Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau
8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
THE RAT.
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THE RAT. [ BY O I'. ) A rat came out, of a shadow blob, and trailed stea(ilix, a stretch of level meadow land lit by a moon which was making No Man's Land almost as bright b as by day. Sniper Jackson, resting wearily in a shell-hole at the end of a long night patrol, looked up instantly and watched it. Jackson was sniping officer of his battalion moreover, he tmx a sniper— lience his title—which is a very different thing from being merely officer in charge of a sniping section. For iilore.tiiiii two years he had hunted the Germans, for the most pari round about the Ypres Salient, working in com- pany with his men, when trench systems were near each other playing a lone hand when no Man's Land was broad: master- ing all the German's tricks by < areful study and ex]>erieuce but learning much more from the creatures of the wild with whom he had shared every cover patch irom Birdcage Knoll above lloogc in the north to the battle-scarred slopes of Wytschaete itself. That is why he watched the rat so curiously. Once when walking in his stockinged feet along the duckboards between his own and a friend's dug-out he had trodden on a big buck-rat, which squirmed under his foot and bit him savagely. He could have killed that rat; but he spared it in spite of the bite. The incident has nothing to do with this story, except to emphasise the fact that long ago he had come to look on rats as most valuable allies in searching out the j i presence of men—men in unsuspected places. For where men are food is always to be found, and there also will the rats gather. This particular rat, tracking so earnestly across No Man's Laud, away from the established trench system aud the food scraps of its inhabitants, could only be go- ing to a new feeding ground. It must be a feeding ground which it had but lately discovered, or otherwise there would have been other rats in company. The question was: What were men doing out in the midst uf No Man's Land, in a settled position, moreover—it must be a settled position if they carried food and had eaten there? Sniper Jackson rose from his shell-hole and stealthily followed the rat. For a hundred yards the rat led the way. and lip walked boldly after it. but quietly, with all the craft of a wild creature. To a night-watcher he might have been a wraith stealing from shadow to shadow, for all the audible sign of his presence that he gave. But the unfaltering approach of the rat told liirn that the night-watchers bad departed and only a short time ago, or the little scavenger would have travelled that brail before. It entered a broken-down, concrete dug- out, and he followed a moment, or two later. Switching on his electric torch the moon was shining too brightly outside for any reflection to struggle against it- he found the rat making frantic efforts to reach a shelf on which was the remains of a German sausage. The animal blinked evilly in the electric glow, summed up its opponent, prepared to show fight, then, recognisiiig the hopelessness of the contest, slipped quickly out of the light circle and scurried through the dorway. Germans had been in that dug-out o recently. One of their army blankets, j with ends nailed to two stout poles, was hung against the wall. The sniper exa mined it curiously. Its centre was holed in a hundred places, as though a mis- chievous child had stabbed the cloth again: and again with a small pair of scissors. I So that is their game," he murmured, shutting off the light aud preparing to leave. But first he tumbled the sausage from its safe resting-place as a reward for the rat. which had led him thither. Next evening Sniper Jackson set out for the firing-line with his five most trusted snipers. They chose the main communication trench, for a machine-gun was raking the road which they usually followed. That machine-gun had been giving much trouble 91 1 for the past night or two, and in the firing- line they came on their own machine-gun officer frantically surveying No Man's Land for the flashes which would indicate the German gunners' position. It was a mystery gun no flashes had yet been located. Sniper Jackson led the way over the parapet and in a wide circle round behind the old concrete dug-out. There the mystery was explained to them. The Ger- man blanket had been erected a little in fron t of the entrance, stretched ti'ditlv between the two stout poles, and behind it was a German gun crew serving a gun whoso flashes were hidden by the blanket screen, but whose bullets pierced easily through the soft material on their deadly mission beyond. The gun stopped firing, and the Germans surrendered as they saw j t be siioen of the five ready bayonets. That evening the British machinc gun officer came to Sniper Jackson's dugout to get the full details. As they sat together a grey rat stole cautiously in by the door- way. The machine-gun officer reached for his revolver, but the Sniper stopped him with a gesture. Reaching for a large scrap of bully he flung it into the entrance. The monster pounced on it greedily and hur- ried away. lie, conies in every evening," lie said in explanation. He is the patriarch of the tribe round about here." But why encourage such a, brute?" asked the machine-gun officer. Because of the help his grandsons and ¡ grand-nephews give me."
IBY THE WAY.
