17 AUGUST 1918

Page 1

Last Sunday the enemy had B3 far recovered from his

The Spectator

confusion as to deliver a series of heavy attacks with flesh reserves on our new lines north and south of Lihons, with the object of delaying our entry into Chaulnes. Once the...

On Monday the Australians, having cleared the southern bank of

The Spectator

the Somme near Mericourt on the previous day, captured Proyart. There was heavy fighting west and south of Chaulnes, and also to the south of Roye, where the French by taking...

The new battle of the Somme began on Thursday week.

The Spectator

Sir Douglas Haig directed the operations of the British Fourth Army under General Rawlinson and the French First Army under General Debeney. The object was to reduce the peat...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

A LL goes well on the Western Front. The Allies have won a second great victory on the Somme, under the immediate corn- ;nand of Sir Douglas Haig, and the enemy is significantly...

The Allied airmen played a great part in the battle.

The Spectator

So many machines were in the air at once that it was difficult to avoid col- lisions. They bombed the enemy's fleeing batteries and transports, they bombed his reserves hurrying...

Last Saturday, while the Allies continued their eastward advance in

The Spectator

face of a growing resistance, the French Third Army under General Humbert delivered a fierce assault from the south on the enemy's front between Montdidier and the Oise. It was...

On Friday week the advance eastward and south-eastward was resumed

The Spectator

south of the Somme with such vigour that the Canadians and Australians reached the line from Proyart to Lihons, a mile or so west of Chaulnes, while further south the Allies...

The Allies—English, Canadians, Australians, and French— attacked at dawn on

The Spectator

the northern and western sides of the salient from near Morlanconrt, south of Albert, to Braches, north of Montdidier, a front of over twenty miles. After a furious bombard-...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.

The Spectator

TO OUR READERS.—It is now necessary for readers to place a definite order for the " Spectator " with their Newsagent or at one of the Railway Book- stalls. Should any reader...

Page 2

Major Gabriele d'Annunzio's peaceful air raid on Vienna on Friday

The Spectator

week was a beau geste,like the flight of Lieutenant Marchal over Berlin in 1916, which will become legendary. Major d'Annunzio, in command of eight Italian aeroplanes, flew to...

Some of our light naval forces reconnoitred the Dutch Frisian

The Spectator

islands last Sunday. Numerous German seaplanes from the neigh- bouring enemy coast attacked them and sank or damaged six of our motor-boats. Our aeroplanes, for their part,...

Before the House of Commons adjourned on Thursday week for

The Spectator

the Recess, Mr. Bonar Law announced the appointment of a Court of Inquiry "to report upon the formation and financial arrangements of the British Cellulose and Chemical...

The War Cabinet last week refused passports to Mr. Henderson

The Spectator

and other Labour representatives who wished to go to Switzerland to meet M. Troelstra. The Dutch Socialist leader, it will be remembered, had given Mr. Henderson to understand...

A recent number of the daily American Official Bulletin that

The Spectator

we have received, dated July 13th, illustrates the American belief in publicity. It contains a long statement by the Chief of Staff, giving full details concerning the American...

It was announced in last Saturday's papers that Captain Schweiger,

The Spectator

the German submarine commander who torpedoed and sank the Lusitarxia,' perished miserably by running into a British mine- field in September, 1917. He was then in command of...

The British Government published on Wednesday an important statement, recognizing

The Spectator

the Czeoho-Slovaks of Bohemia and Moravia as an Allied nation and the three Czeoho-Slovak armies in France, Italy, and Russia -as an Allied and belligerent Army waging regular...

There has been much aetivity on the Flanders front, where

The Spectator

the enemy is evidently trying to reduce his salient west of the Lys. Last week the Germans evacuated the south-western corner of the salient in front of Nieppe Forest—a tract...

" Light in the tunnel" 'was the burden of -Mr. Lloyd

The Spectator

George's oration at Neath on Friday week, when he received the freedom of the borough ; and the simile interpreted in a reasonable way our recent successes in France, with a...

The Bolshevik despots in Moscow last week arrested the British

The Spectator

Agent, Mr. Lockhart, and the British and French Consuls, but have since released them. The Bolsheviks alleged that this arbitrary measure was a reply to the Allied occupation of...

