War Notes.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 103, 24 September 1914, Page 5

War Notes.

BELGIUM OF WAB. j_jjj TROOPS m RHISELAND. -Jg —: jg| GERMAN PREPARATIONS, a£ . y . London, August fl. "The: Ehineland is in a <WirMim el war," writes a •nit-urned; traveler io 4&s Daily Telegraph. "Trooi* eiverywfcere fill the roads and crowd .thle| timim. A« ! they march 'Die Wacht am RfceW scunds from- column to column, and from every Itrain that passes along 1)1*) line its splendid sibrains are heard. Th* sight filled me with admaraltion, bat It also filled me with pit}' Ffcen IneneeteA on the delusions on which these boon fellows are ttd. Every newspaper i caw contained tiu\ wildftitt stories, vrhiek were readily Ibelieved—Paris wag in flames in four places; the Louvre KM 'burned down; tile Japanese had declared war against Russia, and had deebroytd the entite Russian fleet in the East, ete "This is tie kind of etory which m read with avidity by tine Ka&erfe fidU diors 'hut there is a griiNmer 6Jde to tftti picture. In his frenzy the Gtanrajui « seeing red. and at Orefeldt the other day 27 unfortunate Men ■were shot off hand on th© mere suspicion that tbey were spies. ' 1 "An unfortunate lady fwM * attacked in Cologne and brutally disfigured, in the belief that she wee « Frenchman disguised as a woman. One cannot go anywhere or do anything without 'being followed ky wen, eitjbat m plain clothes or umiformj who wttlttibi every movement. "The finamoial .position of the ooinrfay is most serious. Laati week 30 iron ™nJ n I)uis ' >u ' T g hwame Ibankrupt. 'This whole war has been Steadily prepared for by Germany and Austria. Dumr,g the past winter the German Ciovoniniwnt has (been calling -up in small numbers, men from the various factories from all over Germany. In tlie first instance, they were told than tbey were wanted for temporary miliI taTy duties, but they never went back again, and the active forces have .been largely augmented by the addition of these men. "The Tefusal of Italy to stand iby arts unt'torttatangs it* the after two Powerß in iVie Triple Alliance is a aterioUß Ktom to Germany. 36 was nrfft intended to vso th,e forties of Italy act m<ly to invade "France- on the ec-uth-eaet. Tlie Gern.ans Wad been advised tin* it Was midrsirablc to set one Latin aace against anotlier, and' that tliey ieosils not W relied upon to fight one against the other. It wa ß only intended to keep a farce of Italians sufficient tja necessitate a large retaining force om the eonith-eastern frontiers of Franee, an 4 also to utilise Italians Ifo line, the' Dutch border, and thus sot file the Ctemfea troops. A tETAWEEiA MANTS EXMERIBSOBS. Sydney passengers who arrived 'by th» 8.315. Otway from. Tilbury yesterday were full of the incidents of the trip (says tho Sydney Daily Telegraph of Septemibeir 15). The vessel left England on July 31, the day ibefore Germany declared war on Ruusia, and: on arrival at Gibraltar on August 4, was Ikeid up for' six days, owing to fears regarding the whereabouts of the Germain cruiser* Goebcn and Breslau. Some of 'tine passengers wtoo missed the ship alt Tilbury, on were on the Continent at #ie time, l.sid exciting experiences joining the vessel at Port Said. "I was at Ostend," said (Mr N. Syma, a Taranakii (N.Z.) buiincesi man, \vh» is just concluding a world's tour. "It iwas the height of the teason, and th» liiotels, cafes and boulevards were crowded day and night with fashionable gatherings. Tliero was jcat a whispt.t of possible war, but cvu'ryl)oJy thought that it would blow ovrr. We arrived at Gibraltar on the morning of Tuesday, August 4. Germany ami England wer« not then in a state of war—they wer» 14 hours la ; ter—hut tßie innor haiftor of the famous fortress was closed. Seeing the large number of merchant ships lying in the outer haTbor, we were certain that sonuothing unusual had happened. We were not allowed ashore,, and next day the governor of the fortiress (Lieut.-001. H. S. G. MiHes), paroclaimed that we wore alt war wth the Kaiser. Sixteen German ships wer« collared 'by the British at Gibraltar. "The following Monday, we suddenly; receivied orders to clear for Malta, emitting the ports of Toulon, Naples and Taranto, and we reached; there after a two days' run, MuVnarnig stopped only a few minutes, got awaj; to Port Said, where we arrived on Saturday, August 10, and where for the first time after leaving Tilbury we enabled to walk ashore. At Port Said the Otway took on board a number of passengcim who had gone overland to Italy to join the ship at Taranto, tut who, on learning that the liner was . not stopping there, joined the City of Calcutta, a Glasgow boat, which brought them to the entrance of 'the Canal. Amongst these were Adjutant* Annette, Melksham, and McLean, end Staff-Captain Goldfinch, Australian Salvation Army officers, who were returning from the big London conference. Aaju'tont Anneitts and Staff-Captain Goldfinch were in Paris on June 29, the nifithit the Archduke Ferdinand and Wa wife wore assassinated at Serajevo. They were advised to leive the French capital, and travelled through Berne on , to Rome, whore they joined the City of / Calcutta. •'

toara was treated tuofjt hospitably in Sydney, and the thanks of the New Zealand Union were especially due to Messrs W. W. Hill and J. R. Henderson, who ■went out of their way to mate ma .stay a pleasant one. The weather for the first test was tad, ami notwithstanding this the takings at the gate amounted to £450. The report concluded by stating that the team had a calm trip to Sydney iai the Mokoia,. but the passage home in the Wajrrimoo was very rough. - .1