EXPLOSIONS IN GERMANY

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 23 February 1917, Page 5

EXPLOSIONS IN GERMANY

MUNffION WORKS BLOWS UP J.IHHI i mrrr THOUSANDS OF LIVES LOST LOWERING OF GERMAN MORALE SURRENDER TOO READILY BRITISH SUCCESSES ON WEST FRONT

ON THE WESTER FftOiST. HINDENBURG'S ORDER. •NUMBER OF SURRENDERS UNUSUALL7~~nARGE. MORALE OF SOME TROOPS LOW. TRYING-TO REVIVE THE OLD SPTRIT. Received 8.55. LONDON, Feb 22. A Headquarters' correspondent sends a copy ol Hindenburg's" order regarding those captured, which states that the operations at Verdun for October and November show a series of regrettable reverses. Incapable officers must be ruthlessly removed. The number of prisoners is tmusually large for German troops. Some evidently surrendered without offering serious resistance, and not suffering serious losses. This shows the morale of some of the troops is low. The reasons must be most carefully investigated, and the old spirit of German influence must be revived by training and the strictest drill. Inter •sjUa, he adds: "This matter is of vital importance." BRITISH OPERATIONS. A ENEMY LINES ENTERED. LONDON, Feb 21. oir DougiUij Ha-g reports: We seizes a portion of trenches north-east of cataevjourt. vVe entered trenches on a 650 yards' south of Armentieres, casualties. ivi ..;,. ... _._. _, the support .-.._.. j ..eiu Kilivd iu the uug- .-. iiveneh reports rel- ;d« -»it'S.iii, i.i .sight cf iho .Vieuse, near Caurer Wood, Bemeovaux. A GERMAN DREAM INTRIGUE IN PERSIA.

AMERICA AND GERMANY. CHARGES AGAINST GERARD SPYING FOR ENGLAND. THE HAGUE, February 21 German newspapers demand that Air. Gerard, ex-American Ambassador, disprove Count Raventlow 's charges declaring that he spied on behalf of England, and gave information regarding the Casement expedition. BERNSTORFF'S LOVE OF MUSIC. Received 8.55. NEW YORK, Feb 22.

Count Bernstorff's party have arrived at Halifax. The steamer is still being examined for contraband. The party appear to have a singular love of gramophone music, as a tremendous stock of records have been seized because they contain rubber, and also because it is quite possible some singer in the United Sta'tes may have supplied touching descriptions in German of the movements of Allied warships to the setting of music.

HAMPTON ROADS PROTECTED. I WASHINGTON, Feb 21. The War Department announces j that a net sixty feet deep encloses [ Hampton roads. Swinging sections j permit the passage of vessels. THE YARROWDALE'S PRISONERS. Mr Lansing has sent another demand for the release of the Yarrov/dale's prisoners. BERNSTORFF'S CONTRABAND. Received 9.55. HALIFAX, Feb 22. The search of Bernstorff's party shows that each member supplied him self or herself with everything lacking in Germany. Hundreds of pairs of pyjamas have b?en discovered, which is likely to be confiscated in view of the necessity of preventing wool and cotton reaching Germany. ESPIONAGE SCHEME. Received 11.25. NEW YORK, Feb 22. More than fifty prominent men are concerned in a gigantic scheme of espionage. AMERICA'S TREATIES WITH THE LATIN REPUBLICS WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 President Wilson, in a letter to Senator Stone, urging the rectification of the Columbian treaty, says: "We need now, and possibly wil] nCO( ] vcr y muc ] l more in the immediate future, all the friends we can attach to us in Central America, where so many of our most critical interests lie."

LONDON, February 2i. In the House of Lords to-day* Lord Brycc sought a statement as to the condition of Persia. Earl Curzon, Lord President of ihe Council, replied that recently V\c:z had been steady improvement in the sbattion. Germany for yo irs had been reaming and intriguing, and nad njt yet abandoned her dream cf a Gennan dominion from Antwerp to the Indian Ocean with the sinister object of striking Britain "s dominion in Egypt, robbing us of the hegemony of the Eastern world.

Germany made Austria hor dup?, snd Turkey her slave and hoped to aitdin her ends by means of the Bagdad roilway. The Turks, although unable to advance, now occupied 30,000 square miles of Persia. PRISONERS FIGHTING. Received 8.55. AMSTERDAM., Feb. 22. According to the "Nouvelle" at Smaestricht, the Prussians fought with firearms at Biverloo Camp, near Hasselfc. Thirty-two were killed and two hundred wounded. DARDANELLES COMMISSION. LONDON, Feb 21. The Daily Telegraph states that the Dardanelles report will be publishes on Thursday. The Commission considers the attempt was not fully Jast?fIQjL The report will not be unfavorable uj the late Lord Kitchener,

