NATIONS AT WAR

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13146, 29 August 1914, Page 5

NATIONS AT WAR

'V '<•: ALLIES HEROK STAND I BELGIUM

MORE VICTIMS OF GERMAN MINES EIGHT MILLION RUSSIANS MOBILISED FRANCE AND ENGLAND EXCHANGE COMPLIMENTS (Per Cable,—-Press Association.—Copyright) . /' v r THE RUPTURE BETWEEN BRITAIN AND GERMANY.- "" "JUST FOR A SCRAP OP PAPER," •;i •'• - HISTORY MAKING NEGOTIATIONS.

;; . GUARDING BRITAIN'S HONOUR. Received August 28, 7.30 p,in. ' ' LONDON, August 28. The British Foreign Office liac issued the text of the Rt. Hon. Sir W. Goschen's 'despatch to Sir Edward Grey respecting the rupture of , relations with Germany. In the first interview between the British Ambassador and Hefr Von v Betlimann Hollweg (German Imperial Chancellor), and Herr Von Jagow (Minister of. Foreign Affairs) the latter declared that it was abso- . lutely necessary, that Germans troops should pass through Belgium, It was a matter of life and death for Germany to advance on' France by the quickest and easiest way. Herr Von Betlimann Hollweg (greatly agitated) said: "The step taken by the British Government is terrible to a degree. Just for the , word'neutrality,'which lias so often been disregarded in war time; •just for a scrap of paper, Great Britain is going to make war upon a . kindred nation wliohas desired nothing better than to be friends with ■ her. ■ Sir W. E. Goschen protested against the insinuation that Britain was responsible for the war; and intimated that Great Britain would keep !ier solemn compact. \ "Herr Von Bethmami Hollweg interjected: "But at what a price will he compact have been kept. Has the British Government thought of that? Sir W. E. Goschen replied: "The 'fear of the consequences could hardly be regarded as an excuse for breaking a solemn engagement." Sir W. E. Goschen adds: "Herr Von Bethmami Hollweg was so cx- : cited and overcome by the news of our action and was so little disposed to hear reason that I refrained from adding to the final flame by further argument." ' Following upon the mob's'attack on the Eritish Embassy after the declaration of war, the Kaiser sent a message by an Aide-de-camp, regretting tlie,occurrence, but added: "At the same time the attack will give you some idea of tile people's feeling over Britain's action in joining the other nations against her old allies of Waterloo. The Kaiser begs you will tell King George that he had been proud of tho title of British Field Marshal, but he must now divest himself of that title."

BRITAIN lIAD ONLY OtJE CIIANCE.

• ' ■ _ _■ :u,± ... MR ASQUITH' SPEAKS-UPON-BRITAIN'S MIGHTY HERITAGE. WHEREIN LIES BRITAIN'S'GREATNESS. Received August 28,10.30 p,m, LONDON, August 28. (Morning), .The Rt. Hon, H, H. Asciuith) speaking in the House of Commons, said: ' . "The war which has now shaken, the whole of Europe's system to it? foundations) originated in a quarrel wherein Britain had no concern. It was only when Great Britain was confronted with 'the choice between keeping:or,breaking solemn obligations in the discharge of a binding trust, and the shameless subservience to naked force, that we Jr'threw away the scabbard.'' We do not repent of our decision. The -'issue is one which a great and self-respecting nation, bred and nurtured in this ancient Home of Liberty could not, without undying shame, have declined. . I j. ; Continuing, Mr Ascmith said: "Belgium had no interests of lier own to serve, except the supreme interest of preserving her integrity and national life. History tells us that the beauty of asserting and maintaining that great principle, , which .'is, after all, the well-spring of civilisation and progress, 1 has Men, at critical times, to states relatively small in area and population, but great in courage and resource. (.Cheers), On Athens, on r : Sparta, on the Swiss canons, and three centuries ago on the Netherlands. Never has duty been more bravely acknowledged, and more heroically .discharged .than during the last weeks by both Belgian King and people. Ihey faced, without flinching, almost incalculable odds,- the horrors of devastation and spoliation, and of outrage. (Cheers). "The Belgians have won the immortal glory which belongs to a • people who prefer freedom to ease and security, even to life itself," ' continued Mr Asciuith. "We salute them with respect and honour. We are.with them heart and soiil, because they are defending two great 'causes, namely, the. independence of small States and the sanctity of international obligations, They can count, to the end, upon our wholehearted and unfailing support." ... ' . \

