PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7717, 6 May 1916, Page 1

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

SUMMARISED CABLES. A SIGNIFICANT MESSAGE. CIVILIAN POPULATION LEAVING METZ. ACTIVITY IN BELGIUM. A message from Amsterdam states that the civil population of Metz are quitting it. Mr Thomas Page, American Ambassador to Italy, reports that there is no immediate prospect of peace in Europe. He believed, however, that peace will come suddenly, and probably follow a great victory. Efforts at mediation at the present time are useless. The newspaper “Libestifts Tidende” narrates that on the 7th of October last eight German minesweepers, under the control of the auxiliary cruiser Kaiser, anchored in the Sound. Several terrific explosions in the evening revealed the presence of a British submarine, which sank three and badly damaged a fourth, and the remainder fled to Kiel. The Compulsory Service Bill renders employers liable for having eligibles in their employ. The police are empowered to challenge persons in the streets to produce exemption certificates. There is great activity in the German lines in Belgium. Numerous troop trains are passing and reserves are camped at the chief railway junctions, ready to he despatched in any direction. New trenches have been thrown up along the canals, rivers and railway embankments. Engineers are laying new telephones in all directions. Everything denotes that Germany is preparing for an emergency. Amsterdam alleges that massed movements of German troops to Belgium continues; that the German strength on the Meuse is now 700,000; and that the Kaiser is going to Verdun to inspect the front there. The Zeppelin L2O was destroyed in a storm near Stavanger, on the Norwegian coast. Several of the crew were killed. It is estimated that 3000 out. of 15,000 participants in the Irish revolt have already been taken prisoner. The rest escaped in civilian dress.