LAND & WATER 
"\l;iv 10, Kji) 
" \\'interberg." but enough to enjoy all tlie value of the 
ridge, for they can now sec for miles over the (ierman 
positions in the plain of Champagne below. 
This success does not necessarily mean immediate large 
movements as it would have meant in the older warfare. It 
may be days or it may be weeks befon^ the fruits of that ex- 
ceedingly impoi tant success are gathered, but the essential thing 
has been done. Henceforward nothing can move by day in the 
whole of that sector, as far north as beyond Goudelancourt or 
anywhere along the railway between Laon and Kheims. 
or anywhere in the plain all the way round, without being 
smothered under the superior artillery of the Allies. 
At the same time more elbow room was got beyond the canal 
towards AguiJcourt. The number of prisoners taken in the 
Course of this blow was small, only 800 altogether, but there 
was more to follow, due to a small unexpected success which 
has not been fully described and the course of which I can 
only suggest in a moment. 
Upon Saturday came the inevitable counter-attacks ; a very 
desperate one, as might be imagined, being launched for the 
recovery of the Ciaonne plateau. It failed, as did another 
only just less expensi\'e. against the ground seized beyond the 
canal towards Aguilcourt. liefore night fell upon that 
Saturday very large forces were concentrated by the (>ermans 
at Aguilcourt, and at least two new divisions from the reserve 
were thrown in for the purpose of checking the French here. 
On Sunday something which, as I ha\e already said, has not 
at the moment of writing been fully described, took place 
upon the French left, west of Craonne in a general advance 
up to and along the Craonne Ridge. .Although we have as yet 
not sufficient knowledge of what happened, we find in the 
communique the important news that seven guns and a very 
large nuiAber of new prisoners were got hold of in this com- 
paratively small sector. The number of ])risoners counted by 
Sunday noon was already over 5,000 and i)v the evening it was 
over b.ooo. The major part of this une.v])ected success 
seems to|liave]dp\eloped halt way between Craonne and Soissons 
10 miles from either town in front of Braye. To a couple 
of French divisions alone there fell nearly 2,000 prisoners at 
this point. We cannot, of course, measure the enormous 
German lo.sscs merely by the prisoners collected. l)ut it may 
be legitimately suggested that this success was due to some 
disorganisation of the enemy at this |K)int, and that is what 
one expects in the process of crumpling the line. The weight 
is against the enemy and he cannot be (everywhere equally 
\-igilant and equally ready. The whole of Sunday was takfin 
up by counter-attacks, not perhaps quite as heavy as those of 
Saturday, but still formidable, all of them broken with very 
heavy losses. .Vgainst the I-rcnch, as against the British 
the weight of these counter-attacks told at certain points. 
Un the extreme west beyond Kiieims a certain number of 
j)risoners were taken, and the total enemy claims at the end 
of the fighting were about 10 per cent, of those which the 
French had taken upon their side. 
P.S. — In a former article I ascribed the capture of Fa mpoux 
— that critical point on the Scarpe — to the date April loth, 
Easter Tuesday. This was an error. Fampoux I am now 
told was carried on the fmi day of the British offensive, April 
9th, a point which adds to the magnificent record of th it 
decisive twenty-four hours. H. Belloc 
Mr. Hilaire Belloc has kindly lent, for private exhibition, a 
new series of French (Official Films of the Battle of Verdun and 
the Battle of the Sonime. They are to be shown to-morrow 
afternoon at 5 o'clock at 6, Cheyne Walk, which has been lent 
by the Hon. Mrs. Trevor Bighatii. Mr. Belloc will him.self give 
the introductory lecture and explain the films ; Jjjrd J^yttou 
will take the chair. Tickets, jos., 7s. and 5s., may be liad'from 
the Hon. Secretary. J'lie Children's Aid Committee, 50, South 
Molton Street, VV. Proceeds are to be given to help the Com- 
mittee's work for Soldiers' and Sailors' motherless children. 
The second Ixmnd volume of Tlie Xnv Europe, that singularly 
well-informed orga'i of international politics, is now published 
by Messrs. Constable and Co. (7s. 6d. net). It includes the 
thirteen weeks from January 18th — April 12th, 1917. 
A sign of the times is the publication of Woman and the 
Church (Fisher I'nwin. 3s. 6d. net). The authors of this little 
volume of four essays are Canon Streeter and Miss Edith Picton- 
Turberville. Into the thorny question of whether woman .should 
take a more active part in the ministry of the Church than she has 
done hitherto, the reviewer declines to enter, but the arguments 
in favour, .some of whic h it must be admitted appear cogent, are 
ably .set out by these two writers who ha\'c e\-idently given deep 
consideration to this momentous subject. 
The Happy Carrel, by V. Goldie. (Heinemaun. 5s. net), is the 
story of Hebe Hill, materialist and hedonist, told in autobiograph- 
ical fashion. She suffered in earlv days from a tlrunkeu mother, 
and brokcjthe possibility of a career for herself 'bv nursing a con- 
sumptive father ; after his death she came to ]london and em- 
barked on an ainiles.s sort of life which con.sisted very largely 
m the patronage of a nisht clidi known as " The Happy 'Garret.'' 
It was noisy, antl had all the other characteristics of night clubs, 
aiul the description "■ ha|)py " is a bad misapplication for such a 
place — but that may pass. Hebe is the main thing in the book, 
and though she does not for one minute command the sympathy 
of the reader, she retains a sort of fascination up to the last page'. 
This probably is on account of the very- clever way in which the 
book is written, its humorous and rather cynical outlook on life, 
and the excellent ( haracterisation of the' men who flit across 
Heljc's life, as well as of Hebe herself. .As a picture of decadent 
l^ondon life, the book makes excellent reading, and thouph Hebe 
herself is frankly an unmoral hedonist, the book itself is never 
immoral. Its author has achieved the frankness necessan' in 
depictmg a night club faithfidiv, without a suggestion -i .iiiiinf<-<. 
It IS the story of a, materialist, well told. 