. 1 OUR ADMIRATION AND SYMPATHY.. I 'CIVILISATION AfxAINST BRUTE FORCE." The Rt. Hon. A. Bonar Law (Lea der of the Opposition), said: V ' 'Our admiration and sympathy are not confined to the Belgian army, but go to the people who are enduring the horrors of war which ought to he impossible among civilised nations. Whatever doubts there may have been regarding the necessity of Britain engaging in war, those have been removed by what is happening in Belgium. This war, in reality, is the struggle of civilisation'against brute force; no less brutal because it has at its disposal material and resources of inventions an<l science. Mr John Redmond (Leader of the Nationalists), suggested that the' £10,000,000 being raised in England for Belgium should not be a loan but a gift. \

WILL NEVER FORGET."' GENERAti JOFFRE'S MESSAGE TO i GENERAL FRENCH. DEEPLY APPRECIATES BRITISH • ■ }j assistance. • Received' August 25,''7.40 p,lll, ; ,LONDON, August 23. ' 1 (Morning). ; General Joffre (Commander-in-Chief ■of the French army), has sent,the following message to General French: ' "The British army have not hesitated to throw their whole strength against forces having great numerical superiority and la so doing : have contributed in the most effec-' in securing the left French- army. The Bri- • tish array have exhibited devotion, *. energy, - and perseverance '; which , would be-shown again to-morrow, ;; and make certain tho triumph in a common cause. ' "The French would never for-' ( get the services 'rendered}' The

French army was inspired by the same spirit of self-sacrifice and determination to conquer and make good its debt of gratitude to Great Britain in the battles of the near future." v A WISE PRECAUTION. '

Jleceived August 28, 5.30 p.m. LONDON, August "8, In (he House of Commons!'Mv Winstoil. Churchill stated that British marines have occupied Oslend i.o prevent the Germans from getting a foothold near the Channel.

BATTLE RAGES TURTIIER SOUTH,

TJIE GERMANS DApSIIEOR PARIS. ' ' ' ■' LONDON, August 28. /■ "The Times,!'■ in «leader, s'avs "We may be'certain, that the battle is now .raging upon a lino further, south than was at fust supposed." .The Germans have-successfully invaded Northern Prance, and are* sacrificing their troops;in.,a-desperate'effort; V;to strike swiftly: and'. irresistibly at' Paris.

, BRITISH IK STRONG LINE.,

FRENCH IN SUPPORT, Received August 28, 840 p.m, , 1 ' LONDON, Friday Morning, The Pi 093 Bureau'rcpoit-i I hat ilio British troops now-occupy a strong lino to meot tho-.Gorman advance, and are supported by tlm French-oil both flanks. WOUNDED ARRIVE IN ENGLAND. Received August 28,8,15 p.m.! LONDON, Friday morning. The firat batch of wounded from Mona lias.-arrived at Folkestone, and have been conveyed to ShorneM'fi hospital; Eighty Belgian .military survivors of 240 who were cut up by Germans at Namur, have also arrived at Shornchffe to recuperate.before returning. ■. - . ... • • t \

| RUSSIANS FLEEING TO BERLIN. I RAILWAYS HELD UP FOR TROOPS. ! A TOWN IN RUINS. \ . . ST. PETERSBURG,; August 2S, The inhabitants of East Prussia are fleeing Berlin-wards. ..It is reported that traffic on tlifi western railways was suspended for three days to enable a transfer of troops to be made from the : .western front to reinforce Eastern Prussia. A small German detachment which' occupies the frontier towns of Poland is rapidly vanishing. ■ ICalesz is a heap of, ruins, with the dead bodies of the inhabitants strewing the streets,

