NOTES ON THE CABLES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16239, 24 November 1914, Page 6

NOTES ON THE CABLES

By " Shbapneu" THE LULL IN OPERATIONS. The approach of winter must in the nature of things climatio that obtain in the roost northerly limits of the fighting line in Belgium, lead to a diminution of yiodenoe. The struggle has now been going Oil for three months with all the energy of ■which both sides are capable, but by some tacit consent the belligerents have pulled in their fighting horns to a considerable extent. Of this the British have taken advantage to give officers and men a rest. Irrespective of the on coming of winter that would have been neoessary in the ordinary oourse of events; but at the present time, in the face of such a foe as Germany, now a desperate country, which must take advantage of every strait that her foes are in, the furlough argues that the Allies have matters in France in a satisfactory condition. There can be no doubt that new men have supplied the place of those taking a rest. Further south towards Rheims and the Aiane and Verdun, where the winter is cold, but not raw and foggy as in Belgium, the activity of the oombatants will sot be lessened to such a degree. WHAT WILL BE DONE IN THE MEANTIME? The lull in operations will give Great Britain and France time to mobilise more men and train and equip them. Men seem to be enlisting in Europe in satisfactory numbers; but the difficulty will lie in equipment. Immense orders have been placed by the British and French Goyern mdnts amongst manufacturers for food, woollen clothing, and boots; but apart from * the bodily necessities, there are the rifles, uniforms, harness, and equipment, and guns for l the artillery arm which must bo provided. Never before in her existence has Great Britain had suddenly to find such a huge mass of war material. No doubt, also, France has had to establish new cannon foundries' and ammunition factories, even though she has had the necessary plant to supply large foreign demands. In that respect she is better off than Great Britain; but in the colder climate of Great Britain much greater energy can bo put into work by her brawnv sons. Britain will also have required to enlarge her ammunition factories or establish new ones, and when the spring campaign starts both France and Great Britain, with their resources of money and material, will have not only reduced the advantage Germany has had. but will, iet to hope, have surpassed her to a degree that will have a profound effect on the forces of Germany when the new campaign opens out. Of course thero will not be any such thing as cessation of the fighting; but the magnitude and intensity will not be so great. Anything decisive which may happen will come as a surprise. At present the Russians, who are inured from birth to levere winters, and whoso winter manoeuvres are practised very seriously, will keep the t Germans actively employed in the East. THE SIEGE OF PRZEMYSL. The strong fortress of Przemysl has given the Russians some trouble. It is now about three months since the siege began, and soon we may look for its successful termination. A large force had to fall back on the town, and four army retreating corps joined its garrison. This involved greater inroads upon the store of provisions than was contemplated, and now to other terrors has been added the deadly epidemic of cholera. The garrison is fighting bravely, and everytfting seems against it, so that the city is . doomed. The besieged have already offered to surrender, but on conditions that are unsuitable to the Russians, who are determined to take no half-meaeures of success. The fall of the city and the capture of its garrison and war material will have a do prefsing effect on tho Austrians and an excellent effect in the Balkans, especially upon those Turks who are inimical to the German aggression in Turkish home affairs. Moreover, it will releaso a large army of Russians for active work elsewhere. BAVARIAN UNREST AND RUSSIAN "NITCHEVO." From Copenhagen it is reported that the Bavarians are becoming restless, and inclined to be insubordinate. When the Kaiser was in Belgium he flattered the Bevarians and Wurtornburgers in his wonted style, and they have since been butchered to make a Roman holiday; but it is .mid

even a. worm will turn. It is dawning, however, on these Germans that the Prussian military aristocracy is mishandling the populations of those districts that it forced into what it called the German Confederation. If the war will only last long enough the evils of this alliance will take hold of the German Duchies and Palatinates, and' the old dislike of the Prussians which, though it has long been hidden under the ( strong military yoke and rule, still smoulders, will break out again in the form in which it existed in the time of the Georges, and even up to a period slightly anterior to tho Franco-Prussian war. If the feeling of the Bavarians will only become highly intensified, much benefit may accrue to the Allies. The effort should be ma<de to disseminate by way of Switzerland as much of the opinion of tho world as possible and to let the Germans see how little internal economic affairs are affected in Great Britain. The British press has alleged that if it were treated with a little more frankness by the Press Bureau it could and would be aible to do much good abroad. It is now asking why Russian mesages wlrch arc published 90 frankly by the Russian authorities have been censured in the United Kingdom. It was only lately that the British learned that tho Russians in their defeat in East Prussiaji lost over 140,000 men and correspondingly in material of war. This was freely acknowledged by the Russian authorities, and passed with a shrug of tho shoulders with the usual expression of placidity " Nitchovo!" GERMAN LOSSES AND OTHER TROUBLES. A Berlin message says that the German losses total a million and a-quarter. This is a Prussian admission, and it is fairly honest of the enemy to admit so great a loss; but a later message reduces it to 950,000 on a principle that may be admitted to have some truth in it, and that is that lightly wounded or disabled men on recovery return to the front. The German losses some time ago, according to Mr Hilaire Belloc, a fairly competent authority, were reckoned one million and three-quar-ters ;and, taking all things into account, especially if we are to 'believe —-and it seems, from various incidents that have been reported to be tho case, that the medical service of tho Germans has been very seriously disorganised—the number of deaths from the exposure of tho wounded must be seriously beyond the proportions that, should normally be the case. It may be. therefore, assumed that the estimate of 550.000 lost to the battle lines is below the mark. An American who has been in Germany reports that, the loss of men is not the chief trouble ; but that, as far as ability to carry on the war is concerned, the factors chiefly affecting tho Germans are the want of certain very necessary supplies for war purposes—namely, rubber, copper, and saltpetre. To these may be added wool, meat, and wheat. GENERAL OUTLOOK AND THE OUTCOME. Upon whatever theatre of the war the attention is> concentrated things are seen to be working out satisfactorily tor the Allies. The magnitude of the task is overcoming even the hugo staff that is operating the German military machine, and the coils or disorganisation are beginning to strangle its great effort. The ambitious dTeam of the hegemony of. the world has dwindled down to the lowly desire of hanging on to poor little Belgium, which could be comfortably stowed away in the centre of Tasmania, leaving about half the area of tho State uncovered. Belgium is to be retained as long as possible in order to make good terms with England and France. The war will last as long as a German remains in Belgium, and if Germany wishes for peace the sconer she gets rid of the idea of holding that menace to Britain the better for herseit and her people ; but Great Britain and France have agreed with Russia that they will not consider terms of peace independently, so that the Russians may be expected to give the Germans a taste of the horrors of invasion. An utterly selfish nation, and a nation lost to all sense of moral, and, therefore, honourable, decency, cannot be made to feel the necessity of holding a few shreds of moral sentiment and sympathy uni'e® she has been made to suffer wnat sho has forced others to suffer and endure. She is in exactly tho same frame of mind just now that a child of cruel nature is in when it needs a dose of its own cruelty to make it understand what others feel, for only this will engender tho emotion of sympathy. There should be no peace until Germany is utterly humiliated, and made to drain the oup of bitterness to tho dregs, not only for the millions sho has slain, but for her predetermined plans to slay millions., 'f necessary to attain her ends.

