible, but in fact it was
easy, because neither side could shell
the enemy's frOnt-line trench for fear
shells would drop into their own. This
! eliminated artillery fire
In these trenches when up against
the Prussians and Bavarians, Tommy
had hot time of it, but when the Sax
ons took over" it was a picnic; they
would yell across that they were Sax
would sit on the parapet and carry on
conversation. This generally consist
| ed of Tommy telling them how much
he loved the kaiser, while the Saxons
informed Tommy that King George
was u particular friend of theirs and
hoped that he was doing nicely.
When the Saxons were to be relieved
| by Prussians or BavarianS, they would
yell this information across No Mans
Land and Tommy would Immediately
tumble into his trench and keep his
head down
ITO be Continued)