WINDOWS OF THE WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 239, 9 October 1935, Page 17

WINDOWS OF THE WORLD.

International Scenes and Affairs.

THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS.

Copyright—"Chicago Tribune" and, "New York News" Services.

ADMIRALTY TANKERS.

BRITAIN LOOKING AHEAD. GIBRALTAR OIL FIELD. LONDON, September 4. Tlio Admiralty has just made provision for its latest problem—petting a supply of oil in time of war. Six mammoth tankers, which will fly tho White Ensign, are to bo built, and these will be driven by power such as no commercial tanker possesses.. For the last ten days the Imperial Defence Committee has faced up to tho hypothetical problems which arise if in the event of war Great Britain found herself in opposition to Mediterranean Powers and Turkey. The nearest source of supply is from Haifa, through tho new pipe line from Iraq. These are the old Mosul oil fields over which Britain and Turkey almost went to war for a second time just over a decade ago. If tho Haifa outlet were threatened or blockaded, then all oilburning vessels in tho Royal Navy would be put out of function. The main source of supply being from Persia must then pass through the Suez Canal, where Italian influence is stronger now, and may in certain eventualities, so the defence experts think, become stronger. It may become necessary, in their considered view, to ship Persian oil by the Cape of Good Hope. As speed will therefore be one of tho main considerations, the naval authorities at Whitehall have decided on building an independent fleet of oil supply ships driven by power which in peace time would be uncommercial. 'Planes For Scouting. These decisions have been arrived at after consultation with tho War Office and the Air Ministry. The latter has agreed that a regular supply of oil is tho primary condition of utility. The War Office for once is said to have agreed with the Admiralty, as the growing mechanisation of the Army is making it also dependent on oil fuel. Tho new tankers arc to be built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers. The models of the new petrol supply ships have already been passed as satisfactory by the director-general of construction. Each tanker will carry two 'planes. The long forward deck devoid of superstructure affords admirable taking-off ground for airmen. No tanker in commercial service has its superstructure forward as the oil tanks are below and the engines astern. - Even seamen arc not accoin-

modated forward as in other vessels, because of the danger from a discarded cigarette. For the first time since the tanker was evolved a use has been found for the vast neglected space forward. Tho seaplanes attached to tankers will scout ahead and warn them of the presence of hostile cruisers or submarines long before these get of the oil carrying vessels. The two 'planes will take it in turn to fly, and so by night and day vigilance will be exorcised that the supply of oil from several thousands of miles away is insured. Gibraltar's Possibilities. The War Office and the Admiralty are now seriously pondering the question of oil at Gibraltar. Oil in this region was detected a couple of decades ago. The situation was different then and the main field was in Spanish territory, though a stream of oil from that field actually flows beneath the rock. Negotiations arc now going on between Spain and England. It is said that an extension of territory behind Gibraltar for compensation elsewhere is the basis of these negotiations. British nil experts declare that the petroleum field behind Gibraltar is the one which, through submarine channels, supplies tho wells of Morocco, which the French have developed. The oil storage tanks at Gibraltar and Malta are to be increased by SO per cent. The new harbour to be built at Marsalokk by the reclamation of two square miles warrants this. In Gibraltar thero is ample space for drilling wells right under the mammoth rock, which no bomb or aerial torpedo yet discovered could harm. Still more significant is the news that outside Oporto and Lisbon enormous tanks are being sunk for the storage of oil. They are said to bo far larger than the needs of Portugal warrant in peace and war. These wells, like tho big cattle grazing grounds already in full -swing, arc for the supply of the British Admiralty, which, faced with the collapse of disarmament, the resurgence of navies and tho Imperialistic ambitions of Italy in the Red Sea region, is now said to consider oil supply as its most vital problem.

BALTIC BOY SCOUTS.

A SPARTAN FORTNIGHT. FARMERS TO THE RESCUE. | REZEKNE (Latvia), Sept. 2. Two hundred and fifty Russian boy scouts from Russia and Estonia have iust concluded a- fortnight camping trip on the outskirts of Rezekne which was held under conditions which would have nonplussed boy scouts in other countries. Every boy in tho camp lost weight. A fortnight of rainy weather did "not bother the scouts, who carried out their programme of exploration hikes and sports daily, although the majority of boys did not possess a change of stockings. There was not one case of illness reported, and the camp is preparing to close with a clean bill of health.

The organisers littcl ordered eacli boy to report" with 12 lats (10/), half of which was railroad faro and the remainder for food. When the boys were mustered at camp it was discovcicd that half of tliein had only railroad fare, and the commissary dep. rtment, faced with the problem of satisfying the appetites of 250 healthy boys at a maximum outlay of Od a day, became panic stricken. The leaders visited the Russian farmers of the district and obtained donations. One gave a bag of potatoes, another a i ack of flour, and the most valuable present was a big ■ porker, which saved the camp from hunger. The daily menu was meagre and monotonous. For breakfast the boys each had a pannikin of coffee made from burned rye and a dice of dry black bread; for lunch there was either a plate of soup or kascha (barley porridge without milk or sugar); and for supper there was tea. and another piece of black bread with butter. There were few complaints about the food, as the majority of the boys have not much better fare at their homes. The Russian inhabitants of the Baltic States comprise the poorest section of the population. Those living in better circumstances have only recently begun to take an .'nterest in welfare work, but, like Russian groups in other countries, they are rapidly being assimilated by the higher-cultured Letts ai.d Estonians. Russian is a foreign language iii the Baltic States to-day.