Page 3

At the same sitting Mr. Shortt was asked by Mr.

The Spectator

Dillon if the Government proposed to tear up the Home Rule Act, as a " scrap of paper," under an open threat of rebellion from the minority of the Irish people. He replied that...

The Spectator has repeatedly urged the institution of luxury taxes

The Spectator

as a war measure, and no fault can be found, on the score of comprehensive thoroughness, with the Report of the Luxury Duty Select Committee, which was published on Wednesday....

Sir Albert Stanley, President of the Board of Trade, in

The Spectator

a letter published on Tuesday replied to a number of questions about the rationing of light and fuel. He saw no necessity for an additional allowance for domestic baking. Some...

Schedule B2 contains a portentous list of the prices beyond

The Spectator

which innumerable articles and services become liable. The limit for a woman's coat and skirt is £7 7s. ; gloves, 8s. ; a man's suit, £8 83. ; boots, £2; any suite of...

The Miners' Federation of Great Britain published last Saturday an

The Spectator

official appeal to miners to increase the coal output by avoiding absence from work. The destruction of French mines and the expansion of the American Army in France were two...

An important statement on the position of merchant shipbuilding by

The Spectator

Lord Pirrie, its Controller-General, was published in the daily Press on Friday week. He pointed out that in shipbuilding it was impossible to get results quickly ; that he "...

Mr. G. H. Roberts, the Minister for . Labour, discussed at Maidstone

The Spectator

last Saturday the neglect of agriculture, which had for half-a-century been the Cinderella of British industries. In 1913 we paid two hundred millions for imported food,...

It was stated in the Press on Thursday that a

The Spectator

Committee has been appointed to inquire into petrol consumption by the Departmental vehicles of the War Office, the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, and the Ministry of Munitions,...

Mr. Balloter in the House of Commons on Thursday week

The Spectator

dealt faithfully once more with the appeal of the premature Pacificists for "negotiations," after Mr. J. M. Robertson had assured them that he, a Pacificist all his life, was...

Bank rate, 5 per cent., changed from 51 per cent.

The Spectator

April 5, 1917.

Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

110W NOT TO DO IT. SI R. R. LLOYD GEORGE is as anxious to win the war as any man in the kingdom. He is also willing to make every kind of personal sacrifice to do so. About...

Page 5

MARSHAL FOCH'S SECOND BLOW.

The Spectator

MILE Second Battle of the Somme, which began on Thursday week and virtually ended—in its opening phase at least—last Sunday, has yielded a second great victory to the Allied...

Page 6

GERMANY AND RUSSIA.

The Spectator

W E must not rush to conclusions about so vast and uncertain a problem as Russia presents, but it would certainly seem that the Revolution is assuming a new and more hopeful...

Page 7

THE WAR OFFICE AND PARLIAMENT. T HE eighth Report of the

The Spectator

Select Committee on National Expenditure raises issues which are even more important than the purely financial problems with which this Committee has already dealt so ably. For...

Page 8

TRANSLATIONS.

The Spectator

A FIRST-RATE craftsman has said that the two main duties of a translator are towards his original and towards his readers. In every language they have been disregarded. Pope's...

CEMENTING 1k1e, ALLIANCE.

The Spectator

QOM:EMI:ERE in Italy, on a fine spring Sunday, all the people who count in the society of the city are making their way to a field on the estate of a certain sporting Prince,...

Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] THE MONTAGU REPORT. Pro ems...

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

The Spectator

(To ml EDITOR Or THE " Spzernoa."1 Sne,—There is this difficulty in even seeming to be opposed to the possibly (and indeed probably) fruitful, and certainly philan- thropic,...

Page 10

SLAVERY IN EAST AFRICA.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:] SIR,—In connexion with the moral obligation of England to uphold the human rights of the native population in what was German East Africa,...

THE LOTTERIES (WAR CHARITIES) BILL.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Szn,—We are permitted by the laws of our country to do "evil" knowing that evil may come, but not "evil" in the certainty that good will...

