GENERAL WAR NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16467, 17 February 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

f ; DIM CHRISTMAS TREES. -4 T wof the 1 shortage of fats Germans ¥ were officially requested to use only one fafSt™?'® 11 Christinas tree. HIj£UEDESE2 EXECUTED IN PARIS. tf|Ste^i€ ; ißo|gian named Jean Roose was exep§ iy{ in Paris recently. This is the first since the war began that the guilloi}, S"e has been used in Pans. i— - fjjpifins LIFE SAVINGS. §|I|NA Somerset farm labourer, a single man, tplfwiected ** medically unfit, who lives near Taunton, has given anonymously £50, the IflMreater part of his life savings, to the yygffi fi -A- fund for huts at the front. v ANTI-MINE EXPERIMENTS. @ The Dutch steamer Batavier IV. has j )een ooiiaucting experiments with an in- % utruircnt for cutting mines loose from If their anchorage. Several officials were on board to witness tho trials, which tended satisfactorily. Several mines were ■ dealt wiOi nd thrown out of the steamer' 3 4 coarse, enabling her to pass the spot in TAfety. Eg-#*®! j? * " fl,g,A. MARINE insurance .losses. • As a result of the Prussian U-boat camW?ovi3gd of destruction, within only the three wraths of September, October and November last, American marino insurance underifeif! writers have sustained losses aggregating pot leas than £1,600,000. The total in■r':&debilities incurred through war risks in lie American insurance market within the " : 4 period named probably exceed that figure. £15,275,000,000 IN CHEQUES. sSlftTh'e amount of bills, cheques, etc., g-..C.;'jjondon, last year, reached the total Bof £15.275.046,000—an increase of { £1,857,321,000 as compared with 1915. I It'must be borne in mind that the inr crease in the cost of foodstuffs, raw mater%;tiaJ.' and of almost every commodity is re- * flected in the increase, and therefore too itl'macK importance should not be attached to the present advance in the clearing IffSthimss;* figures or the Board of Trade §f N -ietonis. — — 0}:- , THE CIGAR RUSE. | The fact that the Italian soldier is an inveterate cigar smoker has not escaped 1-5/ the; notice of the Austrian?. One night I \ (says a Rome correspondent) an Austrian -it J| officer saw a row of red lights behind the s f<wire" entanglements, and ordered his men ®1 to -fire. J While they were doing so, the . Italians stormed the trench. The lighted ligars bad' been left on the entanglements '-'71 fifty yards behind to deceive the enemy! §§jf#. — - FOREIGN TRADE OF ITALY. 'ctiVV'lhe 'foreign trade of Italy during the m first eight months Of 1916 reached a total c:of "■ £205.589,268. Exports amounted to ■ £59,034,137,; a loss of £10,123,015 as compared with -, the corresponding period of sf.'v 1915. Imports totalled 555,140,., an r; ' - increase of £31,925,454 over the first eight ih mcuihs of 1915. Imparts from the. United States W amounted %to % £60,041,564. . The • |-V balance of trade in favour of the United i ■' States was almost- tenfold. ' , .. V . t , #' . • - ".1' * ' ( \ ' ~ SOME MUD I, , : , v , A man home on leave was asked >I' whether v it was true about the amount , of mud. "One day," he replied," "I 2' ." dropped my , cap, which disappeared in the mua. I was wafting about looking 'for it |fr when a voice cried. ' Hi, look out, you're standing' on my band.' '"What ■ devil dov, you i want to about -down there - for V I asked. 'Lie about 7 be—,! vu-* the reply; 'I'm driving ; a trans- „ i port.'" I ' "* ? 1 SOW ' LONG WILL HE REIGN? jibe horoscope of the new Emperor of • . jastria bodes -ill for any long retention ptpf {poKer/' we are .told by the Occult &view. " Maximilian,' the eldest son of J fia assassinated Archduke of Austria and K's morganatic - wife, has a far more ' ;:'' : 'fitourdble horoscope. ... A brilfuture and not' improbably a crown Mflosy be in store for this boy of . fourteen." A favourable turn of s fortune's ; wheel appears to be in store for Russia, while " it sNms hardly doubtful that revolution will MfsaTOiiiot in Europe before the year 1917 « over." v ; PIG-FOOD FOR • THE PEOPLE. Hermann Thiem, a dairyman at. Dresden had a number of pigs as boarders, , , wMch ;he endeavoured to' feed on a mix,j; { v£ tee of ground straw, cocoa husks, and the animals refused fodder, Thiem placed it on market stall, offering to supmixture, which he labelled " Raw a' pound. v He did a, trade"-with this stuff for several however, numerous cases of I wheat. occurred, cocoa was i fodder, Thiem placed it on market stall, offering to sup:ture, which he labelled " Raw Is 6d a pound. He did % ide with this stuff for several however, numerous cases of llness occurred, the cocoa was SIS nd :' pronounced unfit for 'food. ISw^« : sentenced to four months' inland • fined• 500 marks (£25). - feItImZERLAND'S APPETITE.■ ' p : i.&V§f«6;]W a r is not without it? strange „.J "perhaps one of the most re- | "" maikabje is the great increase ,in the appetite of the Swiss people, judging from the imports of food thither. An statistician belonging to the Milan Chamber of Commerce has discovered tost whereas - before the war one 1 kilogrsstme.of macaroni or of vermicelli or other flour pas',« preparation was sufficient to last three Jiwiss citizens a month, the a-uie number now require four times as aach farinace ius icod. So, too, with toed foods, iresh fruit, coffee' and cocoa. Specially since the closing up of the !H «WMpui market to the Central Em- ' flues .' Switzerland has increased her im|>oni;of} Italian fruit from five vans to a 2P vans per day, while the imports of R trench Gruvvre cheese and of chestnuts I TJ"* l )UrtlSeß have more than • • ioubled./ . r - • OF NEW MUNITION WORKERS j-1_ Some of the new munition workers, men l&trained, but possessing high intelli--Beucei have repeatedly broken all records machine work set up by trained mechanics; It is reported in Engineering wit an old-established Ifirin built a new Mop,_ designed on the basis of their past ®JF«rience ? for an output of 5000 per week «a:«rtam standard munition. The new '? a^'^°n fe'h manned by new and inexhands, gave an actual output of wJOO per .week, a figure which has not II |sq®,approached by the older but equally shops of the firm. In another shell factory an unskilled worker a remarkable record. Investigashowed that, being naturally smart, ■F had improvised all sorts of rigs to .handling the work, and was in 1 consequence drawing regularly between £8 »^9per,week. TRENCH FAT. fill of us who realise vividly the to which our men are exposed *3 the trenches it is pleasant to hear (Sir Nicoll writes) that one of We discoveries oi the war is the efficacy ap«Baaig|(s?fflrease. It appears that when feet and legs are well with (that is liberally supplied to Hpnp;|k cold and damp are robbed tseat deal of their terror. A young as 15 months in the is at the present moment to'them, tells that on'one his way to his trench hear got bogged in the swamp to.be pulled out by four of his g|«P who sucf;eeded in extricating HI at. the expense of leaving his in tlie mud. As a result, he I has had 15 months in - the 1 is at the present moment ack to'them, tells that on one his way to his trench near e got bogged in the swamp be pulled out by four of his fho succeeded in extricating the expense of leaving his i the mud. As a result, he in four days in the wet fe^|^|n^his|stockings. Thanks, .hownch grease, ho was able to tolerably warm, and/in any T«au re< no evil effects from the ex-

