Newspapers / The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, … / Feb. 1, 1918, edition 1 / Page 7
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I I i T .1 1 i If IF MENU' FORGED CMGE IN GERMANY LOS ; iME MANPOWER' BY TUBERCULOSIS. t j . : LT-2L V r.t THE BRITISH - 1 4 Admiralty Recall of Sir John jellicoe gnai iur muic Vigorous Methods, v (.Special Despatch.) j London, Saturday. tant cnange which has been The imPr in the office of First Sea Lord ". :it- lsa surDrisinx than t the Aanuia-r - 01 It a: first sight appear, if the large "umber of new appointments to the Ad "iraity Juring the comparatively short m od of the war are taken Into account. rRoslyn Wemyss is the fifth occupant d the "post of chief naval adviser to the Ivernrr.ent since the war began, and there have been many changes in. other appointments. Personal issues are apt to overshadow the significance of such an event as the retirement of Sir John Jellicoe. but it is important to recognize that the change points to the farther development of a policy already in operation rather than to the inauguration cf entirely novel methods. The change of government & little more than a year ago was brought about in response to the demand for a more vigorous prosecution of the war, and the movements at the Admiralty since then have all been made with the Intention to giro effect to this demand. -Kew Method Applied. The aim has been to increase the output of material for the naval war and to im prove the machinery for its use in action, particularly in the direction of producing and developing methods and appliance far dealing with the submarine menace. If considered by itself, Jellicoe's retire- sent must lead to an incorrect perspective being obtained. It must, however, be viewed in the light of the events, of the last year, and particularly (1) the in ception of the unlimited submarine cam paign; (2) the consequent entry of America with her naval forces into the straggle, and (3) the more recent crea tion of an inter-Allied naval council. It was obvious that the setting up of this last named body, comprising as it does the heads of several of the Allied naval ad ministrations, with representatives of those overseas, could lead to the develop ment of all scientific operations connected with the conduct of the naval war. As regards the entry of America, coupled with the vitality and eagerness naturally associated with new comers, her naval officers brought to the great prob lems of the sea war open minds and fresh ideas, while the United States fleet also has had a great influence upon the situa tion as regards relative strength by reason of the very excellent material' it has brought into operation on the side of the Allies. Thirdly, the disturbing effect upon earlier well laid schemes of Germany's new submarine outburst is obvious. More Drtvtns; Force. From the foregoing it will be seen how great and urgent was the need at the Ad miralty for what Mr. Churchill described as more driving force and mental energy. Although Sir John Jellicoe brought with him from the Grand fleet a certain num ber of officers experienced in the newer torms of warfare, he did not by any means make that complete change which later events have shown to be essential, and It has been felt that there still remained a leaven of the older men, whose adapta baity to the new circomstancees seemed to be in doubt. The older school under which the "British fleet -was prepared for war and which directed the conduct of the sea operations daring the early months of hostilities, was rightly dominated by the idea that the Grand Fleet in the North Sea was not onlv the sure shield of the Empire' and the Al lies, but the pivot -upon which the whole conduct of the war depended. Everything .uatcu w mo infuintenftnce that fleet in the highest possible condi tion of strength and efficiency. The fact tnat he did not push home the Jutland "ue was due to the apparent disinclinaJ un or sir John Jellicoe to Jeopardize in y way this force in the North' Sea. Britishers Pay Bets on the War (Special Despatch.) London, Saturday. me Closme of the vear 15H7 mnnv ers were raid in England by persons no, early in the rnrinsr. had believed and t that the world war would end before the dawn of ow no one is laying wagers on the Uon f the struggle, although the opinion in this metropolis Is that e end will come either in . April of the ent ear or in AnHl of 1919 TCvrv one teems agreed that the end will come in of pnn" of the year, so that the people a" nations may return for the spring p'ighing and nlantin . - 0. the average Englishman of standing "uut the say: r and he presumably will "ph. the United States and England will '"I'.Sh it t-, .... . - - ulJ. rTance win never give up, "ie nas done her bit already and can w e oxPocted to give much more of her an:ng ?t?r.ngth. She did her share on 18y battlefields. Now It in.thA tak of 5nd ar'd the State tq bring it all to Co ' it!"" an3 thcy Jnay be counted, a to 8J fli & w HAT happened to a Boche i battery . when the allied guns got its range. It was photographed on a Flan ders field abandoned by the enemy. (Pictorial Press Photo.) P RENCH. engineers . are Constructing a