Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 297, 14 December 1914, Page 5

Great Britain

PILLAGE AND PETTY THEFT.

SEPARATE INSURANCE. Times and Sydney Sun Service*. (Received 8 a.m.) London, December 13. An agreement issued by Lloyds’ Underwriters’ Association provides for the exclusion of pillage risks and that petty theft in port should be covered by merchants 'separately. The subject is important as a result of congestion in many British and foreign ports.

PERIL TO CIVILISATION.

United Press Association.

London, December 13

Mr Balfour, speaking at Bristol, said; “This war ig due to a crime against civilisation, the crime of a> nation not merely resolved to be great, powerful, and prosperous, but saying, ‘All these things are valueless to me, mnless I inn able to dominate and coerce the whole world’— a fantastic conception of the superman that is highly absurd, but # a | conception of a super-state that has brought civilisation "to its present peril. The fulfilment of Germany’s ambition ■ will mean a long farewell to Britain’s greatness, independence, influence, power for good, and power to develop her own affairs in her own way, and we would then have German ‘cultur’ rammed down our throats with German bayonets,”

IyiINERS’ RESPONSE TO THE CALL

London, December 11

One soldier out of every four men is the response of the miners of Northumberland and Durham. The miner makes an excellent fighting man. Recruiting continues on the coalfields, and the men are responding steadily.

CHEERING NEWS ALL ROUND.

London, December 12

The Times, in a loader, says: “From both main theatres the news is equally cheering. It is clear that the Russian evacuation of Lodz has left the real strategical position unimpaired, and the Germans have not achieved their chief purpose. t The Russians should have strength enough to hold their own in Central Poland, while doggedly pursuing their movement against Cracow. In France and Flanders the Allies’ successes may seem to be of a minor character, but they are really the essence of the business.”

AEROPLANE V. ZEPPELINS.

London, December 11

The aviator Pegoud (the originator of “looping the loop” in the air), interviewed, declared: “The German airman, with his Mercedes engine, can do 75 miles an hour, which is just a little faster than our best. Germany has some fearless pilots. The Zeppelins are like geese racing swallows, bogeys to frighten cities, owls afraid of daylight, too slow and unwieldly. Why, in four months of war they have only blown up half-a-dozen houses, and killed twenty civilians. Since August we have dropped 620 shells in the centre of enormous groups of Prussian infantry and artillery. We have destroyed three captive balloons, besides making several forts feel uncomfortable.”

THE STORY OF THE PACKING CASE.

GERMAN'S QUEER EXPERIENCE.

(Received 8.50 a.m.) London, December 13

Sentries superintending the departure at Gravesend of deported Germans over the military age rolled the packing case over and over along the deck of the ferry boat, and the lid was partly forced open. The sailors shouted that a man was in the box, and the occupant, named Otto Kohen, was released after fifteen hours' journey. He told the authorities he was a German lieutenant who was recently in America and had returned shortly before the war. Later he was arrested and interned. There are in. dications that the escape was plotted by aliens at the canteen at Dorchester. The packing case was addressed to Rotterdam.

HIGHLANDER SECURES THE V.C,

(Received 8.50 a.m.) London, December 13

Lieutenant Walter Brodie, of the Highland Light Infantry, was awarded the Victoria Cross for 1 conspicuous gallantry at Becelaere while ousting the enemy from a. portion of our trenches. He hayonettod several, thereby relieving the dangerous situation, and as the result of his promptitude eighty were killed and fiftyr one taken prisoners. GENERAL. The Military Comamnder of Dnhllin has ordered the seizure of all arms,

ammunition, explosives, and warlike stores which may be landed there.

Mr And rew Carnegie, interviewed, said it would be un-Christian and immoral to stop fighting for Christinas and resume thereafter. It was impossible to believe that any nation which adopted the suggestion of a Christmas truce could do so sincerely. When the war broke out the Kaiser was ill. He had opposed hostilities, but the military caste overbore him. Mr Ramsay McDonald, Labor M.P., is serving in the field ambulance in Belgium.

London, December 12

Lloyd’s have reduced the war risk to and from Australia to 30s per cent.

The Customs officials at Gravesend seized a huge box on a liner bound for Rotterdam. When the box was j opened a German officer stepped out of the box, which contained a bed, food, and comforts. It is believed [that he escaped from the interned 'camp at Dorchester, and was aided by spies. The Ravensbourne Club-house has been converted into a convalescent home for New Zealanders. Twelve hundred and fifty solicitors and articled clerks are serving in the army. Over a million who are above 38 years of age, or otherwise debarred from enlisting, are now associated with the Central Association Voluntary Training Corps. Originally intended for London defence, this I corps grew so rapidly that it has become a central body, with local corps in all parts of Britain. The members wear armlets, and are entitled to rank as combatants.