ITALY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 20 February 1915, Page 5

ITALY

PRO-WAR DEMONSTRATION ATTEMPTED ATTACK ON AUSTRIAN EMBASSY. (Received Feb. 20, 8.45 a.m,) ROME, Feb. 19. The Chamber of Deputies has re-open-. «*■ • , Thousands demonstrated in favour of war. • A crowd tried to jlttaek the Austrian Embassy, but was dispersed by ,troops. AUSTRIAN TROOPS~I)ONCENTRATING TYROLESE PASSES DOMINATED. LONDON, Feb. 19. j Geneva reports states that Austria is'J concentrating troops at spots ten days' j march from the Italian frontier. The dispositions are chiefly of artillery, which is placed on sites dominating the passes of Tyrolese Alps. The troops of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland are close to one another -in the corner formed by the junction of the three countries. They are fraternising. NORTH SEA BATTLE DERFFLINGER SERIOUSLY DAMAGED WATER INVADES ENGINEROOM. (Received Feb. 20, 8.46 a.m.) GENEVA, Feb. An engineer on the Derfflinger, writi in"- to his parents, said the cruiser was I seriously damaged in the battle in the North '.Sea'on January ,24th'. The; water invaded the engirieroom, and the -engineers were working to theu- knee s in water. A' shell pierced the hull and killed many, ■>•...- . (The Delrfflinger is Germany's newest

battle-cruiser, was performing- her f-rinis when the war broke out. Her displacement ;* 26.200 tons, and she ha? I a length on the- wafev-Hne of 689 feet, f with a maximum hv.-adih of 95 f e.et. j High sppotl and Vs'.ol endurance ami the outstanding Nuliins .■>:" this p hip. 'The main bafrror\ consists- of eight- 12- | inch guns. There ate. al>r. .12 5.9-inch quick-firers, >2 21-pounders. four submerged torpedo tubes arxi some special anti-aircraft guns. Her speed is 26-J knots, and she carried J nif-a.) fujd shortage "In Germany RICH TO DEPART TO NEUTRAL COUNTRIES. LONDON, Feb. 19. A Copenhagen message states ttiat it is reported that owing to the necessity for restricting, food consumption, the German Government intends to orjier 5,000,000 people possessing! independent means but who are ineligible for military service to depart to neutral countries till the end of the war. It is proposed that 3.000.000 shall go to Scandinavia, t'hd 1,000,000 each to Holland and Switzerland. CONDITIONS IN BERLIN jfuOD scar.ce'and dear. PEOPLE KNOW NOTHING OF ATROCITIES IN BELGIUM. (R-ec. Feb 20, 10.30. a.m,}' , - LONDON, Feb, 19. Aia English governess who has been resident in Berlin for seven years, has returned to England, During her stay in Berlin she did not hear a single word about German atrocities in' Belgium. Theprinciple food in Berlin is potatoes and stale bread and dripping. Meat costs Is 6d and Is 8d a pound., and butter 2* 6d ;i pound. | MM IN A 6EBMAN TOWN INFUFJATEJFwOMEN ATTACK OFFICIALS OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POTATOES. Li ■ . _ . ■' .Roc. Feb. 20, 10.50 a.m.) AMSTERDAM, Feb. 19. Telegrams from Berlin state that rioting occurred at Sob on berg. .. . • The anthorities organised a. sale- of ' cheap potatoes, and thousands of women 1 formed a queue and waited an hour in J the rain. , Then the officials said that only ' those producing receipts (for the last taxes ' would get potatoes. The infuriated women stormed the building and thrashed the official*. I BRITISH AVIATOR SAVAGELY J ATTACKED i BY GERMAN MOB. , LIFE SAVE "BY AN OFFICER, I LONDON, Feb. 18. The Press Bureau states that the. American .Ambassador ax Berlin, forwajrds a sworn declaration that the aviator I Briggs, Who was captnrec! in Nov-ember owing to a hole being made in Tus petrol tank, received a grazing bullet wound on the ear. After he landed a- German .-soldier at a distance'of forty yards fired five ineffective shots at Briggs,, who then lifted up his N hands. Soldiers and civilians dragged him. out of his machine, and while bent face downwards he received a heavy blow, supposedly . from a rifle butt. A German officer saved . his life, ■I standing between Briggs and the onrushj ing crowd, and threatening to shoot anyi one who touched the aviator.

