WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 October 1915, Page 6

WAR NOTES.

RED SECRETS TO THE HOHENZOLLERNS. SPY'S STOKk OF A COVVKS. QUAUREL. Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves, the spy, who wrote "The Secrets of the German War Office," has issued another book, entitled "The Red Secrets of the Hoheneollerns." He takes us through the drama of Germany from the accession of William 11., and he gives ua an interesting picture of the Kaiser in all his plottings, He speaks of the Kaiser's failure at Fashoda, and we learn how the mad dog of Europe was balked in his attempt to create the war between this country and France. There is a picturesque description of the meeting of Lord Kitchener and Colonel Marchand. He tells the following story of one of the several quarrels between the Kaiser and King Edward:—• "During the Cowes week in 1904 the Emperor and King Edward one evening were the guests of honor on Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht. Among those present was a certain well-known lady. "The talk naturally turned on the events of the day, and the Emperor, much elated over the victory of his Meteor, bragged a good deal. The lady, taking up the cudgels of one of her relations who was interested in one of the defeated vesels, incurred the displeasure of the Emperor by her able witticisms. "The unfortunate habit of the Emperor's of talking first and thinking afterwards once again asserted itselffor he delivered himself of a rejoinder which was by no means polite. His words, at any rate, hurt. "Mortified to tearß, the lady rose, and with characteristic English dignity,

withdrew. King Edward .... had noticed that something displeasing had occurred.

"On being told the circumstances, he called his nephew into the chart room and evidently spoke his mind. "The Kaiser next morning left in a huff. . . . This incident was the cause j of the widened breach between King Ed[ward and William 11.

, "The lady and her friends had a great j deal of influence with King Edward and | hi 3 Court. She became an implacable enemy of the Kaiser's. The result of 1 this animosity has been far-reaching." FRANCE'S BIG HARVEST. ; WHAT THE WOMEN HAVE DONE. Seven departments of France, several ' of which are great agricultural proauc- 1 ers, are in the hands of the enemy (says the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph). All able-bodied French men under forty-seven are mobilised, yet the statistics of wheat crops show this wonderful result, that the deficit in the home corn upon quantity required for the nation will this year, in spite of the war, be actually less than that recorded in 1910—-peace time, but after a poor harvest. Franoe, in short, notwithstanding the war and the invasion, has this year produced ft good average erop of wheat. For this achievement the women of France are to be thanked, who have worked in the fields while their husibands were at the front, and whom visitors to the front have watched with emotion tending their crops tinder shell fire, within a few hundred yards of the enemy lines. GERMAN PROJECTILE EATS BARBED WIRE. KAISER'S ARMIES SAID TO HAVE NEW ENGINE OF WAR. Idndon, August 21. The Morning Post's correspondent at Petrograd sends the following dispatch;— "I hear the Germans have now some mysterious scientific device for clearing their way through wire entanglements from a considerable distance. The instrument has all the apearance of what is known as a projectile—that is, a searchlight. No specimen has yet been captured and nothing is known about x it, except that it disposes of wire entanglements from a distance of a mile by some means at present incomprehensible to the lay mind." TEN SEAPLANES OF THE LATEST TYPE. TO BE PURCASED FOR LEAGUE OF BRITON'S OVERSEAS. London, August 20. More than £35,000 has been received by the Patriotic League of Britons Overseas, which was the outcome of a movement started at the end of last year to unite British subjects resident in foreign countries and enable them to take their part in the defence of the Empire. It was felt that it was not fair that the whole cost of the War should be borne by the inhabitants of Great Britain and her overseas dominions, and that Britisli subjects in foreign lands should take their part. The King is patron of the league (which has now 105 branches) and. a central committee, with Lord Selborne as chairman, has undertaken the necessary organisation. After consultation with the Admiralty, it lias been decided to purchase immediately, a squadron of ten large seaplanes of the latest and most approved typo. The placing of the contract has been left for the Admiralty, and a cheque for £35,000 lias been sent to the First Lord. LAMB WINS A BATTLE. AUSTRIAN SURPRISE THWARTED BY A .MASCOT. Geneva, July 20. A dramatic history attaches to a little lamb which has been adopted as a mascot by the Bersaglieri on Monte Nero. The animal was found on the mountain side by the Austrian artillery. One of the men gave it shelter in the trenches, and it became so much attached to its protectors that it followed the troops in all their movements. Une dark night recently the Austriana L planned a surprise attack on the Italian , position. The enemy managed to elude the Italian outposts, but at the critical ' moment the alarmed bleating of' the lamb roused the exhausted men, and enabled them not only to repel the attack, hut to inflict heavy losses on the enemy. To mark the fact that the lamb has thus saved many Italian lives it lists been named ''Redenta." THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL. London, August 13. The returns of shipping and tonnage of the Suez Canal were issued yesterday. The net tonnage for the past year shows j a decrease of 624,389 tons as compared with that of 1913.

