WESTERN THEATRE

Southland Times, Issue 17584, 20 November 1915, Page 6

WESTERN THEATRE

THE LOOS BATTLE. 18 VICTORIAN CROSSES. j (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright} i I.OXDOK, November 19. J'cooiwa NovomlnT a.in. Victoria crosses were award--1 ed in connection with llic Loos battle, j six being luislhunii'ii.'. THE MLKm STATES GREECE MUST SOON DECIDE. ! BEFORE SERES CROSS THE j FRONTIER . ■ (By Telegraph —Press Assn. —Copyright) ATHKXS, Xovombpr .11*. Received Xovcmher 11>, 11,30 p.m. (Jroek I d 1 ral newspapers declare that it is Greece's duty to proclaim her attilade pr(M iou ; t<» the fall ui' IvUniastir, land be*'u-e tin* disemhaT'Uation of the i seeonc.l jmrtii'n of t’ne Allies' troops lias been completed. GENERAL mm \ THE MINED HOSPITAL SHIP. I SURVIVOR’S THRILLING STORY. ' PLUCK AND ENDURANCE OP ! SIGNALLER HUNTER. j (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright) ! I.dXUOX, November IS. I Keceiveil Nov. l!Hh, .2r> p.m. Signaller Hunter, who had been in ihe j trenches for eleven months and was invalided home sick, boarded the Anglia iat Boulogne on Wednesday morning, lie j was on the convalescent deck, talcing tea ; and sandwiches, when suddenly lie heard j tile sound of tile ship's; plate' breaking i np and a loud boring, whirring sound | followed' by tile dull noise of an ox- ( plosion. iie says ; "I and live comrades tided to get a lifeboat off the ! davits, but tin; ship heeled while I was 1 loosening a rope. .My foot was jammed j between the boat and the deck. J lay hanging over the side of the ship, head blown wards, until the Anglia took a big list and released my crushed foot. J regained the deck. The Anglia was now nose down, tin; waves breaking over the bridge. A number of ns gave wir lifei belts to badly wounded and told them I to jump into the sett. Many hesitated ns tiie water was very choppy." COULD NOT SWIM A YARD. BUT SAVES A COMRADE. TERRIBLE SIGHTS. j “ AWFUL TO SEE THEIR PACES.” j LONDON, November IX. | 1 leceived Nov. 19th, 7.10 p.m. Signaller Hunter continued ; "-Meanwhile the collier Lusitania, approaching was but three hundred yards away. The destroyers, coining out from Dove:-, ran alongside the Anglia, who was settling fast. I saw steam issuing from tile deck in great clouds and expected the Anglia to make her last plunge every moment, so I jumped. 1 had no lifebelt and was never able to swim a yard in my life. But I knew 1 hart to go for it this time. I hart seen fellows swimming in the baths at Hampstead and T i just did like Unit. 1 got hold of a log of wood to which three were clinging. A few minutes later we passed a man with a badly fractured arm. A chum and I got bold of him and paddled alongside the log again. The water was terrifically cold. He begged ns to let him go but we managed to get his right leg over the log. Four of us got our knees underneath him. Wo must have been in the water thirty-five minutes. Time after time men came alongside, hung on for a few minutes, then disappear <*l. It was simply awful to see their faces as they went tinder. Eventually a destroyer lowered a boat and picked ns up. Perhaps the most terrible sight was the destroyer coming slowly alongside the Anglia. The wardship's men shouted to our follows to jump. Lots 'of them jumped, but two missed the deck of the destroyer, fell between the vessels, got flattened out and sank." LORD DERBY’S SCHEME. QUESTIONS IN THE LORDS. LONDON, November is. Received Nov. .tilth, .S.i»e p.m. Lord Ritoblesdn le in the House of Lords asked a series of questions in regard to recruiting : —What number of

single men does the Government consider necessary; what shortage Would mean conscription.

Lord Lansdowne said it was absurd to imagine that the success or failure of. Lord scheme would he determined by the attitude of a few unmarried men. He was not prepared, to say how many single men were necessary or what shortage would justify compulsion. It was not easy to decide what was essential for the civil services of the country. Tribunals were forming all over the country to decide these questions. As soon as the time allowed had expired Lord Derby would the Government, which would thou "decide whether the experiment had been a success or a failure. THE NORTHCLIFPE PRESS. WIDE PRESS DENUNCIATION. GREAT ASSISTANCE TO THE ENEMY, IN THE BALKAN NEGOTIATIONS. SHOULD “STEW IN THEIR OWN JUICE.” LONDON, November 19. Received Nov. Ifltli, 10.45 p.m. Recently the Daily Chronicle republished an article from the Russkoye Slowo, which said that newspapers laid a heavy responsibility on the Northcliffe press (London Times and Daily Mail) for the failure of the diplomacy of the Entente in the Balkans. After the Times and Daily Mail's quarrel with the English Government they systematically began to blacken its military and diplomatic measures, and to foretell the failure of the Allies. The Germans made a wide use of this campaign for her own propaganda in Greece, Roumania, and Bulgaria. Wolffe’s Agency disseminated Colonel Repington’s (Times' military contributor) articles with a view to proving that the English recognise the deficiency of their military organisation. The papers in Roumania, and Greece are filled with the Daily -Mail’s and Times' comments, published at Gorman expense. The New York Herald says that Englishmen would not be Englishmen If they failed to consign those professional whimperers to the punishment known as letting them stew in their own juice. ANGLO-FRENCH COUNCIL. GREAT PROBLEMS TACKLED. THE CONFERENCE OVER. BARIS, November IS. Received Nov. 19 th. JO.-10 p.m. The Anglo-French War Council bold longtbv sitings conferring with .loffre. All tlie French Ministers were present. The activity of the conference has made an excellent impression. Lo Temps compliments tlie Council on so rapidly tackling great problems, the foremost of winch is Italy's co-opera-tion in the Balkans. The British Ministers returned to London to-night, BACK IN LONDON. LONDON, November 19. Received November 20, 12.1.1 a.m. The Cabinet Ministers have returned from Baris.