THE WAR.

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 February 1917, Page 7

THE WAR.

SUBMARINE WARFARE.

AUSTRIA AND AMERICA. A CRISIS IMMINENT. BERNE, February 21. ‘ A semi-official message from' Vienna states tiiat the situation is extremely grave. Count Tisza's newspaper, die Roster Lloyd, states that a oris is Inis been reached-

IS’CARINa THE BltEAKimi POINT. AMISASSA DOUS UKADY TO LEAVE fUN/i'JiD SERVICE TELEGRAM.] Kceeived'this day at 12.5 a.iu. LONDON, February 22. Uelatians between Austria and America will be broken within fortyeight hours.. The American Ambassador has received instructions regarding his* departure-

americaTreparing. MOBILISING HOSPITALS, NEW. YORK, February 21. Twenty eight of the largest hospital/, 'have been mobilised for thev supply of 100 ambulances, with doctors and nurses, with the least delay, in preparation for hostilities.

AMERICAN REPUBLIC. PKOI’OSEU CONFERENCE., WASHINGTON, FtAiruaiy 21. In the House of Representatives, a new motion has Loon introduced, providiirg for a conference of all the American republics to plan concerted action to protect neutral rignts against the /aggression,' of, any Eiiro-pl-an belligerent. , : ‘Fi'esidu-n;' \V iison, in- a totter, to Sohator 'S.tv!iii.e : urging ratification of thesColdinbiah-Tieaty, stays: Wo need now. and need very lirueii /more in the iniiue'diate future, ali.'dur triendy- to attach ua .to ,the Central Aniericas, so ffiany-jof bur n’lbat. critical interests lie.'

NEUTRALS’ CARGOES.; - ' '.ffiflSH OKDER-IN-CObNCIL ..V 'V," LONDON, February Sl'.*. ' , Air Order in-Councll has beep gazetted enacting that, in view of the Gerniaiu ■Submarining, unless vessels 'from neutral, Countries adjacent to Germany ‘ call at British or . Allied ports to ber--searched-, they, shall)until the•• contrary is established.Gbe deihned to be carrying enemy goods which will be liable to, capture and Condemnation ;• But - ships;- calling at Briti ih, or Allied ports;-for examination shall not be presumed to be carrying epemy goods,. and shall not be condemned merely because they are carrying enemy goods. ; ■ ,

GUARDING AGAINST U BOATS. AME KI CAN PR CCA UTION S. WASHINGTON, February 21. The War Depaitnunt announcesi that a net Aim/ feet deep encloses Hampton li-ad;;. Swing sections, permit me passage of vessels, THE YARROWDALE’S GREW. DEMAND FOR THFIR RELEASE. WASHINGTON, February 21. Mr. Lansing has sent another demand for the release of the A arrowdale’s prisoners'.

NORWEGIAN VESSEL SUNK, AMERICANS ON BOARD. WASHINGTON, February 21. The American, Consul at Queenstown reports the sinking; of the Norwegian steamer Dalbeatie. The submarine continued shelling the vessel while the crew, including two Americans., were leaving. FAILURE OF THE CAMPAIGN BRITAIN’S SMALL LOSSES. / —>M. LONDON, February" 21. , The report of the Liverpool Steamship Owners’ Assjciatiou states, that Britain’s ocean-going tonnage has been reduced by less than o per cent during the two and a-luilf years of Avar. These figures show the futility of the Gorman blockade. ruthlEssness prospects. 4 A REVISED ESTIMATE. ("UNITED SERVICE TELEGRAM.]

Received this day at* 12.5 a.in. LONDON, February 22

Thu Morning Post’s Budapest corroliponuuut says. that Austro-Germau naval experts have revised'their calculation of the’ 1 ' blockade prospects. They •previously estimated that England would ■ Ijq staiTed into submission in two ninths. They now,'say that England will, not feel ruthless* nesy -under a year. They have only sunk; 2 per .cent of the British preAvar tonnage -and must' sink 600,000 tons inonthly to make any real impression • ' •’. • '

■ GERMANS JUBILANT. . ■ ;no u boaiFcaptuiied: [AUSTRALIAN AnU N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.] • deceived this day at 12.5, a-m. LONDON, February 22. Hen' von Betlmiaun Hollwog, speakin L r ii.r the Reichstag, declared that &iib manning surpassed expectations. Germany had not lost a single under-sea-boat since the beginning of unrestricted warfare. The commanders reported that there was no evidence of Britain’s increased defences, and> they •were most confident that the shipping of England •• and neutrals would he completely stopped. / •