foot bridge over a piece of low ground in Belgium. The bridge now loots rather insecure, but when they have fin ished it it will easily carry a battalion oi men. ' Shell holes in this low ground fre quently are twenty or thirty feet deep and are filled with water. I r I T (i THHE only way it is possible tovnvl Some of the reconquered ground of Bel- f, - ? , lil Pll : gium is by means of these bridgesihasfily built & 8 'i m DJ tne engiueeis. m Se,AJM.rih s-tr.vtmt m MM&M$ Passengers Show Interest, Not (Special Despatch.) Xondott, Saturday. The six hundred passengers who arrived f an "Rnelish. port, receutu """" American line steamship ha.ve a thrilling story to tell of an encounter with, a suo- marine. The undersea craft chased the vessel for ten minutes, but so far as known did not -discharge a torpedo. 1 he crew of the 6-inch gun on the stern of the steamship fired two shots. The second, m the opinion of the officials of the vessel and those passengers who were on aecii, carried away4 the periscope of the subma rine. The heavy explosive shell struck within . few feet of the conning tower and smoke darkened the cloud of spray which shot high in the air. Simultaneously the tower vanished. A torpedo boat destroyer, wruen had accompanied the steamship a quarter of the way across the Atlantic, whirled quickly in' her course and in a few minutes was at . the very spot where the steam ship's shot ihad fallen. A huge dirigible, a thousand feet above the sea, which had acted as a pathfinder for the transatlantic "craft, as the latter zigzagged its way through the Irish qhan: nel, manoeuvre.labout the spot, but saw ihi.r wrecliage nor oj!. The. opinion Ifla'shed1 ba:k,: however., was that the sub marine' had been. struck by & t ra gmen.t "of ' ; X ' - , ' .. ) ' IK Attorn 8 : W 2 ft J r , DRENCH carrying a , . - -afe--. . - - -ii .i?LJ dressing station after the last big fight on the Yser. the shell which broke within a few feet of the pejiscope. Passengers Showed Tio Fear. No more was seen of the submarine. The incident occurred at noon while the liner was well out from port. The panic which many had expected to follow a brush with an undersea terror did not come. To the surprise of the gunners and the members of the crew, the passen gerswomen as well as men took a lively interest in the situation, and reluctantly left the decks when the word was given for them to go. hurriedly below to the dining saloon. There was nothing even approaching ex citement. The passengers first knowledge that anything was going on came with the boom of the big stern gun. Instantly people flocked from the companionways to the decks. In twenty seconds there was a second report. At least thirty passengers saw the second shot strike. Most of them asreed that it scored. The officers on the bridge did not see the conning tower of the submarine, but they saw the spiasn, and in a second the course of the liner was" altered so that a torpedo, if one had been discharged, might miss the vessel. No torpedo wake was seen. The opinion of the ship's crew was that the submarine was preparing to launch its deadly missile when its presence astern was discovered.. There was a difference of opinion as to whether the object fired at was the eye of a submarine or a piece of vagrant wreckage. Inasmuch as nothing could be seen after the shots had been hurled, it was taken for granted that the judgment of th- gunners was accurate that a sub marine' had really been creeping upon the liner with the .intention of sending her -to V $0 1 SUP? stretcher bearers are wounaea comraae to a Fear, While American Vessel Fights Submarine probably had been sunk, leaving no evi dence on the surface. The captain of the gun crew which dis covered the enemy declared to me that he was positive a submarine had risen behind the liner. He says it was about a mile away. One of the youthful members of th sun crew first detected it. For ten minutes watch was kept upon the object j and it was seen tc-draw closer. It pushed. nn a swell and left a wake. Satisfied tnat It was a subsea craft the word was given to fire and the first six inch shell sped to ward it. It sent up a small spiasn aDoui twenty feet to one side, Then came the second. The shower of water and smoke which spurted when this shell strucK con vinced the gunners that they had scored a hit which, in any event, had done great damage' to the submarine. ' ' Twice after this as the steamship ran its. tortuous course through the Channel objects we're' seen 'which caused, a hasty exchange of -signals between the vessel and her" speedy ' and aerial convoys,- but no submarines appeared. The- journey oyer was otherwise desti tute cf - thrills, but had a sentimental touch. Christmas was celebrated m mia- ocean. "While the sea was running high and a full moon showered -its silver on the ocean's surface, silhouetting the steamship so that she might be seen for miles, four hundred persons gathered in the dining saloon for a. Christmas even ins concert. It " was the most exciting night of , the voyage because the danger zone was being entered and the convoy of American destroyers was more- than a- hundred "and fifty miles away, but speed ine swiftly to their task."