WAR FLASHES

North Otago Times, Volume CI, Issue 13234, 4 March 1915, Page 2

WAR FLASHES

GERMAN PRIME GOES MAD, '

Prince IVanz Joseph of IJohenzollern, tlio Knjscr'a nephew, aboard tlieJOm-den,-*was so serious!,v. affected by tlio. terrible 'scenes through ' which lie had passed during the fight that he went raying mail after being taken aboard tlio troopship Orvicto, The 'authority, for this statement' is Lieutenant E. it.' Pitt,• who. wrts a lieutenant on board;.the transport Orvieto, -a mail liner belonging to, the Orient Steamship Line arid carrying a portion of the Australian contingent. It was to f tliis troopship, tlioflagship, upon which the'headquarters''staff- of the contingent was -housed, that; the surviving oflieers and .members■ of tin! crew of the German cruiser were brought after tho light.' These were the uinvoumlcd. Tlicy included ■ Captain von Mulleiy who lirrvj'ed on board with only the suit ho stood in, and that badly damaged, so that he had -to don one of Licutciiaiit Pitt's uiiifbrms. < When tlio youtlifui prilice '■ came aboard he acted very strangely and ; seemed dazed. It was stated that; he was in charge of:one of ihe torpedoes' on the linidcn, which he was,just on tlio point of lirlng when, a' shot from P nc of the Sydney's G-incli .guns struck the tube,* wrecked the casement and kille,d several men near. The pnnce had not been ou the Orvicto long when he went completely out of his mind, and the captain of the liner was compelled to put him in a strait jacket iii order to restrain him from violence, A BEVOLUTIQN IN LONDON. The Deutsche , Tagcszeltung ladles out this sort of thing to its readers:— "The gr&it days of Nelson and Trafalgar wei'e recalled—though with a somewhat inverse interpretation—in London a few days ago on the reception of the incredible news' that Atbiou's sacred shores had been violated by the daring of the enemy. "A mass of something like thirty thousand persons collected in front of tho Admiralty buildiug and hooted the Lords ol' the A'dniiralty until they were hoarse.

"Several arrests were made, among the prisoners being ttwo well-known members-of the House of Commons. These, however, were shortly afterwards released.

"lii the evening the streets wero thronged with ugly crowds, who tnreatened nn attack, not on the Admiralty iilone, but even on the Parliament buildings, '' The police, however, came out in such overpowering numbers that the mob was dispersed, the' only mischief dono boing the breaking of somo innocent shop windows. N "Truly, it was a great day for Britain!" FIGHT ABOUT A PIG.

' It was an action that entailed fivo casualties. It was fought near Houplines, ■ near Armcuticrcs, and it was about a pig. Tlic two trenches were face to face, the Germans and the English, So near were they that the soldiers talked to one another, made jokes at one another's expense, and even learnt one another's games. But though Germans and British exchanged jokes, there was no abatement of warfare on cither side. No sooner was n head shown above either trench tliati half a dozen rifles "blazed at it. Then the chaff would be resumed. "What about Calais?" was the pet taunt hurled at the Germans, a gibe with an unpleasant flavour that they relished but little.

One day an adventurous pig walked on the strip of land between tlio trenches. Britisl) ami Germans alike sliot at liim, ami down lie fell, shot half a dozen times, Each trench wanted "that pig, fpr roast pig is pleasant enough clwnge from "bully beef." But iiow was he to be got in ? To go to fetch him meant instant death. Five daring soldiers lost their lives over that pig,' and still it Jay unreclaimed between the trenches. There was a big fellow in the German trench named Hans fuller. He crept out of his trench in the night, tied a rope to the pig's leg, ami crawled back to his trench unhurt. The Germans waited till morning came, just so that the English might see their'triumph, and then they hauled in the pig, acclaiming their friend Mullcr as its captor. It was a bitter moment for the British. The (jlovmans did not forget to taunt tlieni. So ended the battle for the pig. But two nights Inter the British took the Getman trench with the bayonet. That is how they made things" even. SOMETHING LIKE A SHOT,

A C'orinnii volunteer gives to a Cologne newspaper a roinarkablo account of a peculiar shot. "From one of the trenches," he says, "1 aimed at my adversary. At a distance of about seventy yards the outlines of a cap offered a remarkably good aim.

"1 pointed my rifle, and was already sure of succss. 1 was just pulling the trigger. The aim was clear; ray bullet could not fail.

"Suddenly 1 staggered back, and when I recovered I fouud my rifle damaged at Iho lock and.the chamber.. I had a very ugly wound in.the forehead, • "I examined my rifle, and found in the barrel n French and a German bullet, both flattened, What had happened ?

"After closer examination I saw Mat the muzzle of my riile was only slightly damaged. What had happened was this. A French bullet had entered my riile at the muzzle, and had followed the course of the barrel, liad caused the explosion of my cartridge and the butt of my riile, and thus had wounded me,"

KAISERS PROMISES TO TUBKEY.

The Sofia correspondent of the Rome "Tribuna" states that Germany and Turkey have signed an agreement by which it is provided:— (1) That Germany shall furnish Turkey with all the necessary money, ammunition, arms and artillery officers. (2) That Germany* shall pay to Turkoy a fifth art of tho war indemnity which the former will obtain aftpr the conclusion of peace. (3) That Germany shall not conclude peace separately, and that in the futuro treaty she shall introduce a clausp guaranteeing the tectorial integrity of Turkey. (<1) That Turkey for her part 6hajl wago war,against llussia and Great Britain, and that she shall not conclude a separate peace. This iii how tho birth of a soldier's son was auuouuccd in a Germau paper: Hurrah! A War-Child!. - ■On the Mth December, at 2(3, , StrasHC, Greta, wife of —, (now at tho frout) of a fine baby boy. Cigarettes are the favourite smoko in the .Navy. All tho Germau caricatures of .Jack Tar in his momelits of relaxation, show liiii) with a bull-dog pipe in his mouth. He rarely possesses one. "Fags" are his joy. Admirals and nost-captaius. and '• gilded lieutenants, kc'ijjr arsenals, of pipcS and, use, them freely. On tho' lower deck and iu the ttflics' " mess,- which' means • the flomoptic quarters of• th||.:onginc-room:ar-tiflfers,,; pipes,are regarded ai "no class."" • - ,