"THE GERMAN CHARACTER AND BRITISH APATHY." [To TEE Enzroa or

The Spectator

THE "SPECTATOR."] Sm,—In your issue of July 27th your contributor "Z." utters in burning words the sentiments that many of us have been turning over within our hearts ever...

RUSSIA AND SICILY: A PARALLEL.

The Spectator

[To THE EDNOR OF THE" SPECTATOR."] SIR, —The German Government, with its usual effrontery, attri- butes the murder of the German Minister at Moscow and the German General in...

RED-ROBED FRANCE. (To THE EDITOR OF THE" SPECTATOR.") Sia,=I am

The Spectator

enclosing a paem, which I have received from Australia, taken from Everybody's Magazine. The idea seems to me very original and beautiful.—I am, Sir, fie., (Mrs.) M....

Page 11

THE HOUSEHOLD FUEL AND LIGHTING ORDER. [To eseRarroa or TEE"

The Spectator

Senoraeoa."1 Sin,—Your correspondent "A. M." says that he would be grateful to any one who would point out how one ton of coal can be made to do the work of three....

[To THE E'Drroa or raw " Sezerirox."3 Sza,—Your correspondent "H.

The Spectator

M. W." in your Issue of the 10th Inst. asks for enlightenment upon the term " black-mouth " as frequently applied (without the slightest offence) to Presbyterians in the North...

WORKHOUSE CHARACTERS.

The Spectator

[To THE Emma or THE " Sezoreroa."1 Sia,—Having visited a workhouse hospital for twenty-five years. I was much interested in your review of Mrs. Nevineon's book, Workhouse...

A KNITTER'S REQUEST.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OT THE " SPECTATOR.") • shall be very glad if ang of your readers will send me odd skeins and balls of wool, any colour, any thickness—smallest contributions...

DOMESTIC SERVICE.

The Spectator

(To TER EDITOR OF TNE "SPECTATOR.") have been reading with interest the letters in the Spectator on "Domestic Service," and as a servant of thirty-five years' standing (over...

REJECTED VOLUNTEERS.

The Spectator

[To mm EDITOR. or TEE " SPECTATOB.") Sia,—I wonder if the country will ever recognize those men who responded to the call of their King and country before the days of...

IRISH EXPRESSIONS.

The Spectator

[TO Ts EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."' may offer your correspondent "H. M. W." an explanation of the expression "black-mouth Presbyterian" which is at least simple, and may be...

Page 12

(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")

The Spectator

Si,—My small son, just back from school, assures me that one or Ins schoolfellows translated Cave canem, "Beware! I may sing." If this is not an old chestnut, but the boy's...

[To THE EDITOR OF TEE" SPECTATOR.")

The Spectator

SIR,—You may care to add the following to your collection, per- petrated by my daughter aged eleven in a recent examination. Q. "What is a veterinary surgeon?" A. "A doctor...

THE MERCHANT SEAMEN'S VIEW.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—The Paeificists and Bolsheviks in the British Trade Union movement are whining because His Majesty's Government refuse them...

POETRY.

The Spectator

COMFORT. Now she need dread no more to greet Too old for him; she need not know The bitterness when he who was All hers turns to some younger face; And she his mother stands...

(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—The correspondent in

The Spectator

the last Spectator, who wants the full reading of this epitaph, will find it in Mr. Gurney Benham's Book of Quotations, under "Tired." Its authorship is unknown. Thirty-eight...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sia,—In reply to your

The Spectator

correspondent "Tired Woman," the epi- taph she inquires about was published in the Daily Graphic in August, 1905. It was found written by Catherine Allsop, a Sheffield...

THE TIRED WOMAN.

The Spectator

(To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sta,—In reply to the letter of "Tired Woman" in your issue of the 10th, I send herewith a transcript from a copy of the epitaph supplied to...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The lines asked for

The Spectator

by your correspondent "Tired Woman" are quoted as a Norfolk epitaph in the Life of Lord Avebury, Vol. 1., p. 224. At a meeting of London shopkeepers, Sir J. I.ubbock carried an...

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

The Spectator

Sin,—Many years ago the late James Payn, reading the epitaph in a Sheffield newspaper, chortled delightedly, and at his request the editor endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to...

HORSES' RATIONS.

