NOTES ON THE WAR.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 9, 1 July 1898, Page 19

NOTES ON THE WAR.

EELATIVE EXPENDITURE ON FLEETS. According to Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Great Britain spends £37,500,000 on her army and £2(5,000,000 on her navy a prodigious total of over £03,000,000. We are tempted to say so with two-fold emphasis, says the Melbourne Argux, when the disbursements of other countries are taken into consideration, with the result that the naval expenditure of France, Germany, and Russia combined is found to be only £2."),5.j8,000, or practically the same |sum yearly devoted by Great Britain to the building, armament, and maintenance of her fleet. The detailed total? as regards our rivals are as follows :— France, navy £1 1 .18,->,OOO, army £21,902,000 ; Germany navy £«,083,(M)0, army £2!>,H:i,000 ; Russia, navy £7,990 000 army £30,.->7 ( .),000. Thus not one even of the great military countries which have converted themselves into armed camps pays for its

legions nearly fo nitich as Great Britain does for her home and Indian army, while the naval expenditure of each is a fraction only of our.s. Approximately the totals for both services arc — G-ivat Britain, £<;;{,00(>,000 ; France, £o<;,000,000 ; Germany. t1.5."". 00(>,OUO ; Russia, £:{5,000,000.

Referring to the population and territorial po-'-os-sions at stake in each case, the fame paper states that Great Britain has 1.8,000.00') more inhabitants than the three other powers put t mother, and she bestrides pretty nearly the same acreage of terriuu-y, seeing that her possessions cover 1 1 J million square miles, and those of her three rivals lll{ millions in all. This although the Russinn Colossus appears when we ooT-ult our map to c pr ..v! over about h 1 If of fw i continents. In two pithy comparisons the Chancellor of the Exchequer sims np the situation. 'T iv every tt l '<m in 1 s'j-imv miles of emp ; re.' he '■ay-», 'we spe-id in defence fitiiil . Trance spends .C'.t, .">:>:{, Germany C2B.")"iL and Russia, Cl l"il. For cvi ry thousand inhabitants in our empire we spend CI7I. Franc C'W.l, Germany C.j("><>, and Russia C2')B.'

SOME 01' ITs HOlißOltt-. A book published on the anti-slavery campaign in America, and written by Miss I're-jcott Wormeley, gives a sufficiently reili-Uo description of thp wor-t side of war. The b:>>k is c ltitlc 1 T/w iCnuil Sitlr of War. Tt recills tlv feart'al revelations which were made by Dr. Chailes lt\an of Melbourne in his book on the FrancoGerman war. Mis-, Wormeley volunteered tor service as a nnr-e. She reminds us tli.it in tho-^e days carbolic acid was earcely understood, iodoform did no 1 ex st. listerino was o t to be di coven d. nnd a physician would sooner have lehealcd apitient than have bandaged a wound, and left it tmtoueh d for da"s depending upon nature and bichloride of mercury to I.eal it. Yasrlun\ eosmolene. agnino, lanine, all the coal-oil and wood-product ointments were yet to be discovered, and the science of anti-septic c urg. ry was unborn. Small wonder that the ladies sat with their linger- in their ears during this awful hour ! Once it was over, they put the ward in order, re-making many beds, and giving the men handkerchiefs with cologne or bay water, 'so prized in the sickening ntivo-phere of wound. 1 From cot to cot they walked without rest, sponging bandages, giving medicine and brandy, sometimes writing a letter or reading one, and this they continued until dinner-time, and ata their meals off an old stove, with plates of the pattern used by Aeneas on occasion, and with forks belonging to the s.imo peried of civilisation, sitting meanwhile on (a v pel bags. In the altoruoon they rested, other ladies taking their places Ail this was a trifle, a mere beginning 1 .

Fair Oaks, Juno 1. soon came to fill the mind with o'her matters Five boats were ready to receive the wounded, each one t ikmg' bun-, dreds ; and in all I ..">< >< > were sent dow n. with no Mm eons, no supplies, not even mittrosses O u one ot the Gum rnmeut boaN. This is her description of this vessel —

'Men in every condition of horror. sluti<rrd ami shrieking. were brought in on stretchers but no by • ooutrab in is," w ho dump) 1 them anywhere, banged the strei hers against pillars and po*4s. and walked over the men without co'npission. '1 here was no one to direct what ward or what bid tliev were to go into. Men shat ten 1 in the thigh, and even cases of amputation, were show lied into top berths without any thought or ny rey. The men had mostly b,-en without food for three days, but th-ro was nothing, ci bnaui cither boat for them.'

Lemons, ices, and «herry w. re swiflly supplied; a barrel of molasses was found, and compounded witn vinegar ard iced water : and then crackers and milk, or tea aid bread wen- serve 1. but •imagine,' writes Miss Wormeley. "a greit river or sound steamboat, tilled in every deck, every berth, and e\> ry M|'iare inch of mom covered with wounded men. and ."0 well men on every kind of errand rushing to and fro over them '"

A I'EKOCIOUS • MU.s.' The barbers of New York have notice! a decided change in the matter of moustaches sine.- war has been in the air. Hitherto the fashion has been for small, well-trimmt 1 mou-taohes. but now. it is stated, every man who can grow a heavy, ferocious, military-looking moustache is doing so, and all sorts of devices are being resorted to to give as much as possible the appearance of what Col man in a particular case once described as a ' shoebrush stuck beneath the nose.' A similir effect was notice 1 in Germany just before and during the Franco-German war. and evidence* of the same feeling have been noticed in other countries.

Messrs Louis Gille and Co. of Sydney advertise in this i^-rae a list of books suitable for Catholic homes. r \

Mr. Gawne, of Dunedin (says the Sou'lihiml Tim<:< of April 13, 1891), has just been on a visit to Invurcargill to push business a little. Not that it wants much canvassing, for since he commenced the manufacture of his Worcestershire Sauce, the demand has kept pace with his capacity to supply it. He makes a really gool thing 1 , indistinguishable from the famous Lea and Perrin s, w hich he places upon one's table at a much lower price, and trusts to that ta s ci ii- e a steadily growing trade. Those who have not j et tried the colcuial article should put their prejudice aside for a time and test the question with a bottle or two. — ' +

When Sir William Haivonrt was paying a visit to TLiw.nden Castle some time lri'.-k he rem irked to hi- lio-t that the boys at Eton took in a large number of owning pap t-;. • Deir m<\ how romarkable !' said Mr. Gladstone. ' How limits have channel since 1 was at Eton 1 But it shows what a renri!!vi''>le interest the youtli ot the present generation take in current: event*. 1 ' I venture to think.' slid Sir William, ' that it maybe that tjie youth of the pr. srnt generation take a remarkable inteio-t in sport.' ' Inde> d.' mid Mr. Gladstone, 'not gambling, I hope.' Then the G. O. M. beca re reminiscent. ' I think the only thing lever did in that direction," he remarked, ' was to put an ojdv-ional shilling on a prize fight.'