CONFIDENCE IN THE NAVY. SITUATION IMPROVING. LONDON, February '2l. In the House of Commons, Sir Edy ard Canon, in submitting; the Navy Estimates, said that the country was fortunate in having Sir John Jellicoo at the Admiralty-" His knowledge of the sendee was unparalleled.'. Admiral Sir David Beatty had the conlidynce of every mala serving under him. Lord* Fisher, in presiding over the Inventions Board, would be associated with tlie greatest acieiithits in the country. \

iSii- Edward Carson believed that some critics of the Government had suggested the' non-publication of the ships lost, as publication would give Germany useful i)u formation, but he believed that the information’ would only make the country move determined to achieve victory. Despite sinkings there was not a single sailor who would refuse to sail. Neutrals might be nervous and frightened, ’but the spirit of our sailors was going 1 to win the war. Neutrals would soon resume their sailings. a After giving instances and reports dealing with the fate of submarines, Sir Edward Carson said that the Navy was doing its best, but he was bound to say that we must firmly and determinedly take such other measures as could be devised on the assumption that it was qjily by degress that the danger could be mitigated. AN EFFECTIVE BLOCKADE. WHAT THE ENTRY OK AMERICA WOULD MEAN LONDON, February 21. In the House of Commons, Mr. Winston Churchill said that although there were good grounds for believing ‘that‘the submarine campaign would not' exercise a decisive influcUce on the war of 1917, we were riot yet entitled to claim' that time , was on our side- We had at last reached a very high degre’e: of stringency in our blockade, without'losing 'the goodwill of neutrals. The entry into, the war would .decisively derange the fearful equipoise between the conflicting nations now existing. ..The present relationt) between the United States and Germany showed that confor the rights, of neutrals arid humanity did not go wholly unrewarded.

THE PRO9LEM A GRAVE ONE,

STATEMENT BY Sill EDAYAKD ■ CAiiSON.

LONDON, February 21. • Ju the House, of Commons-, • Sir Edward Carson, in introducing the Naval Estimates, said that the House would bemsked to vote 400,000 men. ;Up to October last, 8,000,000 men had been moved overseas with only one or two untoward incidents, besides 912,000,000 toins of explosives and war material- Since the war began the Navy had examined 25,814 ships. •. - 1 The. enemy’s submarine war .presented a grave problem which had,not yet been solved, but he was confident that measures being devised wounl gradually and greatly mitigate its seriousness, An Anti-Submarine Department Uad been established, comjjosea of the best and n|ost experienced men- The number of armed

mertfiiantmen had increased ovgr -H per cent during the last two months. ■ ihv Admiralty was arming and imploring them weekly. {Sixty-nine Allied and neutral steamers, each over 1000 tons and totalling ' 20 1, 000 tons, had been sunk during the first eighteen days of December-Sixty-five ships, with ay t.image of 182,532 tons, had been sunk during the same period in January; and eighty-nine ships, with a tonnage of 208,031 tons, during the same period in February. Altogether 118, 91, and 134 vessels had been sunk during those periods respectively. From February Ist to 18th, 6170 ships had arrived and 5779 had left the United kingdom. Ho * estimated that there were 3000 ships 11 'in the danger zone at any one time, AHMED MERCHANTMEN. (1E t(MAN U BOAT LOSSES. LONDON, February 21. Sir Edward Carson mentioned that . 75 per cent of armed and 24 per cent of unarmed merchantmen escaped after beino- attacked by submarines. The numbers of arrivals and departures "in the United Kingdom would henceforth be published, also the ship;! which were attacked and escaped. Ho declared that the German submarine losses- were not published because the policy of secrecy was most distasteful to the enemy: also the Admiralty was not aware for ft certainty of the number of submarines destroyed. The fact that we had had fdrty encounters with submarines during February was an enormous achievement. Regarding the fate of these submarines!, official reports show, od the enemy the degree from certainty to improbabilityHcganling shipbuilding,' Sir declared that no single slip would be unoccupied during the coming months, and everything would be done to reconcile the competing claims of warships and merchantmen. He appealed to the nation to consent to a restriction of imports- in order to make the Admiralty’s task easier.