"A REAL GOOD SHOW."

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16262, 12 July 1918, Page 8

"A REAL GOOD SHOW."

LYTTELTON MAN AT ZEEBRUGGE.

HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES

Some interesting details of the famous Zeebrugge raid are contained in a i "otter' from a Lyttelton man who. as an engineer-Lieutenant R.N., has been serving in some of the largsr '• ttle-ships. Soon after the outbreak 'of the war the writer of the letter referred to endeavoured to enlist in tho Royal Navy in the Dominion, but found hat. he could not do so. and eonseluently lie enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, from which on getting to England he applied for ind _;ot a transfer to the Royal Navy. Prior to enlisting the writer was engaged as an engineer in the Home trade. His letter tells of his experiences on board one of the block ciiips. He writes:— I had my first "stunt" the other night, and it was an experience that, dozens in the Grand Fleet would give anything to have had. I left tho about I< ebruary '25th for a special service job, and after four days in town I went to Chatham, where we were met by Sir Roger Keyes, Vice-Admiral in chargo of the Dover Patrol, under whom we were to serve for this special '•stunt." All the officers congregated in the captain's cabin of the , and the Admiral detailed his scheme r ur blocking Ostend and Zeebrtigge. He | detailed certain officers to each ship. My ship was the Intrepid, an old, obsolete cruiser built in 1891, which was used as a mine-layer at the outbreak of the war; then she was sent to tho White.Sea as a refit ship for trawlers. There were four others besides her, and they weie used to patch up the Russian trawlers. Wnen Russia pullarl out of the scrap, all the boats were recalled: this was a good job for them. All the available space below and on deck was filled with cement and bricks and old iron, and any machinery which we oid not require wa3 taken out. After about a month we were declared ready for sea. We left Chatham and stowed ourselves away around the coast,. to await a favourable opportunity to carry cut the "stunt." Everything had to be worKed to time-table and to tho minute; also wind and tide had to be m our favour or the success of the whoie show would be spoilt. The time arrived, and we sailed and picked up our escort, etc.—about 90 bottoms all told, launihcs and everything. It was a glorious day. and we all said: "It's sure to come off to-night." But our luck was out • we reached within 12 niile3 of the Belgian coast and the wind changed; so we had to turn baok. It was noon tho next day before wo j anchored again; and we were all tired and disappointed. The following day we were all ready for sea again o,nd sallied out, but .this time a gale sprang up, and back once more we had to turn. That being the last night of tho decent tides we had to wait another ten days. We sailed again on April 22nd, met our escort and flotilla of motor launches and boats —all told, about SO bottoms—and at 7 p.m. ranged up .n battle order; 10 p.m. everybody to action station, and about 11.45 the first enemy star shell lit the whole place up i like day. But the small 40-knot motor | bolts _ were away ahead of us making' artificial fog, so it was impossible for, Fritz to see as. About 11.55 p.m. I the Vindictive put 'her bow through the fog, and simultaneously she was peppered by the shore batteries and _ guns on the mole; but by midnight sho succeeded in getting alongside, drawing the fire off us. Behind her came the Thetis, then the Intrepid, then the Iphigenia. We three were to go inside the molo and up tho canal entrance, the Thetis going up to the lock gates if possible. W ell, old Fritz had big -wire hawsers across the entrance which tho Thotis can ied away, but unfortunately one of these fouled his port propeller, and before ho was aware of it. he was on the mud just at the channel entrance. W© steamed merrily past him, followed by the Iphigenia, and placed our ship right across the entrance, the Iphigmia doing likewise; between us, we completely blocked the whole show. I was below all this x time, but had sent all the stokers up, and only kept three in tho engine rooms. Old Fritz was shelling us merrily now, and our captain, thinking that we were all clear in the engine Toom, exploded the mines which were in our double bottoms and blew the bottom out of her. Luckily, they were all on deck, except a stoker petty officer and myself, when the mino exploded under the engine room. 1 saw the S.P.O. fall down the hole it made in the floor, hut 1 dragged him out, and both of us wore quite all' right and scrambled on deck to find that both the boats had shoved off, but were still sculling about. So into the water we jumped, and wore picked up after a few minutes' swimming around. The next job was to get out of range. Shrapnel and machine-gun stuff was falling like hail, but I took charge of the cutter and steered for the entranco. We had only been pulling ten minutes when I _ hoard a motor-launch, eo I hailod him to pick us up; along he came, and wo were soon on board. We hung about and picked up another boatwith the commander, officers, and men of the —— on board, and eight wounded. This made over 20 on the launch all told; so we went ahead and beat it past the famous mole at about 16 knots; stray eleven-inch shells were falling within four or fivo feet of us, but we managed to get right clear without a scratch. Then for the long run back toDovor —90 miles—and the thick Scotch mist made it difficult to see. Another motorlaunch bumped us and stove her bows in, but wo got on all right, and after 9i weary hours arrived at Dover about 10.30 a.m. on April 23rd. They gave us a great reception: I had a lovely hot bath, put on some dry clothes, and had a good meal. About 3.30 p.m. ViceAdmiral Sir Roger Keyes mg,t me and my men at the station, and told tho men how.pleased ho was; he then shook hands with me and congratulated me on the good job wo had done, and on our safe return. "Wo only lost one stoker petty officer out of a crew of 83, and he was killed in a motor-launch on tho way out. ... It was a roal good show, and I wouldn't have missed it for anythingP

