NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15111, 29 October 1914, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tho news that the Indian troops had their baptism of fire last week ebowa that tho Frenoh are husbanding their reserves. The Indians must have been in France a month or more beforo they were called on to use tho bayonet and tho lance. This seems to augur well for tho issue of tho operations on the extreme left. Tho fact that the Germans aro employing youths who had no training prior t to August would seem to show that their reserves at the front are no? very strong.

. A few years ago a German Count attached to the General Staif visited India, and spent a. very profitablo and pleasant time there. Judging by tho book he "wrote on this visit, ho is a broad-minded gentleman. He saw tho nativo army at work, visiting the frontier among other parts, and came away much impressed with British methods. Tho bock has many generous tributes to tbo work of tho British in India, especially British officers. Ono wonders where he is now, and what he thinks of tho situation. One of his conclusions was that the Indian troops ■wore capable of opposing Continental tolrliors —an opinion which was probably so ffed at by other Gvitnou officers. The Sikhs, who fought with the Germans in China thirteen years ago, conceived a contempt for them, and when they returned doubtless spread their opinion rapidly through Indian regiments.- But this would, of course, bo carefully concealed.

Tho news from Poland is extremely interesting;. A great battle, we arc told officially, is proceeding in the Piotrkow-Radom front- Ni>w this front is at right angles to tho long front from Warsaw along tho Vistula into Calicia, on which the three armies met for tho great trial of streneth. The Germans got nearly up to Warsaw, mid were then pushed back to Skierniewice, 40 miles to the south-west. It maybe that this part of the German line has been forced back on Piotrkow, or that the force between that nlaco and Radom k part of the line that held tho Vistula to the tsouth of Warsaw. Or it may bo partly the German army in reserve, based <m Kk'lee (sonth-w«*t of Radom) corning up to attack the pursuing Russians in tho flank. But whatever it is, the position is full of possibilities. if the Germans can be driven further round, with Radom for :i hinge it will have its face instead of its back to Berlin, and lie between two lire-'.

The Gurkhas, who :ir<> reported to have participated in the fighting at I>a Hiissee. wear a dice band on their caps, ami they are in fact tho Highlanders of India. They havo a great partiality for our kilted corps, and very firm friendships havo boon establish*! between the oth and Oth Gurkha JtifiV* and others and the Seaforth, 'Gordon, and kindred regiment*;. The various messes contain shields and trophies to mark tbo comradeship oxifctiiig. The Gurkhas have always given much attention to military work, and they may be fcaid t-o be a casto of soldiers "(says tho '-Morning Post"). There are 00,000 of them in Nepal, besides tho regiments in the Indian .Army, who possess '20.000- They am tho Lest fighting material in tho world. ini'J their ooiirasr- and quality aro known everywhere. They were conopK'Joiis at' Bharatpnr. famous in tho iSikh War. and loyal in the Mutiny. In th" Afghan Campaign they did snlcndi'l H-mn , , and iir thoy luive distinguished themselves on the Xorth-Wiv-t Frontier, in Burma, Egypt. China, ami Tibet. Soni" -, of th«*m fought a! Aliwal. with tho loth Lancers at Sybraon, iin'J others wore with Earl

Roberts at Kabul and Kandahar: vrhilo the hills of tho Tirah end Chitrat h»r v > seen them at work, riHos stung end the- iittle knife in tho teeth, climbing after snipers. OEcial ««.ti-tr.-ate of them is nsa-rkod by tho tact that tho throo junior regiments are Royal Uosumenis. nnd that their <*olonols include Earl Roberts, Earl Kitchoner, a:s.-] the ptcsrnt Conim.-uHler-tn-Chief, Sir EoaucKamjn Duff. Since the war commenced tho <>urkhas have been rost-lossJy impatient xo l>o off to the seat of the operations.

