GENERAL WAR NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15930, 29 May 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

GERMANS BRIDGING THE RUNE. A Belgian 1 who recently escaped from Germany states" that the Germans are busily constructing . a number of additional bridges over the Rhine, less than two miles apart. It is declared that the German reserve troops are no longer receiving any pay, and that great discontent prevail;; among them.

THE KING AND GUNLAYER. The King at Buckingham Palace decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross . Charles Powell, acting-boatswain of H.M.S. Laertes, in which 'snip he was serving off Heligoland on August 28. iWell was gunlayer of the centre gun, n-hich made many hits. He behaved very cooliy and set a good example when getting in tow and clearing away the wreckAge fJter the action. i 1 AUSTRIAN'S CONFESSION. j A man moving in the highest military land political circles in Vienna, who is I now passing through Roumania, has expressed privately the opinion that after .'the next big defeat Austria will capitulate. The general public in Austria is juite unconscious of the state to which Austrian resources are reduced, but the nner military and political leaders are iware that the country is near tho end >f its tether, GREETING PROM SERVIA. The Lord Mayor of London has received he following telegram from the Mayor of Belgrade (M. Nestorovitch):—"Belgrade, -The Servian people is full of admiration or the people of Albion, and on this day Belgrade, tho capital of Servia, tnkes the iberty to greet Loidwi, the metropolis of he Great Empire, its true friend, whom he future Greater Servia will tstecm and ove as the Servia of to-day." The L-;rd ilayor responded in the same steam. TRANSPORTED BELGIAN WORKS. The first Belgian Industry to be trapspjrted to England has been moved from Qarleroi end Brussels to Burton-on-T'ent. M. Francis Peeters, with a numbr of Belgian peiplo, has arrived at Burtin and has leased buildings and land for instructional engineering" works. The joris will make roof ridges such as will jo required in the rebuilding of Belgium. 11. Peeters has received the British Gove- . rnment's permission to import his mahinery into England, and it is undertook that ways and means of doing this ave been found. ITALIAN CHILDREN'S GIFT. The children of Porta Yene?.ia, Milan, lave demonstrated their sympathy with the hildren of Belgium in a graceful mariner. They have sent to King Albert a- gift conlisting of 10 100-franc gold pieces enclosed In a leather case, tastefully decorated with he Belgian and Italian colours, and bearng an artistically-chased pla.te. with the inscription, "From the children cf Part* Venezia for the children of Bslgium." The King of the Belgians has forwarded ■ the case wit'a its contents to a London x tan, who are displaying it in their winlow for sale. It is toped thereby to rea- • lise a considerable sum for the benefit if the Belgian children. AUSTRIAN FLAG BURNED. The Matin recently published the folowing telegram from Rome:— corespondent of the Messagere telegraphs an tccount Qi rioting in Genoa, when the irowd burnt an Austrian flag. Troops ;,Were called out to restore order. They called upon the crowd to disperse, but tho demonstrators waited without moving. In view of their attitude, the troops, who were advancing with fixed bayonets, shouldered arms amid the cheers of the crowd. The latter then scattered through the chief streets in the city, smashing the signs of German public-houses and shops, including that of the Navigation Company. The rioters then dispersed ; without the troops being called upon to intervene." V .' '■• '• V-'-'W-. <*\ EMPLOYING GEBMAN PRISONERS: ' A novel scheme for the employment of \ number, (i German prisoners interned at ioithouse Park, between Leeds and Wakejeld, has , been put , forward.•■'■■ A further , latch of Germans arrived at the compound I last week from German West Africa, and I there are now aboat 400 men interned / there. At .present the prisoners have I nothing to do, and spend their-leisure I time in playing football, and the, Local I Government Board i have approached the ! Rothwell District Council with, request I that work shall be found in the district / for the men. The council • have decided I the matter, and it is probable that the Germans will be utilised in the making of a new cemetery for the Grounding communities. . The- question of the adequate guarding of the prisoners, their rates, of remuneration, if employed, are the consideration of the Local Government Board. I RACING IN AUSTRIA. The Austrian, Jockey Club has just held in important meeting and decided r to ibandoa the spring race meeting on the ?rendenan course. No decision has yet ieen taken with regard to the summer and jutumn meetings.,- This decision has been feken in consequence of the feeling of degression causeci by ,the fall of Przemysl, rad has great significance, for racing there las so entered into the lives of the aristocracy that a cessation was not resorted to lightly. Most race meetings in Aus-•ria-Hungary, as well as racing stables md training grounds, are in the hands 'of Englishmen, or men whose parents came irom 'England many years ago. s These men were placed in a very difficult position at tho outbreak of war. All their property is in Austria or Hungary, where they have lived all their lives. Seven of ; them who applied and obtained permission take out naturalisation papers after 'the outbreak of war, were released from concentration camps in November. Four others have now been released. • l THE LUCKY OANOPUS. According to a letter from Seaman Haines, whose home ie at Moulton, Northamptonshire, tho Canopus, now at the Dardanelles, must be one of the luckiest chips in the navy. She has been hit many times, but has had no casualty. In South Atlantic she had the luck to avoid two .torpedoes fired by the Karlsruhe. Since the war broke out she has travelJed about 27,000 railed. Writing of the Dardanelles, Seaman Haines says: i "The first time we went up we got hit by the fire from the forts. Our topmast wa» blown away, and several shells went through the funnels, but did not explode. Two shells fell on the starboard boat deck, and the splinters completely riddled the side of our picket boat, without howevjr injuring any of the crew. Another ehell came in the officers' quarters, but did no great damage. One of the favourite tricks of the Turks is to pretend that a fort is out of action, and then, when the ships are least expecting it, to break out afresh with a full broadside." OVS, BLINDED HEROES, Careful investigation has discovered that there are now nearly 50 British soldiers, including three officers, who have lost their sight in tho war, and there are also In Great Britain three sightless Belgian soldiers, while from the British _ Navy there is one blinded sailor, a midshipman. Our sightless soldiers and sailors will be given preliminarY instruction at St. DunBtan's Hospital, Ik-gent's Park, in carpentry, boot repairing, mat-making, basketmaking, telephone operating, > massage, poultry-fanning', market gardening—opening a good industrial field for their future. Mr. E. H. Atkinson, of Sheffield, a blind artisan, has generously given. up for a \ time his profitable carpentry business in that city that he may teach this work to '; ' Jus afflicted fellows of St. Dunstan's ; Mr. „;• :Atkinson is believed to have been hitherto 1 . ; earning the largest income of all blind H artisans in the kingdom. Telephone operSrtiting- will be taught in the new premises |; j of the National Institute , for; the Blind H ■;'.-fry its blind telenhone operator. Captain BBs Webber, the blind poultry expert, will %m < superintend the country life section, pfe" -;.. •. ...... *'» : 4, ' "' : ■- ■ . ■ ''-'.■■