CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 14, 20 December 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The • presence of .British submarines in the Baltic was referred to in these coloumns in the last issue as likely , to prevent any jjGpripair activities ,t;> assist in Coprbuid.; The submarines have sent apother qruiser of .thq Gpy-j man Navy to the bottom with a part Of the crew. The victim this time is the Bremen;• a 'protected cruiser of 3,200 tons, With ; a speed of : over 22 knots. She' • w4s a* sister ship to the ' Leipzig, which 1 was sunk in-'the 1 Falkland battle. The'Bremen's ’armament i consists of ten guns'bnd 'two torpedo tubbs, With bunkers full, vessels ot this class can steam 5,000 kpota at low speed.’- The ship’s coih- J pliment was 303 officers and men. Another vessel, also fel] a victim to the submarines .(jirobably) off, Rangeland, which is onjy; about 35 miles; from Kiel.' The pyqaefloe of the submarines so near Kiql should .give the Germans considerablyvplarpi., It shows that the Gerroap^,,cannot combat the submarines Effectively., fate, ol the Bremen,- the Pommern, the.Markgraf, and the Moltke will, be an eternal,rep, -Tminder to the German Admiralty of the fact that when it comes to meet- 1 ing on equal terms, ship for ship, the« British Fleet is vastly superior. Germany sinks Ancona* and Lusitanias, 'Britain replies with the sinking of some of the great 'ships who were to sweep the seas, and on which the future pf Germany depended.

Greece is again starting to shuffle over the question of the Bulgarian or German entry into Greece. MM. Sconloudis apd Gouharig visited the German Minister to inform him that ' in case of such invasion, Greece would be placed in a position of difficulty. Of course she would because she is uncertain of the issue of the

invasion. If she knew the Allies would be beaten, Greece would say , nothing, ' except perhaps issue a formal protest, and when the Allies were beaten, she would kiss the hand of the German. Opportunism is Greece’s policy. We read on the one hand that M. Sconloudis says the Bulgarians

will not be allowed to enter Greece. ■ Elsewhere, we read that Greece will leave the field open to both sides to fight it out. That is her opportunism. “Let the two fight each other amj when one side is outed we’ll join in as it suits us.” In any case, it is beyond comprehension to witness a race allowing two belligerent nations to wage war on its saci'ed soil and remain inactive.

Regarding the military activities in , the Balkans; great satisfaction is expressed in Rome at the successful landing of the 80,000 Italian troops in Albania which constitutes the first expedition. The qualification “first” must means that more are to follow.

The losses sustained were only one destroyer and a transport with a total

of forty-three lives. The cause of these losses is not stated, but it is probable that mines were responsible. During the landing one may have expected something from the Austrian fleet, but apparently they are bottled up also. The Allies are fortifying Salonika, and the heavy guns are being installed. It is noteworthy that men are still being landed, and also

those effective armored cars with much material. The enemy are hastily repairing the railways and are concentrating on the frontier, awaiting the heavy guns. They apparently have no quibbles about entering Greece. The Serbians draw attention to the ' fact that Austrian-Bulgarian claims to ||r ■ ■■- '

boot^‘‘are grossly exaggerated and pass all bounds. The Serbians maintain, as iji most likely they did, that they did not leave a single gun intact. Everything that was not saved was destroyed,: the guns’resembling scrapiron, .-.r 1 • > {!•»* I - ■ ■ i ...

ff'-'r. U ■ i.. ■ - lire French ait-fleet his' cilTied hut against' Metz and Lorraine.. Metz is a fortified town; 33 ilds from the Frenfch city, •Nancy,; which vwai the sebne 1 of a great fight last, year; Metz ! was captured 1 froth the Frencjrin 1870. 1 ' Thd population! is 1 about 70,00 ft. 1 " . ' ' < . 7 : ( ■' i!> j I • f ■.l ■ ‘

America ancj Austria are indulging bn-considerable sparring, and America sdtems to be'about to hit somebody. Austria is, tp supply overwhelming evidence of lifer non-participation fa, the Ancona outrage or. bjapk. dpw«. A, refusal means, severance >,of relations. There ( is always a loophole,ip jWfilspn’s Notes'. !If ..Austria, adputsj she, sank the .Ancona, then shake .hand,*. Wej hj|yp so much, of this, talk : and the loophole still remains | The (writer, is of opinion, there will, be. to put it colloquially, “nothing doing.’’ '*•; -V , ■ . ■ - '