TALE OF THE SEA, . THE SINKING OF A GERMAN LINER, Received August 28, at K.!iO p.m. LONDON, August 127. (Evening). Tim Evening News gives another version of the sinking of the Kaiser AVilhelm (lev Grosso which picked up the Galician's wireless. The cruiser Carnarvon after boarding the Oaiicia as mentioned recently ordered the Galician to follow and turned to the southward. At night time the Kaiser Wilhelm with masked lights ordered the Galician to act similarly. At midnight came the signal: "Provision boats for live days; you have got" to abandon your ship." The passengers believed that the Galician was being sunk, The passengers and crew cut adrift but half an hour afterwards the Kaiser Wilhelm suddenly set off at full speed and signalled; "No more orders; you are released, Good-bye," In ten minutes the liner was out of sight, When she reached Tenereiffe the Galician learnt that the Kaiser Wilhelm was picked up by two British cruisers, which went to the assistance of the survivors of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse who were laiuM before she was sunk.

The Press Bureau states that the Admiralty lias sent a message to 11.M.5. Highflier: "Bravo, You have rendered a service not only to Britain biit to the peaceful commerce of the world. The German' officers and crew appeared to have carried out their duties to humanity' with restraint and are therefore worthy of all seamanlike consideration.'

* FOG IMPEDES RESCUE,

AMSTERDAM, August 28. Owing to the, fog other warships were unable to assist the Magdeburg which it has been.decided to abandon owing to the superior Russian fleet. Seventeen of ,tlie Magdeburg's crew were killed, twenty-five were wounded ami eighty-live are missing. BARBADOES OFFERS BIG UONA- . , ; TION, LONDON, August 27. Barbadocs offered £20,000 a3 a contribution. Mr_L. V. Harcourt replied that Britain would gratefully accept the offer but the most welcome form would be ougar.

1 THE HOSTS OP RUSSIA.- ' ' IN BERLIN IN THREE WEEKS. I'. ' ROME,' August' 28,''* • A message fiom St, Petersburg it .is oflicially stated ■ that Russia practically completed her mobilisation of eight million men, •. These axe divided into four armies of two million oadi; , These will bo sent to tho Ml.one aftor'; another and expect to arrive m Berlin-' in thiee weeks. 1

NO SPIES SHOT. ONE MAN cdIUTIT IIARTTALLED. LONDON, August 27.' ' The Et; Hon, Reginald McKenna, in. reply to. Mr Outhwaite, ; said that .no spies'had 'been shot in, Britain;: \ William Whitehead, a naturalised Englishman,. and a /hotel; proprietor, at' tlie Dover Court wa3 remanded to Wick. ' ' ■' '". -The evidence showed that'-pigeons; were released at tlie same' time as' the submarines anr torpedoera^-depatt'ed/

• Tin: -MINK liAYTNO; GERMAN,,. TRAWLERS ./. . LONDON, AugiiDt.-27, f '' A rescuing trawler states tliat "when hauling in her nets she let the, pets.' bad; into tlie sea awj remained on, tlie spot so as to warn others. 'Half, an Jiour later the mine exploded anil a second explosion sank tlie Danish trawler,,, Admiral Jellicoe in-amessagq lo fieV-j oral French says: '' Tlie navy express its admiration ; for their comrades for the magnificent stand against; "great" odds," ' ■ v;; :

DIABOLIC WORK OF MINE-LAYING , SEVERAL. OTHER VICTIMS, Received August US, at 1.1.20 p.m. LONDON, August: 28,');: (.Morning), The Danish ship Slcnlifogeti was 'down up by a German mine l,lui'liy iniles : out from Newcastle. Of the si;: forecastle hands,, four were killed anil twowere injured, - "" Tlie trawlers "Lottie" and "Leas'lf," previously fished up two mines',; '..i v •Two trawlers engaged in sweeping for mineswere sunk in the same district,. Five of the. crew were killed and eleven injured, British torpedo boats rescued the reminder of the'trawlers'• crews. The Gottenrid sank in two. minutes. Eight .men in the forecastle were, blown to pieces. Four of the crew were saved after being three hours in the water.

