Sidelights on the War

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 68, 20 March 1915, Page 16

Sidelights on the War

Owing to the bread famine in Germany, even star actors have to be content with small roleM. The Germans consider the arrest of Cardinal Merrier as a trivial matter. Merely a "clerical error." in fact. All.tbe cinema theatres in Antwerp have to pay 25 per cent of the net receipts to tile German authorities. Several factories for the manufacture of toys, hitherto imported from Germany, are being established in Swansea. Tbe tramways in Brussets are now compelled to pay ::o per cent of their receipts to the German authorities. The "Libre Parole" says that M. Miller«nd. the French War Minister, has received ,an anonymous letter, enclosing 4,000,000 francs to be used for the purchase of war material for the French Army.—Exchauge. The Germans have posted placards in Lodz inviting the roles to enrol in the Germau army to tight for the freedom of ■Poland. The proclamations are signed '•Wilhelm and Francis Joseph." Dr. Ernest Noah, discussing in the Berlin journal "Die Metallborse" the famine in ropper. urges the authorities to seize all the electric tramway and telephone wires I In those portions of France and Belgium which are in German occupation. At the Hull Central recruiting depot a poster prepared shows th.it 7j per cent of married men and only iS3 per cent of single I men have enlisted locally. Lord Kitchener is depicted wih scales at his side, unevenly balanced, aud beneath is the word I "Shame." "The Gazette de Hollande." commenting \ >o the recent German air raid, says it Is clearly demonstrated that Zeppelins can cross the North Sea. but "the Germans will oe greatly disappointed by the fact that their "Air Dreadnoughts' can only accomplish such slight damage." t • Sir Edward Carson, speaking at Wimbledon, said the best message he could send to the Kaiser was that our country and our Empire were united as one man. This was not a war amongst nations; it was a lebellion by one nation against civilisation, '»nd against the whole development of international law. A new form of currency, says the "Berliner Zeitung," has been introduced into the German army. Ordinary coin has lost ! its value now that it Is impossible to buy anything in the villages at the base, and cigars take the place of money. A piece of sausage as big as a hand costs four cigars: a pair of warm gloves or a flask of cognac thirty cigars. Muddy boots are cleaned for two cigars. "DEVIXS" FROM WINNIPEG. The 00th Winnipeg Rifles now at Salisbury Plain h&ve one of the quaintest badges to be found in the Army. It is a little biack devil with a pitchfork, underneath which device is a scroll with a motto in Latin: "Named by the enemy on the field of battle." It commemorates the fact that so well did the men of the regiment acquit themselves in the suppression of the Canadian North-West Rebellion that the Red Indians styled them "the little black devils from Winnipeg." A TALE FROM THE FLEET. One realises the wonderful spirit of the ?>avy (says the "Nalion") not merely in the story of the loss of the Formidable, but in accounts of the slighter accidents of the fleets. The other day, for example, the commander of a destroyer, rolling beavily in a gale, and with her engines disabled, tried to lessen the strain by ladling out oil. The seaman engaged in this work was washed overboard, and washed back again by a returning wave. He picked biui- ; self up. saluted his officer, and said: "Very sorry, sir: lost the bucket.'' WAR AND MARRIAGE. Jir Theodore Chambers, writing in the . January issue of the "Eugenic Review." | after dealing with the general effect of wax npon the race, says:—"Another question that is of the utmost importance from the eugenic standpoint is that of encouraging the marriage of those about to go to cite front. Here we must recognise the sensible action that has been taken at the instance of the Archbishop of Canterbury in reducing the marriage fees, aud it is to be hoped that the Government will ac.-ede to the Archbishop's suggestion and teinporarilv waive the Government marriage license duty. The encouragement of recruits to marry is far-reaching ia its im- I pprtnncc." NINE SONS AT THE FRONT. I The following letter has been received from P.m-kingliam Palace by Mr David Stewart, Itosewell Cottages. Lochoro: —Buck-1 inghani Palace. January 13, 1915.—Sir.—I have the honour to inform you that 'be King has heard wi'h much interest that yon have at the present moment nine sous and a son-in-law serving in His Majesty's Forres. I am commanded to express to you tbe King's congratulations, and to assure you that His Majesty appreciates the spirit of patriotism which prompted this example in one family of loyalty and devotion to their Sovereign and Empire.—l have the honour to be. sir. your obedien'. servant F. M. Ponsonby, Keeper of the Privy Pnrsc." A REGIMENTAL DOG. Tbe "Sprig of Shillelagh." the monthly Biagazine of the Royal JnniskiJling Fusi lirrs. gives the adventures of the regimental dog in France. "Mick, the regimental net of the Battalion, has had quite an alventurmis career. When the battalion started for France he was left in charge of the wife of a sergeant-major. She missed him. however, and heard nothing of him until her husband wrote from St Nazaire Hospital, in France, to say that Mick had come out with tbe details, was lost near Paris, but rejoined again, and got wounded in the leg at Armentieres. After being in hospital be again rejoined bis regimcDt, and is still with them." A FOOTBALL CRITIC. Fred Bonsor, the once-famous English i Rugby international, writing from Clyde. Alberta, to Bradford. says:-«-"What sickens , mc most about England is to see in the papers reports of football matches, and big crowds spending their money and time watching a lot of skunks play when the Empire is in such danger. Every man under 40 attending football matches I would rush into training camps to swell Kitchener's Army, but I am afraid you are too soft ia England, and fools and cowards will continue to play and enjoy all the pleasures and luxuries at their command whilst others are spilUr.g their blood on foreign soil for the hunour of their conntry." Bonsor served through tbe South African 'War. and volunteered this time with the Canadian contingent, bat was too ' aid.