farm machinery BOOM. ; mnM - b00 ? 11 the Sheffield agricultural ESS tr 4 aae > s followe d the national n a°j lncrease V l6 food-growing of if'a u ers amount ' n g to thousands of pounds ha y® reached Sheffield from landowners and municipalities in all parts WrS® k^ gd °, m - The ail golf course, S h ° ♦ ° £' • one of the finest 011 th onnLT? '13 e ' ng ac^uil ' ed by the town council (or cultivation. _i * . 20,000,000 WAR OASTTALTH^. The Frankfurter Zeitung states that a German who became a millionaire from making war profits has founded a Frankfort institute for the study of the consequences of war, and is now publishing a monthly journal in the German and English languages. In the last issue the total losses of men in killed, wounded, and sick in all theatres of war is estimated at about twenty millions.

THE LADY AND THE OAR How little the effect of high explosives is understood by some people in this country is instanced by a true story told by a member of our staff, says the Autocar, The conversation had turned upon motor ambulance work, and it was mentioned that the drivers ran a certain amount of risk from long range shell fire, whereupon a lady in the company remarked, " But surely all the ambulailce cars have hoods." • " ■ " ! ■ -y" rsr . > ; ,f.- r : , . EIGHT CHILDREN UNDER 13. •• \ At Brentford Tribunal a man of 35 said he hi~ eigut ci.TTufen, all under 13. lie was a handy-man and a general assistant, and was paid'27s a week, out «.J which 7s i went in rent, ; The military representa- j tive: Ten mouths .to feed out of a sovereign. How uo they do it? Three J months \ exemption was • given, the cnairman remarking ' that 'it seemed to hini the man would bo better off in the army. ' ' FRENCH CHESTNUT RATION.. • " There are no chestnuts .in England for the general public at • present," said a leading broker. "Until a few weeks ago we were getting fair supplies from France, but they have fallen away gradually, until now no if chestnuts are r - arriving.'' . The reason, it is understood, is that a start has already been made with the serving of cooked chestnuts to the troops in France as a change from potatoes. They havo proved very popular, and tjieir introduction has served another useful purposethat of economising in potatoes. ; ; STANDING,ROOM ONLY. Another innovation has been "made on the Noird-Sud—the Paris ' tube—by which it is 'hoped to increase the carrying capacity of the cars without increasing the number of coaches or trains During the rush hour, when workpeople chiefly travel, a coach is run from which all except the end seats have been ripped. There are iron stanchions with which, passengers steady themselves. At least 50 per cent, more'passengers can be accommodated in one of these coaches. The suggestion is made that a third-class fare should he established for the "standing-room" accommodation. WISDOM NEAR THE TRENCHES. ; A soldier writes, that as his regiment was leaving the station for its last iotirney to the front trenches he saw tho following lines on one of the sheds, where they could be easily seen:— / \ A wise old owl Lived up in an oak, 1 The more he heard I The less he spoke, I The less he spoke The more he heard, All soldiers should follow This wise old bird. . . .> ,a i

/ HIGH PRICES FOR FISH. Excluding. Crustacea, the quantity of fish landed in Ireland during 1815 was much below the average, and was 50,000cwt less than, during 1914. But the amount realised was the highest for 10 years, due to the great call for foodstuff of this description. There has been a specially-pronounced call for kippered herrings, and -a big impetus has been given to this branch of the trade, therefore the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction has advanoed two loans for the erection of kippering establishments at Clogher Head and Ardglass. On the other hand, the curing industry suffered a reverse experience, for the cutting off of shipments to Germany and the difficulties of transport to Russia materially lessened export business; and the ready market for fresh fish also prompted a reduction of the quantity retained for preservation. . While the: autumn mackerel catch "declined' by 14,000cwt, the price realised' went up by £7000, and the Irish fishermen have having good times.