MINOR AFFAIRS

Evening Star, Issue 16779, 6 July 1918, Page 9

MINOR AFFAIRS

AUSTRALIANS SCORE AGAIN. THE WURMAN RAILWAY. SHIPS AND SUBMARINES. AMERICA'S OUTPUT. [By Criticus.] We have entered the fourth week of th lull on the western front, and still nothhi! but minor aifairs are reported. Moreover it is the Allies who are taking the hutia tive in these local ventures. The Aus tralians, assisted by tanks, have made an other good score east of Amiens, when they have captured the village of Hamel on the south bank of the ■Somme,_ ana par of a ridge looking towards Amiens. Ai awkward salient was straightened out, am our line carried forward an averag« distance of 2,0€0 yards; whilo Sir Doug las Jlaig reports that over 2,500 prisoner: were taken. It is in an affair of this do script ion that the new small and swift tank, can score most heavily. They need not bi brought up to the point attacked until tlu sight beforo the operation is launched. They can be erktty' camouflaged behinc some convenient lold of the ground, ami when the signal is given their speed ami manoeuvring; capacity will enable them tc crash through the barbed who, making a way for the infantry, and overwhelming the defenders before they are fairly aroused to the danger. In such an operation speed would be of much more value than heavy armor. Tho Australians have now scored quite a remarkable series of these local successes, and they illustrate the value oi good leadership in working up a division to a high standard of tactical efficiency and self-reliance. Another advance was made on tha northern bank of the Somme, between that river and tho Ancre, on a 1.200 yards front to a depth of 400 yards, and these two successes, according to Renter's correspondent, improve our line for v. total distance of five miles. In the Lys salient we are worrying the enemy by constant raids. We have a big advantage in this area. By their attack"on the Armentieres sector the enemy trust themselves into a very salient position in very flat ground ; while we still retain most of the high ground overlooking it. Thus we are able to study every detail of their dispositions from our dominating heights. hammer them with our artillery to tho greatest advantage, and make raids with a very fair knowledge beforehand of what we are likely to encounter. THE MURMAX RAILWAY. Although the Finnish Minister in Paris denies that Finland has any intention of attacking the Murman Railway, there are constant reports that German and Finnish forces are massing on the frontier, between Finland and Russia, for the purpose of such an enterprise. So long as Russia is helpless and comparatively quiet it is

doubtful if the enemy have much to gain by an attack upon the Murman Railway, ■which would be a provocative action, calculated to rouse the Russians to resistance. But if the counter-revolutionary movement gathers force, and there is danger of Russia again taking an active part on the side of the Allies, it will be their obvious policy to cut oft all assistance from the Allies byway of the railway from the north. It communicates with Russia's only ice-free port in the west. It is double-tracked, and, properly- administered, would be capable of pouring in a flood of munitions for the use of the Russians. Perhaps the enemy have no immediate intention of raiding the line, but are making preparations against the necessity of doing so in the future. The difficulties of the enterprise are not small. At the nearest point the Finnish frontier is less than 100 miles from the railway where it passes along the western sdae of Lake Onega; but the nearest railway line, that which runs north from Viborg on the Gulf of Finland to Yoensun, is nearly 15*3 miies distant. The intervening country is a maze of swamps, lakes, and forests, and is without roads. It swarms with mosquitoes iu summer, and is frozen hard during the winter. The natural line ot advance of the enemy, unless they decided to cut the line at Petrograd itself, would be from the Ycensun Railway by the north of Lake Ladoga, to the western shore of Lake Onega. The proper reply of the Russians is either to paralyse the enterprise by an advance from Petrograd upon Viborg, thus cutting the communications of the enemy's for, e. or else send troops from Petrograd by the Alurman Railway itself to Fake Onega. The latter cotuse would enable the Russians, with good railway communication behind them, to fight the enemy to the best advantage when they emerged from the wilderness. The Allies might also send assistance by the railway from Ekatcrina Harbor if the still rod-hot fanaticism of Lenin, Trotsky, and their associates did not render that course impracticable. SHIPBUILDING PROGRESS. During June the Cnited States achieved the record output of 280.400 tons of now shipping. As the British during the same , month turned out 154,159 tons, the total ! for the two countries amounts to 414,559 ; tons. The sinkings for June are not vet I available, but the figures for May showed I a total from all causes of 355,694 tons, j thus, the shipbuilding output from tho i British and American yards alone shows a ( surplus of new constructions over sinkings I of 58,865 tons, besides what the other j Allies and neutrals are turning out. The j British output for June, however, was over 60X00 tons less than that, for' May" which 13 disappointing, and is not ade- ! cjuately accounted for by the fact that j there was one working day less in June. Presumably the shortage of labor account.- j for it. and as the Press Bureau has just announced that there is likeiv to bo a shortage of 22,500.000 tons in the coal output, owing to the combing out of 75.000 miners, and Mr Protbero iPresident of the Board of Agriculture) has stated that the gathering in of the harvest is endangered by the'shortage of labor, there 33 no prospect of the situation becoming easier in the immediate future. The remedy appears to be a still more extensive use of machinery. But it is evident that the Allies must rely mainlv upon America for new ships. 'The output at which the United States is aiming is 5.000,0-00 tons per annam. or nearlv double ♦.he present rate. A later cable brings the news tnat 112 vessels were launched on July 4, no less than 250.CC0 tona tolrirvr the water on the Pacific coast alone It i* ratner curious to re-D-d tha slatemen, m Lord Robert Cecil that v.- e have presented a few eerophnes to t-m!e m return for the courtesv of that country in agreeing to sell to the British Government a Chuian battle cruiser now bwlduyr ,n Britain. Wo commandeered aJI warships butldmg in Britain for forei-m Powers at tne outbreak of the war We have now oeen fighting for nearlv ion\e<„r3, and there is a grave sbortW of tabor; yet it appears that we have'been builoins a oattie cruiser for Chile. Some tune betore the Cnited States entered the war a prominent British steel firm'trained a big contract for supplying her navy witL IS'eJS: bHt the British G -^»™t ADMIRAL SIMS TALKS.