Souvenir hunters have paid as much as it. lor pieces or the German shells which ie„ recently on the Yorkshire coast. A Kent county council advertisement ror a temporary clerk requests candidates to state, among other particulars, their reasons for not taking up military service. In the "Zukunft," of Berlin, Herr Maximilian Harden declares that Austria has mined Germany, and that there is no necessity for the latter to sacrifice her soldiers to save a country which has proved unable to defend itself. According to the "Kolnisohe Zeitung," the Bavarian soldiers remitted to their families in the month of December aloue the "Kolossal" sum of £70,000. The Cologne paper does not say how much of this was pay aud how much was loot. The French .Ministry of War, having tested a bullet-proof breastplate which was submitted to it. aud ascertained beyond, dispute that it is daugerous to the wearer, is prosecuting the inventor on a charge ot chicanery. The Hutch Roman Catholic paper "Maasbode" announces that intimation has been scut to the Belgian clergy thai they will receive their stipends from (in-many "when rhey sign the promise to say am! D.i nothing against th:\t Government." The FetrogT,i<l journal "Vi'lchfrne Vremya" announces that the (lev man Major yon Gcstcukorn ordered the shooting of six Russian bnyy. from eleven ( 0 sixteen years of age. for refusing to act as guides for the Germans. Sergeant Roland Shnhotham. Ist Cheshire Regiment, who is lying in Warrington Hospital, has received an intimation that he has been awarded the V.C. for gallantry in rescuing Captain Maruey. who later succumbed to his wounds. Shnhotham has also gained a Distinguished Conduct Medal during the war. In the Netherlands Parliament a fewweeks ago the Prime Minister significantly remarked that at any moment incidents may occur rendering it necessary for the entire military force of the country to be immediately available. This, of course, points to the possibility of a violation of Holland's neutrality. In his address to the officers and men of the 2nd Glasgow Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry recently, Lord Provost Dunlop made the very gratifying and interesting statement that when the statistics are published it will probably be found that the city has provided something like 70,000 recruits. RAPID PROMOTION. Captain Thomas Reay, ISth Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, has risen from private to captain in three months. When the war broke out he applied for a commission, but not being immediately successful, he joined the Tynesidc Commercial Battalion as a private in October. The day after joining he was made sergeant, and the foUowiug week he was promoted to second-lieutenant. About the end of last year he reached the rank of lieutenant, and now he has been appointed captain. FORBIDDEN TO TALK WAR. The Amsterdam "Telegraaf's" correspondent at Salzaette, in East Flanders, states that the inhabitants arc forbidden to discuss war conditions. Proclamations have been issued by the German authorities threatening with severe imprisonment and heavy fines those who discuss the war publicly. Some of the inhabitants have already been punished. The prisons are again fined, not with ordinary criminals, bnt with persons who have infringed the severe German orders. —Reuter. OXFORD AND THE WAR. At the annual meeting of the Association of University Women Teachers, held at University Hall, it was decided to contribute £50 for the provision of two revolving shelters on the roof of King George's Hospital. iMiss H. Jex Blake, the new presldont. in an address on "Oxford in War Time," said that on the list of those who had volunteered for service were all the members of last year's eight, except the coxswain. 13 out of the Rugby football J5. nine out of the cricket 11, eight out of the Association 11. the whole of the lawn tennis six. and some CO more who represented the University in various forms of sport, euch as racquets or polo. FOUR NEW POWERS TO JOIN IN WAR. The Taris "FigaTo" declares that the telegrams sent by Prince yon Buclon from Rome to the German Imperial Chancellor, leave no doubt as to events which are imminent. An agreement between Rumania and Bulgaria is practically complete, and everything seems to be prepared for a great upset in the East and South of Europe. Italy. Rumania, Bulgaria and GrPere are about to enter upon the scone —Italy and Rumania to bring to bear upon Austria the double pressure of their armies, and Bulgaria and Greece "to resume, amid gun-shots, the interrupted conversation with their hundred-year-old enemy at Constantinople, and this time to reach a definite solution." DURATION OF THE WAR. I The London correspondent of the "Dispatch" says:—"lVe still bear optimistic forecasts of the war ending in June, based | lon the impression thai Germany 5s already 'strung out.' and will he unable to withstand the shock tactics the Allies arc pre-' ! paring for the spring. This opinion is held by men who profess to ha>e good grouud for their confidence, which, cv in- ! I (juiry, is generally found to be based on the expectations of Germany runn-ng s.'ort of men or munitions, or both. But .however well inspired this optimism may be. Lord Kitchener is taking no risks. I understand that contracts for ha-nc=?, saddlery, etc., have been given out to cover a period of over two years." A CREDULOUS ARAB. In a recent issue, the Copenhagen journal, the "Berlingeke Tidende." publishes the following story from a correspondent at Luxor, as a specimen of the entertaining items of war news which aTe circulated— nnd believed—in Egypt:—"A German Taube, under cover of darkness, made an exceedingly audacious but successful flight to London. It made its way to Buckingham Palace, flew in through a window, took King George V. prisoner, and brought His Majesty to Germany without the smallest accident." An unbelieving Arab asked the uarrator how such a big machine could get through a window. Thereupon the narrator pointed to a wealthy officer's house which has particularly large windows and eaid, "If Captain X., who is an ordinary mortal like you and mc. has sucn i hig windows, what sort of windows must I King George have, who is King of England j and Emperor of India!" 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