German Abuse of Britain.

Manawatu Times, Volume XL, Issue 13564, 1 December 1916, Page 3

German Abuse of Britain.

THE CHANCELLOR'S SPECIAL

PLEADING.

The German Chancellor, addressing, the Reichstag early in October, upon tho military situation, thus defended German violations of international law. "And England!" he said. "What England will seize from the hoped for booty in Asia Minor and in the colonies she still leaves in the dark. But she wants more than that. What the British wish to make of Germany—about this they leave no doubt. Our existence as a nation is to be crushed- Military defenceless/ economically crushed and boycotted by the world, condemned to lasting sickliness—that is the . Germany which England wants to see at her feet. Then, when there is no German competition to be feared, when France has been bled to death, when all the Allies financially and economically are doing slave work for England, when the neutral European world must submit to every British order, every British, black list, then upon an impotent Germany the dream of British world supremacy is to become a reality.' "Great Britain is fighting for this object with an expenditure of strength without example in her history and with methods breaking one international law after the other. Great Britain is amongst all the most egoistic, the fiercest, the most obstinate enemy. The German statesman who would hesitate to use against this enemy every available instalment of battle that will really shorten the war —such a statesman should be hanged. (Loud cheers and applause from all parts of the House.) I desire you to learn from my words the degree of disgust | and contempt which I feel for the assertion which is continually circulated that, from an unintelligible forbearance, from an antiquated proclivi ity towards an agreement, or from obscure associations that fear the light of day, all means of fighting are not employed to the full possible extent. (Cheers.) In view of the enemy who is on the ' watch for any broach of our inner-determination, I will not here dilate on the agitations which are known to you. The time is too serious."

News in Brief.

The common liquid ammonia, to be obtained at the oil shops, forms a most) efficient fire-extinguisher, and several instances are given of its power, to arrest incipient conflagration. In one case the vapour from a tank of benzoline caught fire in a laundry, the room being filled with flame. The fire was at once annihilated.

Tristan da Cunba, the only place on earth, perhaps, where the inhabitants do not want money, is shortly to be visited, after ten years' oblivion, by one of His Majesty'snails. The people marooned on this Eobinson Crusoe island are British subjeois, and, presumably, the men between the ages of 18 and 41 will be liable for military service.

It was Alexander HI; who first realised the possibility of making a railway across Russia and Siberia, and in the year 1892 his son, Tsar Nicholas 11. of to-day, laid the first stonfe at Vladivostoek. It covers a distance of (iOOO miles from Moscow to Vladivostoek. The Russian Government voted £40,000,000 for its construction, and it -was completed in eleven years. The nutmeg is the product of a tree greatly resembling the laurel or bay. It begins to bear at about eight or ten. years old, and continues in bearing often for a hundred years. The fruit resembles the apricot, both in size and general appearance. When ripe it opens and displays the nutmeg in a black and shining shell, enclosed in a network of scarlet mace.

So long ago as the Boer war our army authorities experimented with French ploughs, and found them SO successful that they became part of the equipment of the. army. The smaller ploughs cut a trench 20in. wide and 20in deep, turning the earth over so as to' form a, parapet. The larger ones will cut trenches from 3ft to 4ft deep, doing the work of 50 soldiers, and in half the time. The geologists of the United States Geological Survey have lately discovered a well at Welaka, on the St. John's River, Florida, that contains two kinds of water. It is 309 ft deep. It was first drilled to a depth of 160 ft, from which depth ordinary sulphur water was obtained. The drill was then carried to a depth of 309 ft, where it opened a vein of water that has a strongly disagreeable, salty taste. •

In 3882 the Australians defeated the English team at the Oval. England, under the great Grace, "W.G.„ (now dead) -wanted only 85 to win in the second innings, and had scored 51 for the first wicket. And thencame Spofforth's chance, and the Australians, under Murdoch, (now, dead), won by seven runs. The ball- used in that match has just raised £548 in pound bids, and is to be kept in the Melbourne National Gallery for evermore.

The word "tariff" is of Moorish origin, and refers to the duty placed on imports or exports. At the southern point of Spain, running out into the Strait of Gibraltar, is a promontory, on which a fortress stands, callin the times of the Moorish domination in Spain "Tarifa." It was the custom of the Moors to watch from this point all the merchant ships passing, and to levy duties according to a fixed scale on all merchandise passing in and out of the strait. The first shot at sea was fired by the Amphion, which sank the German mine-layer Koenigin Luise, on August 5, -914; and on land, on August 20, by the 4th Dragoon Guards, who also took tho first prisoners. ' The first men gassed were those of the 2ndXondon Heavy Battery, R.G.A., in the Yprcs salient, on April 22, 1915; and the first V.C's were won on August -3, 1914, by Captain Wright and Jarvis, both of the Jvcyal Engineers.

Sawdust is being put to an increasing number of useful purposes. Used as an absorbent for nitro-glycerine, it produces dynamite. Used with, clay and burned, it produces a terra-cotta brick full of small cavities that, ©tiling to its lightness and its properties as a non-conductor, makes excellent fireproof material for wall or floors. Treating it with fused caustic alkali produces oxalic acid. Treating it with sulphuric acid and'fermenting the sugar so formed produces alcohol. Mixed with a suitable binder and compressed, it can be used for making mouldings and imitation* carvings. If mixed with Portland cement it produces a flooring material.