SOLID AID

Grey River Argus, 13 February 1940, Page 7

SOLID AID

FOR THE NAZIS - FROM THE SOVIET Revelations in South-East Europe i . — IA nst A NZ. Cable Assn J i (Received February 12, 9.50 p.m.) An agreement between Russia and' Germany for both their military and economic co-operation in the Ukraine, in the Caucasus, and in the Black Sea, has been demonstrated by authenticated reports from the Black Sea ports and from Poland. German engineers are now erecting fortifications at Odessa, Mariuptl and Novorossisk in the Ukraine and at Batum in the Caucasus. Fresh fortifications are also being constructed on the Russian-Rouman-ian frontier, and across the river Dneister. Evidently, these are to .protect the Baku-Kiev railway,

along which war materials for the Soviet’s Finnish campaign, and also oil, manganese, and copper for Ger- ! many are being transported. I These latter fortifications will also 1 protect the Odessa-Llow railway, i along which oil will be carried to 1 Germany. German troops are stationed along this line to prevent any ! sabotage. I The departure of two thousand I other German troops from Poland to ! the Caucasus suggests that similar i precautions are being taken on the ! Baku-Kiev railway. Germany is doing her utmost to 1 reorganise the shipping in the Black j Sea. She is establishing .a new or- ■ ganisation- at Odessa to facilitate the transport of wheat from Novorossisk to Odessa, where she has been accumulating considerable stocks for months past. Shipping services are also planned to link up Poti and Braila for the transport of chrome, and to link up Braila, Trebizond, and Batum for the carriage of hazel nuts, cotton and oil. German engineers have arrived at Varna, in Bulgaria, to construct there a vast oil reserve container to which oil supplies be shipped from Batum, and thence will be railed through the Balkans to Germany. The Bucharest correspondent of “The Times” says: Germany is reported to be applying pressure on the Roumanian Government to centralise the marketing of eggs, which have hitherto been left in the hands of private exporters. This is to secure greatly increased supplies, but many private exporters are unwilling to sell to her.

Allied Forces in Levant LONDON, February 9. The French Commander-in-Chief in the Near East (General Weygand) visited the Suez Canal zone with the British Commander-in-Chief (Lieu-tenant-General Sir Archibald Waved) and staff officers of the Egyptian Army. z Official quarters at the Turkish capital predict that Italy will oust Germany from the Turkish market as the result of the Turko-Italian agreement which is being signed shortly. Roumania has imposed an export tax rn the products Germany most needs namely 13 per cent ad valorem on crude oil and all derivatives, 10 to 25 per cent on vegetable .oil, oilproductive seeds, plants and cereals, except wheat maize. The Roumanian Cabinet has approved the decisions of the Balkan Entente, the Foreign Minister (M. Gafencu) emphasising the solidarity of the member States. Elaborate precautions have been completed to provide Russian oil for the German war machine with Bulgaria’s help. Baku oil will be sent from the Caspian Sea to Batum. The oil will then be shipped across the B’ack Sea and unloaded at the Bulgarian port of Varna. The Bulgarian State railways wifi then carry the oil to Ruschuk, on the Dani.be, from where it will reach Gern any via the Danube. Stronger than Steel NEW GERMAN TENSILE FIBRE. (Received February 12 11.10 p.m.) BERLIN, February 12. The German State Railways announce that scientists have developed a fibre of tensile stronger than steel. It is called “P-O fibre,” and is expected soon to lighten the burden on the German iron market. It is claimed that it possesses high insulating powers, is non inflammable, and is absolutely waterproof, acid proof, and rot proof. It is particularly suitable for reinforcing.