WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 228, 5 March 1915, Page 6

WAR NOTES.

A SPY STOgy. A correspondent of tlio Telegraph toll* i the following story of the way in whic' ' the- rerman.s prepared for the rail] upo the ,north-east roast' so long ago u AjiriT, 1!'(!!). It was in tin' snr'ng of that yeas : tliat threo young Germans made their appearance at Hartlepool, and renresented they were on a holiday tour along the coat. They brought with tliem their cameras. iintook a number of negatives. These tliey handed to a io"".l photographic chemist for development. It did not s c eni to occur to (lie chemist that tlio subjects chosen were somewhat of an extraordinary character. That i-; to pay, tliey wnrb not of "pretty hits," such as amateurs delight to send to their friends, lmt of ccmpprativcly uninteresting stretcher i i country. For example, very careful photographs were taken of the dunes,-which, in the nivgliliorhood of Hartlepool, reach to a considerable height, and from the top of which the colintrv which lies behind, at a lower level, could he swept hv machine gups, Xor was it noticed that tier tool-: particular nains. to secure a 'ijicture of the mnefion, where, as a r-.'e. some hundreds of eonl trucks are IvinT w;;it : ncr for distribution. It is free tliat the noticed (lint one of the vartv li:>d n camera vlii.-li he value! at a '-cry perfect :n"trulr.cnfc.

M time we 1 -!, on the field of their ;'c:'e?rina''en? exfeivV'l until (hey had secured photosranhn of t.lie country i neliim.' up '■<> Xorfli T>rw : ek. and inc'l"!iii'.r Ncarboreu'di f:lso. Tu fact, fh" collection constitute! p. photographic f ~-ev r-f nil perls of (he E:ist Photographs wore take*i nt all states of (lie tide to show what extent of foresVore was exposed at low water. * M-'« i- rirlr l';|d "npfiniied fo.ihoiit tLee montlis. a fourth man Hp (Po»;'cene, whose manner tovrvds the otl-ers was that of a superior officer. One day t''e four met in tha chemist's sh.qfc, and there wns P flerer a°t<rcati.; n in German, a lipgun'ie of

j ■•'licii th-' chemist knew notbir':.- W'lr'sr it was progressing. a customer entered the shop, asked for some article. and had potto difficulty in makinrj; Irs choice, b.itore 1 about. and then took his leave. Win :i the four fiormans lrft. the <?nsreturned. anil said to the chemist. '■l'-i yon know that these men are spiff: v trcr ivpre sneaking in German, and T J 1 -now Cerninn very well. Tlio last man jwn-. evidently a superior. mid he was tin; otllers because they had ! failed to fe-nre some part'cular ■pliotnf»r:'.!'h>. Xow, tell me, is there a liirlit- | ho 'se?"' ■ The chemist said "Yes" t "Thev defended themselves, savin',' i j thev had been there at all times of the ! day. lint had never been ahle. to obtain ! a photograph of Its vicinity." MR T. I'. O'COVNOR AND CARBIXAIJ MERCTER. | Mr T. P. O'Connor, M.P.. told a Daily Chronicle representative that he knew Cardinal Mereier personally, lie is. said Mr O'Connor, a saintly man. and one of the intellectuals of Helgiuin. Ilis apl pearance is so beneficial anil ho sweet j that'everybody who meets him admires, J respects and loves linn, and recognises lin ii very short acquaintance that he is entitled to the high position he holds i in the Church, lie is a great man, and | one of the greatest souls of Helghim. ' As a personal friend and admirer, 1 | feel Cardinal Mender's arrest vgry keenly, and vet, though it is a shocking af- . fair, it is not by any means surprising. I cannot help thinking however, that it is one of the brutal acts of chnnsy (.'erman policy Mat will recoil on the , heads of that country.