The Spectator

[TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE" SPECTATOR.") Sin,—We are all delighted to hear that as a result of the efforts of ourselves and our Allies, it is proposed to give us whiter bread....

"HOWLERS."

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sie,—.4 propos of the " howlers" which you have recently published, I remember my uncle, the lute Mr. F. E. Kitchener, who spent the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")

The Spectator

SIR,—" Tired Woman" will find the epitaph to which she refers in James Payn's Thicker than Water, chap. xxxiii. I enclose a copy of the lines.—I am, Sir, &c., AUGUSTA...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—When I was at

The Spectator

the Quaker School at Sidcot, Co. Somerset (1866-69), during a written history examination, in answer to the simple question : "What was it that the Conqueror introduced into...

Page 13

SIR JOSEPH HOOKER.*

The Spectator

THE late Sir Joseph Hooker was a miracle of industry and achieve- ment. He lived to be ninety-four, and was busy with his pen in the year of his death. The catalogue of his...

BOOKS.

The Spectator

THE FAR EAST UN. VEILED.* THE Japanese Government has been a loyal and helpful Ally from the beginning of the war. The Japanese Navy rendered invaluable aid in clearing the...

NOTICE.—When "Correspondence" or Articles are signed with the writer's name

The Spectator

or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily beheld to be in agree- ment with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

Page 14

BOOKS ON WAR.

The Spectator

Now that Paris has been saved for the second—and, we hope and believe, the last—time from grave danger, it is profoundly interesting to read in Cormnent fut sauve Paris, by...

Page 15

A FLOATING HOME.* THIS book about a Thames hoarse has

The Spectator

the sovereign merit of taking a reader clean out of the war into the dim past, five years ago, when one could go sailing in the Thames estuary and up the Essex coast with never...

Page 16

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

(Notice in this column does not neceasarily proclude subsequent review.] In the learned pages of the current Law Quarterly Review we find a delightful article on " Bardell v....

• Reveille. Edited by John Galsworthy. No. I. London :

The Spectator

The Stationery °Sloe. 121. 8d. net.] t Captain Dieppe. By Anthony Hope. London : 8keffington and Bon. [5s. net.] Southern point of view. Incidentally the book serves as an...

A Guide to Banda. By Sir John Marshall. (Calcutta :

The Spectator

Superin- tendent of Government Printing. Be. 9d.)—The energetio Director- General of Archaeology in India, who has done so much for her ancient monuments, describes in this...

FICTION.

The Spectator

CAPTAIN" DIEPPE.t Captain Dieppe is correctly described in the publishers' announce- ment as a story of The Prisoner of Zenda period. To fix that period would be no easy matter,...

Oensetio, King of the Vandals and First Prussian Kaiser. By

The Spectator

Poultney Bigelow. (Putnam. 7s 6d. net.)—Mr. Bigelow, the American man of letters who, until he wrote an impartial history of Germany from 1806 to 1848, was high in favour with...

The New Warfare. By G. Blanchon. (Harrap. 3s. 6d. net..)—

The Spectator

This able little book, translated from the French by Mr. Rothwell, describes clearly the new methods of warfare devised before the battle of the Somme. It is startling to find...

REVEILLE.*

The Spectator

LORD CHARNWOOD'S quarterly, Recalled to Life, dealing with the problems of the di abled sailor and soldier, has after three numbers suffered a sea-change, to reappear as...

Page 17

Telegraphy, Aeronautics, and War. By Charles Bright. (Constable and Co.

The Spectator

16s. net.)—Mr. Bright speaks with authority on submarine cables, and his plea for the establishment of a complete Imperial cable service deserves far more attention than it...

Asia Minor. By W. A. Hawley. (J. Lane. 12s. 6d.

The Spectator

net.)— This is a pleasant and well-written book about Anatolia. The author was more keenly interested in the Hittite monuments and the excavations at Sardis and elsewhere than...

Mr Heinemanu has published four new volumes in the excellent

The Spectator

`• Loeb Classical - Library" (6s. net each). Professor G. G. Ramsay has produced a racy and animated prose version of Juvenal and Perslue, with an admirable essay on Juvenal,...