BRITISH NAVAL SUCCESS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 55, 10 February 1916, Page 5

BRITISH NAVAL SUCCESS

Three-Hour Fight in the Atlantic CAPTURE OF THE jROON Belgium "Kyboshes" the Kaiser / Separate Peace Proposals Rejected

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

land. The air defences of Paris begin at the first line of trenches in the fighting line. Squadrons of air scouts around Paris keep their eye s open for visitors, and there is a system of signals which should bring up quite a number of craft when once a raider is spied. The anti-aircraft defences within the circle of the city itself and its immediate surroundings. it is. of course, not possible to describe; but they are supposed to he very up-to-date.. The remodelling of London's anti-aircraft defences or those over which there is control by Sir Percy Scott was along their lines. Tint evidently, it is still possible for a visitor to slip through sometimes.

Readers, we will open the meeting to-day with the singing of "Belgium put the kybosh on the Kaiser!" For the second time our friend and Ally King Albert and his plucky Government have proved themselves staunch and true, and under circumstances different from the time when their fair land was overrun by the Huns, end when degradation and .dishonor gained the upper hand. Now, however, with all the cruel knowledge of what suffering, misery, and death have entailed upon the people, we see the gallant head of the gallant Belgians standing out against peace terms suggested by Germany, the word of whom upon a "scrap of paper" will b e scorned by the reputable members of the international world for a long time to come. The effrontery of such a proceeding on the part of the Germans is immense. Did they for a moment think that the terms would be seriously considered? If they did, now the scales must have fallen from their eyes. Despite the attempts that Germany have made from time to time to institute separate peace with one or other of the Allies, a signal failure has been the result in every instance, and the suggestions have been thrown back in their faces with all the contempt and withering scorn that the matter deserved.

The Germans are reported to be arranging to bombard from Anzac the island of Tmbros, which is about 16 miles away. Imbros is in British hands—it wa s one of the bases for the attempt upon tire Gallipoli Peninsula —but no doubt the real reason for the projected bombardment, if it really is projected, would be to impress Greece and the Turks. There would be no trouble about the distance; there are German, aid for that matter, British, guns which have a considerably greater range than that. The principal difficulty would be the dragging of so great a weight of metal to and along the peninsula. Still, it is just possible that it might be thought worth while to give the hesitating so striking a proof of the Kaiser's power. The gun most likelv to be used would be the so-called "Dunkirk guns" ; the 381-millimetre gun which wa s fired several times on Dunkirk from a distance of as much as 24 miles. It is probably one of the same kind which has lately been paying compliments to Nancy, and threats of which have been made against the Suez Canal. It is a naval gun, the mounting of which has been designed to allow an elevation of over 40deg. Its projectile weighs 16751 b., its powder charge 6941 b., and the muzzle velocity is 3084 feet per second. It cannot fire more than 100 rounds in all, and any effect it had on Dunkirk was moral, or immoral, rather than destructive.

Dealing for a brief space upon the terms of the proposals as reported by the Giornale d'ltalia, a paper published in Rome, whose reliability may reasonably be depended upon in matters of this kind: Belgium was to be restored to her position as before the war, with' King Albert's return to the Throne; an indemnity was to be paid by Germany for the damages, and a treaty of commerce was to be arranged. On the face of it, some people might think these terms were favorable to Belgium, but when looked into closely the "mailed fist" obtrudes its ugly form. With Antwerp and Ostend a s German ports, what a splendid standing menace would be the Hun Navy to the safety of Britain and the Empire—not to mention the ever-present danger to Europe, of a possible repetition of the German attempt at world domination, notwithstanding the certain failure, even now recognised, of the first effort. That King Albert declared negotiations were impossible without the consent of the Allies or before Germany was conquered must appear particularly cheeky in the eyes of Germany, but it will also prove increasingly galling to have been treated so contemptuously by a supposedly conquered people. Again, very appropriately,- the meeting might be closed with the hearty singing of "Belgium put the kybosh on the Kaiser!"

This is the Navy that Jack built. These are the boys who made such a noise round the Navy that Wilhelm built.

This Navy he reared has stuck in the beard of von Tirpitz who cleared, who has hidden the Navy that Wilhelm built.

And Fisher was the man who devised the plan which proved such a shocker and to Davy's locker sent the less discreet of the timid Fleet, all part of the Navy that Wilhelm built. And our Navy is out and ready to rout, to send below with a staggering blow any German cruiser which attempts to show its ugly face to an honored race, and to deal a smash that will tend to crash, and make them squeal and sigh for Kiel and spill the gravy of the coward Navy that Wilhelm built. And Jack is the man who's ready to ram with an ugly jam the fust "TJ" boat that threatens to float on the face of the sea, outside the moat of the Kiel Canal it will get such a biff that will render it stiff, and unable to lurk or even to shirk the sight of a cruiser, a real British bruiser, whose guns will smash and make such a hash of the German boats that float on the sea that Jack rules. R.I.P. And this is the Navy that Wilhelm built.

In naval circles there will be much excitement over the engagement between the British cruiser Drake and the roving German cruiser Roon, which was reported for some days to be at large in the Atlantic. There is, certainly no confirmation of the figlit, which is said to have lasted three hours, according to reports brought to New York by two merchantmen, but it may be taken for granted that the British naval units in the search have taken little sleep o'nights of late. The Drake is the head of the class of cruisers of that name, having a tonnage of 14,000, a speed of 24 knots, complement 900', and completed in 1902. She carries two 9.2 in. guns., sixteen 6in., twelve 12-pouuders, six machine guns and torpedo tubes. The Boon had a speed of 21 knots and a tonnage of 9000, with armament substantially less powerful than her opponent's. The /•action took place off the Bermudas, a of British islands about (500 miles east of South Carolina, U.S.A.

The air defences of Paris are extremely elaborate, and aerial visitors, when there are any, are usually discovered and chased away, or perhaps brought down, long before they get anywhere near the capital. It is much easier to defend Paris than London, simply because aircraft flying over Northern or Eastern -France stand a much greater chance of discovery than if they had been flying over the North Sea. The North Sea is prolific of fogvs, and there are naturally fewer watchers about than on the