WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1916, Page 6

WAR NOTES.

THE CHANNEL NETS. American papers of recejit dale refer to the reported capture of the German submarine Bremen, and( to the nets" v.hieh protect the English Channel. The in formation received in America is that the submarine was caught in one of the hi'ge note spread around the British eiuuls as part of the elaborate plan, adopted by the British Admiralty for the capture of German submarines. These r.ct> are 100 yards long And about 180 feel deep, made of heavy wire and cables, and arc planted in various parts of the North Sea, as well as around the British const. The oets are anchored and arc suspended from supports placed near the surface of the water. There are two bombs attached io each net. These explode and disable the submarine that strikes the net with sufficient momentum to make the two ends of the net swing around so as to envelope the undersea boat. There aro supposed to be several nets, one from Dover to the French coast opposite, and another from Portland Bill, near Weymouth, to Cape T.s Hague. Between the two there is a free space of 100 mile, sufficient for all transport service. There is also another net from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland to the Irish coast, and another from Carnsore Point in Ireland to St. David's Head in South Wales, in order to protect the Irish Sea. To allow the paisage of the Allies' ships these nets have been fitted with gates which can be shut and opened like pontoons. The passages, which are only known to the British Admiralty, arc changed very often, and the net reaches right to the sea bottom. Their upper edge is fastened to bvoys, and both the upper and lower ed<res are anchored so that storms and ebb aril flood tides cannot change the position of the net nor damage it in ar.y way; the anchor chains are also shortened, so'that the buoys are a few feot below- the level of the wat.'r. Consequently the submarines cannot see the nets, neither above nor below the water. Il' a submarine plunges into the not, it is caught in it and so damaged that it becomes an easy prey for the enemy.

A CLEAR-SIGHTED GERMAN. Sorrowful confession of how the conversion of the British Empire into a fust class military Power has upset Germany's Was calculations comes from Dr. Ernst Bassermann, the well-known Anglophobe leader of the National Liberal Party. "Who would have thought it possible?'' he cries. "In England we have an enemy whoso professional army has been converted in,to a great citizens' army. Who, would have believed tlial England could have gone iver so quickly and with such limited domestic r<sources to a universal military service basis? Yet to-day the son of the duke bleeds for his Motherland shoulder to shoulder with the son of the cook. The realisation that England's Imperial destiny is at stake has become the common property of the Empire. Thus (ft must reckon with the iron fact that the war liar, become graver and more saerifi'cal for us than anybody at the beginning regarded as at all likely. It is an illusion to think that peace is nc-ar at hind. Many a tough engagement will si ill have to be fought before the war e;m De ended. One used to hear often that France was no longer able to contnue the war. We see nothing of that. On the contrary, we see a French Army fighting with ancient Gallic bravery, an energetic, determined foe, full of offensive spirit, despite the terrible wounds France has' suffered, and which will ruin her future for decades, perhaps longer. We are also confronted by Russia, with her inexhaustible reservoir of men, Russia, which has revtaled such unexpected elasticity in the reconstruction of beaten annies, and who9e military organisation, instead of depreciating, has improved during the war."

STORIES OF THE TANKS When H.M.L. Damn was lumbering up and down High street, Flers, recently, after striking terror into the hearts of the Germans, he was followed by a cheering crowd of New Zealanders. One of them, Sergeant Warburton, writing in the Weekly Despatch, gives a quaint and interesting description of the incident. Warburton noticed one of the tank men laughing hilariously, and inquired the reason." He was to'ld that the Germans, puzzled to know what to do with it, Jiad sent out a bombing party of 20 with ii load of liandbombs. The solemn Germans had slily approached the tank, but un intimate acquaintance 'no more satisfied them than an acquaintance at a distance. They were frankly in a dilemic.a. "A man who was in&ide the tank told Warburton, and through the peep l'C.les we hugely enjoyed, not only the cxprcsson on their faces, but their feelings as we imagined t.liein to be. It ,was too good fun to disturb them, so we left them alone. After a while they came quite close to.the tank. Greatly daring then two of three crouched down to see if they could get underneath. Another party'of three investigated the sides, and the remainder tried to climb en top, but wherever they climbed or looked the prospect was disappointing. Tl.ey did not seem to find any opening .for the use of their bombs. Finally, in gitat perplexity, they held, a meeting in front of the tank It was a very unwise spot to choose, because a neat little gun was covering them. One. of us could understand every word they said. What the meeting would have decided we don't know, for while they were jabbering and Tsticiilating we turned the gun on, and lis chev say in the newspapers, the netting broke up in disorder. It was a «cf.at joke, and the laughter inside the iW.k would have done yotfgogd i.o hear."