It may have been the Army experience of some that small articles of personal property had an unhappy knack of suddenly and finally disappearing. Certainly, it Was an unwritten law that an article of "kit" lost was an article of "kit"? regained—directly the other fellow turned his back. Now comes a shining instance of rectitude far removed from either of the above immoral categories. By the last mail a Shanghai volunteer has just had returned to him a letter case containing a presentation watch, not depending entirely upon sentiment for its value, together with other personal sundries with which he parted company during the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. These things were left in a dugout about 100 yards from the front line, and in the circumstances the fact is no less interesting than remarkable that they were reclaimed from the debris of a temporary "operating room" and have been returned to the owner with the request that an accompanying inventory be signed and returned to Regimental Records. It is a detail which throws interesting light on Army Organization, illustrating also the minute atten: tion given to "Tommy's" interests. Incidentally, the package was accompanied by a remittance from the Regimental Paymaster, balance of credit for the latter' part of 1916. To paraphrase Old Caspar: Things like these inlay' not always be. After a famous victory, and one is glad to record the in: cident, slight as it is.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.