PLIGHT OF AUSTRIA

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9796, 20 October 1917, Page 8

PLIGHT OF AUSTRIA

DISEASE ID ARMY TERRIBLE FOOD RIOTS RESULT IX MURDER AXD LOOTING. By Telegraph—Prose Association —Copyright Renter's Telegram* BERNE, October 18. Messages from Vienna state that tuicrcTlosis was prevalent in the Aus- - -n army to the extent of 63 per - !t. in the first half of 1916, com- . -I with 12 per cent, in the first i of 1015. An interpellation in tho Rcichsrat.i in tho announcement tnat series* food riots had occurred in Pnsen in August. Seventy shops were plun.!„rrd and the troops fired on tho rioters, killing and wounding several. Martial law was proclaimed. NAVAL BATTLE 111 GULF GF RIGA RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP SUNK. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright Admiralty Wireless. Ati9. and N.Z. Cable Assn, and Reuter. , LONDON, October 18. A Russian official report states: A naval battle took place in tho Gulf of Riga. Tho Russian battleship Slava was sunk. Tho enemy completely occupies Osel Island, where wo have destroyed everything of military utility. Tho enemy penetrated tho Gulf of Riga after depriving us of control of tho Irho Channel, and pressed back our patrols in Moon Sound. Our battleships Grnzhbanin (r) and Slava and the cruiser Bayan engaged tho enemy, and drove back his vanguard. Our ships engaged tho Germans' principal fighting units, including two Dreadnoughiss of the Grosser-Kurfurst type. Tho enemy’s artillery outranged that of our old ships, which defended tho entrance for a considerable time, after which severe damage forced them to retire. The Slava received several hits beneath the waterline. Nearly all the crow were saved. Our coast batteries at tho entrance of Moon Sound dispersed torpedo-boats attempting to approach. Afterwards an enemy Dreadnought put the batteries out of action. Another detachment of our naval farces in Moon Sound kept back attacks from tno north.

Simultaneously a great number of aircraft dropped many bombs on our ships and harbours. The enemy landed small detachments on Dago Island, but our fire forced them to return to the ships. Subsequently an enemy cruiser and a Dreadnought bombarded the landing-place.

Our patrols report fifty-five enemy ships in tho neighbourhood of Osel and Dago Islands. The Slava mas a battleship of 13,516 tans, mith a speed of 18 knots, and earned 740 officers and men. Sho wa» completed in 1905, and anmod vnuh four 12-inch, twelve 6-inoh, and about 84 other guns. The Bayan is an armoured cruiser of 7SS7 tons, with two B-inoh, eight 6-inch, and 30 smaller guns. No vessel with a name anything like Grazhbanin appears in the “Naval Annual.’’ The Grosser Kurfurst quoted as the type of some of tiio German vessels engaged is a Dreadnought of 25,837 tons, with ton' 12jndh guns and a speed of 22 knots.