IN INDIA. UTILISING MAN POWER. Received 8.55. DELHI, Feb 22. The Indian Defence Act, introduced in the Council, provides that all Europeans from sixteen to eighteen years must undergo military training as cadets; from eighteen to forty-one must enrol and train for general active military service in India; and from fortyone to fifty train as a reserve for the i defence of local areas. The Act is to remain in force till six months after the termination of the war. The Viceroy referred to the necessity of concerted effort in' assisting the Empire to finish the war. ! Sir Charles Monro pointed out the intended new areas should relieve regulars on garrison duty. j Numerous Indian members of the Council supported the Bill, which was ' referred to a select committee.

but will show that the responsibility was noi nSned to Mr. Winston Churchill. The report HI not be Issued to-night, J*

ON THE SEA, A SWEDISH PROTEST. Received 5.55. STOCKHOLM, Feb. 22. Sweden lias lodged a protest to Berlin against the sinking of the Hugo Hamilton. LATEST SINKINGS WASHINGTON, Feb 21 The American Consul at Queenstowll reports the sinking of the Norwegian steamer Dalbeatie. The submarine continued shelling while the crew, including two Americans, were leaving. The British sailer Centurion was sunk. The crew landed. The crew of the Bibby liner Worcestershire has also landed. ANOTHER STORY. LONDON FeFbruary 21 The Morning Post's Bud a Festh correspondent says Austro-German naval experts have revised their calculations as to their blockade prospects. They previously estimated that Englond would be starved into submision in two months; they now say that England will not feel the effects of German ruthlessness under p. year. To sink two per cent of the British pre-war tonnage, they must sink 200,000 tons monthly to make an impression. HOIiWEGG'S BOAST. Count Holweggy in the Reichstag, declared that the submarine campaign imd surpassed expectations. Germany had- not lost a single undersea boat since the beginning of unrestricted warfare. Commanders reported that there was no evidence of Britain's inexeASeA defensiveness, and they were most, confident that shipping to neutrals and to Britain would be completely stopped.

CLAIM FOR PRIZE MONEY. DISALLOWED. Received 0.20. LONDON, Feb 22. The Prize Court disallowed Eli's claim for prize money (cabled en January 29), on the ground that it was not proved the transport was a fighting unit of the Turkish fleet. A FRENCH ADMIRAL'S OPINION. GERMAN BLOCKADE A FAILURE. Received' 9.55. NEW T YORK, Feb 22. A Paris correspondent had an interview with Admiral Lacaque, wno said the German submarine blockade never succeeded. German prickincss inaugurated commercial submarines ostensibly to carry merchandise, but jin reality to supply war submarines : with necessaries to enable them to prolong their cruises. Hundreds of ships daily arrived untouched in French ports, just as before the blockade started. The real motive probably was psychological, Germany thinking to reduce the Allies' morale. When she was unable to beat the Allied armies by brute strength, this kind was worthless. OUR GRUAT NAVY. A FINE RECORD.

LONDON, Feb 21. In the House of Commons, Sir Edward Carson, in troducing the Naval Estimates, said the House was asked to increase the personnel by 400,000 men. To October last, eight million men had been moved oversea with only one or two untoward incidents, besides 912 million tons of explosives and raw material. Since the war the Navy had examined 25,874 ships. Sutsmarinism was a grave problem. It .had not yet been solved, but Sir E{ Carson was confident that the measures which were be'ng devised would gradually mitigate its seriousness. An r.nti-submarine department had been established. It was composed of the best experienced men. The number of armed merchantmen had increased over 47 per cent, during the last two months. We were arming and Improving them weekly. Sixty-nine Allied and neutral steamers, each over 1000 tons, totalling 201,000 tons, were sunk during the first eighteen days of December. Sixtyfive steamers with a tonnage of 182,532, were sunk during the same period in January, and 89, of a tonnage "of 268,631, during the same period in February. From February 1 to February 18, 6176 ships arrived and 5878 left the United King dom. It was estimated that there were 3000 ships in the danger zone at any one time. NOT TO BE DRAWN. Received 11.30. AMSTERDAM, Feb 22. It is suggested here that Von Capelle's report concerning submarines' impunity either aims at disheartening the Germans or drawing the Admiralty into disclosures.