Last week tho writer ,•>! military notes in the Melbourne "Argus" nuule the following comments on iho Russian strategy:—

"The decision of the Russian j;i>ncral r-taiT to nnvt the Gernian armies tor the tirsj gro:u bntt!.» on the Vistula sTTOJicihons tho confidence aroused by tlip Russian strategy ;a the opening operations of iho war. The Russian movements, when reviewed n.s a whole, fail into a well-ordered plan. ;«n:! thesteadiness with which tho campaign lias hitherto been conducted ju each quarter points to a stron:; and able central control. The Germans, of course, have not, without so mo adequate sacrificed tho jxre:v{ ndvani.»£Os oi' their strategic railways by uiarehinj: iwx into Poland. Nevertheless the dis;uiv;\n'uip<\s of their present position rolatiyety to tho strength of their frontier lino aro so j;reat thr»- the reason is hard to discover. In tho first place, tho di>tance of each ot' the Gorman armies irotn its ba.se reduces very considerably tlie striking jwwer on the Vistula. The absence of railways .ilonj; the Germ.m frorr prevents the spoody reinforcement of the line at any threatened point. Moreover, the German lines of communication stretched through ne.iriy 10') miles of country filled with a hostile population. The only reason u> hv found for the Gorman advance is that it was dictated by a desire to make full %o oi the initiative, and strike, quickly a decisive blow acainst the main Ivussian Army. Tin* .-trength of tho Lus&ian position is that tho battle is beiiip fought, on uround ihat the \Uis.siaos theuisolve.s liave M?k>ctt\l ax heinu tho most suited to their purpose, and tli3t the main Russian Army i<; rcAtinj: close upon its own base at War.uiw. Tho Russians' positions will h.ivebcon carefully prepared during the two months of tno war. and their men would have, rested before the. serious ughtinp: began. _ There is, an argument in favour of tho German advance into i'oland which ran be thtf more, rwulily nppreHarcd in the light oi tho present situation on tbe French front of war. Even if defeated on iho Vistula, the Germans will bo driven out of Russian territory only with difficulty, while evory retreat only carries them nearer to their own great bases of supply, and their network of strategic railways. Tho groat atly.).tage D of the Russian stmtegj- is that, if viotorious. tlie- Russians wrest from tho Germans the power of the initiative in mucli the same way as the Allies won it at tho IJattle oi the Marno. Tho value of this factor in war has already been made manifest in France.

If is reported, on what appears to bo tfood authority, that « combination of Liverpool and Now York shipov.nicrs has boon effected, and has subscribed the capital for a, fleet of at least twenty big cargo steamers to capture tome of Germany's oversea carrying trade. It is stated that the ships will fly the American ling, and will trade froiii New \ork to Australia. India, China, and fcouth America. For mai, v years past these cargo services have beon carried on solely by British and German lines. The German shipping companies, notably, tho Hamburg-Amorika, Xortl-dcutschcr-Lioyd, and Hiinsa Lines, have steadily increased their interests in these- profitable trades. Tho three lines engaged in tho cargo tmdo from New York to Australia and New- Zealand havo been the United Tyser (noV tho Commonwealth and Dominion) Lino, tho American and Australasian Line, aud the United Stales and Australasian Line. Tho two first-inontioned arc maintained almost entirely by British steamers, but the tlurd, during tho last two or tbroo years, has been carried on by tho Hansa Lino of Bremen. Until tho outbreak of war, tho Han&a, Lino, vrliich owned a fleet of sixty largo cargo steamers, ateo had a very large share of tho Indian and China trade to and from New York. It is now in v bad way, half of its entire fleet having been captured a« prizes, and tho other half laid up in neutral ports.

Regarding the total destruction of ; Germany's oversea oommerco einco tho start of tho war, the New York correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph" recently said that- nothing is more exasperating to the merchant princes of Hamburg and Bremen than to hear that British merchants and Americans are • perfecting plans for tho capture of Germany's rich commerce tvith South America and other parts of tho norld. The knowledge that, thirty German liners are marooned in American ports, and that a Atil'l bigger fleet is virtually imprisoned in German ports of the North Sea is all tho more exasperating boeauso it ivas unexpected. It is not disputed that if tho war is prolonged be>oud six months Germany's greatest shipping- comj)anies, unless they receive, handsome assistance from thd Kaiser, who is the richest shareholder, or from tho Gororntnent, trill have bankruptcy staring them in the'face. It is known already that American representatives of some of the lines are experiencing tho greatest difficulty in finding ready cash for rent for offices, and for the maintenance of the skeleton crews. It is not disguised that tho disastrous effects of tho economic "war which is now taking pinto were :is much under-estimated by German authorities as tho capacity of tho German field force to subjugate Franco and polish of! Russia was absurdly over-estimated.

