NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15121, 10 November 1914, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tt is reported that tho battle-cruiser Goeben and her consorts to Constantinople, having escaped encouutor with Russian warships. Apart from two light cruisers and a number of destroyers, none of tho Russian ships in tho Black Sea are fast enough to attempt pursuit of the Goeben, Breslau, Medjidieh, and Hamidieh. The best speed of any of the Russian armoured ships is about 18 knots, while tho Goeben has a speed of 28} knots, tho Breslan of 27$ knots, and tho other two ships 23 knots. It is doubtful whether any warship has over had a more inglorious career than tho Gcoben and Breslau. In the first weeks of tho war these two flno warships, after a desultory bombardment of Bona and Philippeville, escaped by reason of their superior speed from a British squadron. Their reported sale to Turkey seems to havo been n myth, for they havo retained their German crews. Those amazing shins, without any previous warning, left Constantinople flying the flag of Turkey, which till then had preserved a more "or less doubtful neutrality, and by shelling several Russian ports, committed .nu act of war, which has since called forth declarations of war n gainst Turkey from Russia, Britain. France, and Belgium. Having done, all this, theso ships postpone their day of reckoning by refusing to fight the Russian shin?, and coolly steam back into Constantinople.

The Germans have committed many flagrant breaches of the rules of civilised warfare, and not the. least of these breaches is tho uso of tho 3ted Cross flag as a disguise for ships which."aro suspected of being used for laying mines. Tho Admiralty announced the other day that tho German vessel Oniiolia had been dotained becauso her name -was not notified to tht> British' Government as a hospital ship. It is stated that- this ship behaved in a manner "inconsistent -with the duties of a hospital ship," and will be dealt with by the Prize Court. The Ophelia is a ship of a class that is scarcely likely to bo used a? a hosnital ship, being a small oargo steamer, of tho collier type, of lli'3 tons register. She is of tho same class as steamers employed in tho New Zealand coal trade, and is about tho same size ns tho Kini. It is very probable that while sailing uuder tho Rod Cross, tho Ophelia has been employed to lay mines or for reC(Hii)ai.snnce* purposes, for we arc told that a quantity of explosives was found on board tho ship.

A I'ov days ago tbo Admiralty announced that tho Germans had boon employing ships flying neutral flags to scatter mines indiscriminately in theopen sea on the main trade route from America to Liverpool, via tbo north of Ireland. Mine-laying under ties© circumstances, and reoonnaisaaee coniluctdd by trawlers, hospital ships, and vessels under neutral flags arc stated by the Admiralty to be ordinary features of German naval warfare. The North Sea, msido a Ime drawn from the northern point, of the Hebrides through the Faroe Islands to Iceland, has beon proclaimed a mih r

tary area. This means that the A:miiahy rt»>n-es the ripht *.o stoj) and search ail shins, whether tuppo>edly friendly, ncitral. Mr o:herwise. and no guarantee of safety affor<Je<i *-o any mewhant i>h\n irarejrint; the proecribod area. By this means the Navy will be abto to" keep a much .stricter watch on the rapvemt-n'-i of all vessels navigating the Noith Sea. nr.d so check the «>K : 't£T of mine.-", whicii have caused more !cs«v- to the fehippinc; of neutral coimtrios t.liMn ru Br:t:s!i naval or mercantile ver-seJ.-.

! The less of the armoured cruiser \orck is a serious one for the German ai T. and much more s-o, by comparison of tho reLv.ire <: :\.«t strengths of the iuo fleets, than our lo>* o: the Good Hope and Mojinic uh. The Yorck. liko her sister ship, tho Roou. was a comgaratively new ship, having been built in 10(>{-i}0. at a fo.=t of £373.000. Sho was a 21-knot cruisor of tons. and for her sizo was a very heavily armed sliip. She tarried four S.-in, ten o.9in, fourteen 3.4 in. and three I.4in guns, and four torpedo tub**, and was protected uitii Krupp sioel armour -1 to c inches in thickness. The Yorcl? and Roon ranked next in size and armament aftfr the St harnhorsi and Gnoisenau. Aithotijxli n was at first ro>ported that tho Yorck was .-unk by striking mines m Jahdo JJay, "The Times"' otatos that the vesje!, wliicli partic:pat-ed in thy abortive raid on thy east coast of England, was torpedoed by a British submarine. This may well betrue, for. ever since the out break of war Briiish submarines have been making visits u> tho German com si. and h.tvo penctra-tod as far as the entrance to Wilhelntshai-cn. What'.'ver the cause, this cruiser k- a bad loss to the German navy, ami has gone to the bottom as surely as the unfortunate torpedo boat destroyer GI7S. which, it will bo remembered, was sunk two miles south of Heligoland by the Yorck, during mnnajuviv-s on March 6th last year, two officers and 63 men being drowned.

The message from Perth regarding the Mghtinj of the Emden by a British warship refers to an event which took place nearly a mouth a 30. Tho Emden was accompanied by the Ham-burg-Amerika steamer Markomaiinia, 4005 tons, which v::.s acting as .a supply and store shin, and "the Greek steamer Pontonouros, which had coaled the cruiser several times. Although the Emden. which steamed off as soon as she was sighted, escaped by her superior ypcpd. tho British cruiser sank the Markomamiia and captured tho Pontopouros, which was taken as a prize of war into Ponang. lhis incident occurred on October 14th.

