THE FIRST WORLD WAR as reported in the daily news

[Niner]

Bagpipe business is good.

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[Niner]

The problem with the English Army is all the industrial weakening of the basic health of the yeomanry. How are you going to get good specimens of British youth to die in trench warfare in the present state of affairs?

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[DuncaninFrance]

Maybe he should have been looking south of the Mason-Dixon line at the well fed and well paid negro cotton pickers.......................

[Niner]

Funny you should mention that , Duncan:

Russell is also remembered as one of three co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

He was no doubt talking through his hat...or he had been down to the induction center and saw some boys coming through complaining of any physical thing they could think of, real or mostly imagined, to avoid being turned into expendable riflemen.

[Niner]

That old drink problem and war required a board to figure out how to fix it so only the sober would make tools of war. Notice some of the names on the "board".

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[DuncaninFrance]

After the outbreak of World War I the Defence of the Realm Act was passed by Parliament in 1914. One section of the Act concerned the hours pubs could sell alcohol, as it was believed that alcohol consumption would interfere with the war effort. It restricted opening hours for licensed premises to luncheon (12:00 to 14:40) and supper (18:30 to 21:30). In the late 1980s the licensing laws became less restricted and allowed pubs to allow the consumption of alcohol on the premises from 11:00 until 23:00, although nightclubs were allowed to stay open much later. Significantly revised rules were introduced in November 2005.
Traditionally, the phrase "Last orders!" is still often used to announce the last opportunity to purchase drinks, typically ten or fifteen minutes in advance and is often announced via a bell. At the point when the bar will no longer serve drinks, the bar staff will announce "Time at the bar!", or "Time gentlemen please!" (again, either shouted or via the use of a bell).
The wartime restrictions in Scotland were not repealed until 1976 (possibly due to a stronger temperance movement there). However, the repeal of these laws led to a situation whereby Scottish laws were generally less restrictive, with local authorities being allowed to determine opening hours. Most Scottish pubs now open until midnight, though this is not universal.

[Niner]

William Jennings Bryan, the Scopes trial guy and the the prohibitionist, after giving up being Secretary of State recently because he was even more of a wuss than Wilson, and objected to the President's tone of voice in a statement to Germany over American lives lost at sea on British ships from German submarines provoked some comment in the newspapers.


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[Niner]

Neutral US sees no problem with business with combatants and remarks on the adventures of the salesmen.

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By the way... I thought a "sledge" was the name of a big hammer.

[Niner Delta]

-sledge

noun

1. a vehicle of various forms, mounted on runners and often drawn by draft animals,
used for traveling or for conveying loads over snow, ice, rough ground, etc.

2. a sled.

3. British. a sleigh.

[DuncaninFrance]

sledge2
 noun a sledgehammer.
 verb [usually as noun sledging] Cricket (of a fielder) make offensive remarks to (an opposing batsman) in order to break their concentration.

DERIVATIVES
sledger noun

ORIGIN
Old English slecg (noun), from a Germanic base meaning 'to strike', related to slay1.