The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1915. YESTERDAY'S WAR CABLES.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 290, 4 September 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1915. YESTERDAY'S WAR CABLES.

(With which is incorporated The Taihape Post uaa Waimarino New*.)

The khaki-clad soldier seems to have migrated from Britain at last; he has been a familiar object on the streets of every large town for a long time past, but from yesterday's cables he has now become a rara avis in his oldtime haunts. For a month past hundreds of thousands have been marching, no one knows whither, and no ordinary : person seems to know now j where ihis million, and a-half of men with their enormous accessories of war have gone to. ■ That they have gone there seems no doubt, and that they have alfready reached their destination is equally certain, as no British censor would allow any information about their movements to escape past him until they were safely settled in the places for which they were destined. We have so long wondered when the huge army, waiting in Britain, would move, and where it would move to, that the fact now burst upon us has caused quite a mild sensation. It is the ominous about it that exercises our minds, for it certainly foreshadows movements such as this war lias not hitherto disclosed, either in magnitude, severity, or sacrifice. "Where the new armies are concentrating, what the

f main strategic features of the moveIments are, can only be known to us.as 1 they become obvious, but we shall not j have Kong to wait for the commencement ef the second great aspect of the struggle. What the ultimate will be must remain for the present a matter of hope, but there are not wanting very strong evidences of the enemy's bankrupcty in major strategy. Their great, movements seem to be ordinated i from time to time to produce immediate effects which are only relative to the main issue and not part of a direct and comprehensive plan. The thrust against Russia has been an effort to I create an effect, on neutrals, hearten 1 the Turks and possibly relieve the ten:Slsion at Gallipoli, besides keeping ur the spirit of optimism in Germany no cessary for the Taising of war money Germany must have known that sh< could not destroy such armies as Rus sia has in the field in the short* tin* j there was at her disposal before muni { r>r>d equipment wer? fortln-omio: effective employment of Bri!

nins new army; but she did hope by this new move to impress the Balkans and gain their active support. That Russia is a very, very long way from be ing beaten the astounding victories flashed to us yesterday amply prove. The great Mackensen together with Austrian commander Pflanger were ' completely routed in an endeavour to drive the Russians from the Roumanian boarders; and not only here, but almost all along the thousand-miJe front have the Russians turned anc inflicted semi-disaster on the AustroGerman hordes. The victory gained I over Mackensen and Pflanger alone has given vast assistance -to the Allies' cause, and if it can be followed up Its value will become incalculable. As to i what will happen in France, Belgium, and, perhaps, in neighbouring couu- ' tries, there can be nothing but conjecture. It is, however, within the realm of probability that if a successful drive is established against Ger- ( mans in France and Belgium that some I present neutrals will become involved . through the violation of their neutral- ( ity. That Germany anticipates this is disclosed in, the immense preparation made in Schleswig-Holstein, and the calling to arms in a few hours of every maj;? capable of bearing arms. It is not beyond probability that the great clash imminent will not be of a three-fold character. Severe and determined sparring for places has been going on at Gallipoli as well as in France. Heavy bombardments with huge concentrations of guns have been made by the French, but the aeroplane activity In spying and bombng to unmask in .Belgium is not without its significance. Where-the main force of the long-prepared-for blow Is to be . made is at present completely kept from our knowledge,, and there is nothing for it but to control our feverish expectancy until the position is, act by act, disclosed to us. That the greatest clash of arms the world has yet known is about to commence seems t a matter of certainty.