ON BOARD A SEA WOLF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 4155, 4 February 1916, Page 5

ON BOARD A SEA WOLF.

CAPTAIN WILSON’S EXPERK ENCES.

AN INTERESTING STORY

(Received Feb. 3, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 3. Captain Stanley Wilson, M.P., who was one of the British officials arrested by a German submarine on the Greek steamer Spetzai and taken to Germany, in course of a letter to his sister, says:— “When the submarine appeared, my first duty was to save the. despatches. I did this, but lam afraid it involved the loss of a Christmas present from the Athens Minister to Colonel Napier. “I was well-treated by the submarine officers, who gave us two berths. We. shared their food. “Soon we had 1 a figilit with l a patrol boat. I heard!, the 'guns, but did_not know what was happening. We were submerged' for twelve hours on the second night. “Next morning we were allowed] on deck, and 1 saw ' we were escorted by three destroyers. Suddenly there was great excitement, when an Allied submarine discharged' a torpedo, which just missed one of - the destroyers. “In a moment the destroyers were firing fast, but the submarine had submerged. “I could,not help admiring the! way in which the captain of our submarine managed his boat. He was a man of strong character and ready to fight anything. “Wo landed and spent two days in a fortress. On December Bwe wore trained through Sarajevo and Budapest, and reached Vienna. “We are now in an ordinary prison and are not even allowed newspapers.”

[Early in December a German submarine near Messina boarded the Greek steamer Spetzai, and arrested Colonel Napier, who was formerly military attache) at Sofia, and Captain Wilson, M.P., who was conveying letters from the Eastern Mediterranean to London. He had been- carrying despatches for months. It has been ascertained that the papers taken from him were not. important. Austrian submarines on December 2nd narrowly missed the Spetzai, which was stopped. Then the submarines ordered the Spetzai to lower her boats to enable a search party to come on board. The ship Avas search ed, despite the captain’s protest that it was a breach of international rights. During the search several mail bags were throAvn overboard, and tlhe submarines promptly fished them out of the Avater. Colonel Napier and Captain Wilson were taken on board the submarine. A British Red Cross officer was permitted to continue his voyage in the Spetzai which was bound from' Piraeus to Messina.]

WHY WE SHALL WIN.

THE TIME FACTOR

“Did any of our readers when hostilities began expect that three'countries like England, France, and Russia, who were notoriously, and even admittedly, unprepared, could in 14 months not only make themselves ready both by land and sea, but ;oul:l also drive the enemy, ivho for half a centui’v had been preparing for tire struggle, back over his own frontiers?” asks the “Statist.”

“If people, instead of AA’asting time in studying dead languages, which they never master, would give some reasonable attention to history—av 6 will not say general history, but even to the history of their own country—they could not possibly make such a mistake.

“Have our people completely forgotten that their ancestors entered int 4 o the war with revolutionary France in 1793, and that, except for tAvo short intervals, the struggle lasted till ISIS, a period of 22 years? Compare that Avitli 14 months at the present time. Again, have they completely forgotten that the American War of Independence began m 1776, and Avas not concluded until 1783? Lastly, are they quite ignorant of the fact that the Crimean War began in 1854 and did not end until 1856? And yet, the Crimean War was not for conquest. On the contrary, England and France bound themselves not to take any Russian territory. The operations were confined to the seige of a single city. Practically the Avar resembled very closely the present struggle, except that it was concentrated on one spot, and that the artillery of that day Avas a. very small thing compared with the artillery of the present day. “If our people would only read up, even in a casual way. the history of the great wars in which this country has been engaged, they Avould see that those avTio talked of a short Avar Avere persons Avho were completely ignorant of what Avar means. In this journal the present Avriter at the beginning of hostilities stated again and again that it Avas understood that Lord Kitchener expected the Avar to last for three years, and we went so far as to say that the estimate appeared by no means to err on the side of oversanguineness. “Whichever way one looks one sees that the Germans have gained no real advantage anywhere. They are almost on the eve of winter in Russia, when the cold Avill play havoc Avith them. They are obliged to spend another Avinter in the trenches in France. And they are madly engaging in another expedition at tho very extremity of Europe. Anything more insane than the strategic, plans of Germany it is scarcely possible to conceive. “In our deliberate opinion Germany has committed the grossest and the gravest mistakes'; Avhereas the Entente Allies have done more in 14 months than we ventured to hope they could, do. And Ave may add that in our own deliberate opinion, no matter Avhat may happen in the Balkans, Germany and ' Austria-Hungary are already defeated, and from hoav onAvards will he outmatched both in numbers and in munitions. “Recollect that the result of war depends- upon three things—namely, the numbers which the several combatants are able to bring into tbe field; the capabilities of the several combatants to feed, clothe, arm, and supply Avith everything necessary the men 'in the field; and generalship. Now it is as plain as that two and two make four that the Entente Allies immensely outnumber the enemy, and, consequently, can go on fighting for a much longer time. _ Wo will say nothing of the loss of life to the enemy because he fights in massed formation- We will assume, for the sake of argument, that the losses have been nearly proportionate. Yet when Ave bear in mind that Russia.*alone has a larger population than' Germany. Austria-Hungary and Turkey all added together, it is manifestly true that the Entente Allies' vastly 'outnumber their enemies. “With regard to supplies. England and France have greater credit than Germany and Austria-Hungary,; Avhile England. France, Russia, Italy, and Japan, if they find it necessary to make an extraordinary exertion, can furnish themselves, with supplies out of all proportion greater than those obtainable by the Central European Powers.”