Since the 8th we had in. attack olosely, and when after dulged in a series of expen- stiff fighting the Australians sive nibbles. Although on the had reached their final objeoday of the great surprise we tive, the infantry were suphad penetrated south of the plied instantly with food and Somme to a depth of ten thou- water, with barbed wire to sand yards, disorganised the defend them against counterenemy's communications by attacks, and with all the amoonoentrated bombing and the munition they could need. raids of armoured motor-oars, The tanks made two jourand captured innumerable neys, the second in the broad prisoners and an enormous light of day, within full view quantity of material, the Gers of the enemy gunners, who mans with astounding skill naturally did their utmost to filled the gap with fresh prevent this impudent unloadtroops, who defended their ing of stores under their very positions with the atmost re- Doses. One tank was hit on solution. the track, but suoceeded in It was decided to attaok on orawling away. All the tanks the 23rd at Herleville and were shelled briskly enough, Proyart. My company had but good fortune attended been plaoed direotly under the them, though by the rules of orders of the Australian Corps; the game they should never and, after I had completed the have escaped. One of my preliminary arrangements at men was killed and five were an interview with the Briga- wounded. The Australians, dier-General, General Staff of who assisted in the unloading, the Corps at Glisy, I instruoted were less luoky. Harland and Westbrook At Herleville, Westbrook work out the details with the with three tanks had been staffs of the divisions involved, equally successful. Two tanks the 1st Australian and the bad followed the infantry 32nd. through the ruins of HerleOn the 21st Harland's tanks ville, and seen to their wants in the Cérisy Valley, near at the moment of viotory. Warfasée, were loaded with & After the third tank bad splendid assortment of barbed unloaded, a nest of machinewire, water, detonated bombs, guns was discovered bebind grenades, rations, pioks, shovels, our support lines. The“ fightand other necessaries. Daring ing" tanks had already withthe night of the 22nd they drawn. The Carrier tapk moved forward, and by 2 A.M. with “soft” sponsons,' and its they were in position behind solitary Hotobkiss gan, dethe line, severely shelled and cided to attaok, and the bombed. Colonel of a battalion of HighAt dawn they followed the landers climbed on board to to * At that period the sponsong of Carrier tanks were made of boiler-plate, which was not proof against bullets. one more 7 act as guide, but before the My tank engineer and his tank oould reaob the nest an men had been indefatigable. interfering officer with a bat. Our tanks were obsolete, and tery of Stokes guns had foroed usually they were overloaded, the surviving Germans to sur. The orews were inexperienced. ronder. Tank after tank would break Company headquarters had down, and a stream of denot been entirely inactive. mands for spare parts flowed Mao, of all reconnaissance into headquarters. On more officers the most oonsoientious, than 000&sion it bewho on one famous oocasion came necessary to lift out had described so clearly to a the whole engine complete section the routes they should and give the tank a new or not take, that the section often an overbauled nearly forgot which route they engine from the field stores. should take, had spent the At Querrieu Wood we night of the 20th with Dron abort of men—the establishhis orderly in finding a way ment of a Carrier Company is for Ritobie's tanks through not generous—80 that when the difficult country to Bom- heavy spares arrived, every one, ray. In the course of their from the mess-cook to the wanderings they came upon a adjutant, would lend a hand. mysterious oamp, deserted and Before the battle the tank full of stores. There were even engineer would rush on his several cases of whisky in a motor-oyole from one invalid tent. Ioan oonceive no greater tank to another. At Proyart, tribute to the discipline of the for example, & few minutes Tank Corps than the fact that before "zero" he was repairing this reconnaissance officer, under continuous shell-fire a after making a note of this spare tank which had broken important discovery, went out down taotlessly at a oro88into the night. On the 22nd roads immediately behind the he reconnoitred & route for line, Westbrook's seotion from With his sections operating Bayonvillers, where the tanks independently on a wide front camouflaged, to the the Company Commander forward posts. There was no could only tour the battlefield, time to lay tape : white stakes for once the plans were laid were placed at intervals across he could exercise little influence diffioult stretches. It was not upon the result. So you may too easy to discover & oon- imagine him paying a brief venient “lying-up place," be- unhappy visit to Proyart, and cause the "fighting” tanks then with Westbrook pushing had already seoured the desir- forward to & gully beyond able “banks," and we had Rainecourt to look for Rankin been instruoted not to go too and his tank. The enemy near them for fear of confu. were ankind that day. sion on the morning of the In these later actions the battle. Carrier tanks had proved were men 1 their worth inoontestably, and oongratulations about as to South of the Somme forty-six the 5th Tank Brigade, stating tons of stores and ammunition that the Carrier tanks were “a had been carried by nine great feature of the day's operaanoient, unsuitable tanks, tions." An Australian General manned by eight officers recommended one of my seotion and fifty to nine commanders for a decoration, different points, each within and at the first opportunity 400 yards of the enemy, sent by bis oar a present to the and each inaccessible by day section of two jars of rum and to wheeled transport. If the a few cases of chooolate. old bad system of carrying We set ourselves at once