ECONOMICS OF WAR. • (raou oua own correspondent.) LONDON, May 28. POTATOES SERVED WITH MUSIC. ' 'Why is the restaurant proprietor not obliged to observe the fixed price for new potatoes?" Major E. A. Belcher,. Director of Vegetable Supplies, was asked at a meeting of re--1 taiiers. "When-you pay a shilling for ! a potato at the llitz or the Cairlton," i ho replied, ''you are not paying for the ' potato itself, but for the flowers on the table, or the band in the vestibule. You ; never could fix aI price for a cooked I potato. The difficulties of grading a potato by the flowers on the table, the number of waiters, or the size ot the orchestra, would bo extraordinary • and amazing.'' FOUR PENNY LIMIT. If the restaurant proprietor can charge for new potatoes at his pleasure, there are restrictions on the trade, for the Food Controller has announced 4d per lb as top pricc. Jersey or other growths are not exempt from this order, and any argument that yd or lOd must , be charged to produce any profit will I not avail. Whether home-grown or lm- ! ported, the Ministry of Food disapproves of the consumption of any foodstuffs in an immature state. Cattie ( is being allowed to mature while there I is a good supply of imported meat, and ! it is desirable that potatoes should be left in the ground to increase in bulk. Returns show .that our acreage this vear is about 25 per cent, more than last year, but the uncertainty of future food' supplies renders it necessary that | the most "should be made of such an 1111- ' portant item in the national bill of fare as the potato. i Every county in England, Wales, ana j Scotland has more potatoes set than lasr year, without counting small holdings under an acre, and allotments, but no one can guarantee what the crops w;ll be. No grower will be left with stocks on hand, as the Ministry cf Food has undertaken to purchase any remaining from growing from a commercial point of view, and ar- , rangements are being made also to tako over and market —if so desired by tne I holders —any surplus grown on allotments. . Tt "is an interesting fact that Lord Rhondda enlisted in his service, in connexion with growers' returns, GOOO boys and girU in th>* London Council's schools. Twenty schools in two days completed the task of sorting and tabulating the returns. NO NEED FOR WASTE LAND. belladonna (deadly nightshade), from which the drug atropine is obtained, before the war came almost exclusively from Germany. It is now being largely grown on waste land at Dorking by Mr Beetliam Wilson, who has fivo plantations. ; The first of these was started directly the war broke out, but the difficulty of obtaining seed, and the slow growth of tho plant prevented the drug being produced in large quantities until this year. Now there is no possibility of a shortage, and next year more will bo placed on the market. ■ RUBBER FOR GERMANY. Details of how rubber is smuggled into Germany through Holland were disclosed at Gravosend Police Court, when two seamen, John Henry Thome, Bethnal Green, and Bertie Harold I Deb nam, Gravcsend, were each finoi ! £100 for concealing 561b of dental rubber and 3}lb of valvo rubber on the j steamship Marylebone; and the former was also charged with harbouring prohibited rubber at his house. On May--Bth preventive officers boarded the vessel, which was bound to Rotterdam, at Tilbury Dock* and in the chain locker noticed the wood under tho lining split. Forcing this open, they found rubber hidden inside. Thorne and Dabnam-ad-mitted it was their joint property, and that they concealed it to take to Holland. "Afterwards they signed statements saying during th.e six months they had been employed on the Marblebone