UNDREAMT OF BATTLE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 52, 5 June 1916, Page 8

UNDREAMT OF BATTLE.

ELBING'S CAPTAIN SILENT. STUPENDOUSLY AWFUL SIGHT. FRIEND AND FOE CO DOWN HEROICALLY TO THEIR DEATH. Amsterdam, Juno 'L, The Elbing's captain refused to be, interviewed and merely remarked that the. battle was the most terrific ever dreamt of. A skipper engaged in rescuing wb'rk declarcd it was an unforgettable and stupendously awful si<dit, like an earthquake at sea. Both fought with the utmost gallantry. The ships saiiK under terrible fire, the heroic crews waving flags and singing the National (Anthems.

Eleven who were rescued from the Frauenlob and arrived a tthe Hook of Holland, state that the Frauenlob was engaged from seven o'clock to 10.30. Then she was re-engaged with great violence at midnight, and was torpedoed in the engine-room an hour later. Nineteen reached a rait, and the remainder were drowned. Nine died on the raft.

IN OTHER COUNTRIES. DUTCHMEN SCEPTICAL. Amsterdam, June 3. Excitement in Holland was rendered intense by the entire absence of English news'for twenty-four hours after a Gorman communique had been published claiming a brilliant victory. The Dutch press and the nation were strongly inclined to receive the Ger man communique with reserve, :>,nd the Rotterdam Nieusblarl asks: "If the, German fleet had such a. victory, why had it to return from actio.!?" NEW YORK EXCITED. STOCK EXCHANGE FALLS. New York, June 3. The Stock Exchange brose one to four points following Berlin's iinnounccment, but the later statement of the facts from London started a rccovc.v, and "most losses were mads up. FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. MILES OF SEA WRECKACE. HUNDREDS OF DEAD BODIES. I Copenhagen, June 3. Many steamers arriving in Danish harbors report that the sea is strewn for miles with evidence or a fearful battle. Wreckage is thick and widespread, mines are scattered broadcast, and there are a great number of torpedoes. Fishermen at Esbjerg report having seen several hundred British and German bodies outside Blaavandshuk Point. There is much oil on the surface of the water, which apparently has come from submarines. I Three Germans who were picked up on a raft belonging to torpedoer 48

docli.ro that they are the -solo survivors. Though reticent, they said they believed about twenty torpodoera had been destroyed. Another version of the loss of the Elbing is that tin- British gunfire had such a terrific effect that Captain Madling sent off all survivors ueiore scuttling his ship. Esbjerg fishermen witnessed a large cruiser of unknown nationality strike a mine fifty miles north-west of Blaavandsl.uk, only a few of the crew being saved. Amsterdam, June 3. Seventeen of the crew of tlic cruiser Ellring l»ave landed at Ymuiden. iwo of the officers state that another l«ermun vessel rammed and sank her and a third officer states that he behoves she was split by the heavy firing ot her own guns A MEETING IN THE MIST. Amsterdam, June .">. The skippor of a trawler saw a fleet of fifty (iom.au vessels, mostly big ones, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, in misty weather. Suddenly a second great fleet appeared from the north-east, obviously attempting to cut off the German re* treat. It was composed of many warships, but not of the same big tonnage as the Germans. Later the British were reinforced and the Germans retired. AUSTRALIAN NAVY NOT ENGAGED. (Received 10.10 a.m.) Melbourne, June 5. The Navy Office is of opinion that none of the Australian fleet participa* ted in the naval battle. RED CROSS ETIQUETTE. (Received 10.10 a.m.) Hague, June 4. Official.*—Two officers and eighteen of the Elbing's crew and a British surgeon, were liberated in accordance with Red Cross convention, because the rescuing trawler did not communicate with the warships.

BRITISH PRESS COMMENT.

London, June 3

The Daily Telegraph says that the North Sea engagement took place apparently Wider conditions favorable to the enemy. The assertion that the enemy fought against superior forces is not borne out by the Admiralty's announcement, and may be dismissed as an invention, put into circulation to minister to the satisfaction of the German public. We are the poorer by the loss of precious lives am! valuable ships, but must guard against \mdue pessimism. Our battle fleet remains to-day in all its magnificent power, and nothing has occurred to afl'ect in any degree that hold our Navy has exercised for two years upon the ocean communications of the World. The Morning Post's naval critic points out that the weather was thick, and the range of was not more than six miles. Therefore the action was fought at short range, the main secondary armaments being used. As I the German battleships mount the most powerful secondary armaments the British were exposed to a tremendous lire. Three British battle-crui-sers were sunk. They were not designed for a close fighting line of,battle, but for 'fighting at high speed and at) long range at which we were so extraordinarily successful at the Falkland Islands. Despite the losses the British fleet remained on the sea victorious.

The Daily Chronicle says: Apparently a battle-cruiser squadron was steaming north-west of Schles'wig and encountered a greatly superior German force, and was badly mauled before the ships of the British Grand Fleet arrived. Possibly the idea was lor the (■miser squadron to entice the enemy and engage him until the battleships arrived. Unhappily, the Germans, content with the damage done, raced back to port. We fear that this policy was directly traceatdo to the influence of civil alarm on the British east coast, and the demand of some emotional people for the licet to do something spectacular. Mr Balfour foreshadowed a change of naval policy early in May, and nothing but harm will result when naval strategy and

tactics are overborne by civilians craving for the spectacular. Admiral Jellicoe must be loft untrammelled to make bis own plans. The Pall Mall Gazette points out that the subdued tone of earlier press •comment on the battle was due to the absence of Admiral Jellicoe's second communique, which was issued after one o'clock in the morning. The paper adds: "When both are coinSpared with the German version there is no ground for depression respecting the general naval situation." The Observer and Weekly Despatch demand Lord Fisher's return. The Daily News demands Admiral Lord Fisher's return to the Admiralty, which must become insistent.