General War News.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 6 December 1917, Page 4

General War News.

; FIVE TIMES REPORTED KILLED. ; Lieutenant-Colonel Strully, .Northum- | bcrland Fusiliers, who is only 2S, Ims been lighting for three years, and has j the unique experience of having been I reported killed five times. I BRITISH RECRUITS IN CHICAGO. I Since the Chicago depot of the Bri- . tish Recruiting Mission was Opened ! two mouths ago, 1000 applications for ! enrolment have been received and over ! 1200 have been accepted, j 63 NEW SHIPS. j How greatly the construction of mer- !. chant ships has been accelerated is indicated by two supplements just isued Iby Lloyd's Register of Shipping. These | show tliah in less than six weeks —from : June S to July 17 —over 100 new ves- * sels were added to tlie register. Of these (53 arc British. Most of the new ships are of large tonnage. Further supplements, it is expected, will show a still faster rate in building. £4.500 DROPPED INTO THE SEA. An iron box containing £4500 in silver, sent for the relief of the Servian Army, after its march across country to the Adriatic, fell into the sea at Durazzo when being landed, Sir Charles Harris, Assistant-Financial Secretary to the War Office, stated in giving evidence before tlie Committee of Public Accounts. A diver was sent down, but failed to recover it. YOUNG OFFICER'S ROMANCE. A romance in which a young officer and his fiancee, who belongs to a Midland family, figured, had its sequel at Murston, near Sit I i ngbour lie. The parents of the girl objected to the marriage on tlie ground of her youth, and she ran away. Her father followed, intending ■ to stop the wedding. As the quiet wedding ceremony ended a telegram arrived from the fattier forbidding the marriage. The clergyman telegraphed in reply: "Too late; they are married." A NEW ANAESTHETIC. Excellent results are being obtained at the First General HospHal, Camberwell, from the use of a new anaesthetic, consisting of nitrous oxide (laughing gas), mixed with oxygen and, if necessary, ether. It is predicted that it will supersede chloroform in the majority of operations. The chief points in its fai vour are the rapidity with which the patient returns to consciousness and the absence of the unpleasant taste which chloroform causes. THE NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM. The schcnie for the establishment of a National War Museum in London, on the lines suggested by Sir Alfred Mond, is now taking definite shape. It is intended that the museum should commemorate the naval and military effort of the Empire, and that it should include representative exhibits exemplifying the work of the Dominions and Indian contingents. The work undertaken in munition factories and by substitutes at Home will find adequate representation. Among the proposals is that of a hall of honour, rich in design, with an adjacent gallery devoted to the separate memorials of the nuvv and the arniv. CANADIAN "TIPS" A PRINCESS. An amusing incident recently occurred in the Canadian Forestry Encampment in Windsor Great Park. Princess Christian who takes a keen interest in the welfare of the Canadians, was serving refreshments when one of the soldiers upon whom she had waited, and of whose identity he was unaware, thought he would like to present a -"tip" before he left the camp. Approaching piincess Christian the soldier offered her (id. which she pleasantly declined with thanks. The man, however, was so persistent that she responded to the invitation and acceptcd the gratuitv. THE INVASION OF ENGLAND. The Manchester Guardian recently devoted the best part of a page to an account of a much-discussed visit paid by Viscount Haldane to Berlin in 1012. In the course of the account the following story is told about a conversation between Lord Haldane and A T on Moltke. "Lord Haldane was asked to put whatever question he liked. Haldane. 'In that case I shall call for the plans for the invasion of England.' You Moltke (smiling): 'We haven't one in the building.' Haldane, the story goes, then looked out of the window ami saw the headquarters of the ' German Admiralty. 'Perhaps they are there,' said Haldane. Von Moltke admitted that they were. 'And very good plans, too,' ho added." ALUMINIUM COINS. While countless French towns and villages use local notes to make up for the scarcity of small change, no subsidiary war curency has found its way into general use in Paris, but a begiuiug is to be made in the suburb of Vincennes. The Union Conimerciale et industrielle in this district has been authorised by the municipal council to issue aluminium tokens, to take the place of coppers. These tokens are square, with rounded corners, and have the arms of Vincennes and the value stamped on them. As an instance of the lack of small coins, Excelsior mentions that there is a man who carries money by standing at the door of a large grocer's shop and offering pennies and halfpennies for silver at a profit of 5 per cent, to himself. An amusing story is told of Ilerr von Batoeki, who a little while ago resigned the German Food Controllership. It seems he resided with his family at Chariot t enberg. He happens to be the owner of a farm in the country, and so ho arranged for the regular despatch to liini of parcels of eggs, butter, and other produce. The scheme was something of a failure, for the parcels were systematically relieved of a large portion of their contents en route. The climax came when all lie received was the wrapper, on'which was written, "So this is what you call holding out!" Batoeki had to give up the scheme and submit to rations. The result was that he left office after 15 months 3511) lighter than when he entered upon his duties. A NEWSPAPER PROPRIETORS WORRIES. The attempt to blow up with dynamite the house of Lord Athelstan, the proprietor of the "Montreal Star," for the part he has played in connection with the conscription issue in the Dominion adds (says the "Daily News") another interesting chapter to a life that has been full of romance. Originally an otlice boy, Lord Athelstan founded his paper before he had reached the age of 21, his capital being sonicthing like 100 dollars. Not unnaturally, difficulties presented themselves, one of the principal being that of obtaining sufficient paper. The merchants declined point blank to give him credit, and there was nothing for it but to run off as many copies as his resources would allow, to hurry them on to the j streets, and to hurry the coppers they I paper. j ' LOOKING AHEAD. I Germany believes in looking ahead. The Imperial Clothing Office is already occupied with the problem of civilian clothes for the troops when they come home aud lias given an initial order for 500.000 suits. In order to distribute the profits and wages among the country's tailoring trade, the work will bo carried out in a large number of districts. Old materials, especially cast-off garments which the State is buying up, will bo utilised as much as possible.