GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1795, 28 February 1918, Page 4

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

AMERICAN PRISONERS

According, to information received at American Army Headquarters in France from what is regarded as an authentic source, the Germans propose adopting the policy of treating all American prisoners with very much less consideration than that meted out to British, French, and Italian prisoners, A German official's recent declaration to the effect that fhe Americans are unintelligent, and are not entitled to the ordinary courtesies, has also i-eached he proper American quarters through a channel of undoubted reliability. The report is interpreted by a responsible authority as indicating that in future the American prisoners may be treated by the enemy as the Russians were, and tlie world knows what happened in their case. STRANGE’CONVERTER EXPLOSIONS, Some unusual explosions are occurring in converter steel foundaries in Germany, according to Stahl und Eisen, the German trade and technical paper. A small converter is used in such foundaries, having a capacity of two or three tons, a*nd used for making steel castings. The explosions generally occur with over-blown charges. The writer mentions a recent case in his own experience. A charge was finished in about eight minutes, but, as the metal was too sluggish for teeming, the shop manager decided to continue the blowing. The after-blow having lasted four minutes, the characteristically green flame, with small illuminating power, made its appearance and small pellets of slag began to spatter out. The converter was then turned down and the finishing iron added, when in about 15 seconds the charge began to burst into flames, at first slowly, then more rapidly, and a sei’ies of small explosions took place, which scattered lumps of slag to a distance of over thirty yards. The explosions, according to the writer, arc the more violent the more the charge has been over-blown, and he thinks the behaviour of the metal is due to the well-known reaction of the ferrosulfurie oxide in the slag upon the carbon in the finishingiron.

“TEAR SHELLS” IN CINEMA. An extraordinary incident is reported from the Palais de Uuxe Cinematograph Theatre, Bromley, Kent. About nine o'clock a curious smell was noticed, and in a few moments the eyes of almost everyone in the theatre began‘running with water. The fumes spread to the operating-box, and the eyes of the men working there were so badly affected that they could not continue their work. As quickly as possible the audience, numbering about 150, loft the building, some of them complaining of a feeling of sickness, and many of them with their eyes red and swollen. An officer present described the effect as similar to that produced by “tear shells.” Three soldiers were seen, to leave shortly before the fumes were noticed, and there is a suspicion that they had become possessed of some gas and liberated ft by way of a practical joke. STANDARD SUITS AT 50s. A scheme for the manufacture of standard cloth and the sale of suits' at fixed prices was adopted at a meeting of the Board of Control of Wool Textile Production held in Bradford. At first one type of cloth will be introduced, the cost of production being about 6,s per yard. It is expected that the cost of a man’s suit made of this material will be about 50s, while boys’ suits .will be from 22s fid to 40s. Steps are also to be taken to supply flannel for the civilian population at standardised prices. GLOOMY “OLD MOORE.” “Old Moore,” in his famous almanac, does not whisper the word peace among his 1918 predictions. He is full of gloomy forebodings, such as “alarming news from the Emei’ald Isle” at the end of February, an alarm from China in March, “disturbing news” from South Africa in June, “some rather disturbing nexvs” from Canada in September, a “reasonable anxiety” from Dublin again in November. But it is, of course, an&essary to give plenty of doleful prophecies for the money, or his readers would think themselves cheated. THE KAISER’S ESCAPE. During the British raid on Mannheim on Christmas Eve, the Kaiser and his staff had an extremely narrow escape. They were returning from the Verdun front on their way to Berlin, and the imperial special train passed through Mannheim station a bare hour before the structure was partially wrecked by British bombs. The train was, in fact, the last to leave Mannheim, and none has since arrived at Basle from that point. The permanent way has been destroyed for some distance beyond the station, thus cutting off communication with the north, GERMAN “SMOKING MIXTURE.” The votaries of my Lady Nicotine K-eem to tye having a very unhappy time in Germany. One of them

writes as follows! — <{ The other day, I ventured to make an analysis of three species of tobacco which had cost me from 16s to 25s per pound. I found them to consist of cabbage leaves and stalks, egg shells, straw, scraps of indiarubber, plaster of Paris, horsehair, string, felt, goosepluckings, and other indefinable substances. Of actual tobacco the mixture contained less than 1 per cent. If it be the object of the authorities to kill off the smokers among German populations they can do no better than to allow this filthy stuff to be sold, as it is now, as ‘fragrant war smoking mixture.' "