During the first seven months of 1914 1 the traffic through the Canal was in excess of that for the same period of 1913. The receipts, however, fell after the outbreak of war, but the loss occasioned by j the diminution of the mercantile traffic was partly compensated by an increased movement of military transports. The number of vessels which passed through the Canal was 5,373 in 1912, 6,085 in 1913, and 4,802 in 1914, of which 3,335 in 1912, 2,951 in 1913, and 3,078 in 1914 carried the British flag. j "WE WANT PEACE." Amsterdam, August 12. | In a speech at a presentation at Klein Flottbeck, near Hamburg, Prince Bue- ■ low, the ex-Chancellor, said Germany needs peace —a peace which will be not • only honourable but proud, which will compensate her for her heroism and her , colossal sacrifices. "We count on tJie Kaiser for this peace," he said, "and we want no other." ' Political importance is attached to the I speech. It is supposed that Prince Bue- ! low will play a diplomatic part after the ttar, and, maybe, during the peace ne- . gotiations. , TO BAFFLE THE SEA-HUN. INVENTION TO NEUTRALISE ACTION OF TORPEDOES. Paris, August 12. An Italian named Guarini has invented an apparatus which is reputed to be capable of instantaneously nullifying the effect of torpedoes discharged by submarines by causing them to burst before they reach the objective. The invention has already been submitted to the examination of the Italian naval authorities. The mechanism is susceptible of application to any kind or' ship, and can be worked equally well whether the vessel be stationary or moving. The inventor assures the authorities that even'if the enemy discovers its presence he will be powerless to neutralise its effect. BARON-SPY ARRESTED. Paris, August 6, A telegram from Milan to the "Petit Parisien" says the papers manifest satisfaction at the arrest of Baron Otio von Gmnpenberg, one of the leaders of German espionage, particularly wellknown in Italy. The Baron was captured in the Mediterranean by a British warship. During tie Tripolitan campaign he was one of the principal organisers of contraband for the rebel tribes of Cyrenaica. All the arms and munitions merchants of Egypt were in relition with him, and he carried his audacity to such a length as to concentrate the contraband goods in shops which he had hired in the Alexandria quarter, and where an &rmy of employees worked under his supervision. Remonstrance repeatedly made by Italy to Berlin concerning the Baron did not have any effect in checking his activity. His arrest is a guarantee of tranquility for the Italians in the Tripolitan. CITY LOST "FOR EVER." Amsterdam, August 10. A dispatch from Vienna says the entire Press declares that Warsaw is lost for ever for Russia. The Norden Agency reports from Budapest that the Archduke Karl Franz Joseph, the heir to the throne, and his wife were heartily welcomed on arriving in the city, and that the Archduke, replying to an address from the mayor, said: "We live to see joyous days. We have had triumph over triumph. "God supported our arms. Our brave troops have done superhuman work, and victory was not lacking." ESCAPE IN A BASKET. Milan, August 12. An Italian who was sent from Trieste to an Austrian concentration camp made an almost miraculous escape in a large wick«r clothes basket, in which he remained forty hours in a train. During that time he had only a little bread and cheese to eat and some water to drink. He arrived in Italy in an ex- "■ hausted condition. As soon as he had recovered, the refugee asked to be allowed to join the Italian army in order to fight against Austria. MARRIAGE BY PROXY. Paris, August 0. Since the new law of April of this year authorising military marriage by proxy came into force, 709 such ceremonies have been performed. There are several peculiar points about this law, one being that two rponths must elapse between the demand for an authorisation for a marriage by proxy and the performance of the cere--1 mony. One result is that in some cases [ by the time the proxy wedding ceremony ' takes place the bridegroom has been ■ killed on the battlefield, though the sad news has not yet reached his relatives ' and friends. I GERMAN GUNS' TREK. North of France, August 10. On the question of what German troops have been sent from the Western to the Eastern front I can supply two | pieces of information, says a correspondent. | Besides the Bavarian corps whose pre- | senee at Warsaw Lis been announced ' from several sources I know definitely that Westphalian troops have also been sent to the French front. The latter were previously stationed in the East of ( France. 1 Moreover, during the last six weeks the Germans have taken from their lines in the Argoune souiii of their best engineers and gunners and confided to them the delicate tasks of transporting and placing in position their heavy guns on the Russian front.