! It the statement from Tokio that the Japanese Admiralty has received reports of an impending action between Japaneeo ships and the Gorman iacific Squadron has any foundation in fact, wo may expect to receive some very interesting news from tho Southeastern Pacific before very long. Tho German Squa.dro7i referred to comprises tho Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and their smaller consirts. There are, of course, obvious reasons for doubting that tho Japaneso would make public any information regarding their naval dispositions indicating that an engagement was pending. On tho other hand, it would not be surprising to learn that some of the Japanese ships which have been co-operating; with the British squadrons in tho Pacific, havo got into touch with the German Squadron oven so fatf afield as the coash of South' Amorica.

So ;far we havo received no official account from tho Admiralty regarding the action of November let, that published yesterday having been based oti what was described as "trustworthy information." It will bo noticed also' i that no official statement regarding the action has yet been made by Germany, and that a Santiago message t-tabes that tho Chilian Government referred to tho "alleged" engagement. If tho Gorman squadron srink the Good Hope, ami possibly Iho Monmouth, and drove off tho Glasgow, it is strange that tho success has not- been announced from Germans*, whero the news would certainly be rcceivod with wild enthusiasm. None of tho "accounts received so far toll us anything of tho damage sustained l>y tho German ships, which could not come through such a hot Oght unscathed. Even tho statement issued by tho Admiralty is very incomplete, as other messages, including one- published this morning, give the names of German ships, one of N them being the Bremen, which are not mentioned in tho Admiralty's account of tho fight. The German shins which havo been mentioned in tho different stories aro the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig, Nurnberg, Dresden, and Bremen. Tho last two, if they were actually present, have apparently been driven from tho Atlantic into the Pacific, and it may be, when the full story is told, we shall find that tho engagement off tho coast of Chili was only an incident in a big scheme of naval operations.

Although there was little chanco of her getting far from Honolulu, oven had her commander chosen to leave or been forced to do so by the American authorities, since a Japanese cruiser was waiting for hor outsido tho territorial three-mile. limit, if. is satisfactory to know that the small German cruiser has been interned at that port, thus removing , the last menace to British, and Japanese shipping in tbo North Pacific. Tho (Teier, which was cruising between New Guinea and Java early in the war. put into Honolulu on October lGth, ostensibly for repairs to her engines, and has remained thero ever since. Tho laws of neutrality allow a belligerent ship twenty-four hours in a m>u:rai port, and the prolonged stay of the Geier at Honolulu called forth protests from Britain and Japan to the American Government against the vessel being allowed to remain in port. Tho Goier, and tho stoamor Locksun, which was probably armed, have been placed under a guard of American troops. Their guns and crews have been removed, and, with the shirks trill bo kept in custody until the end of tho war.

The London Scottish, who have fought*so heroically in France, are » picked body of men. Four years ago it was mentioned that they had ."300 pen waiting to get into the ranks. There are other Territorial regiments whose is equally good. A general officer declared a. few years ago ih.it he had a battalion in a Surrey town <jqt:al in physique to a battalion of the Guards, and as ho was an old Guardsman, ho spoke with knowledge-. Such battalions, hardened by continuous training since tho war started, must be lino fighting units now. Lord I Haldane. tho creator of tho Terrii tortals. set down .six months as the lime required to train tho Territorials for services attor tho outbreak of Tar. Five years ago tho military correspondent of '"Tho Times" thought well : enough of tho force to believe that this penol couid bo shortened. "Given time.' patience, and persexora-nce. the Territorial Force i.s bound to be a &uccoss. Certainly, it is not fife tor immediate Jorvieo now. and an enemy wh.-> attacks it before September, 1011. will it unready. But, two years henco, if vis.-' pnn'dnncA at Army Headquarters and sustained in all ranks continue, to prevail, tho Territorial Force- will, in tho writer's oninion, be ready for service in half the timo that is usually anticipated, and -.nth evory suoceedin-c; year we shall be able to dock something more from those six months which are popularly sappos-xl to bo the time required for enabling the second lino, if considerably superior in numbers to its foe, to take tho field with credit to itself and to tho confusion of its enemiies." His opinion has been justified by what has happened at Ypros. It is. interesting to note lnat

one or two German critics Jiavo prai=ed tho Territorials. Cokmet Gaodke. a well-known writer, after t\itne<>i;'t: J Territorial TnapriMivrcs. said: —"England ha.s. therefore, r.o reason te> be pessimistic about the Territorial*. Any country would be proud of creating ; such <in army <>f volunteers in >o short ' a space of time. ai:d under j= eh unfavourable oondiiioii.-.. . . The. Territorial Army is not at ail unusable. ! It is in a .stmo of growth, and it will | roo:i be a mspoctsi-blo- aniiy it" it j i> >>'tj!tain«yi in 11;i~- :_rr<;<.>t*i. JVat'iraJ- ! ly. there. ;vr<> tln:i;;s'vhi<»h ca!i i'or criticism, but i am convinced that "I \ .should iiti-l nwr.y of the defects which ; I have <-ont!o:r.ntni <in th<_- manr'ivrefteld.s of Continental armies: and I can j declare, thai 1 was agreeably surprised j to find in the youni: 'territorial Army | r.o more prions ia"ilin<rs." Another i (icrman oiF.cer tho Territorials! .it work some yrars was MU-privd ' at what he s;nv. He was "convinced ' that .Mr Haldano's desire io make of j tho Territorials an oxcoll t >nt a-econd line ': on which iho I?e-r.«»ir5 can reiv is fulfilled." " "" : i