TO-DAY’S NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 62, 12 November 1915, Page 5

TO-DAY’S NEWS.

The breakdown in the telegraphic service owing to last night’s 'storm meant that wo are not getting very much new about the Balkan campaign, but it is pleasing to state that '’6l'’ the belated wires which, were in at tMtoln' some important successes are re’horded by the Allies forces in various; ’'-‘'thfeitres'. 1 Tlie report of Anglo-French 1 assistahch in the way of a loan seems perplexing, perhaps, to some readers-, but this was the result of negotiations made b} r M. Venbzelos when in power. The arrival"'of"six ’thousand navvies (or, as the Germans call them, engineers!) jtq afqpaiF the Jrqilways is no doubt true,,* but they have a fairly strenuous time before them, and we may well leave them to it without further worry. Veles is still in the hands of the Bulgars, but their stay there cannot bo long, as we are told to-day that I}, French patrol penetrated the lines outside ,the town. Ere this, it may l»e fairly safely assumed that the are in possession. ■ jj.»m ■ : Regarding the Greek question, matters seem to be clearing (ip to a certain/extent, and it seems that the new - Premier’s assertion of goodwill toot wands the Allies was honest - and relir able,! despite Colonel Repington’s • ‘(yellow” reports of a change in Ger/man plans and the change of destination of the Central Powers from Constantinople to Salonika. He tells that the Germans are going to overwhelm the Allies when the Serbs are put out of action completely. That is very nice to know, but the position is that the Serbs have not been put out of action yet and-are giving the Bulgars and the Germans a severe handling in the passes between Nish and Kruchevatz by means of guerilla warfare. Now, the TiraCs seems to delight in telling us what will happen, but their predictions are alwdys qualified by a big “if.” In most cases the “if” up'sets their whole •alarming plans. If the public remember to look for the “if” in these messages, they will see that the inside is knocked out of the whole thing. j There’s something good going on in the Baltic if the news of violent cannonading off the coast of one of the Danish islands is correct, and, in this case, at any rate, there seems to lie no reason to doubt its authenticity. That the British submarines are giving the Germans just a bit more of their own sauce than is palatable may bo taken for granted. We have known for a long time that the enemy has been getting a hot time in those seas. What sort of a mess would a couple of submarines (or one, for that matter) make among a squadron of the German Fleet under cover of a good old Baltic mist! This is fine pabulum for thought in the interregnum until the arrival of further particulars of the engagement.

Again, the reported sinking south of Sweden, of the Frauenloh, a German cruiser of the same class as the hadine, which also met its fate this week, will be welcomed as further evidence that the Boys in Blue are keeping their weather-eye open, and also because it means another (if a small) nail in Germany’s coffin. The Jrauenlob had a displacement of 2660 tons with a speed of 22 knots, and a complement of 281. She was built in -Hid, and carried ten 4.lin. guns and two torpedo tubes.

On the Eastern front the Russians appear to bo keeping up their successful offensive. A communique from Petrograd, which is confirmed by the High Commissioner, states that desperate fighting took place on the banks of the Cheruiavka, where the AustroGerman lines were broken, and 2000 prisoners with twenty machine-guns were taken ) It is noteworthy,’ as probably ' showing ’the docisiveiuhis, cf the retreat that numbers of tlie enemy were drowned in the ’ river. -What| i«| \ most i encouraging, However,- i is l j:he concluding -line of the 1 message from the High Commissioner leporting small successes on the ‘wlio'.o froint. Though 1 small, these'' continual ad-. vances by the Russians will some day tell their tale upon tlie enemy’ and for the same wfe are duly thankful in the meantime.