GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 1 November 1917, Page 3

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

"LEAVE CLUBS" IN PARIS. An increasing number of British officers and men are coming to Paris on leave, writes the Times correspondent. ' For the most part both officers and men, after one or two days of the new delights of Paris, lapse into boredom owing to ignorance of what there is to do and to see. This state of affairs was considered recently by a meeting of the British colony, as a result of which a new "Leave Club',' for men will shortly be opened at the Hotel "Moderne. For allied officers the house of M. Henry de Rothschild, practically next door to the British Embassy in. fthe; Fauborg St. Henore, generously placed at the disposal' of the Inter-Allied Of--fleers' Club, and it is intended to, make this club the best in Paris. GERMAN SPY CODES. Remarkable disclosures of the ingenious methods whereby German spies in the United States convey information to the Fdtherland, and how these methods m;ayhhre r circumvented, are made by Mr Ralph E. Renaud, in the New York Tribune, in what purports to '<be a news despatch"'ijrom a correspondent at the capital to a journal in Sweden. The ! news, it relates, is purposely dated some weeks ahead of when it actually occurred,, but the point lies in its appearance of pristine innpcence:—"Washington, D.C., May 15^—President's embargo ruling should have immediate notice. Grave situation affecting international law'.' Statement foreshadows ruin o'f many neutrals. Yellow journals unifying national • excitement immensely." To any. recipient, previously by mail, it conveys the startling announcement that "Pershing sails from New York June 1." This is spelled out by the first: letters of each word. WAR-TIME MODES IN GERMANY. War conditions have not yet had much effect on English fashions in dress, but in Germany the practice of going about bare-footed to save shoe leather and stockings is becoming quite common! At a fashionable fete in a Bavarian city the other day a newly-married couple well known in society appeared dressed the height of fashion —HenSchmidt in the ceremonial black frock coat beloved by all. Germans, and his wife in a rich sill! —both of them without any foot * covering whatever! Since the students of Wurzburg University set the example, the undergraduates of Breslau have also discarded shoes and stockings, and a German newspaper just to hand, praises in fulsome periods the patriotism of two young ladies who went shopping in Dres- 1 den barefooted. ' A CRITIC'S BLUNDER. When the world-famous author of "The First Hundred Thousand" was in San Francisco he told an amusing story on himself. It seems that after his great war book had brought him popularity his publishers, dug up some of his earlier stories and republished them. They were wiell received, although the author regarded them rather as amateur efforts. But a critic in New York waxed enthusiastic over them, and congratulated him on his improvement as a writer since the production of his most popular book. VISITORS TO THE MONUMENT. After having been closed from the early, days, of the war, the Monument was re-opened to the public on July 11th. Since then there has been an unusually large number of visitors daily, and the total now stands at upwards of 20,000. The fee for admission is 3d, and in normal times the income derived by the City Corporation ranges from between £800 -and £900. In the last pre-war year the profit secured by the corporation • from this source was £446. '. • ■ _2 -. .: ;• HUN JEWELLERY SMUGGLING." Jewellery is evidently not considered very safe in Germany, judging from the amounts that is pouring into Holland in mysterious parcels. According to a consular authority in Amsterdam, the Dutch Government has been obliged to appoint special officers to trace and keep a record of these articles of value. Some are for sale, but the greater' quantity is despached in fictitious names to banks and places of deposit. The Kaiserin is reported to have disposed of much of her jewellery in-this "fashion. 1 THE TRACTOR PLOUGHS!'' The Food Production Department stated that about 8,500 motor-trac-tors have been ordered. Of this number 6,000 are M.O.M. (Ford) tractors, and about 2,000 are of Titan, Mogul, Burford Cleveland, Sampson, and Emmerson types. Sir Arthur Lee states that he is obtaining all the suitable British makes available. Only some 1',275 of the 8,500 tractors have been delivered up to date, though consignments are constantly arriving. MONKS CALLED TO THE COL--'' OURS. | Six of the monks at Mount St. Gernard's Monastery, Wliitwick, Leicestershire, are being called to the colours, three having been passed for foreign service and three for home service, while one" was medically rejected. " Hitherto they have been exempt from military service, but it is understood that the conditions in this regard have been somewhat modified by the War Office recently. It is 73 years since the monastery was opened, when the first mass was said there by the late Cardinal Wiseman.