WORLD-WIDE NEWS OF THE WEEK

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21328, 22 November 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

WORLD-WIDE NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE SINGAPORE BASE Guarding Trade Routes During the discussion of rumours that Japan is fitting her Pacific: mandates as naval bases, attention has been drawn to Singapore, which is Great Britain's chief naval base in the Far East. Singapore stands at the western gateway to the Pacific ocean, as Panama stands at its eastern entrance. The trade routes from India and Ceylon lo China and Japan run through (lie Straits of Malacca, between the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, at the extremity of which Singapore is placed. A great naval dockyard is now under construction at Singapore. It is estimated to cost £9,000,000, and it will be completed in 1939. Naval experts consider its construction essential for the protection of Australia and New Zealand, as well as of Kong and British commercial interests in China. Japan, however, considers that, the fortification of Singapore is a menace to her expansion in Asia.

THE ANTARCTIC Admiral Byrd's Discoveries There are probably two continents in Antarctica, and not only one, according to the aerial survey just completed by RearAdmiral R. E. Byrd, who describes this discovery as the most important of his career as an explorer. The flight was made between the Queen Maud Range and the Edsel Ford Range, and Admiral Byrd said that he had noted enough geological evidence for a complete change of ideas about the South Polar region, which has until now been thought of as one unbroken land mass. From the air the explorers saw a line of continually broken ice between the two mountain ranges, and this made them think that there is a water pas«age beneath.

BRITISH SHIPPING Building New Vessels A REVIVAL OF ACTIVITY Before 1914 Great Britain had a greater share than any other country in the shipbuilding trade and in the carriage of goods by sea. Most of the world's trade was carried by ships that were built and owned in Brilain, and many foreign-owned ships were British built. The difficult times of the last six years, however, have greatly diminished the 'trade of the world, so that far smaller quantities of goods have to be carried by sea, with the result that thousands of ships arc lying idle in the ports of the world, seamen and ship's officers are out of work, and shipbuilding has almost come to a standstill, causing, in its turn, more unemployment, both in the shipyards themselves and in the British iron and steel industries. Recently, however, there has been a slight improvement, and British shipbuilding yards arc being kept more busy. A few weeks ago the great new Cunard liner—the largest ahnat-—was launched on the Clyde, and this week it was reported that British shipowners had ordered the building of many more vessels, so that they may be better equipped to meet foreign competition. AIRSHIP SERVICES Zeppelins for the Pacific Extensive Zeppelin passenger flights, may be made before long over routes in the Pacific, for a company has been formed in Japan with a capital of 20,000,000 yen (about £1,000,000) for this purpose. Dr. Hugo Eckener. who has a representative making plans with the companj', is the greatest Zeppelin pilot since the war, and he has done more for airship travel than any other man in recent years. Passengers find the Graf Zeppelin, which Dr. Eckener commands, as luxurious as a trans-Atlantic liner. Because of their huge dimensions and lightness airships are more or loss at the mercy of extremely heavy winds. After the destruction of the great British airship RlOl in 1930, and other more recent disasters in America, it seemed that airships would never be as successful or as popular as aeroplanes. However, Dr. Eckener's flights in the Graf Zeppelin have done much to restore confidence in them. EARTHQUAKES FELT Shocks in New South Wales Australians, who think of New Zealand as a country that is constantly shaken by earthquakes, refer to the Dominion as "the shaky islands." This week, however, two fairly serious earthciuake shocks have been felt in New South Wales. Many chimneys were shaken down in the town of Gunning, brick walls were cracked, and tanks were moved on their stands. As several other earthquakes have been felt in Australia recently, it is likely that Australians will be less inclined' to think that New Zealand is the only country to suffer from them.

SOUTH AMERICAN WARFARE Bolivia and Paraguay War between the two inland states of South America—Bolivia and Paraguay—has been going on for some time, and this week it was reported that the army of Paraguay had captured a number of Bolivian forts. The area in dispute is the Gran Chaco territory, which belongs to Paraguay.

Bolivia has no access to the sea on any side. On the west it is cut off from the Pacific by the Andes mountain range, and none of the great rivers, on which the inland states of South America rely for communication with the Atlantic ocean, is navigable within its territory. Consequently it desires to possess the Gran Chaco. through which it could obtain direct water communication down the Paraguay and Parana rivers to the Atlantic seaboard. Paraguay, on the other hand, claims a considerable portion of Bolivian territory. THE BRITISH ARMY Return to Red Jackets In earlier times British soldiers were always known as ••red-coats" because of the scarlet jackets which formed an essential part of their uniforms. After the Boer war, however, the dull khaki colour replaced the red for active service use, and for the last 20 years khaki has been the rule even for full-dress occasions. Now. however, the British army has decided that from next year it will return to the old scarlet jackets for all ceremonial parades, keeping the khaki for service use, however. A scarlet uniform is useless in actual warfare, because it is so easily seen, but it looks splendid for ceremonial purposes. Khaki has the advantage of blending well witn the colours of the landscape, so that soldier.; wearing it are not so conspicuous.