WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 174, 31 December 1914, Page 7

WAR NOTES.

night, and searchlights over the sky. It is a few of the street lamps are %!|ght, and the top portions facing the sky are painted over with black; paint, so. that looking down from the sky, one would never think that a great city lay below. Private houses also have to keep all lights and windows screened. 1 have seen hundreds of wounded men hero in -the streets. All the hospitals and many private houses fly the Bed Cross, and one sees the wounded sitting at the windows or driving about in motor ears, swathed in bandages. The Allies" Hags are flown everywhere, and London looks quite changed." LES TOMMIES. Dieu! but ze Tommies can fight! Zey know not ze meanings of fright; ■Une bombs she bang go!— j Zey chant loud "Wot oh!" And proverbs most strange zey recite. Zey slirink not from terreeble skenes Zey laugh at ze deadly machines! Bravo! Zey make sharge At Germans more large. And geeve to zem beauconp des beans! And wen zere goes somet'ing all wrong, Wen ver' special 'ell comes along, Zey lift oop zeir voice And make ze glad noise Of "Are we donarted? . . Non!" So "Vivent les bons Tommies!" I say— Lcs Tommies tees braves et tres gais!" And geeve zem trois sheers— Come, toast zem some beers Les Tommies! Eeep, eep, cep orray! THE GERMAN" RESERVES. German official messages have spoken of a reserve force of 18,000,000 men. Apparently the authorities have counted all the able-bodied men of military age left in the country. Germany casnot have arms for them; already she is arming some of her regular reserves with old rifles. She has no instructors ready to train them, and she cannot hope to feed and clothe them. According to Colonel Repington's expert estimates, Germany had at the outbreak of the war, 4,370,000 trained men passed into the reserve. At the depots of enrolment and recruits' barracks, there were probably 1,000,000 recruits, who could bg, rapidly put into shape; and there ..were, according _t»'"R~e]>ington, IjOSO.'OOO vohrntceTr-fr'om among the many million men exempted from military service. Adding these to the war strength of the army—about 1,000,000 get 7,370,000 men as the outside 1 estimate of Germany's fighting strength. Obviously, o, considerable leakage would have to bo deducted from these figures. FINANCIAL STRAIN OF THE WAR. In War Notes and Queries, Mr W. S. Robinson makes authoritative financial opinion on the economic strain caus-

A NEW PLYMOUTH SCOTTISH TERRITORIAL.

Writing from London under date, November 12, Mr Harold William Jennings sands some interesting notes to Lis parcr.ts. He says:—"l have joined the tnick'Ui.'lun territorial regiment, the London Scottish, with three other Buenos Ayres bank boys, also my old chum, Will Gray, of New Plymouth, who recently returned from the Gold Coast. 1 have had no letters from you for tome months. The vessel bringing the Biiails, the Correntina, struck a mine, and the mail matter went to the. bottom of the sea. I received a shock to-day when I opened Alf's leter, and found that lie and IM;:ar were both coming to England in the NewZealand force. I made enquiries at the High Commissioner's office, and was told that the New Zealand forces would be unable to get through the Suez Canal, and the boys would be kept in Egypt. It surprises me about Alf and Edgar, for I eanot get it out of my head that they are still the same youngsters as when I left home five years ago.-

The Scottish are the best territorials in London, and the only corps which one. has to pay to get in, though it is only a small fee. I had to rake up a Scotch ancestry, and dad's mother's name came in, so I am now 'H. W. McIvor Jennings,' at your service, mam! We have been working very hard with drilling, and have just got back from a ten-mile march. It is fine to be headed by a big bagpipe band, and the girls do like the kiltie boys. People go silly over us, waving handkerchiefs, throwing kisses, and give us apples and cigarettes when we are marching along. Our first battalion is in France, and were the first territorials to engage the enemy, and gave a good account of themselves. We lost 40 killed and 300 wounded. Guy and I go into training at St. Alban's, and at present, seeing we were, from New Zealand, we are doing transport work. I hardly know London, though away from it only two short' years. All my chums are either in; France or in camps in different parts of England. "London simply swarms with Belgian refugees- One sees them everywhere, and at mass on Sundays, the churches swarm with them. There are said to be 700,000 in England, some poor and in a very sad plight, others very smart and prosperous looking. You cannot imagine what sacrifices the people are making here, letting their sons j»p' to tifie front. Mothers and sisters are quite brave and cheerful. It is a noble thing to figiit for.i'ic-cause of Justice and right, and we arc all in God's hands. I have been to my old quarters, the Brompton Oratory, and find that 67 of the Brothers have enlisted, and are at the front. As we expect a Zeppelin attack, London is practically all in darkness at

V ed by the war. His conclusions are:— t Men engaged in military dutr in Eui rope, 20,000,000. Total numbers of per- - sons either wholly or partially with- - drawn from profitable industry, 50,000,r 000. Annual economic loss by this with- - drawal, £1,500,000,000 to £2',000,000,000. j 3 .British war expenditure, £7.000,000 aj l week. War expenditure of all countries ; in conflict, minimum estimate, £40,000,- • 000 a week; highest estimate, £70,000,- ! <!00 a week. Cost of first 100 days of ■ war, anything from £000,000,000 to I , £1,000,000,000. German Imperial bank) ; notes at a discount of 40 per cent. ! in neutral countries. Bank of France . notes sold at 7 per cent, discount. Brit- , ish Government currency notes, no de-' I rceiatioii at all. , I

SCENES OF THE STRENUOUS CAMPAIGN IN POLAND, i