The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-01-06
Critical Days in the war.
From heaven to earth His couriers ride
Thought winged and shod with fire,
The angel OF the stormy sky
Rides down the sunken wire.

How the cable came in as contributor
to swift decisions and for the averting
Of great dangers is now being told for
the first time by some of the chief actors
in the great war One dramatic story
fell recently from the lips of Lord Har
court, who was British colonial secretary
during the first 10 months of the conflict.
He calls the evening of Aug. A. 1914, IAN
unforgettable night, for on that occasion
ne and other members of the cabinet
were gathered in Downing street to re-
ceiye Berlin's reply to Britain's ultima
tum They knew full well that it would
never come, but with eyes on the clock
they waited until Big Ben struck il:30.
As that meant midnight in the German
capital, the assembly dispersed, every
man realizing that the country was at
war Promptly Lord Harcourt returned
to the colonial Office and asked the off
cial there how long IL would take to send
the news to ''the whole British empire
six minutes" was the reply, and in six
minutes the message went round the
world. Before morning acknowledge
ments were received "from every single
colonial protectorate and from the isles
and islets Of the Pacific. And in all of
them the grim machinery OF war began
revolving in perfect order and with per,
feet preparation" for the reason that
two years previously every governor had
been furnished with instructions for his
guidance in case the empire should be-
come involved in war.
In the later months Of 1914 the cable
was again used impressively for war
ends, this time in suppressing the insur-
rection in South Africa and ensuring the
success Of the anti-German campaign
there. The rebels had carried of large
stores OF arms, shells and other ammuni-
ton. and Gen Botha cahled to the colo
NAL office in London to have the material
replaced AT the earliest possible mo-
ment." Lord HarcouTt turned naturally,
though not hopefully, to Lord Kitchener,
but the latter said: mo, my friend; not
one rifle or cartridge shall be diverted
from the European front" Resort was
then had TO the cable in six days
search of the world Finally, in a coun-
try friendly to Britain, the needed mate
rial was found. An empty ship was dis
patched. the arms and ammunition were.
loaded in 30 hours, and in III days they
reached Cape Town. THAT 10 days.
says Lord Harcourt, was the most crit
ical period for the Union of South Africa
which it has gone through since it was
formed
Another occasion when 'the sunken
wire" helped out came a few months aft
or our own entry into the war. In the
preceding December Great Britain has
cast up her balance sheet and found that
Germany was gaining new footholds in
allied territory, that a new ally had fall
en-, that another was tottering to its fall
and that the Huns we're advancing ruth
lessly from conquest to conquest The
decision Of April, 1917, brought ms into
the war. and thenceforward, with the
draft lists filling up. the whole country
became military camp seething with an
enthusiasm that was tempered only here
and there by the fear lest we might not
get there soon enough" In the midst of
IL few words came undersea from the
British premier. u shall never forget