How Goes The Fight?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12063, 18 July 1917, Page 2

How Goes The Fight ?

NOTES THE WAR. THE POSITION ANALYSED. According to a cable message this morning German reports credit the American warships convoying the. transports oP the first expeditionary force for Franco with having sunk four of the newest. I'-boats. Stories of two encounters between the warships a.wl submarines are related by the Paris correspondent of the i\ew York " Times." whoso narrative, was cabled to the Australian newspapers. The. first attack by U-boats was so swiftly made that everything was over before anyone, save the crew and officers of the. warships, was awaro of peril. Phosphorus o.i the water enabled the lookout on a big warship to discern the foaming wake of a submersible's periscope. At the same moment an alarm was given. The U-boat launched a torpedo in the direction of a big transport, in which a thousand soldiers wore sleeping. As soon as the alarm was given the warships, locating the periscope, which alone was showing, openod fire with every available gun, the idea being that if a. sufficient ha.il of shells fell on the. water one shot might, get home. "Whether the under-water boa* was hit or not no one knew, but the attack was too hot for her and she lost j no time in getting away.

A member of the crew of one of the warships gave the. correspondent a. vivid account of this and the subsequent notion. "On our ship—-a. big warshipthe. helm jammed when we were- firing every available gun," he said. "Wo swung in a. wide, circle from the Hue, and a, smaller ship took our place. T believe one of her shells landed directly above the submersible. The latter showed only a periscope. The U-boat fired either three or four torpedoes towards the fleet of transports, tty the mercy of God ajone all missed. One passed near our stern. If the. helm bad not. providentially been jammed, it might have got us. The helm jamming caused our ship to drive directly towards tho U-boat. The submersible disappeared, possibly hit, or possibly it fled, fearing it would be. rammed. A young Yankee calmly aimed the battle, which lasted about a. minute and a half. A second attack was made next morning. Every soul had been thrilled by tho news of the night encounter. The decks of all the warships and transports were crowded, the weather being fine and tho sea calm, when at 10.30 a.m. a wild yell from the leading transport announced a line of bubbles. The periwas invisible. Again fortune favoured us. The U-boat being directly ahead, the commander ordered the gunners 1o fire where ho judged tho submersible to bo hidden. A column of smoke and foam shot 100 feet, upwards. Soldiers on the nearest transport clearly distinguished pieces of wood and steel, also dark blue fragments, which a moment previous had been living (rermans. It was impossible there was any mistake.. All the transports steamed through floating oil and wreckage."

In official American circles it. is not believed that the Germans knew the precise rout-e to be followed by the expeditionary force, but thoy certainly knew * ho date of its departure and tlioy could therefore detail submarines to watch the probable routes to Europe. There, seems to have been a considerable enemy flotilla of submersibles in the vicinity of the Azores. The fact that, tlio enemy knew of the departure of the transports stimulated the Washington authorities to adopt very drastic measures for dealing with spies. Three German agents were promptly arrested and interned, one account describing the three as the most dangerous Germans in the United States. The arrestees are Zenck, a wireless expert formerly in charge of the Sayville plant, Hayan, a. munitions agent, formerly in the employ of von Pa pen, and Burgemeister, formerly employed as a secret service paymasterEfforts are being made to trace the channels through which communications still pass between America and Germany, but of course that work is for the most part secret. However, the American G-overnment is closing down the German-owned insurance companies, which, according to the Secretary of Commerce, havo been responsible for a good deal of the leakage. Neutral ships, too, are being ' stopped from carrying unstamped letters as far as possible, Konio recent investigations

having shown the ease with which nncensorcd communications could reach Germany.

Turkey, it seems, has caught the political fever that is running through enemy countries, and lias had a change of Government. Little, is known concerning the. political conditions in Constantinople, but a foreign official who had been resident there gave the "Daily News" a. general statement a couple of months ago. " A great deal of nonsense is talked from time to time," he said, ''outside Turkey, about, the revival of the Old Turk Party, the uprise of a pro-British Tarty, or the alarm which Enver Pasha feels at- his dwindling power. As a matter of fact the utmost political stagnation prevails at Constantinople, and if tho truth were, known Enver probably wants as quickly as possible to get out of the mess into which he has landed himself and his country. Probably Of* per cent of the Turks lament the policy which has harnessed their country to Germany, deplore the humiliation it is daily undergoing, and pray fervently for peace; but in their phlegmatic, fatalistic way they let things run their course, hoping the, while that Allah will avert the final catastrophe."

The shortage of food is the principal trouble from which the Turks are suffering. " The reports which reach the outer world from time to time about conditions in Turkey invariably understate the facts," said the official. " The vast mass of the Turkish population now subsisting on the verge of starvation. The misery which prevails at Constantinople among the middle and working classes is heart-breaking; while conditions inland, owing to the epidemics which prevail, are even worse. There is uo cholera, at Constantinople, and tho admirable, sanitary measures imposed on the city by the Germans have succeeded in keeping typhus within close limits. Pitiful incidents, indicating the. misery of the people, can be witnessed daily at any street corner. The faces yon see are haggard, pinched, and worn, the eyes haunted, the frames feeble. Ido not know whether the people die of starvation in Constantinople, but I have frequently seen old men and women collapse—l suppose from hunger—in the streets. Poor people will pay enormous sums for worm-eaten figs with which one would not attempt, to poison a mad dog. Jn the old far-off days of peace the average humble class Turk would make a piece of bread and cheese, some olives, and some Turkish delight form his principal meal. To-day such a meal would probably cost him (in English money) about us.

"Prices have risen .steadily since the beginning of the war. and in English terms are now something like the. following:—Butter, 10s the lb; cheese, Ms the lb; olives, Ms the lb; sugar, 10s the lb; rice, 4s the lb; Turkish delight, 8s the lb- The veritable famine in sugar which now prevails at Constantinople is a great blow to the sweets-loving Turk. Lumps cf sugar at 2id each lump are hawked about the streets. Austria has recently promised to send Turkey 2000 waggons of sugar, at tho rate of 200 waggons a month, but owing to the great scarcity of rolling stock none of tho Turks treat this promise very seriously. In spite of the hunger and abject misery everywhere prevailing, the Turk manifests no desire to revolt. Food riots are unknown at Constantinople, and the shops are never looted- The shortage of bread is a great cause for complaint, among the women. The Turkish Government, at the instigation of the Germans, early in the present year introduced a rationing system, but the wealthy Turks declined to submit to it, and tho elaborate organisation set up speedily collapsed. The apathy of the Turks angers the foreign observer. Only once have they been roused from their apathy, and that was when the thousands of wounded poured, into Constantinople from the Dardanelles. The sight of their dying men-folk caused several hundred women to march to the War Office to call on the Government to give them back their husbands and their sons."