Abergavenny Chronicle

I BY THE WAY. Random Jottings about Men and Things. More Matches. There is good news about matches. The Board of Trade announces that arrangements have been made for the importation of a supply that will substantially increase the quantity available for general use. Joan of Arc Bags. Very popular in the shops are the paper bags with pictures and mottoes upon cl them issued by the National War Savings Committee. Recently, however, a complaint was made that none of the bags referred to the war work of women. The Committee's answer has been, the sale and distribution of a "Joan of Arc bag, on the hack of which full acknowledg- ment is pictorially given of the services of the fair war workers. Hundreds of thousands of these have already been purchased by retail tradesmen. King Ceorge Sets an Example. In the Royal Household an organised scheme for the sa l- vage of waste material is m operation. Fruit-stones and nut-shells are collected; they go to make carbon for gas-masks. Empty puts and tons of waste paper, worn-out linen and woollen materials are sent to different agencies for use in the national interests. Ashes are sifted and the cinders used for fuel. Buckingham Palace grounds have been par- tially turned into a market garden, and the garden refuse is collected for fuel. Prophecies. People are beginning to recall some of the famous forecasts made bv the Kaiser and his Generals a few months ago, when they were building high hopes on the summer offensive. Thus Hindenburg is said to ha'.e declared to a delegation of editors in January last By next April I shall be in. Paris." The Kaiser asserted in March The prize of victory will not fail us." In April, Hindenburg .an- nounced that ''the victory which we require to ensure 'Germany's political and ecotiorn.c future cannot now be taken from us." It was a terrible come-down after those brave words for the German Government to have to ask President Wilson, on October 41h. for "an armistice on land and water and in the air. with a view to avoiding further bloodshed." Searchlights. The railway book:-t-»!;s of Messrs. W. II. Smith it Son have a stuck of verv interesting f"iir-page leaflets, entitled "Searchlights"; they are available for any applicant, but they J should be asked for quickly, as the stock is { rapidly dbap}tearing owing to the demand of the ?i public. These leaflets contain coimmnts j '?' asp?ct? of the War by distinguished men of ail parties. Earl Curzoii describes what Great j Urit?m's share has been in the War task, I and the Premier deals with the Navy. Others "Searchlights "give the views of President Wilson and Lord Leverhulnie of preachers, such as Dr. Jowett and Dr. Fort Xewton of Members of PaThanient. such as A[r. Robert- son,?I.r., Mr.Tinett, M.P.:and of promi- nent journalists, such as Ali-, G. K. Chesterton jj and the Editor of the "'Daily News." Lady Rhor.dda's Prizes. Iiie great Fuel Economy Exhibit ion in Loudon is to be opened on Wednesday, No- vember 27th, instead of on the lotii, as was previously arranged. It will be i held in Trafalgar Square, and it is being organised by Lady Ithondda's "Win-the- War" Committee. Three priZLb. offered by Lady Rhondda herself, will be awarded for the best idea* on the following subjects:- (1) The most economical way of securing a hot-water supply for a household (2) The most economical way of cooking for a family of four (3) The most economical way of j keeping a house warm. Central heating would naturally be recommended, but this method is barred, because neither the material nor the labour is available for refitting a house according to that method. Those who compete for these prizes (EIO 10". each) iiittst send their suggestions to the Secretary, i Win-the-War Committee, Public Trustee's j Oflice. Sardinia Street, Kingsway. London. W. C. 2. Tile envelope should be marked Prize Scheme" and numbered 1, 2, or 3, according to the competition for which the suggestion is intended. The suggestions are to be brief and clearly written. There is no eiitranee fee

WESTERN ALLIED. .—————————————————————— J (Belgian OllictaL. British and Belgian telephonists at work together

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————_— INTO NO MAN'S LAND. [Hd¡¡illll O[]kiaL I A Belgian patrol crawls out to snipe the Germans.

ON THE CAPTURED HINDENBURG LINE. ibMiis/i Ojj.i. A tunnel where the St. Quentin Canal runs underground.

ONE WAY IN WHICH WE HAVE HELPED ITALY. I llirilish Official I British workshops for he repair of nti-alrcraft mach!ne? !n Maty. ?!f[?(.'?iC? j

