WAR WITH U-BOATS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10085, 26 September 1918, Page 5

WAR WITH U-BOATS

SCHOONER TAGKLES THREE AND COMES OUT VICTORIOUS, By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Australian and X.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, September 24. A British schooner had a remarkable fight for four and a half hours with a German submarine flotilla. The first submarine attacked at 9 o'clock, and the Schooner immediately opened firo, and hit., the submarine with the firsi shot. !fhe enemy submerged, but an hour later a second submarine attacked the schooner, whose guns hit the submarine twice, and drove her off. Final. ly, a third submarine appeared at noon. One of the shots from the schoonei struck the submarine's gun and killed a seaman. The submarine fled. REVIEW OF EASTERN POSITION . BY GENERAL MAURICE. ; Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received September 25, 10.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 24. General Maurice is of opinion that' General Liman von Sanders is seeking to cover Damascus by making a 6tand on the north side of the Yarmuk Valley, between the mountain of Druses and Lake Tiberias. As an interim measure, he will try to block the Yarmuk gorge .south-west of the lake long enough to ensure the escape of part o* the Fourth Turkish army. The prospects on' the Salonika front depend on the Serbians at the apex of the salient. If tl»ey reach Veles, they will turn the Babuna Pass. It is reported that the Bulgarians have a light railway from Veles to the Babuna Pass, which will help to rally them. Probably'the Bulgare will fall back on the Doiran front to the Belassitza range, wjiere they can feed their army from the Sofia-Seres railway. Only born mountaineers capable of enduring , the'greatest hardships could achieve what the Serbians have done. GERMANY AND SPAIN AN OFFER OF COMPENSATION BY FORMER. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received September 25, 9.15 p.m.) PARIS, September 24. It is understood that Spain is considering a German offer to give Spain, seven interned vessels as compensation, for-sunken ships; also aot_ to sink Sjianisli vessels on condition that they [engage purely in Spanish trade. BRITISH RAILWAY STRIKE STATEMENT BY BOARD OF TRADE Australian and NJS. Cable Association. (Received September...2s, 7.25 p.m.) .LONDON, September 24. The Board of Trade, in a statement points but that the railway strike d* agreement. A settlement is impossible under such circumstances. The statement adds: "The strike is & direct challenge to ordered government and attended with the gravest consequences to the country and the Allies, endangering the essential needs of the population, and seriously prejudicing the conduct of the war. AMERIcInOIBERTY LOAN Australian and N-Z. Cable AssociationWASHINGTON, September 24. The Fourth Liberty Loan will probably amount to 6000 million dollars, a* 4i per cent. SMASHED WITHJIFLE BUTTS PUNISHMENT OP BELGIAN ESCAPEES. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. AMSTERDAM, September 24. Germany "is taking- brutal measures to discourage escapes from Belgium. ; The frontier sentries on Friday killed six suspects,, including a woman eighty years old. The victims are done to death with rine-butts and bayonets in order to save ammunition. The Germans on Saturday, after stripping 170 Belgians to the -waist, publicly flogged them in the market-place, and left four in a dying condition. UNREST IN GERMANY ADMISSION BY VON HERTLIJNtt. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received September 25, 11.40 p.m.) AMSTERDAM, September 24. Count von Hertling, in. a speech in the Reichstag, admitted widespread unrest in Germany as the outcome of the prolonged war and disappointing results of the Gorman offensives ( but there was no cause, he declared, for pessimism. The enemj would not break the Hindenburg line. The enthusiasm which had marked the early war had waned, but the determination to fight to the end remained. The war had always been defensive for Germany. The invasion of Belgium wag a breach of treaty, but national self-defence overrode treat? obligations. COMMONWEALTH BUDOEI By Te-lCETaph—Press Association—Copyright (Received September 26, 1.40 a.m.) MELBOURNE, September 28. Mr Watt, Acting-Federal Premier, delivered his Budget to-night. Ho estimated the war expenditure for 1915-19 at £100,044,411. The total war expenditure out of loan and revenue to the end of 1918-19 would be £284,640,608. War loans totalled £235,133,486. New taxes include a 30 per cent, increase in the income tax, 20 per cent, increase in land tax, a halfpenny postage tax, and additional entertainment, Customs, and excise taxes; also a bachelor tax. '