THE WILY GERMAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 215, 19 February 1915, Page 6

THE WILY GERMAN.

iiiS rLANS FOR INVASION. i\Y 1i AT AX AUCKLAND El I SAW. in these times when rumors of war are apt to !ind tree circulation it is Wise to ».tt the grain from the chaff, so to speak. Some first-hand information ol particular interest has been brought back from Scotland bp -Mr. >l. !'. King, who was a | assenger, together with he;' wife and family, by the steamer O.sti rlev, whic'a made a recent call at Coeos Island for the purpose of viewing the battered remains of the fated Emdcli. When the war was declared Mr. King happened to be in London in the. course of a, motor tour s which had taken his party through Scotland and Ireland. A lamiiiy in petrol (which saw the price go to Is (id per gallon) made it dill unit lor them to get away, but once out of tlie luetl'opol.s they returned to i-.cot-laiul. Mr. King has a brother tvho is connected with the mibtary authorities J in an 'official capacity at and he was thus in a position to masce t;uiera! observations, j home weeks after the outbreak of war a two-story building, owned by eiermans | ami used as a chocolate factory, was [ found by the police, to contain conu'etj floors ait Din thick. That building was I in a commanding position over tae firth I of Forth, aim in tiie minds of tile autiiI oritics there was no possible doulit as to i what'the foundations were intended lor —guns, and ones at that- "ies," I said Mr. King, at answer to a ijiiustioii, 1 "i saw those, concrete, floors. T'liey were l ridiculously heavy for factory and besides, they contained holis large enough lor gun mountings. Needless to state the Germans were dispossessed of the building and sent oli' to tlie prison

I tain^:. Another instance- of forethought on tlie part oi tin; would-be invaders; of the mited Kingdom also came Minder Mr K-ng's notice, it applied to an estate which had been purcnased i>v Germans who .were in tho habit oi* entertaining shooting parties. Under the guiso of hospitality, however, they had managed to lay down concrete beds 'lsft square in various parts of tiie grounds near tiie. waterfront, afterwards < covering them with grass. Here also the authorities took prompt action in eiVecting a speedy and effective clearing towards the concentration camp. In company with his brother, who was engaged at tiie prisoners' camp, .Mr. King saw a good de;f- o. tin; enemy's subjects in Edinburgh.«'i u.-rc were about about "ioOO in tho camp, ail mules ranging from tiie age of lh to 4-3. They represented ail class;.-* ail-*!, despite tiie fact that sonic oi' them had money, all were treated alike. One of the dev.ees utilised by the gijirdiais to prevent escape was a wire entanglement charged i each night with electricity, -TOO volts in strength. This entanglement was guard* t! by barbed w ire fencing on either side, so that no one could accidentally come in contact witli the deadly "current. Two prisoners endeavored 'to clear the. entanglements,_ but jvc r,. "bowled over"' uy the electricity, though not fatally. "Tiie greatest trouble in England," said Mr. King, "is the naturalised tlerman. He is absolutely dreaded —just like the man who puts on the cloak of religion to serve selfish ends." Tiie returned tourist added that England was t.-.king no chances with subjects of tiie ' enemy who, when discovered, wore \ promptly placed under surveillance. A great clearance had been cllected in this way from towns on the East Coast of England and Scotland, win-re extensive preparations were said to have been made by spies for an invasion. From what I c-iin learn, I think that too much : consideration is being shown to prison--1 I ers of war in Xew Zealand. The idea . of treating them in two classes seems ' absurd to one who lias seen tiie results of their contemptible work in England. : I feel also that the people of Australia ' and New Zealand do not fully realise ' the gravity of the national crisis. In ! England all gaiety has ceased, but I ' i-.oCi-'I that it was still very pronounced in .Melbourne and Sydney as I passed through. To my mind it is sadly out of pare." Mr. King said that lie. saw large numbers of Belgian refugees, but only ill cue instance did lie see evidence of deliberate mutilation. That was tinease of a Belgian soldier, whose hand had been spitefully cut oil' bv the- Hermans. He had. been told liy a lady who had acted as a nurse that tho lluiu'. had been brutal in their treatmint of women. In referring to the homeward trip, Mr. King said that at Port Said, Colombo and all other ports of call the feeling of the people was demonstrativelv in favor of the Allies.