ANOTHER ZEPPELIN LOST CAUGHT IN A SNOWSTORM.. >y.. COFENfiAO'EN; Feb. 19. . The Zeppelin■■= AE4 , .was caught in.a snowstorm and got; beyond control.-', The j crew jumped into the Sea, allowing;the airship to fly over the North : Sea.- Four ■: were killed,'and eleven were interned at Blaah and West Jutland. The commander had both legs broken. The survivors at first pretended- that they were the crew of a trawler which had been blown up by a mine, but finally confessed their identity. . . A fleet of Zeppelins is Teported to be patrolling the North Sea and Danish waters. (Received Feb. 20,. 8.45 a.m.) 1 COPENHAGEN, Feb. 19, < Count Platen commanded the second wrecked Zeppelin. RUSSIAN WAR SUPPLIES LARGE ORDERS PLACED WITH. AMERICA. ;" ' LONDON, Feb.;-19.' Seattle , reports, state, that : lar-ge> orders for war supplies have been placed by the Russian Government in the past fortnight. ■ • , , : . All Trans-Pacific freighters are loading cotton to their full., capacity, and I Pacific Coast timber interests are SPeki ing to secure the Allies' trade.

A FIERY SPEECH P.Y AN AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE. (Received Feb. 20. 12.30 p.m.). WASHINGTON, Feb, 19. Representative Bartholdt . -has been much criticised for his speech in the House, wherein he declared that America's demands against Britain presented no alternative but to submit'or to declare war. The threat of an embargo on tho.. exportation of arms, however, was tho only thing required to bring tho mistress of the seas to twtris. GENERAL STEMS LONDON, Feb. 18. The "Times," in a leader cqmmenting on Sir John French's despatch, >says: — "We trust that no'further obstacles will be raised against newspaper correspondents proceeding to the front under due restr/ictions. We believe, such arrangements are already in progress." .. The Kaiser has commissioned Richard Strauss (conductor at the Royal Opera House, Berlin), to write a new Imperial March, inspired by the war. It begins with a funeral note and ends in a note of triumph. The Kaiser has promised Strauss the Order of the Red Eagle. IN AUSTRALIA RETURNED NEW GUINEA TROOPS WELCOMED; : .;. ; ..» ■ • SYDNEY, Teb. 19.' The returned New Guinea forces marched through the streets, and had an enthusiastic welcome. A TRANSPORT ASHORE. (Received 10.20 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. A trancDovt went ashore on the 18th. on the North ( Australian coast. She is in tv sheltered' position, and is beinir lightered: It is anticipated that she will b.e early floated.

INTERNED STEALER TAKEN OVER SYDNEY. This Day. ' The Buniii, I.'hilp Company has taken over (he interned steamer Germnnia for ill'.- Papua a mail service 'ANT AUSTRALIAN' OFFER., :'Received -10.20 a.m.) MELBOURNE, TirU Day. The War Oilier, has accepted the I)i----fenee DepaTLmenr.-i offer :■ a bridging train composed of 292 officers and men of the Naval reserve, 412 horses, and forty-two pontoons, with all equipment for making pontoon I ridges. NO FURTHER INCREASE IN PRICE OF BUTTER, i (Received 10.20 a.m.) MELBOURNE. This Day. Tho Foods Board decided against further increases in the price of butter. FURTHER INCREASE IN PRICE OF FLOUR. (Received 10.20 a.m.) MELBOURNE, Tins Day. The Millowners' Association has raised the price of flour to £lB a short ton. delivered, and pollard to £ll ss. Bran has been reduced to £9. NEW ZEALAND