Alter all. it is far better to prevent existing ships from being sunk than to build new ones, and in this connection Admiral buns ha 3 some interesting things to say. He declares that America has at present 250 vessels, 3,000 officers, and 40.000 men serving- in European waters from the White Sea to the Adriatic. During- the cominsr year over treble the number of destroyers will be fighting for the Allies, while over 150 submarine chasers •will soon be doing duty in the war zone, half of them beinsj already there. Presumably these chasers are the standardised boats being bmlt by 3lr Henrv Ford They are practcallv small destroyers. being just bis; enough to possess the neces sary turn of speed to nrfl down submarines. keep the -sea in all weathers, arid carry ;; couplo of fairly heavy guns, yet small enough to be turned out in large* numbers. Admiral Sims recently stated * that there

were between 4,000 and VOOO of all typ3s operating. Tho tim« smsk come when the Allies will bo ivbio to convoy all merchantmen thrrmfh th* dangur zona with the same thoroughness with which the American transport* are bmnjf j convoyed. We know how Impotent tho submarines have proved n '-heir attempt* j to interfere with the transport of American troops to Europe, anc an aquuJiy thorough system applied to %il mnrohont shipping should reduce loss** to a negligible quantity. j LAKE AVER>'O&. / ! One of yesterday's cables contained tho rather curious item of wws that tho Italian Government are draining Lake p Avernus, connecting it with the sea., and I turning it into n, huge diy dock. _ The I lake is in the province of Campania, on !the western coast of Italy. It would have ! been much better for Italy had it been e on the Adriatic coast, where she is exS tremely handicapped in the matter of ports ■"' and docking facilities. This lake was l " actually connected with Lucrin-e Lake and ; " the sea by tho Emperor Agrippa. thus •" forming a" harbor, but an emotion _of a Monto Xuovo in 153S altered the region ; and made it- an inland lake asrain. The 1 Italians arc likely to have some interesting '•] experiences if they really attempt to drain 1 it, as it is 200 ft deep'in places, and is '- shut in on all sides by steep and wooded " heiehts. Sulphureous vapors rise from it. 3 and in ancient times were said to kill the !_ birds which flew over its surface. The s volcanic character of the re-ion and the e obvious engineering difficulties render the i report extremely doubtful. It was here • that the entrance to the underworld was 1 located bv Homer, and here that the Cira- ' merians are said to have dwelt in deep ' caverns. The eloomv aspect of the place > caused it to ho sitrroundcd bv the roost '- fantastic legends in ancient days, and the ', neighborhood of the lake is full of features 1 of t'lassii-ni interest

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