MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1918, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

GENERAL ELECTION. .RESULTS NOT YET KNOWN. London, Dec. 15. Apart from the strength of the wo* men's vote, the uncertainty of tlie soldiers' vote makes it impossible to torecast individual results. The soldier in Britain polled strongly. The returning officers received sacks of ballot papers from the camps prior to December 14, and the soldiers will have a few days to vote, hence candidates assured of a local triumph admit that the soldiers may upset the calculations. Proxy voting on behalf of sailors and soldiers abroad was apparently a lailure. —Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. deliberate persecution. London, Dec. 10. Among many testimonies of German ill-treatment of prisoners none is more circumstantial than an authentic diary kept by a committee of British officers at Holzminden. This is now available on the owners' return. All the entries are earefuly made and set down in busi-ness-like form. Individual cases are signed by the officers concerned, and all vouched for by five senior officers, whose names are given. The committee declare generally that persecution was deliberate, persistent, and systematic. Prisoners were refused outdoor recreation, music, opportunities of study, and even religious services. English chaplains administered the sacrament in a passage at the end of which was a constant stream of traffic. The diary completely establishes the evil reputations of Niemeyer and Hanisch. The former was normally brutal and foul-mouthed, and incited ills subordinates to similar courses. Among many cases detailed is that of Lieutenant Causton, an Australian aviator, who was detected while attempting to escape. He made a statement to the chaplain that he was'shot through the arm while getting through the wire, and turned baok holding up his hands. The sentry continued firing and missLg until j Causton was within three yards. The gentry fired into Cauaton's mouth, shat-! tering the right side of the jaw. The sentry, seeing tho injury, remarked "That is good." Captain Godman, of the Sussex Regiment, when severely ill, was kept all day in a room guarded by a sentry. He received a cup of tea in the morning and. of coffee in tho evening, b;:t Was kept entirely without fooi l , and died foul days later. PILOT'S NARROW ESCAPE, London, Dee. 16. An extraordinary incident is related. A Channel pilot on December 15 descended a ship's side in the darkness at , Dungeness. He saw an object in the water and stepped on to it, thinking it was a boat. The pilot had released his hold on the ladder when the boat hailed him, and a search with a lamp showed that the object was a largo live mine.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc, FAMOUS AIRMAN REPATRIATED. London, Dec. 15. Lieutenant Robinson, who brought down the first zeppelin in England and was subsequently taken prisoner, has been repatriated: He bad been in eight, prison camps. Although he is reticent, it is understood lie Germans treated him liacOy on acoovmt of Li# exploit. tUESIGNATIoiToirCENiItAL SMtiTS < r, n , Louden, Dec. 10. The Daily Express states that General Smute has resigned- from the War Cabinet,because the war has ended. General Sm\its was, offered, but declined, the Palestine command before General Allenby was given the position. —Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. and Reuter. Ileosived Dec. 17. 7.50 p.m. London, Dcfc. 16. General Smuts, in a letter to the Pre mier, resigning from the War Cabinet. point 9 out that the appointment was purely a war measure, ending with the conclusion of hostilities. The Premier has not yet repliftl.— Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. and Reuter. ■