they had taken consignments to Rotterdam, having purchased them in Shoreditch. Thoy gave 25s .per pound for dental rubber, and 17s per pound for valve and sold the .former at £3 per pound and the latter at £4 7s 6d per kilo. Thorne also confessed to having rubber stored in his kitchen. The defence was thac accused were only doing what, others were doing, there being an agent in Rotterdam who reaped the greatest benefit. THE SAVING OF WASTE. Mr Wardle, in a written answer to Commander Bellairs, states that the President of the Board of Trade is not) prepared to stop the circulation of all reports of companies' meetings oxcepfc on request, in view of the fact that 6Uch reports often contain matter of importance. The Paper Controller will, however, he glad to consider any cases brought to his notice in which the reports involve evident waste of paper, with n view to considering'what action can usefully be taken to prevent waste. The Paper Controller has decided to test the scheme of the M'dd'esex Newspaper Proprietors' Association for the collection of wastopaper in a modified form. He his offered to • allow the Press of Middlesex, Kent, and Surrey to collect wastepaper for six months. Returns are to bo sent to the Controller, and from these ho will be able to test whether the paper is from untapped sources, and whether tho amount collected justifies the extension of the scheme throughout the whole country. SILVER HOARDING. The new Regulation made by Order--Ih-Council under the Defcnce of the Realm Act relating to the hoarding of silver coins is as follows:— "(1) No pers n shall, aft*r the twentyseventh day of May, nineteen hundred and eighteen, have or retain at any time in his possession or under his control silver coins current in the tJnitec! Kingdom of a value exceeding that of the amount of silver coinage reasonably required by him at that time for the purposes of the personal expenditure of himself and his familv. and of his trade or business (if any); and if any porson acts in contravention of this Regulation ho shall be guilty of an offence against these Regulations. In proceedings for contravention of this Regulation, tho burden of showing what amount of -silver coinage is reasonably required for the purpose of tho aforesaid shall rest upon the person charged. "(2) Any person who sells or purchases, or offers to sell or purchase, any coin current in the United Kingdom for an amount exceeding the face value of the coin,, or accepts or offers to ac\ cept any such coins in payment of a debt or otherwise for an amount exceeding its face value, shall be puilty of an offence against these Regulations." DOOM OF PROFITEERING. Profiteering in food may fairly be said to be doomed now that the Defence of the Realm Food Profits Act has received the Royal Assent. The Act provides that in addition to any penalty inflicted by the Court on traders contravening the Food Cont'oiler's regulations with regard to prices, convicted traders shall, in addition, forfeit to the Crown a sum equal to twice tho amount of the profit they have illegally made. As an illustration of the working of the Act, the well-known potato prosecution which took plane a few months ago may be quoted. In this case the grower was fined £5000 for contravening the Controller's prices; but it was alleged that he had made illegal profits j considerablv exceeding the amount of the fine. tJnder ihe new Act the Food Ministry would be entitled to obtain an account of the actual amount of illegal profits, and then proceed to recover by way of penalty double the amount of those illegal profits. The Bill was negotiated through the House of Commons by Mr Clynes, and through, the House

