War Notes.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 115, 8 October 1914, Page 7

War Notes.

1 TIIE "CHOSEN MOMENT." t I If the German Fleet u waiting in tha Kiel Canal for the "chosen moment," it is Bimply fulfilling predictions made by many British observers. The German plan has never been able to give battle at sea. immediately on the outbreak of war, unless the enemy could be .taken by surprise. Admiral von Tirpiti's scheme has been to provide for the German ships secure bases from which they could assail a aea-worn opponent at a favorable instant. "The German' naval authorities have in view a kind of war different from any other which has hitherto been known," said the "Naval and Military Record" a few weeks ago. "No one can doubt that the German Admiralty bases its calculations not on a long-drawn-out contest is which patient courage, sturdy tenacity of purpose and incapacity to recognise defeat will triumph after many months or years of hostilities, but on the ability to use the German fleet—if it be used at all—like a thunderbolt. The whola history of the evolution of the German fleet and the character of the training to wmch officers and men h»ve to submit confirms this impression." GEKMANY'S NEW WARSHIPS.

Some of the guns which the Krupp firm is said to be sending to Ki?l may be required for the Dreadnoughts Grosser Kurfurst, Markgraf and Konig, which wero launched at North Sea bases move than a year ago. These shops ought to be nearly ready for service by this time, and the German authorities naturally will have been hastening their completion as much as possible. They are designed to be the most powerful and fastest ships in the German fleet. Their displacement is 68,500 tons, their nominal ■peed is 23 knots, and their armament consists in each case of ten 12in., fourteen 6.lin. and twelve 3.4 in. guns. The three Dreadnoughts will be useful additions to the German fleet, hut t!fle delay brought about by the enemy's unwillingness to give battle at the oil net •f the war has probably allowed time for the British battleships Emperor of India, Benbow, Queen Elizabeth and Warepite, as well as the battle cruiser Tiger, to get ready for service. Th :y are mord formidable ships' than the droster Kurfurst and her sister ships.

BRUTALLY TREATED. TOUKISTS IN GERMANY. Stories of the Germans' treatment of foreigners are contained in a letter written from Petrograd on 14th August by Harold Williams, correspondent to the Daily Chronicle: —• "The thousand* of Russian tourists wko continue to arrire here Tia Tornea (Gulf of Bothnia) tell amazing stories •f the Bufferings they endured in attempting to return home from the Tarious German health resorts. My friend, the aoveliat, M. RemizofT, who with his wife airired here yesterday after a jourmey of twelre days from Berlin, had a i typical experieao* 1 "They left Berlin on the day when 6erma.»y deelared war on Russia. Within 7i iniles of the frontier, 1000 Russians in 4fce train by which tliay were travelling were turned out of the carriages asd compelled t« spend eighteen hours withost food in an open field surrounded by soldiers with fixed bayonets. 'Tien we were all placed in dirty cattie waggoms, about CO men, women and vhildrea to a waggon, and for 28 hours earned about Prassia without fool, iriak, «r priftey. "I* fitettia they were lodged in pigyeas, aid next morning they were sent •ff by steamer to Ruegen, whence they ■ade their way, without money or lugjage, U Denmark and Sweden. TWISTED OUT OF SICK BEDS. "T%e Swedes pro Tided food and ti free passage to the Russian frontier, •ire of M. RemxofTa fellow-passenger* weat luad. "Their experience, however, was u cemparatirely light one compared with tie sufferings of others. Russian wo■le* were turned out of German ho> pitali, aid many died. Sever.-.! Russians ware shet and many beaten, some of their womea being maltreated. "It is noteworthy that it is only in Germany that Russians haT-- been fo ■ treated. In Austria they e.,!Tpred notiring beyond personal iaeon7 rienee. In Russia tiers haTe bee* no n. rsonal attaeks or demonstrations against Geri»an subject#. In Germany, *gt.in, the casee of bnrtality are repnrvl chiefly fiem Pruaeia, "Tie stories of returned tr&Teller? awakes iatense indignation is ere, bat tkey «te *ot likely te lead any ro- -

prisals against German subjeets. Indeed, whilo German and Austrian men liable for service are being arrested and banished, the internal governments and the Mayor of Petrograd are taking steps to see that German *nd Austrian women and children do not suffer from want."

