MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1348, 27 January 1912, Page 12

MILITARY NOTES.

(Edited Br EchslohJ SPY'S CIPHER DECODED. THE AUSTKALIAN NAVY. Brig.-Gcn. Bridget, Chief of tho Australian iioyal Military Collego, ia at present in England on leave of absence. The object of Gen. Bridges' visit to Luropo is to study tho methods and system of military colleges in iingland and on the Continent. A scliemo for strengthening th» survey soction of tho Itoyul Australian Engineer? has been adopted by the Military Board. Six Dew positions, open to members o> tho permanent forces, liavo been created, applicants to bo fair draftsman, eneed in survey field work, and vested in trigonometry, typography, tha aneroid barometer, and tho theodolite and, dumpy level. A report by the Inspector-General of the Imperial Forces, General Sir John French, on the British Territorial Force, has been issued as a Parliamentary Whito Paper. The Inspector-General states that with the exception of the London district ho did not find the commanding officers took a pessimistic view of recruiting prospects, though tho prevalent desire to secure the services uf the best class of men to some extent, perhaps, affects statistics. Sir John French says that there can bo no doubt in the miud of any impartial observer of tho Territorial Force during tho year under report that, if the numbers have so far not quito satisfied all expectations, the quality has vastly improved. Some of the work which he saw carried out this year was quito extraordinary and entirely surpassed his expectation, and ho believes that the system and methods adopted in the training and instruction of Territorial units show great improvement. Recruiting for the Australian navy is proceeding so expeditiously, states tho 'Age," that tho navy ofiico is endeavouring to arrange for large extensions of tho Williamstown naval depot. It is desired to add temporary barracks for 100 men. The rush of young recruits is a healthy and somewhat unexpected development in connection with tn« j;oung Davy. During December 79 men signed on for from fivo to seven years, most of thorn coming from Victoria or Tasmania. Larfjc numbers of applications have been received this month, and the Naval Board is accepting all that can be properly accommodated. Tho men are being trained at the Williamstown school, the only recruiting school yet established, and aro being taken to sea by the Protector, tho Paluma, and the torpedo boats. The old depot presents a lively appearance daily, for in addition to the recruiting work the school of wireless telegraphy is doing good work with its small equipment, training operators for the fleet unit. When all arrangements for training are completed the work of advertising for recruits will commence. Tho suggested arrangement for men to bo trained on H.M.S. Challenger, of tho Australian squadron, could not be made. Obviously as Australian recruits receive more pay than even petty officers in the British navy, it would have been subversive of discipline to place the raw material for Australia's navy for training under men receiving less pay than the recruits.

The Australian Minister for Defcnoe (Senator Pearcc) recently addressed a mass meeting of miners at Broken Hill (N.S.W.), tho strongest opponents of the defence scheme being assembled in full' force. The opposition at Broken Hill, he explained to a pressman subsequently, is of two classes. There is one section which does not object to universal training' for the defence of Australia, but which imagines tho new defence forces are being raised for the purpose of interfering in industrial disputes. "I ) expressed the opinion, at the meeting," he said, "that- among intelligent_ people, such as Australians are, there will never be any need for tho use even of police, let alone citizen soldiery, in the event of industrial disputes. It certainly never was the idea of those who advocated compulsory military training that troops should be brought into use in such circumstances, and such a thing is not at all likely to happen. The workers of Australia aro law but even if there were a few turbulent spirits,_ everybody must recognise that the pohco are able to keep order. Then there is another section, which is opposed to compulsory training even for the purpose of defence. This section is very small, but very noisy. At tho meeting at Broken Hill it seemed to be limited to about half a dozen persons, who located themselves in different parts of the hall, and endeavoured to interrupt the proceedings. The gathering was an enthusiastic one, and I have little doubt that after the explanation I offered on th© subject th© opposition will in .future be confined to the noisy and insignificant minority to which I referred."

The cipher letter found ui the possession of the German captain, HcinxicU Grosse, accused of acts of espionage at Portsmouth, and committed for trial at the Winchester Assizes (England), has been decoded. It reads as follows: —■ "Dear Sir,—l read your letter yesterday, dated the 25th. I hasten to inform you that I entirely agree with your arrangements. One of my friends tells mo that your information was accurate and without any personal embellishments. I hopo that you will tako the trouble to mako our joint business n good on» in the future. You will see fr«m the newspapers that there is a snecial interest at present about things relating to England and Germany. This happens most opportunely for you, and you can 6ee that your field of operations will bo a valuable one. I don't wish you to hurry too much, but I am now giving you some questions, the answers to which I consider will bo voir useful to me.— "(1) Is it really true, as was stated in the newspapers, that the new submarines are being fitted out with guns How and where aro these mounted? "(2) Where are the guns stored for arming merchant steamers in time of war ? "(3) What sort of gnns have tho minelaying cruisers Naiad, Thetis, and latona? "(1) Have these got wireless telegraphy ? "(5) How much coal is there on shore? Is thero no more coal in tho dockyard than what is stated? "(6) More details are required about the system of range finding. "The information about a floating conning tower is surely imaginary. There ia therefore work and stuff enough. I wish you every success in my branch of the work—Tours sincerely, P." . "P." is supposed to bo a man named Petersson, w£o wrote from _ Rotterdam other letters which were not in cipher.