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I BY THE WAY. Random Jottings about Men and Things. The Ministry of '()n1 bak End of the Aged under consideration a scheme Chicken." for rationing hens, and no hen above the age of 2 years will be provided for. Many aged "chickens are looking disconsolately at their tell-tale scaly legs. It sometimes evades our The National minds that our National Debt Debt. is a personal debt, which everyone in the country will have to help to discharge ultimately in hard cash. What are you going to do about Ü? Here is a suggestion. Cut down your personal expenditure to the lowest limit-ancl then some more, as they say in America. Meet your liability squarely, and put the money you save in War Savings Certificates. That is the wise way. You will have something in hand, then, for the heavy calls of the future and, in the meantime, the country will be having the use of the money you save. An American wireless nies- Some s'tge tells how an Alabama Story. negro captured a number of German dogs employed in carrying enemy despatches from the front lines to rear-post stations. The negro killed a fox, crept with its carcase across No Man's Land. and when lie reached a point near the I fJerman lines dropped the fox and dragged it back to the American trenches. On the follow- ing day six German dogs. following the scent of the fox. entered the American lines, and were captured with the despatches. It's a good story, provided German dogs take natu- I rally to the scent of the fox. There was a sad story with How Not to a useful moral in the news- Lose Money, paper the other day. An in- dustrious woman farmer, as the result of years of hard work, had acquired her own cottage and a sum of money, amount- ing to about £ 800. This she kept in notes, ^old, and silver, in an insecure wardrobe in her cottage. Included with it was a sum of about JE38 belonging to her daughter. This hoard was carried off by thieves. This story seems to carry us back to the days before banks existed, and it is the more extraordi- nary since if occurred in the midst of the special War Savings Campaign. Not only might the money have been saved in National War Bonds but in ten years' time the holder would have received in interest 9400. together with £ 40 bonus, and the daughter, with her £ 38, might have bought fifty War Savings Certificates, which would have brought her £ 50 in five years' time. The obvious moral is that it is safest to let the State hoard I your savings for you—and pay you for do- IIlg It t One effect of the" ork of They've Cot our airmen in raiding Wind Up. Rhineland towns is revealed in the following paragraph taken from the Strasburg "Post": ;:7 A lively disturbance occurred in the Hroglieplatz last night at ten o'clock. There was a sharp era")), and the many people — not only women—at the tablesoutsi(lp the restaurants and cafes rushed from their peats and hastened to the sheltered places. "Was it a. gun-shot? Was it a boi.il> t.'ropped by a raider? Actualb it was a liuit(., harmless happen iug; in fact., ij was a stupid prank \\liic*li "ould not ha\ e heen played al a lime v hen everybody already in a si ale of nerve-- which is beyond all bounds. "Some hoys had apparently placed a cracker on the tramlines which was fired wiill great noise by a passing ear." h shows that, the Germans at home are pretty jumpy now they begin to know what the {rightfulness of their war lords has let them in for. The honour of British states- The Honour men is a national asset of of Statesmen, which we are rightlv very proud, yet there are those who assail it with slander quite recklessly without cause or justification. Some wcent slanders have evoked three notable rebukes from men who themselves hold leading places in our national life. Lord Curzon, speaking as Chan- cellor of Oxford University, has expressed abhorrence and disgust at "the gross and gratuitous defamation of the character of our public men." Mr. J. R. Clynes, M.P., on behalf of Labour, says \N hiehever party may he in puwer the leaders ean easily be made subject to unlimited slander and to such foul insinuations as have recently been levelled against iiie who have served "their country. Labor is aspiring to power, and now when it is in a subordinate position it should he the first to condemn these slanders. I join in this protest because it is disturbing to find that some working peopie arc misled by these slanders. I am absolutely satisfied that there is no cause to give credence to them." And Lord Selborne. speaking for the Unionist Party, says: "I have for thirty yoars been a political opponent of Ir. Asquith. f ant an opponent of his today. Hut I speak for whole of my political party when I say we repudiate as all abominable lie the suggestion that Mr. Asquith's private life is not clean aud noble, or that he is not, a loyal and devoted servant, of his King and country." Slander is a snake; whenever you see it raise its head scotch it. .&
THE CROSS.
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THE CROSS. (fIll the grurc of on unknown British soldier.) The Cross is twined with gossamer, The Cross some hand has shaped with care— And by his grave the grasses stir, But he is silent sleeping there. The guns speak loud; he hears them not. The night goes by: lie does not krov- A lone white cross stands on the spot And tells of one who sleeps below. The brooding night is hushed and still, The crooning breeze draws quiet breath. A star-shell flares upon the hill And lights the lonely house of death. To Freedom's cause his life he gave And dared the battle, purpose sure, A hero. Write upon his grave "He died that England might endure." PATRICK MACGILL.
