WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 168, 15 July 1916, Page 11

WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

BRITISH Outwit TEUTONS IW RUMANIA. (From Onr Special Correspondent). SAN FRANCISCO, June 13. Awarding to a Bucharest newspaper received in New York, the acceptances t>y the Rumanian millere' syndicate of the offer of the British buyers' syndicate for tlie purchase of flour available for export has caused great satisfaction at Bucharest. It will,.' have considerable results for Turkey, for, according to reliable information which reached Bucharest, the lack of food in Turkey amounts to famine. A kilogramme of' flour costs about two francs in Constantinople at present. Tlie millers' , syndicate refused the German oSei to buy the flour available for export at the price of 5,800 francs per wagon. The ■British offer wae accepted through the agency of tihe well-known banker, M. Crissoveloni, and an agreement hna been signed that no fiouT shall be made for any other foreign buyer for four months under a penalty of an indemnity of 15,000,000 francs. All the other contracts for the sale of flour which 'have already been agreed to, about 4,000 wagons to Turkey, Austria, and Germany,have been granted to M. Criseoveloni. MAMMOTH RELIEF FUNCTION. Further proof of Ame/ica'e sympathy for the cause of the Allies was shown, in a mammoth "Allied BazaaT" which. wac opened in the Grand Central Palace in New York, at which there were many, unique features. On the eve of the opening ceremony the lady promoters waged a street campaign, and it is declared that they established a. world's record, for inside twenty-four hours they managed to sell 085,401 tickets of admission to the affair, and each at a shilling, or the American equivalent of 25 cents. Millions of dollars' worth of saleable things—ranging from home-made gingerbreads from a New England woman to automobiles, rare objecte of art, and a 10,000 dollar pearl necklace —were donated to the bazaaT, and were sold olf ip various ways. In addition the many relief committees among the Allies arranged booths, tea gardens, exhibits, and other entertainments. The co-operation of many of the best known opera 6ingcr3, actors, and' aetreeees, and dancers contributed to make the event a remarkable success, and over a million dollars were raieed. The official French Government exhibit consisted of 200 tons of war relios, including many of exceptional interest in showing the actual" -weapons, from guns to aeroplanes, with which the war ie being waged on both sides. The bazaar was organised under the joint auspices of the National Allied Relief Committee, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, and the Wlar Relief Clearing House. AMERICA AND GERMANY'S WABSPITE CLAIM. The 'Kaiser has 'been buey minimising his fleet's defeat by the British off Skager Rack, and his propaganda appears to have been concentrated upon the United States. Time after time the wireless at Sayville, Long Island, hae been burdened with, tainted dispatcher emanating from Berlin in an effort to discountenance the ever-growing sympathy fox the Allies' cause in America, but news from neutral sources always upsets the wild , assertions of the Teuton, "lie factory" in Germany's capital. One of the most emphatic claims of German officiate is that the British Dreadnought Warspite was sunk in the naval battle off Skagex Rack. In proof of the statement of the British Admiralty that the Warspite had airived eafely in port after the North Sea battle, the commander of the warship himself received the representativ-e of an American news agency and described his vessel's miraculous escape from the concentrated German fire. Americans are now convinced that the German claim to have sunk the Warspite is another "terminological inexactitude" as Winston Churchill would say. "I am still commander of the greatest battleship in the ■world, and my men are as fine as Nelson's 'bluejackets," said Captain F. M. Phillpotts, the skipper of the Warspite, when talking €cT the Yankee scribe. Captain Phillpotts, said the American, was very modest, and minimised his own part in the battle. But he was full of praise for his men and what he termed the amazing powers of resistance of his ship. "I am not surprised that there have been rep<#ts that the Warspite "was sunk," he said, "as from our position between our fleet and the German battleships our escape from such a fate was simply miraculous. Several times we disappeared from sight in the smoke and spray. Even some of our own officers on other ships believed the gallant battleship had sunk. As we left the frghtmg-line we disappeared in a complete veil of spray. You ask mc what results I saw that onr fire had on the Germans? I saw that we registered by the after hit, enough to convince mc that the Germans got a hiding which will keep them in port for many months to come. After two hours of action, in ■which our division of "battle--ships engaged the whole German battle fleet in an effort to our battle cruisers until Admiral Jellkoe came up, the Warspitc's steering gear went wrong, and she Tan amok amonng the enemy. It must have annoyed the German gun pointers exceedingly to attempt to gauge our erratic movements, for soon we were almost in the midst of the German ibattles-hips, and well between them and our battle-line. I know of six German battleships ■which concentrated their fire on -the Warspite, and there may have been others which I could not ccc. TJnder a worse pounding than the Lion received in the Dogger Bank fight, we remained in action without a single vital injury, our chief difficulty being from tbe mishap to the steering geaT. "The fact that we got out was an absolute miracle. Once repairs were quickly made, we wanted to return, but found we trere not po-pnlar. Sufficient battleships weTc present to nil the line, and the possibility of out rtnming amok among out own friende waa not welcomed. We steamed home. The Warspite -will be sailing the seas mont*hs before the German fleet comes out again."

6,000 CANADIANS FAIX IN A 'WEEK'S FIGHTING. The desperate natnre of the fighting in which the Canadians have been participating during the early part of June n?ay be imagined by an announcement made in Ottawa on June 8, when, according <to a etatcment made by MajorGeneral Samuel Hughes, Minieter of Militia, upward of six thousand Canadians fell within the first week of June in the desperate fighting around Sanctnary Woods. Presenting colours to a Canadian regiment on Parliament Hill ill Ottawa, Sir Samuel said: "The great majority -wounded are -already clamouring to get back into the fray, but many of the gallant lads have gone down never' to rise again. We deeply mourn their! loes, but that loss affords an inspiration for tens of thousands more to take their, ■place."

AN OBJECT LESSON ON PREPAREDNESS. Fear of beings involved m the European war has resulted in an active campaign for jinilitaTy and naval preparedness throughout the United States, and more particularly in the Eastern States. The movement, however, has had many opponents. The anti-preparedness parade staged recently on Fifth Avenue, New York City, by the Woman's Peace party was not imposing in numbers, but it certainly possessed variety. Twelve boys carrying base-ball bats and twelve carrying guns and bayonets lined up for 1 the marcji in front of headquarters. A male pacifist, seeing the' , 'twelyi; boys •with! guns and bayonets, mistook the youthful group for part'of a,'preparedness demonstration. Rγ way of perfectly pacific protest he proceeded to cuff one boy and try to grab his gun. Not

to "be outdone, the youthful pacifist fixed his bayonet, and wits only prevented by superior numbers from jabbing -that implement of offence and defence into the stomach of Ms assailant. After this prelude theTe were two more fights, two ihirrry calls for policemen, and the dispersal and desertion of the youthful ■warriors because of sudden rain and unanimous lack of preparedness foT that happening. Taken iill in all, the .pacifist parade was about the most belligerent little affair pulled off on Fifth Avenue for many years.