EUROPE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIII, Issue 5, 4 August 1909, Page 7

EUROPE.

Money in Aeroplaning. M. Louis Bleriot, the aeropianist, has won prizes to the value of £4lOO during the past fortnight. M. Bleriot had a great welcome at the Savoy Hotel. Mr. R. B. Haldane (Secretary for War) was among the first to Congratulate him. Twenty-five thousand people inspected his monoplane, and the small charge made has resulted in £2OO being forwarded to the hospital. . Czar’s English Visit. The speech of Sir Edward Grey (British Minister for Foreign Affairs) concerning the visit of the Czar to Britain has been received with general gratitude in Russia. Several of the newspapers state that the British Labour party’s tactless and offensive protests against the Czar’s visit have caused indignation in all quarters, but they cannot injure the Anglo-Rus-sian friendship. Professor Parks, of Liverpool University, who organised the visit of members of the Douma to Britain, condemns Keir Hardie’s attacks. Incidentally, he states that the Court is largely reactionary; hut the Czar resists all their influences. The Czar had personally intervened to stop all executions except in cases of excessive brutalities. Spanish Force Annihilated. Details of a sanguinary ambuscade which occurred at Melilla on Thursday, 22nd July, have just reached here. A detachment of Spanish troops, consisting of four hundred men, was ordered to take up a new position in the mountains. To get to the new position the force had to pass through a narrow ravine in the hills, and while in this ravine the {Spaniards were attacked by a large body pf Moors concealed on the heights above. The attack was quite unexpected, and the Spaniards were unable to escape or to offer any effective resistance. A constant fire was poured in on the men from above, and the whole force w.as completely wiped out. The Moors surrounded a convoy and Cut the railway early on Tuesday, the 27th, interrupting communication between the Spanish advance posts. They then attacked the main position, the battle extending almost to the walls bf Melilla. A thousand Spaniards were killed and from 1500 to 2000 wounded. General Pintos, with two columns, proceeded to Mount Gurugu, where the General was killed and one column cut up. The Spanish are now passive, believing that the Moors’ position on Mt. Gurugu is impregnable. The Ceuta tribesmen are preparing to assist the Moors. A Melilla native reports that the Moors only had one hundred killed on Tuesday and a proportionate number (Wounded. Six battalions of Chasseurs have embarked for Algeciras. General Marina, Who is in charge of the operations, deEds an army of 75,000 men, a force as large again as was estimated Id be sufficient a week ago. -All the soldiers in Spain who have not been discharged are on active service and

the garrisons at Burgos, Logrono, and Vittoria, who have been confined to barracks, are ready at any moment to start for Morocco. The “Echo de Paris” states that the position at Melilla is critical. It says that the Spanish soldiery are courageous, but that the officers adopt obsolete tactics, and are unaware of the first principles of African warfare. The commissariat, surgical, topographical and ambulance departments are very inferior. The Melilla trouble originated in the murder of four platelayers by the Riff tribesmen, who objected to the construction of a railway by the Spaniards. Severe fighting occurred in the vicinity of Melilla on July 29, and General Pinto and two colonels were killed, but the Moors were repulsed. The combat occurred on the outlying spurs of Mount Gurugu. General Pinto’s force held that position all day, despite heavy fire, until troops from two railway stations revictualled them. The Moors constantly renewed the attacks, notwithstanding the murderous artillery fire directed at them and their enormous losses, the Spanish casualties numbering 200. An Unpopular War. Martial law has been proclaimed at Tarrogona, Gerona, and Barcelona, where St. Paul’s Church and some schools have been burned. Nine soldiers and a corporal from Barcelona threw their arms into the sea while en route to Morocco. They were shot on arriving at Melilla. The war is bitterly unpopular. Many reservists have fled to France. They declare that the war is waged in the interests of speculators. Some rioters at Barcelona fired at the commander inspecting the troops, and the latter retaliated. A captain of gendarmerie, three gendarmes, and eight rioters were killed and 20 wounded. In another district of Barcelona there have been numerous demonstrations and strikes. In other parts of the country railways have been cut and trains stopped. All Catalonia is in a state of insurrection as a result of the anti-war fever. Numerous railway bridges have been destroyed, and troops have been sent to restore order. A fierce fight, lasting for an hour, occurred between the rioters and the civil guard in Barcelona, many being wounded on both sides. Troops in another part of the city refused to fire on the rioters, who were engaged in an encounter with the police, during the course of which eleven were killed and fifty wounded. Later in the day in another quarter the troops fired against barricades in the streets. The authorities are urging the use of artillery. King Alfonso’s proclamation of martial law over the whole of Spain urges peaceable citizens to remain indoors in order to avoid the risk of being accidentally shot. Business in the city of Barcelona is absolutely at a standstill, and at night the city is in darkness. The authorities claim that they have restored order in Barcelona by the vigorous use of arms. The Minister for the Interior has ordered the provincial Governors to act without pity. Serious trouble has arisen at Saragossa, in the province of Aragon, and