I TRUE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS.
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I TRUE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. 'P.VIa-p.r-I.;II'ÐtI-- J.L --W-r. Kiag George welcomes to England the members of the Imperial War Conference. The assembly in London of the Imperial JVar Con ference {fomposed of representatives of every port of the whole British Commonwealth nf Nations) is in itself symbolic of the triumph of the British Navy in mai ntaiiinnj the true freedom of the seas. See Columns I and 2 on opposite page.) 1- _n
THE BASIS OF PEACE.
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THE BASIS OF PEACE. The whole family of nations will have to guarantee to each nation that no nation shall violate its political independence or its territorial integrity. That is the basis --the only conceivable basis—for the future peace of the world, and I must admit that I was ambitious to have the. States of the two continents of America show the way to the rest of the world as to how to make the basis of peace. Peace can come only by trust. So long as there is suspicion there is going to be misunder- standing so long as there is misunderstanding there is going to be trouble. If you can once get a situation of trust, then you have a situation of permanent peace. Therefore, everyone of us, it seems to me, owes it as a patriotic duty to his own country to plant seeds of trust and of confidence instead of seeds of suspicion and variety of interest. -PRESIDENT WILSON.
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-m_ FORTY WINKS IN A QUEER PLACE — 1 .(II [British Offir„,i A British gunner fast asleep beneath a mobile gun Soldiers snatrh hen and where th,-y can, and have to be read, fas thi, „„i wa^lo resum^ "work" at a moment's notice.
I THE WUMAN 5 FAK1.
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I THE WUMAN 5 FAK1. flints on Jam-making in War-time. Ilh MAUOARKT ( >.SI;OI;M- ) Fate seems to he against home jam-making. Last year fruit was plentiful, but sugar was so hard to come by that no one who had not secured the special allowance for making jam for home-grown fruit could hope to fill more than a few jars with home-made jam. This year sugar is to be allotted very sparingly— only six pounds per head in the household of people who actually grow fruit. True, many households have saved sugar from their rations for jam-making, but fruit is scarce, and almost the whole of this year's market crop is to be reserved for wholesale jam- makers. We shall be under considerable temptation to eat the fruit from our own gardens while it is fresh. But if we do, we shall have to go very short of jam, for nearly half the jam made in factories is being reserved for the army. Make Small Quantities. It. looks, then, as though we should be obliged to make our jams in small quantities, just when our own fruit is ripe, but not too ripe, without relying upon bought fruit to make up what we should generally have thought a reasonable quantity and this year wo shall be more anxious than usual to see thai what jams we do make keep well. Now there are many good ways of making jam, but none of them will ensure good keeping unless the jam-pots are satisfactory. If the pots have been used for general kitchen pur- poses (storing bacon-fat or dripping, or gravy. .<r if they have contained jam which has gone "mouldy, or, worse still, have held paint or paraffin, or any of the polishing mixtures used for spring cleaning), it is not enough to wash them- they must be boiled. If they have held paraffin or paint, even this may not rid them of a trace of their Iformer contents, it is really safer not to use them for jam. as both glass and glazed earthenware pots are still porous. Clean jam-pots should be washed in boiling water and stood in the sun after they are dry, then put upside down on the jam cupboard shelf till required. If you have any consider- able quantity of jam or bottled and dried fruits or vegetables, it is a good plan to burn a sulphur candle in your store-room after it has been cleared, to destroy germs of mould. One Tip to Save Fruit Loss. If we are to be as thorough as the celebrated Mrs. Glasse. who began her recipe for jugged hare with First catch your hare," we should have to begin with fruit growing and gather- ing but I will content myself with one hint. I little time spent in ridding fruit trees of insect