It :s a remarkablo fact that practically the whole of the oversea commerce of the United States bas been carried on by foreign ship-owuers, chiefly British and Gorman. Nob more than fire steamers in the trans-Atlantic trade, fly the American flag. Not a single American steamer trades between Netv York and India, China, Australia, s> ml New Zealand. The Stars and Stripes, except in a few sailing ships and a few steam-ship lines trading to South America, is unknown on {lie. world'st great trade routes. The crippling of German steamship companies during tho past twelve weeks, has aroused American exporters and merchants to a sense of their present helpless dependence on the shipping of other nations, and active steps are being taken to end this deplorable state of affairs. An Act of Congress recently passed, authorised the of American registry to ships purchased from foreign countries, but the suggestion that the German ships sheltering in L'nited States ports should bo acquired b y American owners, came to nothing, oiving to the attitude of the British Government, which refused to countenance the. proposal. Apparently, however, the latest scheme mentioned in to-day's news r>rorid«?s fo;- the-piirchns-c or building of a number of .ships which wit] participate, with tho British lines in certain tnules, in place of the German steamships which have been displaced by the war. j We were told yesterday that Japan lm j protested to the United States against the German cruiser Geicr being allowed to remain at Honolulu after her repairs have been completed, on the j ground that this constitutes a breach of neutrality. A message from Honolulu, dated October 17th. stated that the Gcicr bad put in there, and was remaining indefinitely for repairs to her engiues, which would require scrotal weeks. It was further stated that tho Government was watching ihe vessel to prevent the "violation of neutrality. Wo pointed out at the lirae that by inter- ! national law a neutral "may freely ■supply repairs, pacific stores, and tuili-

dent coal to carry tho belligerent t**.m?l *u> the nearest port ia hor own country." The position of Lbe ucier is not'r.ii cnvinhfe one. Tho only German port left in tho I'adSc is Tsiagiau, which, hoing blockatlcd by ihi» AUietl l'lcrts, is manifestly « "closed div>r" to tho Gcier. nr.d it is just a* et»rtai:i siie cannot get to iJio piirt in her own country.' . Only t«o courses aro open to tills unfortunate cruiser. If shp remains in Honolulu. she must he disarned nnd interned until tho end of tho war; if she puts to s«»a. .she wi.'l !':nd v Jiritish or -Japane*.> cruiser waiting for,her outside tho thrce-tni'.e limit, and* will h.-uo to tight or .surrender. The Oeior i> an o"ct crni?f>r oi 1.->rT tons, and It; knots speed. bni'H in and arnuxi with eii:ht l.hn jruns.

Tho modern 'British dt'.-lroyer.-i art , an extraordinary combiner inn oi lightnos w>.\ strengtlt. They tango in size from •.>■•>!> tons to 9X" tons «ii.*p«.ic-onu-nt. iti lons;t!i from ->?.">ft to an<2 in beam ironi 231 ft to '27ix. and their hulls are crammed with hoil(»r> and ondins developing from 7o(\i \i> lu.olX) horsepower. They are safe, stron-; and 5«!----wortliy. ard ablo to I<eep tho , s ea i n the worst of wcath.r. Thci,- frames and scantlings are immensely strong to stand tho stresses and .strains of active service, l.;:t the platinr; of high tensiio stool is almost, incredibly thin. Consequently it is not surprising to road that rho, dostrover Kadiror. a of WXI tons nnd IR.r*no lu^svpo'.rer. was soniowha; damaged in tin> hows 'after ramming and sinkinc n Gertrwtn .submarine. Her daring commander did not }"*?it:i?v« a moment-, hut steamed a! full sp.Mxl at his submerged cpt>on«»n" nnd soi)j her to the bottom. Wo ar.< to!<! that the Badger opened firo with her guns at tho exposed portion of th« hull of the. submarine immediately after tho collision.' Tho repairs to the v'sestroyor after sho returned to noit o<vwpiod only a fow tiourr-. a testimony tn tbe roadiness :ini! efficiency of tho dockyarxl .staff. Tli» strajclitoninjr of * frame or two and tho fitting and rivetting in of a few new plates trcro probably all thut wg required.