CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 27, 7 January 1916, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

who daily bomb the positions. The enemy are also deprived of the use of an important railway, which connects Czernowitz with Zaleszcsyki, a. town in -Galicia twenty-five miles away on the river Pruth.

The perturbation in political circles is not confined to Great Britain, as besides the changes and rumors of changes in the French and Russian Cabinets, we now hear of the resignation of another of the Allies' Cabinets. Montenegro is suiferlng the throe of political turmoil owing to difficulties arising from the critical military, situation,, and the Cabinet as a' body has left office. The matters in dispute are not available, but l it may be confidently assumed that the Montenegrins, who are born fighters and our trustworthy Allies, are as keen to follow the war to a victorious' conclusion'" as' the other members of the Entente. ' There is some satisfaction,' at. any, rate" in hearing that .'General Migiicliaravitqh, who has been ..appointed' hap an uncompromising war .policy. J* may ppi he generally known that the Montenegrins are ; of the rarest ; blood, Montenegro, in ( the .l4tjh (I Geii,tury was - ;a. dependency; of ■ ( it a refuge for t^e,/[ fugitive Servians/, > during the TjPjjkish domination. From 1788 to 1896 the Montenegrins co-operated in all the Russo-Turkish wars, and ' -in: 1878 ; their independence '' «as acknowledged.

j Reports of the operations in Fast 'Central Africa are encouraging to--1 day. The commander of the naval expedition to Lake Tanganyika, captured a German armed steamer, Kingani, and\the vessel was brought to port in a sinking condition, all the German officers being killed. This is part of the new operations which General Botha took seriously in hand after disposing of the enemy in German West Africa. General particulars of Lake Tanganyika have Tieen published, in this column before, and it will be sufficient to mention that' the Lake has an area of 12.000 square unites and is 400 miles long, being 45 miles Wide at its widest part. It is 2800 feet above sea level, was discovered by Burton and'Speke in ' 1868, and was, further explored U .Stanley,'and 'others. !l

There aro few units ;in .tho British, Army more remarkable than the. •lOfhj (Irish) give it its(, official] title;' 'Besides being Irish, it contains. a large percentage of the Irish National Volunteers. Now it has completed its training, i»and stands ready to take its place in the field. The Irish race has come forward nobly to answer the call for- men. When the war broke out 20,000" reservists from Ireland joined the colors. Since, then' 'Bl,ooo' recruits'. ,have \ cpine forward in that country, of whom 27,000 ; are Irish National' Volunteers and about 27,500 Ulster Volunteers. 1 In Britain 115,000 men of Irishbirth have come forward, and a good proportion of the men in the Canadian,. ,- Australian^, and .New' Zealand Contingents ar e of Irish birth.or ancestry. Reckoning up tho men in the Navy, Mr John Redmond was -able to, claim' in the House of Commons last week that between 300,000 and 400,000 men of the Irish race have presented themselves to fight for the Empire. Such is the story of which the 16th Division is the outward and visible sign. Among all the Kaiser's miscalculations, none was more flagrant or more ridiculous than that which relied upon the hostility of Ireland towards the other parts of the Empire. The finest fighting uaee in the world i s heartily with us in this' struggle, and with us because it is a fight for the rights and fiwdorn oJ the smaller nationalities. "Ireland," said Mr John Redmond, "for the first time in her history realises and values her position in the Empire, and is willing, and, indeed, eager to do her duty." And ocular demonstration of hie truth of »hese words is to lj e (found in the'magnificent fighting force | which Sir Lawrence Parsons comI mands.

Inl910; in virtue of a resolution. of l the Skupshtina," or National As-; • ketobly,''-consisting of 73 members,. the title of King.' Kifog Nicholas 1 , 'who is ; 7*4' years' of : ag£,'' s succeeded' j his 'uncle, - Prince I)aniio, whd'was assassinated in; I8d0.: The! h'eir-ap'pai'eht? is Prince'" 'Da'iiife ,i a'ged 44, who '' martied. ih'e Buch'eiss > ji#ta' of Mecfcleii ' in' J"iiiy| 1899; The family [ 'is clbsely related' to the Italian Royal House through the marriage of a daughter, Princess to King Victor. As to the country a large part is uneultivable, consisting of forest and mountain pasture and bare limestone. The alluvial valleys of the Zeta, Moracha, and Crmnica, the . coast, and the shores of Lake Scutari, are the most fruitful portions of the country. The mountains, Kom Kuchi (8,165 ft high) and Durmitor (8,290 ft) are the chief) elevations in the landscape. Railway communication is practically non-ex-istent, except for a short narrow guage line of twelve miles opened in \- 1908 between Antivari and Lake Scu,tari. The Turkish name for Montenegro, viz., Karadagh, mean§ "Black Mountain." ;

On the Franco-Belgian frontier considerable activity prevails along the whole front, both sides attacking and counter-attacking with vigor. Through the High Commissioner, we learn that from Soissons to Rheims, a distance of thirty-odd miles, the Allied troops damaged the enemy works severely. The operations extending along such a front- (in one sector only, of course) gjves a slight idea of the difficultiesof the men in command and the tension of mind and alertness necessary to prepare for and meet attacks at all hours. In the Champagne, another section of the line, trenches

The public were misled by ignorant pacifists into the belief that Zeppelins were useless, even a s agents of outrage, and now they cannot understand how it is that the«enemy's vessels have been able to do so much indiscriminate damage. The truth is (declares Mr Buist, who is a recognised authority on aeronautics) the Zeppelin is a formidable weapon, though not a precise military weapon; it is a weapon of destruction and murder—that, . ml nothing more, when it is remembered that, accordin"- to the best available information, the Germans "'possess 15 or 16 large air-cruisers, capable of carrying two tons of explosives, and which have a speed of 50 or GO miles an hour, it must be realised that the enemy's power of doing us damage is considerable. The difficulty of dealing with Zeppelins lies in their ability to fly high; there are no other airships which can attain anything like as altitude. These considerations convey some idea of the difficulty of evolving adequate defensive measures against these swift, high-flying airships. This on the one hand. On the other there is complete confidence on the part of those best informed that the ''problem will be solved to the discomfiture of the enemy; but the matter is not one to be hurried, and the public must exhibit patience.

were overturned and munition depots destroyed. Away to the south a heavy artillery duel is reported, with what results, if any, is not stated. At Douai, in the Nord district, now iti the hands of the enemy, British aeroplanes accomplished n successful raid. All this is satisfactory, as showing that the enemy is being given little peace, not knowing the moment of, or the point where, the great offensive will be made. An attempt by the Germans to bomb Boulogne was unsuccessful, no damage being recorded.

. On the other theatres, there is lit- • tie to report. Russia has consolidated vthe • advantage gained in Eastern Galicia and has made a thousand prisoners and secured several guns north-east of Czernowitz. The actual occupation of the town is not confirmed, but to-day we learn that Austria.: admits the place is untenable .owing to,the aggressiveness of the Russian artillery, and the airmen