BULGARIAN PORTS SHELLED

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 19, 22 January 1916, Page 5

BULGARIAN PORTS SHELLED

RUSSIA'S BLOW !N BUKOWINA. ARTILLERY ASCENDANCY IN FRANCE GREECE'S UNHAPPY POSITION. MONTENEGRO DEFIES AUSTRIA. INVASION THREAT ON EGYPT. Dedeagatch has again been bombarded by an allied fleet, the fire from which did considerable damage. Allied warships also bombarded the port of Lagos, and landing parties searched for, submarine depots. A French official report denies that any peace negotiations took place between Montenegro and Austria, or that the Montenegrin army ever capitulated. King Nicholas, in an interview, is stated to have declared on January 6 that he was no longer able to hold out, as his army was vastly outnumbered, and, owing to the sinking of supply ships in the Adriatic through lack of protection, had been without food for five days. A German wireless message claimed that the Austrians on their entry into Cettinge found the citizens peaceable and friendly disposed, but a message from the correspondent of "Le Petit Journal" declares that their entry,was marked by pillage and rapine. Ln.v, Word from the'-fighting front in France helps to confirm the growing conviction of the overwhelming ascendancy . which the Anglo-French artillery is gaining over the Germans. A general bombardment along the front is reported. The exploits of the German Fokker aeroplanes have been causing some uneasiness at Home, seventeen British machines having been brought down since the middle of December. The Under Secretary for War has made a reassuring statement on the subject, however, declaring that we had machines equal in speed and- efficiency to the Fokker, and that our air service had given, a good account of itself. A Eumanian Cabinet Minister, interviewed by a "Matin" correspondent, declared that, summed up, Rumania's national sentiment and the decision of the Government was: "No war, or war for the Allies." He added that Rumania's help can, however, only produce its full effect if thrown into the scales at the right moment. A Bucharest message'states that 20,000 Germans are replacing the Turks on Gallipoli who are joining the army destined to invade Egypt. The Greeks, from the King downwards, are said to be in an unhappy state of anxious expectation, while the Germans in Athens now alternate between audacity and terror, the appearance of an allied warship in harbour being enough to send them fleeing to their legations for refuge. The Military Service Compulsion Bill has passed through its committee stage in the House of Commons.