Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1916. POSSIBILITIES IN THE EAST.

Nelson Evening Mail, 31 July 1916, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1916. POSSIBILITIES IN THE EAST.

If has hee.n clear from cables received during the past few days that the whole of the Eastern front witih the exception of the central sector crossing the Pripet Marshes is in a state of activity. The .Russian offensive has followed the lines laid down some time ago as the only sure way tn achieve substantial success. in that the drives have not exceeded the Russian resources of supply and have been on a sufficiently broad front to jirevpiit simply creatieg a dangerous salient in the line. The armies which advanced through and subsequently enlarged the Lutsk gap have had to encounter stubborn resistance and violent-counter-attacks between the. .Styr and the SiokJiod rivers, on the banks <»!' the latter river, and also further to the south-west, near the Volhynian •( ialician frontier, in their etfoi ts to push along the two main railways and the various roads leading westward to Kovel, the important, railwayi junction, possession of which would enable, them to threaten

Brest-Litovsk and the. enemy -position in Eastern Poland., while -greatly facilitating rnovcinen-ts 10 the south upon Lemberg. Tn re view ins; the position, .Mr K. F. Allu'i points out that the German Staff clearly recognised that the menace to Kovel was the chief immediate danger in the. East, and it has concentrated its energies almost entirely upon the task of repelling it. leaving the Anstrians audi -H'tingariaiLs to lament over its comparative indifforeu.-o to the reverses their troops have suffered' in Bukowina. in Galicia, and l on the foothills of the Carpathians. ißut alt/hough the Germans have recognised the urgency of the position they have not hee.u able to thwart the Russian advance. On the critical sectors of the Eastern front, along the expanded Lutsk salient, from the Pripet marshland in the north to the neighbourhood of Brod'y in the south, where the Rovno-Dubno-'Lemberg railway crosses the frontier, the Russians have steadily gained ground. The Russian attacks at 'Baranovitchi aim at one section of the chain of railway junctions that lie oehind the enemy's front. This chain of jmictions begins with Mitau. to the south -west of Riga, and in eludes among its links, Vilna, Baranovitchi, ißrest-Litovsk. and Kovel. with Lemberg as its .southern end. Recently we have heard of strong .Russian movements near Riga, which was the last portion of the Russian front to trouble the Germans. To the south of the Lutsk, gap ver\ little change has taken place down a.s far as -the Dniester. 'Mr Allan is of opinion that the Russians are waiting in that region upon the outcome of the struggle for Kovel. since, if they succeed l in the struggle, they, may be able to turn from the north the enemy defences of Lemberg and o.tj the Sirypa. Those same defences, 'he points out. will aiso before long bo exposed to turning from the south if the Russians keep up their present rate, of progress between the Piutli and the Dniester, and' into the eastern defiles of the Carpathians.

Tlii-. va.nii- nf Empire Trade cannot hi." oven slirnated. for witli it is largely providedl the. money for financing the war. This year's, figures show an advance of nearly'£2,ooo,ooo o\er la.st in importation.- from \ h eat ißritain. Increasing prices have, of course, a. good deal i o do wit'll this. 'As is veil known, our imports Fi'ijiii: Britain <lo no; require, the payment of a, single, sovereign, for t-he.v are paid for out of the huu'e, credits available in London from the sale of our produce. Trade with Canada is equally good, for that Dominion i.s funding its trade baainrv against ('■ reat Britain in a hum. On the other hand importations from; the United States does not. strengthen the Empire's tiea.nce. As the Herald has put- it. our purchases from the United States'throw i\n additional financial burden, not on Xew Zealand but on London. The net result of ail our purchases in America, will be that so much mogev in London, the proceeds of sales of 'securities now being arranged by the British (Government, will he absorbed in paying for our importations, insfead of being available for the purchase nf inuni--1 ions.

A matter of distinct- interest is pointedly discussed hi tin- report, i-■ ently published, which furnishes the annual statistical and! other information relative to the School for the Deaf at Sunnier. The importance of commencing the education of deaf children at an early age is strongly emphasised. This is insisted- on "bv ' practically all who have studied ■the question." "Indeed, the preponderance of opinion among experts.' 1 it is said, "appears to be in favour of commencing the education of deaf children at. four or five, or even earlier. The mental condition of de ;i f children who have been allowed to reach even the age of 12 or 13 without education is appalling, and can scarcely be conceived by anyone who has not .been faced with the problem of educating such children. "S el such eases are by no means uncommon, even in this country, where the education of deaf children has been wisely made compulsory between the ages of six and 21 years." And. further, the following warning bv the Director of tne Sumner School should be widely read : 'Thought to be -generally known that, a child till at is too'deaf to hear the ordinary tones of the voice will, unless .given' special instruction of the kind given here, grow up dumb or practically dumb. Unfortunately this knowledge is verv often not acquired by parents until 'it is too late for *he children to receive anything like adequate instruction."

Tn a, historical narrative of the nay.il operations from the besrinninsr of *Viay 15. 1915, to March. 1916. published, -n the Naval Annual. Commander Charles X. Robinson. R.N.. points to the value of what have been termed m seamen s colloquialism ''blister ship?/' "Just below the surface the sides are made _lo bulge out some 10ft. and then curve in. A Torpedo striking- this bulge will probably not damage the hull, but will e.v .plode amidst a variety of substances.'

this, it will be realised, is a most important protection against torpedo attack and it has been applied not onlv to the old ciuisers of the Edgar type,' which were sent to the Dardanelles immediately after the arrival there of the (Jermau submarines, but to many new ships, ineludincr mine sweepers, named after common flowers, and therefore icjrnrded as the "herbaceous border" of the fleet, and to other craft. Monitors and other ships thus designed have proved of great advantage, particularly in amphibious, warfare, being able to stand up agairM torpedo attack. The monitors are fitted with powerful armament, some having 14in. seme 9.2 in, and oin guns, and others only oin guns. The adoption of the "blister" system and the greatlly increased power of armament" were valuable developments. whk-h .•ire surrn-estive of similar addition* to the offensive and defensive qualities of our newer ships.