A GERMAN PERIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 May 1916, Page 3

A GERMAN PERIL.

IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. TROOPS READY TO SUPPRESS RISING. ' ' According to a private letter received j in Napier last week, trouble is expected , any day in South Australia, where there is a German settlement named ' Handorf. The letter, which speaks for < itself, is as follows: , We are having very troublesome , times here just now with the Germans, and you need not be at all surprised to hear at any time that war has brok- ' en out in Australia. No more troops are to leave for some time to come, and all bridges, rivers, post offices and telephone exchanges throughout the country are under guard. The men are not allowed to use the telephone in camp, and all their letters are censored. We have a soldier's wife staying with us while her husband is in camp, and he did not come home for his usual leave last week, and he was not allowed to send us a message. Last Wednesday night they had six special trains waiting outside the Mitcham camp to take men to the German settlement at Handorf if the word came. There are seven hundred soldiers at the place permanently, but trouble is expected at any moment, and the men are warned to be. ready. They sleep with their uniforms on and loaded rifles at their heads, and 150 rounds of ammunition had been issued to eaclr man. All the ride clubs have had word that they must be prepared to receive the call at any time, and they are to take any means possible to reach, Mitcham camp as quickly as possible should the alarm be given. All church bells are to be rung and whistles blown, and a red light is to be flashed from the post office as a warning. * ' | Perhaps things will have come to a head before you receive this, but I am hoping it will blow over; everybody is preparing for trouble. South Australia is over-run with Germans, and they seem to own the best property. Why don't the authorities intern the G.-rmans? That would be a simple way of dealing with the threatened trouble.