of Lords by Lord Crawford, in the absence of Lord Rhondda. DUPLICATION OF FOOD CARDS. The Food Ministry has authorised drastic measures to prevent the dishonest use of food coupons. Thousands of cases in which duplicate food cards have been used have come to light, and a new scheme has now been submitted to the Ministry to make duplication difficult or impossible in future. A number, of special detectives are engaged in tracing the sources of leakage, and several warrants have already been issued, the Food Control authorities taking a very serious view of the matter It was "stated at the Ministry of Food that as a result of the investigations made there were already nearly a thousand prosecutions a week for offences against Food Orders. There were 830 prosecutions during the week ended May 11th—-77$ being BUceßsf'il. In three cases imprisonment without the option of a fine was inflicted. U.K.. These two letters, placarded on a building in a thoroughfare leading to Fleet street, were the subject of much speculation until officialdom solved the riddle by explaining they stood for National Kitchen- —or Restaurant, as it is called. Much interest is displayed anent the opening of the N.K., which will be quite soon. The present intention is to run it on week-days from 11.30 a.m. until curfew time, and on Sundays—for a few weeks experimentally—at hours most convenient to the newspaper workers around Fleet street. Restaurant prices in New Bridge street will be a trifle, higher than out East, because the catering will be on more ambitious lines: broadly they will provide for a goad dinner at a shilling. The scale mny be something like this: Srup 2d or 3d, meat 6d, vegetables ljd, sweets 2d or 3d, coffee l£d. Quarters of meat coupons will be accepted. The customer at the National Restaurant will buy tickets for the courses he desires, and at the counter get a tray on which to carry his dishes to a little table, paying a penny table money. The tables will seat about 200 customers— four at each; and in addition, meals will be sent out, containers for keeping food hot being reserved for registered customers, who may dispatch office boys for thom. Besides luncheons an-1 midday and evening dinners, tf*as will be ! served. All workers in Fleet street will try for tho opening. The scheme should be a success. THE COMMONWEALTH. * THE BURDEN OF WAR. (uy Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.) ' MELBOURNE, July 11. Approximate ligures giving the relation between the revenue and war ex- ' pendituro show that £149,000,000 has been raised in the Commonwealth by meaus of war loans and war savings certificates, in addition to £47,500,000 i borrowed from the British Government j for war purposes, while £39,750,000 re-1 presents the expenditure by the British Government on Australian troops, for which the Commonwealth is liable. From the beginning of the war to the end of June last the Commonwealth i raised by direct taxation £20,654,276, and expended in war interest, sinking fund, and pensions £20,011,004. It is announced that the benefits for widows under the repatriation scheme will be available to a soldier's wife who becomes a widow within seven years after the soldier's discharge. PREFERENTIAL VOTING. SYDNEY, July 11. The Farmers' Conference passed a resolution urging the introduction of preferential voting, and expressing alarm at the increasing cost of government. ALLIES AND TfiE PACIFIC. (Received July 11th, 8.55 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 11. A meeting in the Town Hall inaugurated a Hands Around the Pacific Club, linking up with branches in San Francisco, Seattle, and Honolulu, with a view to cementing the Allied interests in the Pacific, internationally, socially, and commercially. SHIPPING DELAYED. ' (Received July 11th, 8.55 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 11. The eoldest 6nap for ten years, accompanied by coastal gales,- is delaying shipping. REDUCTION OF HOTELS. (Received July 11th, 8.55 p.m.) MELBOURNE, July 11. The Licensing Court decided not to renew the licenses of ten more hotels. A reduction has now been made in 142 out of 217 licensing districts. GAMBLING "jIETHODS DEPRECATED. (Received July 11th, 8.55 p.m.) BRISBANE, July 11. The Chamber of Commerce carried a resolution that the increasing prevalence of gambling methods in connexion with raising funds for patriotic purposes was opposed to the best interests of the community, and urging a more rigid enforcement of the gambling laws.