street riots have occurred at Reus, Alcoy, and other places. The troops ordered to repress the riots have been delayed through the cutting of the railways. Three warships have been ordered to Barcelona in order to assist in quelling the trouble in the city and in the Catalonian province. A rigorous newspaper censorship exists in Spain, and all war news is prohibited. It is officially announced that the cavalry in Barcelona drove the bulk of the rioters into the main thoroughfare, where the artillery fired on them inflicting heavy losses. The survivors surrendered, and there now remain only a few remnants in the neighbouring villages. Queen Ena and the Dowager-Queen Christina have gone to Bayonne, whence their departure from Spain depends upon the course of events. It is stated that they have made preparations for every contingency. A great anti-war demonstration took place yesterday in front of the palace in Madrid where King Alfonso is staying, civilians and soldiers shouting, “Down with the war.”

The attacks on the Government forces at Barcelona continued yesterday. Thirty were killed in the barricades. Five convents and several houses were burnt and more bridges destroyed by dynamite. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Madrid correspondent says that 10,000 revolutionaries in Barcelona on Wednesday were parading the charred remains of their victims. They placed bodies, legs and heads on long poles, and carried them along, shouting vivas and whistling the “Marseillaise.” They passed under the nose of the military commander, who was at the head of the troops, but nobody dared order a -volley to be fired on the revolutionists. The latest news from Barcelona states that order has been restored. .No less than 400 rioters have been killed and 1100 injured in the Barcelona streets. Nine thousand armed revolutionaries have formed a committee for the public safety. The Minister for the Interior states that the revolt in Barcelona is the most serious since the Paris Commune. The revolutionaries have taken the opportunity provided by the departure of the troops, he says, to carry out long-prepar-ed plans; but he claims that the Government is now master of the situation. Harrowing scenes occurred at Malaga yesterday, the quay being littered with wounded soldiers. King Alfonso is anxious to proceed to Melilla, but will remain in Madrid as long as circumstances require. Hundreds of Spanish deserters have entered France, some intending to embark for America. There are over 3000 refugees at Hendaye. The police have arrested 119 Socialists and Radicals in Madrid, where there is great ferment. Two Madrid regiments, which it was intended to send to Melilla, have been ordered to remain in Madrid. The Carlist leaders are assembling at Figueras, and expect Don Jaime to head the movement, despite his formal renunciation. Sanguinary conflicts took place on Thursday at Barcelona, artillery fire sweeping the avenue. The mounted police at Barcelona charged the barricades. Their horses were caught in wire entanglements and the men nearly all thrown and stabbed on the ground by workmen.

77,0 er<swd hrtoted flie police and Civil guard, but gave cigars and refreshments to the soldiers. The latter frequently fired in the air. French Naval Service. Vice-Admiral due de la Peyrere, the new French Minister for Marine in the Briand Cabinet, has removed all the heads of departments in the Ministry for Marine, and has appointed his own nominees to fill their places. Sueh drastic reconstruction is unprecedented in the French service. Labour Troubles in Sweden, Owing to the workmen in certain industries in Sweden refusing to accept the arbitrator’s award, the masters have locked out 83,000. Another 80,000 will shortly be involved. The workers now threaten a general strike. The telegraphists have joined the movement. Czar in France. President Fallieres welcomed the Czar at Cherbourg, where rigorous precautions were taken for the protection of the Czar. Detectives were aboard each of the French warships and destroyers patrolling in the vicinity of the Czar’s yacht Standardt. Cordial toasts were honoured aboard the French battleship Verite. On the Black I.ist. The “Daily Chronicle” declares that the authorities of the Vatican are greatly annoyed at the honour accorded the remains of the late Father Tyrrell. A number of eminent English Catholics, both clergy and laity, were present at the funeral, and all their names were entered in the Black List.