GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1738, 9 October 1917, Page 1

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

PAST HUN UNDERSTANDING. The Cologne Gazette cannot understand why Siam should join the world of enemies that fail to appreciate German Kultur. “In Siam, before the war, there were only 48 Englishmen, as compared with 244 Germans, and these Germans,’ says the paper, “had in their hands the whole of the overseas trade with Siam, and were men of considerable Influence and very popular with the Siamese, and yet in : rate of this Siam turns against m-1' LUCK OP TUP Dig;.!. KlrTbrltee'r’s-85~4' r : :ly effect of the good and" ’• m o . - <%"'«- out indiscriminately ■ ;f ,4tie. An odd change coming over (me of his sergeants, who from being one of his most popular non.-coins, in the regiment became very much disliked, he asked the man the reason. “Well, sir,” said he, “I’m the same as ever I was, and it goes ag’inst the grain to round up.the men; but it seems to me as all the best chaps get the worst o’lnck, and wicey worsa. I b’liove I’ve got a better chance of pulling through if I’m always ratty.” THE VALUE OP BODY ARMOUR. “Body armour would be of the greatest service if a suitable form could be devised,” said a surgeon at one of the military hospitals. “Most of the serious heart wounds are fatal. Perforations of the lungs, injuries to the great blood vessels in the chest, and wounds of the abdomen ate usually very serious, and are numerous enough to call for a protective device. But wounds of the limbs, head, and neck arc more common than body wounds in this war.” BUILDING BOOM AFTER THE WAR. At (he yearly meeting in Liverpool of the National Federation of Building Trades, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool predicted a,bright future for the building trade for years after the war. The basis of the whole of our future dealing with social and wage problems, he said, was the proper housing of the people. It was for such experts as he was addressing to decide upon the bestway of dealing with this matter — whether the municipality or the State should come in, or whether private enterprise should be supreme. FOOD STEALING EXCURSIONS. The Prussian military authorities have issued new and stringent regulations which came into force on August 4th forbidding the people of Berlin and other towns to make excursions injo the country for the purpose of buying or stealing food .supplies of any description. The plundering of the fields is branded as a crime against the Fatherland. The police are called upon to spare no effort in suppressing this growing evil. “If necessary,” says the edict, “the military will be called upon to lend their aid in putting a stop to what is nothing less than a national menace.” STATE MARRIAGE BROKER. The Germans are determined at all costs to encourage family life and the increase of the population. Voss’ Gazette says that a National Matrimonial Agency has been set up by the Stae in Saxony. The very practical purpose of this bureau is to provide war-widows, especially those who have been left in possession of small businesses, with what the paper calls “wardamaged” husbands. With true German thoroughness, lists are being compiled in all the hospitals of eligible male .candidates, and descriptions, without mention of names, of suitable widows, are to be published in the military newspapers for distribution among the wounded. OIL FROM SLATE. Under pressure of the petrol famine the production of oil from slate has become an important and growing industry in Germany. The slate quarries at Messel, near Damstadt, are rich, and their exploitation comparatively easy, their strata lying only 12ft, or 13ft. beneath the surface. From this slate it is possible to extract from 6 to 10 per cent, of crude oil, and 2101 b. of this provide 30 cubic metres of gas serviceable for retorts and power for motors. There are also rich slate quarries in Wurtemberg, and Luxemburg. The Luxemburg slate is said to produce crude oil from which first-rate oil for fuel or lubricating purposes can be won.