OFFICIAL INFORMIX The High Commissioner reports : ' * London, Feb. 19. 5 a.m. Paris reports that Thursday was no less favourable 1o us. than the two previous davs. " Five German attempts to regain trenches near Malincourt, captured by tho Allies on Wednesday, were, repulsed,, and several hundred Germans left dead. Similar counter-attacks- to recover trenches in the region of Souain, - Perthes, and Beausejour" failed completely. Tho Germans wcro driven back with the bayonet . and lest several hundred prisoners, who state that the losse s of their regiments numbered a quarter to onehalf of their effectives. - J ■ In Lorraine, in the region of Xon, the. Allies- carried Norroy Village, and occu-. pied the whole position. The position south of Sude/110 farm, in Alsace, captured by the Allies on Wednesday, constituted a formidable ro. doubt. Guns, 100 rifles, and quantities of ammunition Vere taken by us.. Pctrograd reports that in Bukovina Russian detachments fell back bevond Pruth. London, February. 19-, 4.30 p.m. Paris reports, the organising and consolidating -of positions gained. The Allies captured a mortar at Quatre Enfants bridge, between the Argonne and-the- Mouse. ' '. In the Vosgos two enemy infantry attacks wore repulsed north of Wisembach, in the region of Bonhomrne. . OFFENCES AT TRENTHAM. 'WELLINGTON, Fob. 19. During tho week ended February loth 206 eases of alleged offences were dealt with -by the authorities at Trentham camp. From tho list it would seem-that the majority of the offences were committed by the Third Reinforcements, the record of D Company, with -52 cases, being specially bad, comprising, as it did, one-fourth of the whole. Iff NELSON BELGIAN RELIEF FUND. (No. 1.) Committee to "receive money or goods: Mrs MacKenzie, Mrs Kempfchorne,. Miss Atkinson, and Mrs Emniett. A subscription tist is open at the Bank of New Zealand. The following are the latest'additions to the Bank of New Zealand list:—Collection and prize money Spring Grove Methodist Sunday School £3, E.B. 10s, Mis H. (Upper Moutere) £3 LETTER FROM EGYPT.