- - Young" men frdrn various of fleers' train ing cairns furnished a musical programme M V T.'""".. ' i'V mm.u. o 1. K,Otf I -11 Jill ' v- ; : " Mfe A FEW hours before this picture was taken the mass in the back ground was a concrete Prussian- shelter. When the advance came it was captured and turned by the French into a telephone and field dressing station. It is to this point the bearers in the picture to the left are making their way. rv L. Stimson. of NewTork. a lieutenant colonel in the American army, introduced the. entertainers and made a short speech in which he said that every man in Amer ica as well as every man who braves the dangers of ocean travel is ready to do hie full share toward making the seas free and crushing the barbarous militarism which has already devastated part Of Europe. Mr. Stimson read from a letter a Christ mas letter which he opened on shipboard containing the paragraph: "No matter where you go or what may happen I am glad that you have gone be cause it is the right thing to do'." Ready to Jump to Boats. While the- vessel was pitching and roll ing in the seas the passengers forgot their fears and they were genuine fears too of submarines. Many of them remained in the saloon and on deck all night, that they might be ready to Jump into the life boats in case of a catastrophe. At daybreak more than two hundred per sons were on deck to watch for the con voy, Which was expected some time "during the. early morning. At a quarter to eight a black dot appeared on the horizon. In a few minutes another appeared to star board. They grew quickly in size.. In twenty minutes two destroyers came gal loping through the white caps to within one thousand feet -of the liner. From the mast floated the Stars and Stripes, On the decks stood the sailors, clinging to ropes and rails but finding time and energy to wave to the jubilant pil- crrima nt th -Hn arid to Shout a Saluta tion which- carried across the expanse of water. - For -ten minutes there was sign nsiyjur , between the . destroyers r and- the r NE of the Hun Minnewerfers which sends over to the allied trenches a bomb more than twice 55 ns Ion? as the bar- B rel of the piece and which means instant destruc tion to everything in the vicinity when it explodes. (Pictorial Press Phqto.) ST V ! 1? A THIS picture shows the first step in light bridge building. Pile drivers are not available at the front, but in sucn swampy ground as this a well used mus cle serves just as well. The walk is laid on stringers nailed to the posts. liner. Then the splendid guardians of the sea turned and took their places along' side the liner. The waves broke over them and at times they were completely sub merged, but they were there and the voy agers were relieved. Santa Clans on Board. Had there been any doubt that the trav ellers had been holding at high tension it was quickly dispelled . by the manifesta tions of relief on the Dart of the nassen- gers. Men smiled and slapped one an other on the back. "Women put their arms around each other. At eight o'clock the mums saioon was ziuea ior tne iirst time for breakfast. The worst night was over at least what the passengers felt was the worst night. un unnstmas uay Santa Claus paid a visit to the second cabin and steerage. He was caressed in regulation costume, carried a huge pack and had" stockings, swelling with dainties, hanging from his shoulders. To each of the eleven children, ranging in age from one year to eight, he gave : a stocking, a doll and a kiss. It Was indeed a happy Christmas for the lit tle ones, many of whom had asked their mothers if Santa Claus would forget them while they were on Ahe ocean. It was knowledge that the children were wonder ing if Santa Claus would : pass them by which caused some of the men going1 to join the .. American . army to prepare the Christmas celebration and the Kris Kingle visit, pne little girl of five, whose ecstasy was overwhelming when she received a big:-fancy doll, asked her mother- , -.. . . V.'Did Santa Claus come in a submarine? . 'Ne,-my dear, he doesn't like snimu rijves,, the yoTuterwraothearepuedW London Post Declares War: Really Is a Question of ilp Human endurance, m (special mspaicD.) A -it ixHidon, Sirorday. It is becoming increasingly clear eviry lj day, says an article in the Morning Post; that the war is not being waged only; atti the front. The war has become in truth' A tu war between nations there are no longer noncombatants on either side. It . isf a ) question really of endurance in the last hi stages of the struggle, and in the tesuny j time that lies before the morale of. the people at home will probably be the' final, and determining factor as to the issuevlsyi It is not what the inflated rhetoric of the day calls a question of the last farthing and the last man, but of the general de- i- termination and endurance of the mass of ;h tne population, on tnis aspect or aiiair&it is most important to know, in so far aS that is possible, how far the strain is telH ) ing on the other side to gather together ; any reliable indices as to what conditions,! are actually prevailing. ,' : !; Mere vague General statements are of I littlo or no valup What nno