WAR STORIES. Thrilling Incidents of the Hghting on Land, on Sea, and in the Air. I How Corporal Davey Won the V.C. j One morning last June, the British troops surprised the Germans by attacking on a front of miles east of the Forest of Nieppe. The attack was completely successful. The German defences were penetrated to a depth of at least a mile, and our casualties were extremely light. At the same time, a little further north, some troops of the 1st. Austrahan Division took the opportunity of improving their positions in the neighbourhood of Merris, east of Hazebrouck. It was nothing more than a small local enterprise, but the Australians took forty-three prisoners and six machine-guns. They did not win them without stern figthing, if we can judge from the experiences of a company of one battalion. This company had pushed its line forward to a distance of some 200 yards, and had begun to dig itself in along its new front. Meanwhile, the Germans, who had offered a stout resistance to this progress, brought up a machine-gun under cover of a low hedg. and opened a hot fire upon the Australians. But for the resource and daring of one man, the company might have suffered heavily. Corporal Phillip Davey, who was hard at work digging with the men of his platoon, had marked the place from which the machine-gun was firing. He did not wait to ask for help. Snatching up a few grenades, he ran out across the open towards the hedge. The Germans crouching behind it saw him coming, but they could not stop the Australian's rush. Bomb after bomb curled smoking through the air, to burst in a stab of red flame and a rain of shrieking splinters beyond the hedge. Half of their number had been killed or wounded, but the survivors stuck grimly to their work. Even whea the Australian had thrown his last bom b, that obstinate machine-gun was still unsilenced. So, with bullets whistling about his ears, Corporal Davey turned—- and went back for more. He believed 111 doing his business thoroughly. When lie came again, the Germans werpt ready for him; more of them had moved, forward to take the places of their dead comrades, but even so they could not kilt this reckless so ldier. This time "Davev com pleted his task; when he reached tin* place, it was to find a heap of German soldiers, all of them dead, huddled armastt a litter of spent cartridge-cases around smoking gun. He took the gun, and when, later in the day, the Germans made a determined effort to retake their lesfr ground, he used it to some purpose againsb its former owners. Unfortunately, during this counter-attack. Davey was severely wounded. To the Military Medal that ha had already gaiued, the V.C. has been added for this exploit in Juile.-By Lieut. J. P. IJo>;d. I I "Stick it, Men t The story of the death of Acting Lieutenant-Colonel R. A. West, D.S.O., M.C., is one of the most dramatic in the war's history. Realising that there was a danger of tha battalion giving way, ha rode out in front of them under extremely heavy fire and rallied the men Alt hough, the enemy were close upon him, he took charge of the situation and detailed non- commissioned officers to replace officer* shot down. Then he rode up and down before the men in face of certain death, calling out, Stick ib, men! Show them fight. For God's sake put up a good I fight Then, riddled by machine gun bullets, he fell.

FOOD IN FÅNCE. I FOOD IN FRANCE. How Our Army Saves It. I [Ih LIEUT. K. N. COLVILLE.] I The Agriculture Directorate of the British Army in France has had a hard time of it this year. Hardly had it arranged for the sowing of its spring crops when the Germa.:is advanced over the seed beds. Then. in the middle of the summer, the invaders had to retire, and the Directorate was called. on to harvest the crops il It euemv had had time neither to reap tiwr destroy. But, ill spite of th-e difficulty in making and carrying out its schemes which varying lortunes of the war have .•aused, a great deal of food has been pro luced by the Army, and a great deal of transport, as well as public monev, has •.hereby been saved. The Army benefited, moreover, for bv no other means <i!:i it have been so well supplied with /e?eta,blc?. I i -? l if- Dir, 'i he scale on which the Direct*rrate works ?s considerable. Bv March 2Lt tw-nty housand acres had been prepared, the work being done bv low grade men, sl)eelallv ret,iilted or drawn from Labour Battalions, with a couple of h111:dr2d tractors and a number of Canadian thr;-e- furrow ploughs, each tractor ploughing an average of three to four acres a daw All this, a1as: was. as it proved, labour lost, although the tractors themselves were saved. But the Allies' counter-offensive lave an opportunity of harvesting the crops in a large area which the French civilians had I nad to evacuate, and the British Arrnv can thus claim the credit of getting in from twenty to thirty thousand acres of wheat and oats, which would otherwise never have been harvested in time. On many acres, we are told, the crops were actually scythed and carried under shell fire, and some even had to be cut by night, to avoid the direct observation of the enemy. Besides the work for which the Directorate was wholly responsible, troops at rest. were freely lent to the French farmers in areas where these themselves could take charge of the work. Now, with the much larger are* leclaimed. the Directorate has a huge before it to clean, work, and manure the soil in what was la lei v the battle-zon^. About forty thousand acres are. already under cultivation, directly managed either bv the Directorate or by the agricu lture j officers of the armies, divisions, and lin"* of communicat ion. Thousands of tons of j manure have been collected. The lwst Scot •eh and English seed* have been obtained, and vegetables are being sown in I nurseries at various bases f,-)r into tho forward areas. Even up to the end of July, nearly two and a-half million pounds of fresh vegetables had been sun- plied to the Army by this scheme, although the Directorate was only established at the | end of 131 7.