DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 758, 5 March 1910, Page 14

DEFENCE NOTES.

(BY EGHBLON.)

Field rations of the Gorman soldier when on manoeuvres or active service arc as follows: 26ozs. of bread or 18ozs of biscuit; should there be no issuo of meat ration the bread ration, is increased to 360z,; 14oz. of fresh or salt meat, or Boz. of preserved meat, bacon, or sausage; 4oz. of rice; Boz. of meal; 31b. of potatoes;Goz. of tinned vegetables; £oz of salt; £oz. of coffec; or l-10oz. of tea with .3-5-oz. of sugar. Beer, wine, butter, and tobacco are issued only on requisition. There is also a special ration drawn only in case of. urgent necessity and known as the "Iron' ration." This consists of 12oz. of tinned meat, or fioz. of bacon, 6oz. of preserved vegetables; |oz. of coffe© an.d salt; the.whole packed in a square tin and weighing about 2lbs.

As sure as tlie Conservatives are returned to power in England (states the Berlin correspondent of the "Malta Gazette"), there is sure .to be sorions trouble, if.not actually war, between England and Germany. This is certainly not very pleasant to meditate upon, though, of course, only the timid will be frightened l)y such war talk. It must, however, be admitted that there has of late been an unwonted amount of martial clamour, during the last few days in particular, notwithstanding the Yuletide season, and Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg's rosy view, of the situation. General Keim, the hotspur of the Navy League and PanGerman party, tells us 'disparagingly that it may not be so easy to maintain peace, "say in two or three years," while the ex-diploiuat von' Rath predicts that the patience of the German war-dogs will hardly, be able to stand the supreme test of a Unionist victory in the British elections and the "world tariff wall" which must ensue. It is amid this militant,atmosphere that an enterprising firm of publishers at Minden, in Westphalia, advertises the book "Germany's Fleet in Battle," as the ideal Christmas and New Year gift for the riper youth of the Fatherland. 'The publishers assert in their circulars that the Kaiser has ordered copies of "this highly interesting and timely book" for the Imperial Princes. The story tells of. war with the British, alii ends, of course,' with the annihilation of the British' Fleet, by the German • Armada. • The author of this story of Teuton valour and British impotenco is Count Bernstorff, captain of a frigate in the Imperial German Navv There are still, a great many people who look upon war between Germany and England as a dead certainty, and only a question of time. Carl Peters, the German, who has won fame as a traveller and explorer ■ in Africa, firmly believes that such a war is inevitable. Natural causes, he states./brought about the war between France ' and Germany, when France was compelled to take to the field to resist the German unity. Now England ia compelled to resist the policy 'which' Germany is pursuing to make herself the world power. Germany, remarks Carl Peters, is "following the natural law of her inner development," which she cannot help, but that is inimical to English. interests, and England must stand up against it. Prussian German unity brought on the war with France. Austrian German unity' will bring on war. with England.

The Paris correspondent off The Times" sends, the following important telegram dealing with a matter of tho utmost interest to the Indian, Army:— t

/.The.second meeting ,of ; the, Arms Conference at Brussels is believed in' some quarters to have proved abortive owing to tho failure of Great Britain and France to arrive at an understanding with regard to the prohibition of the I trade'-in arms from Jibuti to Muscat on tho Persian Gulf and thence to Persia, Baluchistan, and ultimately to Afghanistan, and the'niore or less unsettled districts on the North-West frontier of India. On tho present occasion, however, as I am informed, tho question of tho export of arms to places ouisido the geographical limits laid down by tte Brussels Act of 1890 did not actually form a subject of discussion at the conference. It is true, that renewed: negotiations, which have'. hitherto • proved unsuccessful, were in progress between tho British and French Governments during the past year with, a view to .imuuing for the restriction or abolition of the tiade in arms to Muscat and the Persian Gulf. It is believed that tho difficulty operienced by France'in coming to an arrangement lay in the fact that the French private interests engaped in the trade are sufficiently influential to make fny. real concession- on the part of tho Flench Government unacceptable to the Chamber of Deputies, unless it were counter-bal-anced by somo equivalent-concissi'jn-'on the part of the British Government such as could be adduced by the French Government before the Chamber in justification of their action.

. It appears that the subjoct of the extension of the existing prohibifiiotis fine! restrictions to Asia, not miieiLut the recant conference precisely, because Great Britain and France Lad lean unablo to arrive at any common basis for an agreement before the conference met. There is, however, nothing ;n the way of a resumption of direct 'preliminary negotiations between the two Powers if they are minded to prosecute the consideration of this question. Tho conference confined its decisions to measures for strengthening the restrictions upon the trade in arms within the existing zone c-f prohibition in Africa, which extends from the 20tli degree of latitude north to the 22nd de»reo of latitude 60uth over tho whole African Continent, as well as to the adjoining islands and waters within 20 miles of the coast, of the mainland. .

After careful experimental work extending over two years there has been placed in the market a very practical electrical signalling lamp suitable for home practice or signalling in the field. It is claimed by the inventors that the apparatus is a striking advantage over any oil lamp used for .'service signalling or any other electric signalling lamp at present on the market. It is a thoroughly serviceable instrument, in a compact and convenient form. The lamp pnrts are enclosed in an oblong case made of hard. seasoned polished teak, measuring 8 by 4 by 3J inches,' and weighing under 31bs., including batteries, but without the large condenser. The lamp in use is of the metallic filament bulb type, fitted in the centre of the back of a reflector. It is, therefore, in the best position to enable the maximum amount of light to be projected by the reflector. Those new bulbs represent the greatest improvement which has ever been made in portable electric lighting. Not only is the light trebled without any extra current consumption, but the effective life of the battery is increased by over 100 per cent., owing to the insensibility of this new bulb to moderate changes.in the voltage.' The introduction of the metallic filament bulb created a new era in adapting electricity as a means of Mors© signalling, for prior to its introduction the oldfashioned carbon filament " bulb globe glowed to such an extent that it was impossible to get a perfect dot. The new metallic filament bulb has altered all this, and achieves what was. previously an impossibility. In other words, this new bulb will continue to give a most brilliant light on a polarised battery, which with one of the 'oldfashioned carbon filament bulbs would hardly give any light at all. 1 The Morse Key is of an improved type, silent, and admirably suited for signalling work, and a great advantage over the noisy service oil lamps, which can be read by sound at a considerable distance from the instrument A peep-hole sight is provided for the purpose of finding a distant lamp, with which a signalling party is in communication. As a home instructor the advantage of the "Signalite" signalling lamp over any other lamp is that a detachable small lens is provided for this purpose. This lens, or condenser, can be utilised for two important purposes, (1) for reducing the beam in out-door signalling, or (2) for home instructional purposos, in a barrack room or school-room, where a smaller beam of light is preferred. A special feature of this invention is the separate reading lamp, which is so arranged that the light is hidden away under cover, and not liable to'disclose the whereabouts. of the signalling party. This lamp is supplied with current from a smaller and'separate battery, and a small switch (C) is provided on the left of t.ho Morse Key, so that the current can be cut off or connected m txxjuiiod.