“The men who have come forward must remember that they are enduring for their country’s sake just as their comrades are in the shell-torn trenches. The introduction of elaborate destructive machinery with which our enemies had so amply and carefully supplied themselves has been the subject of much eulogy on the part of military critics, but it must be remembered that in the matter of preparation those who fix beforehand the date of war have a considerable advantage over their neighbors. “So far as we are concerned, we are clearly open to no similar suspicion. “Our losses in the trenches have been severe, but such casualties are far from deterring the British nation from seeing the matter through. They will act rather as an incentive to British manhood to prepare themselves to take the places of those who have fallen.” In paying tribute to the leadership of Sir John French, commander of the British expeditionary force, and his generals, and to the high efficiency and courage of the army, the war minister said: “I think that it has now been conceded that the British army has proved itself to be not so contemptible an engine of war as some were disposed to consider it.” He concluded: “Although our thoughts are constantly directed toward the troops at the front and the great tasks they have in hand, it is well to remember that the enemy will have to reckon with the forces of the great Dominion, the vanguard of which we already have welcomed in this country, in the very fine body of men forming the contingents from Canada and Newfoundland, while from Australia, New Zealand, and other parts are coming in quick succession soldiers to fight for the imperial cause. And, besides all these, there are training in this country more than one and a quarter million of men eagerly waiting for a call to bear their part in the great struggle.” Ridding Country of Cattle Plague. How did the foot-and-mouth disease start its epidemic in America? The answers to questions like this are always lost in mystery. But at the great Chicago stockyards, closed for the first time since 1865, the story is told that at Niles, Mich., where the plague first broke out a few weeks ago, there is a tannery which imports hides. It imported a sizable consignment of water buffalo hides, so the story runs, and imported them via Italy. They came packed in Italian straw. They were unpacked and the straw carelessly thrown to one side. A Polish farmer in the vicinity, with the sound thrift of the Old World, saw this straw, and inquired about its eventual use. He was told he could have it if he would haul it away. He hauled it. He fed it to his little herd of cattle.