• ■ Writing to his brother (Mr;; G. E. Tattdn) under dafe Heliopo-lis, December 10, : Private" Byell' Ta'tton : gives some ; interesting details ofltfie life of the troops in ~Egypt. "He •writes:—"We are now camped -on the edge of a desert-10 miles from Cairo, and it is avery convenientplace for training troops. . The weather is very good just,, now,: hut we .will; no doubt, feel it hot in a few months. It is very "cold ,at nights; hut the days are very fine indeed. Infancy we will bo here for some considerable - time, .for the Turks are rising not many: miles: away, and if, they-.can cross the; desert: they will try ; to drive us out"of this country: There has been trouble, with.them at >Suez,- but there -are now thousands of ] British and Indian taoops .entrenched all \ :along->! the.. Canal to check them jf-rcm..: crossing. Our-duty is to ; go on training here, and at the same time hold Egypt until they plant.the British flag. There, are we New Zealanders, 30,000 Australians, and about 60,000 English troops camped on all aides of .Cairo. We are training for--all we are worth .nowj as they expect trouble shortly. We rise at--5.30 a.m.. and work on till 4p.m., .after that there is leave for., those who are not on guard or picket rduties.. There as rno twilight here, and it gets dark at.-'5, so we have"> very little daylight to: go; sightseeing. .: There are just hundreds of'wonderful places to see about are putting in all our spare time sightseeing. We went to Cairo City last night, and thought • it ■ a -grand- city; Cairo has a population of rover 600,000 people, and there are. people of all nations living, there; The buildings are grand. . I';went; into Helipolis on-vTucs-day ; night,• .and "put in. a good evening there; it is not a large city,, but the buildings are magnificent. .. It'-is a town • built for tourists to stay during the •'winter months, and they have-every kind of amusements. There are. huge buildings with small railways, water-sch'ut es, otc; they are open while the- tourists are here. The place is very dull how on account of the Turks- rising, so all these places are closed. There is one'hotel at Helipolis, the largest 'in: the world; it is just enormous, and is a beautiful stone | building, containing 1050 rooms. There f are hundreds of other places almost- -as large both "in Cairo and at- Helipolis; churches, temples, etc., so all these towns are most interesting to visit. Lord Kit-: chener has a beautiful homo in Heli- ! polis, and. ho livos , here most of Ins time. To get to Caiz-o ire can .go by electric trams, by rail or by electric railway. The electric railway is very fine indeed ; huge cars, and they travel at a, .groat speed. The cars are like the American railway carriages you often see in books. , We are going, to have.a trip in them to. the Egyptian Pyramids. on Sunday. The -river" Nile is very close to them, so we -will also see that. at the same time. Coming up to Cairo by train we crossed branches of the Nile, and they were large, enough for boats to navigate. We- landed at Alexandria, and came through by train to here; it is 100 miles away, aridis a most interesting trip. The country is the most fertile I have over seen. It is perfectly flat all the way, and there is cultivation- the whole way from Alexandria to Cairo. The cotton fields looks lovely just how, and is a tremendous industry in Egypt. The farms are just separated by, drains —no fences—and the farmers all use camels, mules and asses to work their farms with. It is very quaint' to see these animals in use so much. We saw i- lot of -sheep firms, but all the sheep •™re black..".and .much smaller than our New Zealand-, sheep. Wo had a- gr*eat time in Alexandria when -we landed,

thrav wore 30,000 of ns to' dfeamTjark. « and if iook us several days, so Wft had several evenings to look over Alexandria. Jt is-.a city of 300,000 population, add has sonu' very fi.no. temples and _ buildings, but populated mostly by nativcs"of . Egypt and Arabs.' 'Die'shipping- there was tremendous ; hundreds of steamers .there, consisting of transports, captured steamer*, cruiseT-s and all kinds of ships.' It. 'was an eve-opener to seo such'', &• harbour full of ships. Port Said-is .« vorv fine, citv, and has a populatibn«i<oni equal to Alexandria. _W<> Wero I onl\- there a few hours, so did not. goi> 'on 'shore. While passing through wo fciW 1 iln; Indian and British troops invtheir I trenches all along tho Canal. , They are to -stop tho Turlos from .blowing' up. tfyo Canal and to check them from crossing •to us. Tho town of Suez is very pretty, ■ Lmt, is not- a largo place; we wore only s t.liori' a few hours, and ■ did not,-go, on shore. The trip through the Rod Sea. I was very interesting, for thc.ro are lots I of interesting places to see; on one sido I von cm see the coast, of Africa, and on '• the othoT the- coast of Arabia. At. f the I entrance to the mouth of tho Rod Sea ! there is a small town on the coast of Africa, called Peririi; this is-very istronjg--1 lv fortified, and has control of the. chani liel -from the forts. Aden was-also very interesting, but not much of a town; it is very strongly fortified, and is ..very valuable to England." " '* "" r . In giving an account of the destruction of the cruiser Emden, Private. Tat{■en relates that several of the wounded I Germans were placed aboard the. transport he was on, and one of them him a hat badge (which was forwarded "- with the letter) as a souvenir. ;Tjie'Tjr€ir'ninns were found to be "a. decens.lpt:Qf ! fellows, and ware glad to think' their fightina was over," for they were nearly starving."

