War Notes.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 125, 20 October 1914, Page 7

War Notes.

APIA. The forbearanco of the Genrmn cruisers Gnlesenau and Sahamiharat in refraining from shelling the New Zealand force in Apia on their visit last month was no doubt due to consideration, for the Teutonic residents and their proiperty. The cruisers anchored in deep water well out of range of the field guns on shore, ami no doubt all thands were rolling to biow tlh© "vile invaders,"' as Dr Solf calls lis, to fragments, but Uie foreshore of Apia and the hills of "polu in the background are such a iL-isa of foliage that it would have been difficult, in fa. t impossible, to pick out the trenched position of Miie New Zea!anders. German stores, dwellings and hotels, too, are scattered all along the tree-shaded beach, and it would not have been easy bo to place the shell* .is to avoid (ii.rman property. Close to the beach are the large "warehouses of the big German firm which dominates the trade of Apia, the Deutschen Handel and most of tiht; other names seen on the business places of the waterfront are German. The principal plantations at the back of the tiown and stretching away on cither side are also owned 'by firms of the same nationality. The commanders of the ships evidently'came to the conclusion tha-t a. bombardment would do more harm than good to tflieir countrymen, and were no doulbt in the dark as to the actual strength of the liritish fore-.; that would oppose the 'anding ot boaa, and so they ohoee the discreet part and steamed away. (Papeete wa« a loss troublesome proposition.

CLEARING OUT THE FOREIGNER. j One ouU'on?r of the great Avar will) e ihe ousting from the British mercantile 111a:ine of a large proportion of he foreign element which now fills tihe forecastles and encroaches on the quarter-deck and the bridge to the ex-1 elusion of Briursh sailors. Repeatedly! during the last few years writers in-1 tercsted 111 nautical matters have drawn | the attention to the grave consequences of the displacement of British subjects 'by men of other countries, and in Germans and Scandinavians, but the nation's rulers have trou-J bled little about the grievances of the sailor, and so the English seafarer lias found ihimself elbowed wit, of 'hundreds of ships by the docile and dhftip foreigner. An ex-apprentice writing to an Auckland newspaper recently complained that during his four years' service under articles of indenture in a large British four-masted barque he did not remember ever having more than three Britishers in the crew, wlhidi consisted of twenty-six hands all told. "The service," he said, ".is so discouraging; to the British lads on account of the foreigners getting preference that there are hundreds who, like myself, have left the service and are working ashore. But. if they are wanted to taJke the! 'place of Germans on British ships during the war I am quit® sure they will willingly come forward to help fly our flag." Even in vlie New Zealand coastal service Germans frequently have been preferred to British. But undoubtedly the present time of unprecedented stress has already taught shipowners a lesson in national duty and in their Im•■penal reftponsfcilitice. Indeed 'Merchant Jack" is now coming into his own again.

TUP MONROE DOCTRINE. j j, The Army and Navy Register, one of , the leading papers of the United sta-tea, j ' says.—"lf it shaU <te v e'.*p tot tile Ger- ■ mans driy* '; lle English f ro m: tlhe seas, inCredible as it may seem, tlhen this counf toy will have a veritable and formidable , foe with iVliich we may cope for the protection of our .w nroe only ) vast expenditures for n*. d 401 forfeit our Tight and power or -w forcemeat of that instrument, to which, I it is proper to Terniark, the Germans have never subscribed. IWitih the German necessity of expansion there will be, without much formality, a descent upon I 'Gen:Jul American and South American domains as an outlet of the excess of Teutonic population. (With the loss of the English fleet the .power of that couriOrv to control t<he seas will deprive us of our principal ally in the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine, Which 'has been honored bv largely, if not entirely, because of the English naval fighting strength. Without °hat aid, the Monroe Dodlrme would long ago have been a venerable superstition. Great Britain has compelled its recognition by the other European ijxwers. We have 'been able to assert our dignitv and exercise our right only by virtue of British support."

IWHAT TICS ENGLISHMAN SAW. !An English refugee w<ho has given his story to the Daily Telegraph says, as others say, that the completeness of the German equipment astonished him. '"lt was wonderful—every detail perfect and in order. I noticed at, Brussels ifhat of the thousands of carts that passed not one hud been requisitioned. Each was intended for its military ipur.pose, and bora the Government mark. All the girthfi of the artillery horses were new, and I observed that tliore were even spare shoes for every ilrnrse attiiched to the stirrups. Amongst the horsed vehicles were traps piled high with what was obviously officers' luggage, including hundreds' of B uit, cases of various sizes and: descriptions.''

"H.I.M. WILLIiAM." i f | Translated from a Gernuin memorandum found in t-lie 'Emperor's personal waste-paper basket. The original has been presented by the finder to bha British Museum.—John Kejulrick Bangs.

Oh Me! Oh My! And likewise I! M J Sit still, my curls, while I orate Me, I, Myself, The Throne, The Stata, X am the earth the moon, the sun, All rolled in one!

{ Both hemispheres am I, Oh My! If there wer e three the Threo I I'd 'bo.

1 am the Dippi r, }«:g)]t and Dn.v, The North and Southern Poies, tho Milky Way. I aim they that walk or fly on wing, Or swim or creep . . .I'm everything.

It makes me .tremble like tlhe aspen tree To think I'm Me! And Wink like stars up in the eky And Shrink in terror like a frightened elf To realise that I'm Myself.

'Ye blithering slaves beneath My iron ' heel, _ What know ye of tie things I feel? I j Didst ever ivakc at dead of nifjUt, And stand in awe Of thine own r might?

It took six days to make the land' and ' sea, But centuries were passed in making Me, The Universe? an easy task, 'but I— ! Oh my! | TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, j Multitudes upon multitudes they throng And thicken: who shall number their | array? I They bid the peoples tremble and obey, Their faces are set forward all for wrong. They trample upon the covenant and | are strong I And terrible. Who shall daro to say . them nay? j How shall a little nation bar the way i Where that resistless ihost is born along?

You never thought, 0 gallant King I to bow To overmastering force and Btand aside. Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified, The friend of France and England, who avow Are equal here, and thank the men who died. "H.M." in the Times.