The arrest is a German "blunder, a German crime, and a German avowal. It is a blunder, because it will antagonise further all the neutral nations of the world, especially among Catholics; it is a crime, because anybody can see that what the Cardinal said lie was perfectly within his right 9in saying. And it is an avowal, because it shows that Germany now regards herself as entitled to annex Belgium and destroy her independence. Discussing the excuse given by the German authorities for the arrest, Mr O'Connor asked: "What does is mean? It. is quite true that the pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier re-fer--d to the independence of "Belgium, but if Germany did not mean to destroy that independence, what right liad blio to interfere?"

I Mr O'Connor organised a great deI monstration of the Irishmen of London I to Cardinal Merrier when he passed \ through the metropolis last September lon his way liom from Rome. Ills EmI inencc arrived on Saturday, September 12. and with 2+ hours' notice and without even a handbill being issued between 20,000 and 30,000 Irishmen joined in a march past Archbishop's House, Westminster, on a balcony of which Cardinal Mercier stood and watched the procession. COUNT BERNSTOIIFF'S LIES. The' United States Chief Secretary (Mr Bryan) lias replied to the charges lodged by Count BernstorlT to the effect that Groat Britian is using dumdum bullets. In his letter to the Ambassador, Mr Bryan after politely refnsing to investigate the general charges, 1 denies on the authority of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company the a negation of the Ambassador that Great Britain had ordered suns and ammunition from it. The Secretary of State proceeds:— ''Your Excellency further calls attention to 'information, the accuracy of .which is not doubted,' that S.OOfi.flfln cartridges, fitted with 'mushroom bullets' had been delivered by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company fur the armament of the Ensli-h Army. In reply, I have the honor to refer to (he letter of December .10, 1014, of the Remington Arms Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Xew in your Exc'lleucy. called forth by certain newspaper reports of statements alleged to have been made by yoti in r< L'anl to fli ( . ;-:ile bv f hat company of soft-nosed bullets.' From this letter it appears that instead of H.nOO.IHIO cartridges having been sold only a little over 117.000 have been manufactured, and 107,Offi sold.

MITTKXS TO'AN" UMvXOWtf SOLDIER. 1 From the French of iAdrienr.e Cambry. a French volunteer nurse, translated b\ 0. V. Williams in the Dnil Mail; Soldier, soldier, dear nnkonwn, I wonder as I knit, Will von he a corporal Who will wear this mit? Will you bo a captain, Tell him, mitten, pray That in your simplp meshes I wove ,my heart to-day. Wove it warm and throbbing, 0 gallant soldier mine! Praying that it strengthen That strong right hand of tlline. Strong to strike, and swift to strike, , And drive, the foe. away; .. Lay on, lay on, my soldier, Lav on, and win the day. , And if my little mitten. Be dyed a deeper red, Its saffron turned to crimson With bleed in honor shed. The radiance of that scarlet, The glory of that stain, \Vould make my little work-box Seem like, a sarred fane! . So here's mv little nrtten, Wool to keep you warm; Kisses in its meshes. To keep you, dear, from harm.

TO A FAT.SK PATRIOT. ('•The drunken soldier is an abomination."—TTon. D. Hall, Attorney-Oeneral of Xew South Wales. ITe was vi;y:ronly condemning tile "shorting" and its consequences to returned trooper.-, from Xpw Guinea. The following arc commended to those foonsil ' v - ln iv tlieir dangerous generosity have cans- J oil many of our soldiers to get in lo (rouble). ITe came oliedient to the Cali: He might have shirked like half his mates Who. while their comrades fight and fall. Still go to swell the football gates. And yon, ft patriot in yonr prime, You waved a flag above his head And iunied he'd have a high old time, And slapped him on the back and said: "You'll show 'em what we "British are! (live lis your blind, old pal. to shake." And took him round from bar to bar And made him drunk —for England's sake. That's how you helped him. Yest.erdav C'lear-e-i d'and earnest, keen and hard, ITe held himself the soldier's way— And now they've got him under guard. ' What's that to "von ? You understand Nothing of all his bitter pain; You ha\-e no regiment to brand; You have no uniform to stain. Xo vow of service to abuse, Xo pledge to King and Country due; But he had something dear to lose, And has lost it—thanks to you. -O.S. Punch, 4th Xovomber, 1914.