LAND AND WATER 
January 9, 191 5 
THROUGH THE EYES OF A WOMAN 
The Trend of the Times 
A"CE in Wonderland's " Duchess would have been 
in her element nowadays, for numerous are the 
morals to be drawn and many the people who 
draw them. Moralising, indeed, is like nothing 
so much as an infectious disease, so fatally easy 
is it to catch the habit. It was, perhaps, but to be expected 
that Christmas should give the moraliser a rare o])portunity. 
The contrast between the season of peace and good will and 
the greatest war in history was obvious, but not too obvious 
to form the te.vt for many a theme. Now and again these 
sayings grated, yet once in a while they rang true and well, 
cither giving us" new thoughts, or crystallising those vaguely 
felt but as yet unexpressed. But if Christmas be allowed as 
a moralising season for the moraliser let not the same hold 
good where the New Year is concerned. There will be 
plenty of time to moralise when the war is ended ; at the 
present there is too much call for active work to permit of 
such an indulgence. 
So much is happening besides, where the very idea of 
moralising is nothing short of an impertinence. The 
platitudes of conventional sympathy have rightly seemed 
inadequate in many scores of cases where the hand of the 
war has pressed heavily. And the same, in a lesser degree, 
holds good about those whose nearest and dearest are still 
forming part of the fighting line. The would-be comforting 
remark is sometimes apt to lean towards the sententious and 
thereby miss its aim. The simpler the sympathy given the 
more we can be sure it will be valued, and if it can be expressed 
in deeds, w-ithout a single spoken word, so much the better. 
The Inside of a Week 
Rumour, for once, has proved herself to be anything but 
the lying jade of her reputation. Some weeks ago a whisper 
went round of Lord Kitchener's intention to give leave of 
absence from the front to our fighting men in France, and 
experience has shown this correct. Soldiers, many of whom 
have been in the war area ever since August, have been home 
for a brief four days, and in scores of happy instances took 
the family circle by surprise. It would be easy enough to 
draw poignant pen pictures of these reunions, but any of 
that which came beneath my more immediate notice 
would most assuredly be exaggerated. And this for the very 
simple reason that neither husband nor wife dared to let 
themselves go. The end of the short four days and its 
inevitable parting loomed too near. Any breakdown, any 
painful scenes, had to be avoided at all costs, and avoided 
they were until the final good-bye had been said and the 
little wife could drop her mask of iron self-control. 
She told me that this parting was infinitely worse to 
bear than the first one, and this is easy to understand. There 
are no illusions left now about the sheer horror of this war, 
and the weeks of scanning the casualty lists and fearing a 
dread telegram from the War Office have had their effect 
upon the strongest nerves. Women who said good-bye to 
their husbands and sons when the Expeditionary Force first 
sailed for France had a sad enough parting, indeed, but 
there was a merciful veil of ignorance over all the campaign 
would mean. Now they know well enough the grimness of 
the task set, and much else upon which it is wiser not to 
dwell. So all that remains for the women left behind is to 
keep busy — so busy that for thinking there is but little time, 
and for nerve-racking worry still less. 
Erica. 
BuRBERRYs' annual half-price sale commenced January i and is 
still running. A large section of the vast basement and first floor of 
their palatial showrooms in the Haymarket are entirely devoted to 
this sale. To the us\ial attractions afforded by the well-known quality 
of goods disposed of, must this year be added an immense assortment 
of men's suits from their completed suit department. An illustrated 
catalogue of the sale, including both men's and women's dress, will be 
forwarded, post free, on receipt of a post card, by Burberrys, Hay- 
market, London, S.W. 
How much money do 
you WASTE on COAL? 
SEE HOW THE "HUE " WILL STOP THE WASTE 
You probably have an old-fasliioned grate like this, 
which wastes the coal, gives little heat, and 
^ /ft warms the chimney instead of the room. Why 
■^ \>i not convert it into a modern barless fire ? The 
cost is small and the op'jration simple. 
This is the HUE BARLESS FIRE which effects the 
transformation. It is adaptable to any existing 
grate, without the necessity of pulling down mantel- 
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This is the same stove, showing effect produced by 
the HUE. More heat is given out in the room with 
about half the coal consumption. Not mere asser- 
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_ I large or small rooms. Price from 15/-. 
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• important points. Send a post card now to 
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CDepi. L.IF.), Stratford. London. E. 
■JO not be misled by so called adaptable I'.ariess l' ires, which by their very construction can never be 
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BARR'S???'^^'^!^ SALE 
OffineSprmg-flowerins, BULBS. HVilCI)VTHS,D>irFODItS. TULIPS 
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202 