IN MESOPOTAMIA. J HOW THE TURKS WERE CAUGHT! LONDON, Feb 21. Mr Chandler, writing from Mesopotamia, says the losses of the TurKs on the 13th included two brigadier- . generals. The enemy's pontoons and boats were insufficient to get the troops across tS'e river before \v» closed in. Later a storm flooded the country, filling the trenches with ! water. ENEMY'S FOOD SHORTAGE, i Received 11.30. ROTTERDAM, Feb 22. Herr Schorjimer, Prussian Minister of Agriculture, presented a gloomy report to the Prussian Chamber. It is feared that potatoes and sugar planting will be still further decreased. The supply of seed potatoes is reduced 1 because so much Is used for food. FOOD RIOTS IN GREECE. Received 11.30. ATHENS, Feb 22. Food riots have taken place in many provinces. Reports from Corinth, Nauplia, Larissa, and other areas Indicate serious straits. BRITISH EXPORTS AND IMPORTS Received 11.30. LONDON ,Feb 22. Mr. Hurd, in the Daily Telegraph, points out the misleading nature of the Board of trade returns as an Inaex to imports, because it gives the money values and not the weights. The Secretary of the Llxerpcol Shipowners analysed the figures wuich showed the ship tonnage entering British ports for the .half year to end of January, 1917, was 147,500,000, compared with 251,760,000 for January, 1914; weight of imports, 210,t'50,000 and 298,150,000 tons respectively. The monthly figures show a marked diminution in,-the last quarter or 1916 as compared with 1914, of 25 per cent, for October; 14 per cent for November, 26 per cent, for December. Although there was a striking Increase m money value, the food Imports snowed a marked decline. Mr. Hurd sums up the main cause of the decreases to have been a decline in the available tonnage, which must mean a further restriction of unessential trade.

INCIDENTS OF THE WAR. EXPORT OF ORANGES. Received 11.25. ROME, Feb 22. Italy is forbidding the export of orances to Switzerland, owing to quantities reaching the enemy. Italy has purchased the w.hole Sicilian crop, which she is sending to Allied countries/ Salonica, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. RESTRICTIONS ON PAPER. Received 11.25. LONDON ,Feb 22. The Royal Commission has further restricted the importing of papermaking materials from March 1. Licenses will be granted on a basis of fifty per cent, of the 1916 imports, equivalent to thirty-three half per cent of 1914 imports. The importation of printing paper is restricted similarly, while the imports of wrapping paper are fixed at sixteen per cent, of 1914, and further reductions are anticipated.

IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. Received 9.20. LONDON ,Feb 22. At the inaugural meeting of the reconstructed New Zealand Committee associated with the Imperial Institute, Sir T. MacKenzie said the changed constitution coinciding with r,he change in inter-Imperial trade policy affords an opportunity for development which New Zealand promptly seized. Lord Islington said there ought to be better exhibits from overseas. In many respects New Zealand was an example to English agriculturalists. EXPLOSIONS IN GERMANY. THOUSANDS OF LIVES LOST. Received 11.20 CHRISTIANIA, Feb 22r. A Norwegian returned from Germany relates an extraordinary story of explosions at enormous munitions works in Dresden, which have hitherto been suppressed, which occurred on December 28. Thirty thousand workers, including two thousand soldiers, and several civilians were killed. The Kaiser visited the scene en the following d?y.

A SWEDISH CONTRAST . GERMAN DEFIANCE OF LAW.. LONDON, February 21. The Swedish Press denounces the submarining of Sweden"s largest sailing ship. Hugo Hamilton, bound for Sweden from Valparaiso with saltpetre, contrasting this flagrant breach of international law with British methods. THE TIME HAS COME. TO STOP THE WAR. Received 5.55. ROTTERDAM, Feb. 22. The "Tyd" states that the Pope in < :-ply to the Hungarian Episcopate's' address considers the time has come to renew the attempt to stop the war and bring peace.

ITALY'S WAR LOAN. Received 5.55. ROME, Feb. 22. Eighty-two millions sterling has been subscribed to the latest war loan. GERMANY'S INTERNAL AFFAIRS THEIR MAN POWER. AMSTERDAM, Feb 22. The "Mittags Zeitung" states that medical examination of males born after August, 1870, and hitherto regarded as permanently unfit, has been ordered in Hamburg. PRICE OF POTATOES Received 11.20 LONDON, February 22 Liverpool potato merchants assert that farmers are holding stocks until the increased price operates in March. A resolution of indignation lias been carried and the Lord Mayor has appealed to Lord Devonport. The Daily Chronicle states that the Government has decided to guarantee minimum prices for home grown wheat and oats for three years after the war. Allegations are made in some quarters of the existence of a strike amongst the farmers owing to the fixing of

maximum prices. It is suggested the Government ought to come forth with guaranteed prices for at least five years. If this does not induce farmers to utilise their land with reasonable efficiency, probably the existing Order-in-Council, notably the Order cabled yesterday, would be sufficient to enable the Government to acquire the land.

BRITISH FOOD PROBLEM. AN APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES. Received 9.55. LONDON, Feb 22. Mr. Lloyd George, in a letter to the Rev Mr. Shakespeare, appeals for so curing the organised co-operation of the Free Churches in the food economy and increased food campaign. He says speed is essential, because if we miss the spring season this year's chance is gone. WHEAT SUPPLY MUST COME FROM AUSTRALIA WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 Advices from Berlin state that Dr. Helffcrich, German Minister of Finance, estimates that the world 's wheat crop for the year at thirty-six million tons against fifty-six million tons la»fc year. The bulk of English grain rnustj be imported from Australia, entailing a. lengthy route three times as long as the normal, and therefore requiring three times the tonnage.