FLOATING DEATH

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 28, 27 October 1917, Page 9

FLOATING DEATH

MINE-FIELDS OFF VICIj)RIAN COAST

WORK OF A "NEUTRAL"

•The ftlloiring amplification of the recent cable messages iccorW the existence of a minefield off Gatii Island (Vic •• 0 3n l fn t i ,l l ed ' 1 f J om th \ ilelboiMß ■Age of October 16:— \

iurther mines hare been Covered off the Australian coast in tho\viciniiy of Gabo Jsland, aud the fact hainow oeen .established beyond all doubt t\at eneniv . agents are at work bent on tion of Australian shipping. Tlh SI «7% tue! Navy (Mr. J. CookVsteted last night that the niine-sweepingYonera-tions which wore being carried outalong . the coast had revealed the fact -tW a minefield had been established abou\ five - miles south of Gabo Island. The nines . so lav discovered were laid in deep wlter and mi an open situation. These factors . the Minister pointed out, make it liable that at least some of the minis may have dragged to some distance i'roil , tho position ia which they were originally laid. Thus a long. operation will be necessary to ensure tnat all rhe minef , have been destroyed. - Regarding the effect of the discover! upon coastal shipping, the Minister 6aid there was no danger now, nor had there . ever been, from mines in the neighbour . hood of Gabo Island to ships which followed the instructions given them by the Navy office. He most strongly emphasised the fact that all masters of shipping should pay most careful attention to the route orders which are given them in this way. These orders, he said, were always based on the latest information available, aud were issued to protect vessels'"as far as may'be possible from all enemy operations. As it' was not always desirable to indicate the reason for the issue of certain route orders, careful compliance wiru sucn oicieia became all the more necessary. The Minister intimated, when questioned, that it would be inadvisable to make public at present any further details connected with the discovery of a mine-field off Gabo Island. He mentioned, however, that this was the only minefield so far discovered. The Navy authorities' naturally are devoting their ,- undivided attention to this latest development of enemy activity. The generally accepted theory is that the mines were sown by "neutral" vessels in the pay of the enemy. It it, therefore, only to be expected that an ; even more rigorous -surveillance than has hitherto prevailed will be exercised in regard to all shipping visiting these waters. The presence of mines in Australian waters has led the authorities to make early use of the new; mine-sweeping section of the Australian Naval Reserve,- which.was established only '& comparatively snort time ago. • The volunteers enrolled for this hazardous work have responded magni-ficently-at the call for. their servhes. HIS GRAVE IN FRANCE •.-■■,-■ : —■ ' " .* ———— BURIAL OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHNSTON.. (By .the N.Z. Official Correspondent, Captain M. Ross.) August 8. Another of our Brigadiers has been laid to rest in the soldiers' burial grousd at Bailleul. Many row 6 of wooden crosses front the more solid stone monuments of the dead of that old cityi Here, practically in the one cemetery, lie civilian dead of' France, and heroes from many parte of the-British Empire, who have given their lives in defence' of thi6 fail land. At a rough count there are a't least one thousand five hundred graves there now. As the days pass new graves are dug, and the brown earth is heaped up again .over the mortal- remains ol 6ther brave, men. In the days to come this, bit of hallowed' ground will be a place of Pilgrimage to men and women froin many a far-distant home. Into the town itself the German shells still droj from a long range, and tho night raider* harry it ' with their bombs from the sky. -But the' life of tho town goes 01 much as if'nothing- unusual had hap pfened.■• ■; -■ ■- ''■•'• v..-.----- ■•.•■•■ •■■ •

■-' ; A'found.an'-open' gravs;in Hho' Soldiers' Burial'Ground'this morning -was gathered. a .group of New Zealand-officers-to-pay tte'lastffib'ute to'a dea<t 'comrade— Brfga-:dier"-Gerie'ral F. E Johnston'.' On the preceding day. in the 'course of his duty at.the front, he was killed by a German sniper's bullet.- The liftle group'included Generals Birdwnod Godiey, and Russell. His body, in a plain coffin, was borne from the motor ambulance* van to the grave on the shoulders of brother officers. . At the conclusion of the burial service the chaplain said that no panegyric was needed in tho case of a brave soldier who was shot through the "heart while doing his duty nt'the front. All they could do now was to show their respect for his virtues, and for those wfio were , near and dear to him. In peace he had shown the virtues of modesty and humility, and in war ho had shown by the manner of his death the. great virtu© of courage.

As the padres intoned the service'their voices mingled with some of tho sounds of war—the firing of a machine-gun be.ing tried by an aviator,--the droning of the. planes that flew overhead:' A few villagers in in adjoining field looked up ouriou6ly from their work as the bugles blew the melancholy notes of tho. Last Post'. There wo Jen;-him, three graves away from tho last resting placo of- our other dead brigadier. It is 'a fair spot in which to lie—on the lower slopes, green field in which the wild flowers were' blossoming,, and. in the background the" quaint towers and spires' of the old fourteenth century.'. Flemish town..