HOW PARE THE ALLIES,

BRILLIANT RESISTANCE BY THE BRITISH, PARIS, August 24,' . ' A communique was issued at elevcL o'clock last night. In the north the" British; .were Attacked by the Germans' in arid were obliged after, brilliant resistance to withdraw slightly.

Our armies on the right maintained their, positoins; while in' the Vosges the French troops resumed the offensive and repelled the Germans with heavy losses.

South-west of Nancy over a front of three kilometres 2,500 dead were found and over another front of four kilometres 4,500 dead.

THE FRENCH FRONTIER HE

THE SWAY OF TP BATTLE.

FINE WORK OF THE BRITISH.,; GALLANT INFANTRY AND SPLENDID SHOOTING.,,,, , Received August 29, at. 12.50.ft.iii. ~ LONDON, Augusjf,:2B. (; . (Morning). , .• The English artillery.was magnificent' but there was.not enough of it in..comparison with the enemy's. •, , The shells of the Allies burst without; fail, but the Germans who found--the' • range smartly, failed to make the shells, burst,, while they frequently fell, short.

1 M ' < 'Thd 'Gei'mana l 'bombarded the en•trenchejl Berkshires for twenty-four^ •h'o'ure} there .Very few casualties,' 'A German aeroplane came too close to' thci gunners: whojjirought it down when; two thousand feet up, Three miles north of tho canal thereworetwo clumps of forest about flvemilos; depthj-and tho Germans advanced from Chai'lcroi. tliroiigli tlio wooded country; 1161 th west of Ifolls,

• From the higher gropd the British could follow the whole German mover. :nent, Allien the enemy emerged into the plain tho artillery opened devastating: fire;wliicb. was echoed by the nfle iiro from .the. trenches.. When within, range thousands' of Germans fell, The',Germans made 110 progress to nightfall on Sunday, but the dead and; 'wounded were'-scattered all over -the hills between the canal and the forest; The British los 3 was small,. , .---The- play of the German seai'ehlights : throughout the night was uncanny and' was accompanied' by occasional artillery fire. » • , The lighting ,wa3 resumed with violence at daybreak as the Gerroaria'were heavily reinforced, Received. August 29,11 a.m.. ' ' ''. LONDON, August, 28. ... . . (Morning). wounded! from Hons jriiaijhed Bouen, though the worst cases tec. sent' to the field hospital, ■ . The bulk of the wounded were in the feet and legs and only a small percent- : age had'stoinaeh wounds, ' '"The wounded reached MOll3 on Saturday, ( • .."" Though the French troops had 'talfainip their position on Thursday the 1 British only arrived in the'nick of time. ;to stem the German onrush. The' British prepared their liijcs with jOxtraordinary rapidity. Tho infantry ; •and artillery occupied points of vantage on the low hills overlooking the ■lo.yThe Britishers were' strengthening their position when attacked oir Sunilayvniorning, Simultaneously other Britishers were ordered out of Mons and they came wider lire with no trendies or cover of any kind, hut they ,just had to drop down and lie still until nightfall, when they did (jlieir best to make trenches, Directly the British sought to enitrcUQli the German shells began to The regiments tried new' positiol! ' with the same result. They fought all the afternoon until at - liberty to ' make-trenches.

Received August 29, at 1.10 a.m. • ~ For a,time the German artillery tried to explode the gasometer at Mons. Every time they missed the gasometer the "Tommies" cheered, though they waited anxiously .enough for the next shot.

. The big siege guns of the Royal Garrison artillery made'excellent practice. . One half battery was exposed in a particularly galling position and sever.al'Gorman batteries made a combined attack, and silenced the British guns 9,n<} by one, until only a single gunner remained. He would have gone on until de dropped but his offcer called him away.' ...