GERMAN OUTRAGES. I One swallow does not make a rammer; but where there is smoke there is fire, ami though both proverbs are true, and each requires argument in the special cases to which each is applied, there can be no doubt about the following report of an eye witness of repute in Sydney. Dr J. B. M. Robertson, lately returned frorn a trip to England, relates that he saw in an hospital one refugee from Belgium, a woman, with her arms minus hands, which had been cut off by German soldiers, and another with an ear cut off. These two women refugees must represent instances of brutality that cannot bo singular, for many victims of such outrages must have perished, and many others cannot have reached England. Add to these a well authenticated case of a boy scout who was impaled on a bayonet stuck into a beam, and who had a fire lighted under his feet, and compare the cruelty with any perpetrated by savages, and the palm for cruelty must be given to the Germans. Another incident is recorded in a letter received by a resident of Ohristohurch from his mother in England, in which, according- to the Press, she states that of three Belgian child refugees, whom she was taken to see, one had her eyes gouged out, another her hand (or hnrnL) cut off, while a third child refugee had a foot cut off. ' TROOPS IN SAMOA. CASES OF DENGUE FEVER. (Peb United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, November 23. His Excellency the Governor has received the following telegram, dated November 22, from the Administrator of Samoa: — " The health of the troops is satisfactory. The following cases are under treatment:— Artillery—Corporal Kirker, Gunner Anderson, dysentery; Gunner Forbes, dengue; Gunner Milne, £°rnia. Field Engineers— Sappers Lang and Baldwin, dengue. Railway Engineer^—Sergeant Mathoson, carbuncle; Sapper Hardcastle, dysentery; Sapper English, dengue; Sapper Winter, injury to knee. Auckland Regiment—Privater. Comber and Hay, dysentery; Private M'lntyrc, dengue; Private Chven, rheumatism. Wellington Regiment—Captain Wilkinson, ear trouble; Lance-corporal Baddington, ulcer; Corporal Tomline and Private Smith, dengue; Private Lawrence, synovitis; Private Liardet, ear trouble; Private Watson, dysentery; Private Williams, abscess. Army Service Corps—Juggins, abscess. Medical Corps—Corporal Carr, I dengue. PATRIOTIC AND RECRUITING COMMITTEE. A meeting of citizens was held in the Council Chambers yesterday afternoon to discuss the formation of a Recruiting Committee—his Worship the Mayor presiding. The following gentlemen were appointed an Executive Committee: —Crs Sinclair, Menzies, Marlow, Begg, Black, Green, and Clark, Dr P. Marshall, Dr Bcnh.'mi, Mr A. Washer, the Rev. W. A. R. Fitfhett. Captain Hankey, Mr J. Brown, Lieutenantcolonel A. Stoneham. Messrs C. H. Street C. T. White, W. T. Monkman, E. C. Hazlett, J. M'lndoe, C. Speight, and J. A. Johnstone, Miss Stewart, Miss J. Burt, and Mrs Macfie. It was resolved to hold a grand patriotic meeting on Thursday evening in the Garrison Hull; and Mr C. G. White, Lieutenantcolonel Stoneham, and Messrs J. J. Marlow, A. Washer, and J. S. Sinclair were ap'pointed a sub-committee to carry out the necessary arrangements. It was resolved to have one lady and five gentleman speakers, with a 10-minutcs limit and an excellent programme of instrumental and vocal and elocutionary items is being arranged. It has also l*>en decided to ask the 4th Regimental, Kaikorai, National Reserve, Dunedin Pipe, and St. Kilda Bands to assist by playing through the streets to the hall; and as there will not be room for all the bands to play inside, the 4th Regimental Band will be asked to play on this occasion. The objects of the Recruiting Committee will bo to take stops to get tho present obstacles in tho way of reoruitmg romoved, and with this obi out in view a deputation will wait upon the Prime Minister on his way north this morning, Reflootions have beon cast upon Otago, but many of these statements will be dispelled. As, however, 700 men are wauted by December 14, it is felt that this committee wi'l be able to facilitate matters, and its members are confident that the call will not be mado to Otago's sons in vain, and that Ofcafjo, as in tfo® past, will da her shasar