nrant'Mf 1 they can be had, are statements that, are iff tun and precise, that can be weighed and f f measured so as to give something life$ an i indication of the difference from the.'Ji normal and pre-war conditions. Unfortu-?; i nately, information of this full and pre-' cise character is not easily got at. OcsV casjonally, however, some set Of 'facts' Ji comes to light which gives something j,' tangible on which to base our estimate, of relative loss. '' 'i''. One of such sets is the record of deatfe? ;i from tuberculosis, a disease in which' the ! f. general conditions as to nourishment con-it. tribute materially to the incidence . of ' mortality. There are available returns of , aeatns rrom tnis disease m a very large number of places in Germany, represent-,' ing something like two-fifths of the popu", lation of the empire. These show an enor mous increase in deaths on the numbers recoraea in tne same places oeiore n g war. Here are the numbers of such deaths I 1 for the 'first six months of this year, as contrasted with those for the same period in 1913, for the different divisions of the German Empire: , . ..-: No. of Federal ff Deaths, State. Prussia Bavaria Saxony Wurttemberg ... Baden Hesse Alsace-Lorraine Other States Total 22,008 37,064 i, It will be seen that the increase in the numbers and percentages of deaths from this scourge is marked in every part ef the empire, but that this increase is not by any means so great in the South Ger man States Bavaria, Wurttemberg , and Baden as in Prussia and Saxony. It is matter of common knowledge that Vfre Viavo been continual bickerings as to the food conditions prevailing in different 1 I parts of Germany, and tnat it is aiiegea again and again that Bavaria in particular is better off in this respect than ;the others. . ' K; Complaints have appeared with great regularity that Bavaria was not bearing her share of the common, burden in this respect, and that her refusal to allow foodstuffs to be exported to Prussia was. . . . . T. . an act of selfishness. Whatever ground there may be for such accusations they are borne out by the figures above quoted. If the numbers of deaths in the towns in question are a fair index of the general conditions prevailing, this current, year would give a death-roll of something like two hundred thousand persons from the great white scourge. As far as in formation that may be relied upon la available, the situation in this respect Is much the same in the Dual Monarchy as it , No. of . Inc. S ' Deaths, -Perj M 1913. 1917. Cent i i 13,876 24,531 77 J 2,242 S.141 : 40 1,764 &89S " 5r! 662 930' 49 i J 755 1.C94 V 45 1, 368 973 - Vl 1 ,t 588 848 T .44 I 1,763 2.648 M ' 78 I i is in Germany. That information is prac tically confined to the three cities, Vienna, j ' Prague and Budapest. ' .. j. He Braved Death J 7 Times to Flee 1 German Inferno (Special Despatch.? : j ran, oiumir. w Louis Laraal, of the French - Engineer I Section 1-5, tells an exciting story of his escape from a German prison camp.' H j was captured at Maubeuge in September, 1 1914, and taken to Germany. He ' made x seven attempts to escape, was recaptured : six times and was fired at and wounded : ' by the German guards on four occasions. He says: . "Some of my wounds were so bad that.;' I had to remain in the hospital for months. On one occasion I swam the Rhine and ; was in the water nearly an hour, only to -be retaken, and that after having been:.': wounded. At the last attempt I had Just : got safely across the border, near .Co- :: logne, and, despite the fact that I wat ''ii! really out of Germany, I was fired ' at ! from the German aide. A ballet lodged -1 in my leg, and ft. was not until I reached , Paris that I had it extracted. j : e t1 1 "On that . last attempt I was assisted "v fr by an Alsatian woman, who was so sure ) that I should get through safely .that sh intrusted me with some important d4co!j ments for a French destination. . ' Conditions were, so. awful in the Ger ; ,A man prison camp that death seemed -preferable to remaining there, and I was -ready to take any chances if only I could -i ' get out of that inferno. , v "i -, "Although I am young ahd "strongv 1 ' 1 felt that I could not possibly endure those i 1 privations. I decided to risk being killed ' rather than be driven mad. Consequently -Jr v I never missed a single opportunity that r 1 -presented itself to get away, for I always . had a feeling that I should succeed in the end, though my body bears - the scars k which are the result of my decision. .' ' "While in Germany I had to sample all' ': the substitutes which they give: yon as V ; food, and this brought on an attack of , dysentery. Unfortunately, . "many i othw . : r 1 brave fellows are still enduring' the lot; that was then my own. The feod was: 0. indeed . bad. You .never knew 'What yoa fwere eating, and yet you had to et.'4n-,J05 r isnmenx somenow in order to keep alive, ii - Lamal "was a prisoner, for more than j -three years, has-been badcabootainttitli i ' r ans is xunnTwirivxnefrinriTTETiissneersj ' i ; j j
The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 1918, edition 1
7
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