'. During the morning scouting parties of German Hussars and Uhlans tried to reach the canal, but most of them were killed by the artillery lire, and a few; were made prisoners, I Then the advance en masse began' l)y the Germans who came four and five.

deep, Although whole ranks too mown down, the main body managed to reach the north bank of the canal and began building bridges. The battle at this point was mere butchery: Ten times the Germans threw pontoons over the water and 'ten times the •British artillery destroyed them.

A closer move with desperate fighting took place, in a colliery village on the west of which the British held a section for some hours. The Northumberland Fusiliers took part in the street lighting which included a bayonet charge by the South Lan : casliires.-

Piles of Gorman bodies which were mown, down .by the machine guns blocked the streets in some places.

«I>l Wj ( H* > 'Meanwhile the sheer 'weight of 'the massed-.batteries'carried the, Germans I forward. Their Mahtty also advanced i in close ordor and offered n magnificent' mark, Tlifcir losses wore greato than the Ailios?, but.sbq wee their numbers, and they came again and again,- and by two o'clock on Monday the British began to fall "bade. /Tho Middlesex- Regiment suffered badly, buLmimy. ; British regiments were nover within range, of tho Germans and had' bepn twenty-two hours in the trenches, •THE GERMANS' BARBARITY.

MINERS BURIED A.LIYE, Rncpived August 28, at 11,15 p.m. , .. PARIS, August 28. (Morning), The ,miners report that the Germans reached the village Siinday, The first thiug. they (lid was to! close the mouths of all the pits, despite 1 the fact that a number' of: ; the■'miners' were still working, Tho unhappy mor ware buried alive. . The villagers''took refuge in the cellars, where the soldiers stabbed them with lances, ' "The refugees state tliat the.Uhlans, would sometimes drive hundreds of villagers before them. ■ ■ j The Germans at Touruai demanded two million francs and threatened to" shoot tho burgomaster if the money was not forthcoming. The inhabitants were able to save the burgomaster's life.

The Germans also imposed a levy of sixty thousand sterling on Clicrlcroi,

WORK IN THE PACIFIC. \ i NEWS OF AUSTRALASIAN FORCE'S, Received August 29.1.15 a.m.' SYDNEY, August 28. Senator Millen, in an official statement;, stated that li'e fully recognised the desire for information as to the movements of the Australian licet and would make available all information jmblisliablo, without detriment, as early as possible, lie added that,'an expeditionary force had left Australia and another New Zealand for operations within the Pacific and it had been part of the duty of the licet to co-operate with these. The New Zealand expedition had reached Noumea and had subsequently left under a strong convoy including British and French'warships. 1 Further news respecting, this foiv6 was expected very soon, There wa3 every reason'to anticipate that the new would be of an entirely satisfactory character,

It would probably be a much longer period before there was news of, the Australian expedition, In the meanwhile it was re-assuring to know that all was well with both fleet and expedition, '

Mails for tlio North Island close daily at 2 p.m., 'and on Saturdays at 11 aan. and 2 p.m.... '

. GERMANY'S TRADE GOES,TO ', - ( //<) 1 ENGLAND,' ' ' ?' y LONDON, August 28, ( ■> Already'many orders t that wcro pro- , s viously filled by-.German Aims being -' <■ placed in England. lN| ,t —, n • MALINES EVACUATED; AFTER MAGNIFICENT DEFENCE. LONDON, Friday morning, ' After a magnificent defence t of Wo • I days the Belgians evacuated Malines. i -The fourth - Gorman army corps, which. r was ordered to the South returned, - ; ing to Belgian attacks on the lines'of communication. Sixty thousand inhabitants were ex- "■ t pelled from Malines whcie the Germans are entrenched.

wArshipb sent to Mexican ' GULF. 1 ' , TO PROTECT SHIPPING. , ■ ' ' . ..." .. i t K ' : : Vi( NEW YORK, August 28, •• •• 1 " Three British warships have been despatched from Galveston to Mexican waters to protect oil.and cotton ships'in, the Gulf of Mexico, where it is believed' >' ■ German warships are operating.'