pests will save much fruit; and a good deal may be saved from birds if. in dry weather, you put dishes of water in your gar- den for birds to drink from. Some birds are greedy for fruit, some are in search ofru bs and insects on fruit trees but these will eat fruit, too, in dry weather if they are thirsty. It will be cheaper for you in the long run to give them drinking water. Quantities of Sugar for Jam-making. Except, for very sour fruits, 3 lb. to 4 1 lb. fruit is sufficient. If you have not this amount, you can use half a ieaspoonful of salt to the pound of fruit and only lb. of sugar. • lam made like this is n<>t good to eat for two months, till the salt tas-te his gone off even then It is not its sweet as ordinary jam. aId if you have sugar available biter in the year, you may boil it up again with additional sugar. The best results are attained if the salt is sprinkled on the fruit. and allowed to stand four or five hours before jam-making commences. Quantities of Water for Jam-inaking. Mis. lVel gives a very us+-ful table of the <1 uantilies of water used in jam-making. These may be slightly reduced in wet weather, and increased in dry years. But wet-weather jam will not keep well; it should only be mad; if the fruit will be over-ripe if a fine week is waited for One gill of water to 1 lb. of apples; one gill of water to I lb. of apricots; no water to blackberries; one gill of red currant' juice te each pound of cherries; enough water to cover carrots; no water to red currants; half a gill of water to 1 lb. of black currants; no water to damsons; no water to greengages; one gill of water to 1 lb. of gooseberries; no water to plullIs; enough water to cover bottom of pan to quinces and apples no water to raspberries half a gill of water to 1 lb. of rhubarb; no water to strawberries; half a pint of water to each 3 lb. of marrow. The main rules of jam-making are to keep the fruit at a gentle heat until the juice runs, and then add the sugar, to skim well, to stir enough to prevent burning, and to bottle before it is cold, though it may be cool. Soft fruit is best preserved in syrup that is, the sugar and water are boiled together for half an hour, then the fruit, js added and the pulp boiled quickly till the jam jellies. CUT THIS OFT. MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. Fruit Jelly.—May be made with any Jresh fruit in season. With raspberries and currants i it is delicious.IN-citFI)IENTS oz. of pow- < dered gelatine (or according to make); 1 pint ( of stewed fruit and juice; 2 a pint of milk; t oz. of cornflour; ] tablespoonful of honey- sugar or other sweetener. AIETHOD.-Boil the milk, add the thinly-mixed cornflour, stir over the fire till boili;lg, and cook for five minutes. Dissolve the gelatine in a spoonful or two of hot water, add it to the cornflour, and stir ii) well. Add the honey sugar and the stewed fruit. Cochineal is often useful to brighten the colour. Pour the mix 1 ture in a wet mould, leave till cold, and then turn out carefully and serve with a custard or a little extra fruit. (■ Vinegar Cake,—-INGREDIENTS.—10 oz. or s flour, either all O.K. flour or a mixture 01 flours; 2 oz. of sugar 2 oz. of currants or dates i, '(,,z. of fat; 1 carbonate of i soda; 1 tablespoonful of vinegar; fIlilk to mix. ( 'METHOD.-—Be sure the iloui- is dry and well h sieved, and the fruit cleaned. If dates are t- used, stone them and cut into small pieces..Rub n the fat into the flour, add the sugar and fruit. [_ mix the carbonate of soda in the milk, and use from one gill to one and a-lialf of milk accord- [ ing to the amount that you find the flour absorbs. Add the vinegar last of all; mix thoroughly, pour the mixture into a greased cake tin, and bake for about one and a-lialf hours in a e moderate oven. ti Egg Dumplings. new-laid, f hard-boiled egg for each perbuit for 4 eggs | allow 1 lb. of mashed potatoes; two teaspooiiffil, each of chopped parsley and grated onion and 1 raw egg, seasoning, gravy. 11 11 METHOD.—Shell the eggs, and leave them si whole. See the potato is free from lumps. ) Mix if with the parsley, onion, seasoning, and !S! the raw yolk of the egg. beating it in well. Now whip the white to a very stiff froth, stir ('1 it lightly but thoroughly into the potato, bi Divide the potato into four pieces, mould with 11 your hand, and wrap one of these round each ;l [Coittittued at foot of next column.] 111
FOOD TOPICS.
