as Captain Kettle, owing to a
likeness to that far-famed character of fiction, which was to be faintly
traced in the hero of real life. Commander Samson was not only a 'flyer'
possessed of intrepid courage and great skill, but he further possessed
an armour-plated car, in which was a high velocity gun; this he
manipulated in a manner which struck terror to the German's heart; and
one was not surprised to hear that the Kaiser had offered a reward of
four thousand marks to the man who brought him down, or put him out of
action. I enjoyed a marked illustration of his prowess one afternoon,
near Hooge. A German aeroplane was sailing majestically over our lines,
the observer no doubt making notes of everything which he beheld, when
suddenly Samson dashed up in his car, and after very deliberate aim, hit
the aircraft in the oil tank, which resulted in the whole falling to the
ground a burning and crumpled mass. Such episodes appeal to the sporting
nature which characterizes most men, and tend to relieve any monotony
which may at times threaten to settle upon the men.

From boyhood one has delighted in reading the vivid accounts of such
campaigns as the Peninsular, or Crimea; and in later days in taking part
in the autumn man[oe]uvres held in such open country as Dartmoor, or
Salisbury Plain. One well remembers the fascination of watching a
General, surrounded by his Staff, sending orders and receiving
dispatches at the hands of his 'gallopers.' But all this has changed.
No longer do we see cocked hat Generals, on the summit of rising ground,
spying the position of troops through his field-glasses. To-day some of
the most notable actions are fought by a General who the whole time may
be three or four miles away from the seat of the struggle. Picture him,
pipe in mouth, working out the movements of the troops on a large map in
front of him. Every moment the Field telephone is at work; dispatch
riders breathlessly deliver their messages, the while the Staff are
carefully noting every fresh movement reported. Not an unnecessary word
is spoken, and all hinges upon one figure whose whole attention is
centred, by the aid of his vivid imagination and definite information,
upon a battlefield, the ground of which he probably knows, but which at
the moment is far out of sight. Such is the science of war up to date.

Since the early days of the war methods have considerably changed. Both
sides have dug themselves in, until the allied lin