The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 BERLIN AND THE WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 63, 13 November 1914, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 BERLIN AND THE WAR.

(With which is incorporated The Tai hup« Post b.nJ "Waiiaarino Newa.)

Careless of censure, not too fond of fame Still free to praise, yet not afraid to blame: A verse alike to flatter or of end, Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to •mend. • -

B&rii,Pf-vSti 11 ■ Tookp on the events of ,th®. war, .with optimism, but th;© ominous silence of the German ( press shows the helplessness of. that factor to keep back the truth any longer; The clouds gather about Berlin, notwithstanding the pronounced German naval victory off Valparaiso. The Russians are steadily driving the Germans back from the Vistula, the Kalser-lod troops In Belgium are making no pro-' gres s towards Calais, Tslngtao has fallen, and now news come of the destruction of the destructive Emden, and the sealing up of the Konigsberg in Mafia Island. The running down of the elusive Emdeu has been received with tremendous enthusiasm , at Lloyd’s, and no wonder. For nearly/ two mouths thi s speedy marauder, Tb as been tbe terror of the merchantmen that trade to and from the East. In all she accounted for nineteen ships, and one result of her depreciations was the Increase in the war risks, on vessels trading via,,the Bay of Ben-, gal. The Emden, though only a thirdclass cruiser, had a-fine turn cf speed, and it wan no difficulty for her to harry the helpless merchantmen, and get out of harm’s way in short order. The scene of the engagement was near th® Cooes Islands, and sha had alreMjy dismantled the cable station on Cocos Island when she raa into gua range of th* cruiser Sydney. The Australian’) Nary has clone invaluable work In con-1 nection with ensuring the safe passage of transport ships, but Australians will find more cause for pride In their ! fleet in the latest exploit of the SyJ ; ney. It is not unlikely that the Sydney I was sent to the Cocos Islands ia ..aticipation of a raid by tho Emm. a, and, If this were so, tho German crulspv would bo taken by surprise. Thu removal of th® Bmiaa ftcfil fchfc tgati*:

to the eastern traders. She has had a long ran of success, eminently gratifying to Berlin, but emphatically aggravating to British steamship owners. So impudent did she become that even the London Times became impatient. The shelling of Madras was a particularly daring adventure, fortunately attended by comparatively small loss However, the Emdeu has fired her last gun, has sunk her last .merchantman. She is ashore in the Cocos group, thanks to an Australian cruiser —an additional cause for satisfaction, and powerful evidence in support of the argument ‘that an Australasian Navy should police the Pacific. With the Emden destroyed, and the Konigsberg and Geier permanently out of action, the Admiralty has done work which amply justifies the patient methods adopted in pursuit of these I raiders PEN PICTURE OF JFLLICOE. The Empire is not easily interested in personalities, but in one day it became intensely interested in two men of whom it had heard little If nothing before —the two J’s, Jo Ere and Jelliooe commander-in chief on land and commando,rin, I chief' at sea. Joffre is described as ‘*a short, stout, strongly built gentleman of benevolent diifuae, a sense of repose and middleclass comfort.” Could any German officer, even in mufti be described with such kindly words as these? Jellicoe is said to be “a small, sinewy man, with a particularly alert appearance, and at a casual glance one would classify him as a distinguished organiser of some great commercial undertaking. In a fine pen picture of Jellicco, Campbell Jones says: “He is not only a gunnery expert, but is also a great seaman, a natural organiser, and i hern leader of men. He is mere prone to listen than to talk, more guided by realities than theories, more addicted to prudent pioneering than to text-book axioms. He has the parts of not one but several men of exceptional power, compacted in a frame that is Tender, but strong enough to stand superhuman .strain; and, above all, he bag Wellington’s uncanny vision, which enables him to know what the enemy is doing, even when it is on the other side of the horizon and out of sight.”