JOTTINGS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 54, 30 October 1914, Page 5

JOTTINGS.

It is reported that the German newspapers have been full of the disgrace of Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador to Britain, who, is . said ta. have misled the Kaiser aliout the eerv tainty of civil war in Ireland and the mutiny of the officers in the British Army and also to have informed his Sovereign that England would ne>w declare war on Germany. Hie Kaiser has refused to see him since his return, and his career is said by the German papers io.be "closed."

The way in which patriot!* fnndn are fostered.in Norway was mentioned to'a Christchnrch k un reporter by a Norwegian gentleman. In • add'ttoi to the ordinary postage stamp, the Government issued a special article Tor attaching to letters or postcards, and proceeds from the sale of these wer* devoted entirely to a patriotic fund—viz., the purchase of men-o'-war. Anyone wishing to show his patriotism-in a small but tangible way can attach one of the special stamps to any missive he sends,' though the "patriotic stamp" alone will not carry a letter through to its destination. The ordin ary postal stamp is required as wul. The gentleman in question said tliis practice of the Government had been in vogue for some years now, not ohly with regard to the patriotic fund, but it also applied to hospitals. He suggested that it would be a good, idea for j the New Zealand Government to adopt 'the same principle.

Writing of turpinite shells, a correspondent states:—For special reasons, which it would be unfair to divulge at the present moment, I am strongly of opinion that these shells have not been used to any extent by i the French armies in the field. Probably an actual test under battle conditions has been made onc« or twice, but no more. A number of people, however, have got wind of the matter, and imagination has done the rest. This terrific explosive will, however, be used in case of (say) aa attempt to take Paris by storm, I have no doubt, but I am convinced, despite the thousands of bombs now prepared and the special apparatus that are being cast,' this explosive, a single 561bs shell of which is able to kill and—so to speak—to "petrify" every living thing in a space of 400 square yards, will not be used unless under very desperate circumstance*, and only with the full consent of France's allies.