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FOOD TOPICS. Items About Production and Rationing. I Hy SMALLHOLDKK." J one Way of Food Economy. There are now 535 national kitchens, and plans are in hand for as many more. What they have already saved people in time, money, and trouble it is easier to imagine than to state. In all this run of experiments there have been only two or three failures, and their success is due to no compulsion, as in those "mass feeding" establishments of which there are so many complaints in Ger- many, but to the sheer excellence of the food served, the cooking, and the management. Now, why. in face of this success, do some places refuse to adopt such a profitable novelty? There seems to be no reason but an old-fashioned spirit, not good enough for the times we live in. Mr. Clynes pointed out the other day that these kitchens will be of the greatest possible help to Lord Rhondda's Ministry in distributing supplies of food next 'inter. And they do not compete with any private interest—though in war-time it would not necessarily be something against them if they did. < National restaurants do so compete, and yet there is a growing demand for national restaurants. A model place just established in London is not the first of its kind by any means, and nothing is more certain than that popular places managed on the same lines will be demanded even in small towns, if there 11 'h e happen to be many people wanting cheap meals tway from home. The only danger is that some local authorities may make the mistake of trying to run either restaurants or kitchens on cheeseparing lines. They are not run for profit, and they will certainly not pay their way, or even last long, unless they are well designed. Here is what the National Food Journal says about it: The premises must be in a good position, and not in a back street nor in a basement which necessitates descend- ing many steps to arrive at the kitchen. The interior must be bright and attractive. The -71 plant and equipment must be modern and efficient, and not a collection of old gas stoves. The cooks and the rest of the staff must be suitably attired. The menu must be varied, and the food of the best quality, prepared by experienced cooks, who can produce the best results in the most appetising and attractive form, regard being had at all times to nutri- tive values." If these conditions are secured, there are several very real kinds of profit to be derived by the public. There is a great saving of food and fuel; there is better health; and there is a gain of time and money for the customers. All this has been proved over and over again and. finally, national kitchens and restaurants are a sort of insur- ance against food shortage and bad times, which we ought never to treat as impossible while the war continues, or even when peace and security are at last obtained. Fruit-dam-Salads. The predicted failure ot certain fruit crops will disappoint many a careful housewife who has been saving sugar but let her take heart. Last year's experience made us acquainted with some substitutes, and forewarned is fore- armed. Even if not a self-supplier, she may be able to get wild fruit gathered for her. No doubt the absence of fruit from the shops must mean a little more trouble, for she will have to make more boilings to stock her cup- board but there are blackberries and hips and other good things that never fail, and they can be mixed with certain vegetables. In any case, the jam she may have to buy in eider to supplement her own will probably not be dear, for the prices of fruit are, it is understood, to be controlled. And who will mind going short for once, if it comes to that? Our gallant Army has the first claim, and that is as it should be. The chief thing to bear in mind is that, in a year when little fresh fruit can be eaten, we must all be care- ful to eat plenty of fresh vegetables salads for choice-so that our health may not suffer. The Lady and the Rabbits. You need not despise taking up rabbit- breeding as war service because it involves a lot of menial work. Lady Decies does not; she glories in the fact that her rabbits, which she keeps partly at her country seat and partly at a garage in aristocratic Grosvenor Gardens, in London, involve her in a lot of hard work. Just now," she says, "tho work in London is rather difficult, as I cannot get a man to help me with the cleaning. A small boy comes in an hour before he goes to school and another hour when he comes home, which means that my sister and I get to the rabbitry at six in the morning and remain till eight or nine, and we do the cleaning and the feeding of the rabbits, and serve the cus- tomers as well." Lady Decies once used to specialise in Pekinese and cats; she took up rabbits because the Government urged people to breed rabbits and she sells her breeding rabbits at all manner of prices, from 7s. 6d. to 37s. 6d., and her table rabbits at a figure which returns a good profit. The Government Tea. The Government-controlled tea is a mix- ture of three grades, and is better value than, was ever obtainable among the hundreds of peace blends, when some unscrupulous mer- chants charged what they liked, irrespective jf quality, and generally the working classes were the ones imposed upon. To-day's tea is uniform in quality, and the same goes into tho poor mali's teapot as into that of the rich. Two and eight pence is a wry moderate price when one considers all the extra charges resulting from war conditions, and the many risks to which tea cargoes are exposed in their long voyage from India and Ceylon. Duty III tea is now ls, as compared with 5d. in pre- war days- which straightway puts our present tea up 7d. per lb. freight charges are five and dx times as much as formerly there is a very much heavier insurance tl)et c are big war rates and aircraft risks, besides greatly increased charges for storage and inland Irarisportation—aud the cost of production las gone up about 1(1. per 11>, e are indeed 4 :ortumito~:iot only in having a good supply if tea at present and being assured of it ill he future but fortunate in^ not having U pay 30s. to 40s. a pound, which is the price they have to pay in Germany to-day. [Continued from previous column.'] !gg-iio need to make them very smooth. Place ,hese 011 a greased tin and bake in a sharp oven ill browned. Serve at once, with a dish of "resh-boiled peas or beans, and a tureen ot biekened brown sauce. Spiced Fish.—INGREDIENTS. —3 lbs. of anv vhite fish-mackerel. fresh herrings, sahnon, rch or tinned; H pint vinegar; 1 Pilit of fish- toek; 12 allspice; 12 peppercorns, 6 cloves blade mace; 2 bay leaves; 1 teaspoonful of alt. 4- METHOI-).-Boil the fish, drain and leave, to uol I'lit all the other ingredients in a pan, iring to the boil, simmer one hou?:, he fish in a deep pie-disl), cover with the liquid nd leave till next day. Serve on salad wUh layonnaise or tartar sauce. i