to parties had been employed, make ready our fourteen sur. 2500? men would have been viving tanks, in oase we should needed instead of 58. Farther, be required again, and I issued these loads were carried for orders for the reconnaissance ward eight to nine miles in all, of the forward area south of and at least sixteen lorries were the Somme; but on 21st August therefore set free. Lastly, the the battle of Bapaume had Carrier tanks followed 80 olosely commenced, and on our front the advanoing infantry that in the enemy began to withdraw the majority of cases the stores to the Canal de la Somme, and ammunition were handed with the Australians in purover as soon as they could be suit. Our brigade were placed received. in G.H Q. Reserve, and I was The success and importance ordered to concentrate my oomof the Carrier tanks were pleas- pany at Villers - Brettoneux. antly recognised. One General On the 26th we received inwrote a special letter of thanks struotions to entrain. 1 The numbers include orderlies, cooks, batmen, &c. (To be concluded.) MUSINGS WITHOUT METHOD. THE SUPERSTITION OF LOMBROSO-CRIME, GENIUS, AND INSANITY -THE STIGMATA OF THE CRIMINAL DR CHARLES GORING'S no A FANATICAL admirer of Lom- Thus supported, he found it broso once described that sad easy to prove that genius is misguided philosopher as “the but a & kind of degeneraoy, loftiest phenomenon of the or abnormal madness nearly nineteenth century.' If the allied to criminality, He head of the idol once seemed to makes no attempt to define approaoh the stars, his feet madness, or genius, or abnorwere so inseourely established mality. For him every one on the earth that he has is a man of genius whose already toppled over in the name has been admitted to dast. And yet for a while biographical diotionary, Lombroso's attempt to olassify and there is anecdoto genius and orime together as trivial or irrelevant enough forms of abnormality satisfied to be exoluded from his the yearning of those who argument. He makes no atpretended to believe in svob tempt at accuracy, and his sham sciences as phrenology, aneodotes are doubtless none physiognomy, and chiromanoy. the worse in his eyes for being It was a pleasant pastime to invented. He finds it a clear detect the criminal (or the proof of Henry VIII.'s degenman of genius) by feeling bis eraoy (and genius) that he bumps, by taking note of his murdered all bis wives. “Byron," features, or by gossiping about he tells us with all gravity, the habits of his life. And “used to beat the Guiccioli, assuredly the books of Lom. and also his Venetian mistress, broso, packed with soandal, the gondolier's wife, who, bowafforded a vast deal of divor- ever, gave him as good." And sion to an idle publio. then he invents new diseases Lombroso's method was sim- with new names to fit his plioity itself. He started with hypothesis. There is a coma working hypothesis, and sup- plaint, called misoneism, which ported it with false gossip, seems to be the fatal acoom. distorted history, and a jargon paniment of genius. Frederick which at once puzzled and de- the Great and Napoleon both ighted his patient followers. suffered from it, and thus & proved themselves men of genius remembered at all. More and madmen. For did not probably it will find an outFrederick refuse to buy him- Cast's corner, with other broken self a new coat? And was pots and pans, on the dumpingnot Napoleon faithful through ground of forgotten things. life to an old and battered But when he sketohed what hat? If there were & grain he oalled “the oriminal type," of truth in Lombroso's hypo- he became dangerous. For by thesis, we should all pray on representing the criminal as our knees to be insane, and the viotim of an inevitable deem the greatest privileges to disease he persuaded foolish be born of a mad mother and law-makers and lay ministers a drunken father, and then to to pervert the oourse of justice. be hit upon the head in our And the late Dr Charles Goring youth. did an inestimable service to At the end of his pretended justice as to soience, when he investigation Lombroso admits demolished with cogent that there have been & few eloquence Lombroso's pretensane men of genius, suoh sions to be a sane orimin. 88 Machiavelli, Michelangelo, ologist. His task was rendered and Charles Darwin. And more diffioult by the general 80in another place, with shar- ceptance of Lombroso's heresy, acteristio inoonsequence, he “Can & dootrine which has discovers in all three the obtained universal credit and plain signs of degeneracy. currenoy,” he is foroed to ask, What could we expeot save “possibly be without any basis genius or insanity of Machia. in faot ?” The argument is velli, who, to his shame be it merely a plea for the general said, was plagio-cephalio? And validity of what has onoe been what avail the masterpieces accepted, and that is why of Michelangelo, when it Dr Goring oalls the belief in must be confessed that he was Lombroso's dootrine, that the left-handed and therefore & oriminal, as found in prison, is vistim of deoxdence ? The a “definite, anomalous human fate of Charles Darwin was type," & superstitious belief. still more unfortunate. Though As he points out, Lombroso's he wrote The Origin of own sentimental romantio &oSpecies,' he was cretinous in count of how he came by his aspect and a stammerer. And dootrine reveals at once the Lombroso has the impertinence, character of his mind and the after proving to his own satig nature of his work. “In 1870," fastion that Darwin exhibited wrote Lombroso, quoted by the signs of insanity, to pro- Dr Goring, "I was oarrying on olaim him gane ! Of course, for several months researobes Lombroso's 'Man of Genius' in the prisons and asylums of will be remembered only as Persia upon cadavers and the aberration of one who by living persons without succeedhis own showing was himself ing very well. Suddenly, on I hopeless mattoid, if it be the morning of a gloomy day |
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