WAR NOTES THE NATIVE MILITARY" HOSPITAL. ; Writing to his sister in Christchurch from Abbas ia Military Hospital, Cairo* Private .R. Wade, of the Mounted Ant bulan.ee-Force, says:— •...': . ;,. Last Saturdaymorningfi ourcolonel'sept for a dozen of us, myself Included, to-go 1-o the. native military-hospital; to assist, with the nursing. Wo packed our kitp and started off just after dinner.. VV> passed an old Egyptian cemetery on tho way, and the old graves are marvellous j —such piles, of tombstones—and thoinscriptions, must have taken • years to-, engrave. The hospital is a spleWtid up-to-dato building of two. storeys, built in concrete. The grounds are beautifulThe hospital was' built just a few yearn ago an Egyptian military hospital, but v hen the b.*i ciovd <of soldiers arrived, the 'Commander-in-Chief took itover for the British Gownimont., It ii quite ns clean as a new pm ; everything up to date; electric li«ht; hot and cold water e\erywheie: a splendid X-tay ap>paratus, anaesthetic .iird operating theatie and dispensrtiy. All the bottles are labelled both in English and Arabic They vnlo just the rcveiso to us. Instead of left to nght, they do it right to left. Wo have native' Red Gross orderlies, who do all the dirty work m tho ward? —suecp up, look after fire';, etc. Their badqes have a star and crescent on tho same manciple as ours. Such .grand, big fellows thev aie. and snkndid workers. I get on splendidly with them and am learning Arabic from one ;follow, my special ordeily, named Mahomed. ' FOIUSTME SERVICE NURSES TO GO HOME- , i \ SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES., - Tho War Office some time ago agreed to accept the services of 50 nuisos from New Zealand foi service in military hospitals. Fiom among tho candidates for the special vivire, Mibs 11. Maclean, Matrcn-in Chief ol the Now. Zealand •Army Nursing Service, has recommended the fo'louing 0 for appointment, and her xecoinmondations have been approved. As appears from the list, 47 nurses have been chosen fiom New Zealand.' The [other three vacancies will be filled by three of the six nurses now at Samoa Following is the list: — Fiances Price, Wellington Hospital. Fanny Speedy, Wellington Hospital. Edna Pengelly, Wellington A Mary M'Beth", Wellington Hospital. Elizabeth Smailes, Wellington Hospital. ' ' . " Cairic _oung. Auckland Hospital. Mary Sutherland. Auckland Hospital. Maud Mitchell, Auckland Hospital. Daphne Commons, Auckland Hospital. Sarah Clarke, Auckland Hospital. Emily "Nirtsev; Auckland Hospital. Emma Harris, New Plymouth. ivate Barnett, New'.Plymouth. Matilda Frickot', Hamilton. Lily Burko, Hamilton Ina Bennett, Palmcrst-on. Mabel Crook, Puluier«ton. .-.■■ Agnes Williamst Gisbome. Ethel Taylor, Hawera. ..TCate Wright, Napier, p Isla Stewart, Marten on. t. iGor-i Anderson, Thames. ! Florence Siddells, Wanganui. ] Louisa Bird. Wanganui. r i Ro«e Fanning. Christchurch. Alicia Tnglis, Christchurch. / Eva Liversey. Christchurch. ' Emilv Curtis, Christchurch. Ivathloon Da\-ies. Christchurch. May Chalmer. Christchurch. Theresa, Butler, Christchurch. Elizabeth Nixon. Dunedin. . Barbara Smith, Dunedin. Jean Dodds, Dunedin. Janet Moore, Dunedin Jean Cormack. Dunedin i Grace Ctldcr, Dunedin I M'avv Wilkio,. Dunedin. j Annie Buckley, Wannate'and'Dunedin. ' . . ,% -,'■'' .'••i : ■''■'• . Margaret Saanson, .'Camarn., | Alice Searell, Tivnarn. ■ ■> •'■■■ i Isabella Scott. Tima.ru. ■'• •' ■".'.' i •Christina Gibbon, Rive.rtori. . ■>:'. Miller. Southland. ■ .Jean Ingram,;Nelson. '."■■'■■>' lOhristiiXa Lowe, '..Dunedin' and Dannovirke, " ~...-'.