HEAVY FOGS IN THE -NORTH SEA. THE GERMANS? CHANCE. During the next few weeks the .first heavy fog of the sen eon be expected to settle down over the North Sea, and for daya on end the British patrols will be unable to see further than a mile or so at best. The German strategists will have an opportunity then, if they dare, to test one of their cherished theories t>y attempting to surprise the British squadrons in the mist or to send forces of fast ship? on marauding expeditions. It is well known that the possibility of utilising foggy weather to cover fleet movements has been considered liy the German Naval General Staff. This idea first -presented itself in a practical form when, in the coutsc of somo exercises in 1904, ships representing the enemy were able to slip past the German battleships'undetected in fog at a distance of aibout six cables (rather more than half a sea mild). It was strengthened by the. fact that mist and heavy weather very neariiyi served the purpose of the Russian fleet in trying to slip past Togo's forces in May, 1905, and since then the German navy has frequently been exercised in weather that keeps merchantmen blindfold ii port. The Kaiser's enthusiasm for the plan of attacking in a fog was so unbounded that on one occasion he had almost forcibly to be persuaded to order the cessation of manoeuvres when the, fog had become so thick and the sliiips fcsd worked themselves into such a complicated tangle in . its grip that there was every danger of half a dozen collisions. Later another period of fog occurred, and the destroyer flotillas in particular, although it was mid-winter, and heavy seas were running, were sent out post-haste to execute all sorts of daring manoeuvres. Two years go it wjis discovered that, fog offered advantages to an enemy also, for, in the course of an attack oil Borkuin, ono of the defended islands at the mmjih of the I3ms, on which Emden stands, it was shown that an eiienw landing in foggy weather would be able to surprise the defences and prevent- reinforcements Iviing rushed to the spot, as nlanned. It i» not to he assumed that the British Navy is totally unacquainted with thf difficulties of working in fog. Tha. 1 . in far from the. casn. But it is obvious that the chance of the Germans escaping detection in a fog at sen. is far greater than it is at other times.

AT ANY COST IN MEN. FIGHT MUST CO ON WHILE A SOLDIER REMAINS. The New York Sun's Berlin correspondent, telegraphing from Rotterdam on August 15, said: — The German military position, as described to me just before I left the Foreign Office in Berlin on Thursday, is this: "Hatlier than surrender, Germany is prepared to fight until evory man capable of bearing arms is slain." The War Office alone knows just how much the lighting to date along t'ne lines of this policy has cost Germany. It has cost many men, that much is known, but the losses liavo liad the effect of only firing the determination of the Ivaiser and his advisers that the German cause shall prevail. As for the lmtion itself, it is calm. Reports of anti-war demonstrations are absolutely untrue. Only brief stories from the front ircre being printed when I left Berlin to accompany the first trainload of American refugees to Rotterdam. One of these reports. which was denied at once by t«e General Staff, was that the Germans had taken the French fortress of lielfort. The German army was reported to have driven the French army in Alsace back toward the frontier and to be holding them in check. The (>ernian Imperial General Staff had not expected any serious oppojiI tion in Belgium. The Imperial Chancellor had promised that Germany would pay for any damage her troops might I cause in crossing her territory and would i respect Belgium's territorial integrity. The fighting in Belgium came as a surprise, hut the Kaiser snd the General | Staff agreed that as Belgium resisted j she must be conquered at any coat. I The existence of an understanding between France and Belgium is indicated by th" fact that French troops entererj Belgium almost simultaneously with t.np Germans.

The Hermans are going to Paris. That is on? fact in the scheme of the campaign v.'hieh is permitted to become knofn The plan of enmnaign tnd the routes by which the armies fire to travel

c*£=»—- *-• are naturally kept secret. It is taken for granted that great losses must be expected in carrying out such an undertaking, but tie stall officers with whom I talked insist that there can only be one outcome. Emperor William has aged greatly in the last fortnight. His customary smile has disappeared and the deep lines in his face are most accentuated. Members of his household, however, say that he is determined to sacrifice everything for the national caUße. He is in almost I constant consultation with his military [ advisers. The Kaiser's position is tnat Germany was forced into the war and that she must continue to fight. He is deeply grieved over the losses to the German army, but he shows no disposition to recede from his position. SHOWS -HER HEELS TO, GERMAN: CRUISERS. Tim Mil it e Star liner, the Oceanic, with 15,000,000 dollars (£3,000,000) aboard, dropped anch«r an Boutliamp'on Water. She is the first ship to nn [English port since the declaration of var. •Mr A!f. J. Rorke, a member of the Central News stair in New York, was aboard. Tie says:— On Wednesday morning the ship's Marconi installation told of Britain's ultimatum to Germany; a little later the news spread the ship that v.ar had been declared.

The first insight we got as to what the war meant was on Wednesday night when, to our astonishment, the upper dfclts were all canvassed in, port ho'.ee shuttered, and decklights extinguished. We all began to think. The day before we sailed the Lusitania had brought in a report that the German from Vera Cruz, was lying outside New York, and although Captain Smith never gave the slightest intimation to his passengers that he was running from a Gorman man-of-wa , there seems to bci no doubt that tin Oceanic was being pursued in mid-At laatie by German war craft. On Thureday, after lunch, we all of us got a very special and distinctive thrill. Wo saw smoke on the horizon, and powerful glasses showed lis war craft. Were they German or British? After ten minutes of doufit, up the line went a string of flags fluttering out greetings to the warships that had now tomo reasonably near; and these si« l ain were quickly answered by one of the cruisers, which we then recognised was flying the flag of an English rearadmiral. They gavo us instructions as to our course, and passed on along the trade route of the Atlantic.