IN BRITAIN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 700, 9 May 1916, Page 8

IN BRITAIN.

THE FLYING CORPS. COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION. (Received May 0. 11.10 a.m.) LONDON, May 8. Mr Justice Bailliache has been appointed chairman of a committee to enquire into Ihe adniinistralion of the Royal Flying Corps. APPEAL FOR ECONOMY. FALLEN ON DEAF EARS. LONDON. May 8. The Board of Trade returns show that appeals for economy have fallen on deaf ears. The average increase in food prices since Ihe outbreak of war is 1!) per cent., and is steadily rising. The purchasing power of the sovereign is equal to 11/2. j NEED FOR COAL. MINERS ASKED TO HELP. LONDON, May 8. The Government has requested the j miners to confer on May 16 to discuss proposals to increase the output of coal in view of the Allies' demands. The output has decreased by 29,000,000 tons during 17 months! oi' war, owing to the enlistment of miners. II could be increased if Ihe eight hours' day was annulled. ANOTHER TIRADE. ATTACK ON MR LLOYD GEORGE. LONDON, May 8. Mr A. G. Gardiner, editor of the I "Daily News and Leader," in a further open letter to Mr Lloyd George, says:—"lt is much easier to say 'as-' sasin' and speak of 'poison gas' than to meet the accusations which you know to be true, and to which you i have made no answer. "Yours is a swift but shallow mind, and has made you contemptuous of more stable and truthworthy minds. You arc self-hypnotised and persuaded that you and you alone can save the nation. My charge was not that you had disagreed with Mr Asquith, but that you had made agreements with Mr Asquith's declared enemies." FIGHTING IN THE WEST. BATTLE ROUND VERDUN. GERMANS STILL ATTACKING. The High Commissioner reports:— LONDON, May 8. Ihe French ollicial report says:— West ol the Mouse an extremely violent bombardment, lasting for two days, in the region of Hill 304, was! followed to-day by a strong German ! attack on our front between Hill 304 and Mort Homme. The enemy, after repeated efforts, penetrated our communication trench cast of Hill 304, but was everywhere else repulsed with serious losses inflicted by our machine-guns and batteries. After an intense artillery preparation the Germans made several suecessive attacks between Ilardau-1 mont Wood and Fort Douaumont. The enemy gained a fooling along a j length of 500 yards of our first line j 'elements on the western end of the' line. In the centre and the eastern end all his attacks were broken. In the Wocvre there is great artillery activity on the foothills of the Mouse heights, GERMANS' NEW MOVE. SEEKING SOMETHING EASIER. PARIS, May 8. The military correspondent of the "Temps" says the movements of J German troops in Belgium, together j with the enemy's aerial activity over the British lines, are probably connected with a German attempt to find and pierce a less tenacious line than thai at Verdun. HERO OF VERDUN. WELL MERITED PROMOTION. PAP.IS, May 8. General Retain has been promoted Commander-in-Chief of the Central Annies on the front from Soissons (on the Aisne) to Verdun inclusive. General Nivelle will command the special army al Verdun. THE ITALIAN FRONT. VISIT OF PRINCE OF WALES. BOMB, May 7. The towns in the war zone were decorated with Hags in honour of the Prince of Wales. King Emmanuel met him al Ihe station. The Prince of Wales later visited Ihe lower Isonzo front, where tierce gun fire was in progress, and remained for two hours. A SAD INCIDENT. MOTHER KILLED AT SON'S GRAVE PARIS, May 8. A tragic episode is reported from Chalons-sur-Marne. A mother, on learning thai her son was killed in Champagne last September, went with her daughter to visit his grave. While they were praying al the graveside a German aeroplane dropped a bomb, which killed the mother, and desperately wounded her daughter and a hospital attendant who was identifying the grave.