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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1915-1-7, Page 7FO�nIDABL� TORPEDOED British, Battleship Either Hit Mine or Was Tor.. .pedoett A despatch from London says : The British battleship Formidable was sunk in the English Channel on Friday morning with the loss, it is believed, of about 000 officers and men. So fete as is definitely known, there are 150 survivors of the dis- aster. vessel'scomple- ment ss normal om 1 ast_.. Th 1? ment was 781 officers and men. The Daily Chronicle states that surviv- ors of the battleship Formidable report that the vessel was torpe• doed both fore and aft early Friday moiling and sank almost imme- diately, giving the crew hardly time ito escape, The place of the disas- ter- was not given in the official an- noitneement, nor had the cause of the vessel's loss b4eta determined. The brief and rather meagre official statement issued was as follows: "The battleship Formidable was sunk in the Channel but whether by a mine or a submarine is not yet certain, "Eighty survivors have been pick- edt by i a British Brt hlight:cruiser,n ad P it is possible that others may have', been rescued by other vessels." It was later announced that the Tor Bay trawler Providence had landed 70 additional survivors. They were rescued by the trawler during a 'terrific storm Friday morning. This snakes the aggre- gate number of saved, so far as is known, 150. Among the rescued are eight officers and six midship- men. The Daily Mail quotes front the Plymouth Mercury a detailed story -of the rescue of the two officers and fik men by the Brixham trawler Providence. The Providence was running for shelter from a gale, but was compelled to heave to off Start Feint, in Devonshire, which juts into the Channel ee miles south-east of Plymouth. The rescue was effected under dangerous and exciting circum- etanees. The crew of the trawler was amazed while running before the gale fur shelter to find a small, open boat driving under their lee through mountainous seas with an ear hoisted, bearing a. sailor's nett •£. After strenuous efforts those on the trawler succeeded in getting a rope to the e..utter and brought her with great skill to berth at their stern. The naval men began to jump aboard, but even then there was danger of losing men, as the seas were rising thirty feet high. After thirty minutes' labor, however, all were safely rescued. One lad of nineteen was so exhausted by ex- posure that he required immediate treatment to save his life. 'W'hen all had left the cutter her rope was cut as she was full of wetter, hav- ing a hole under her hull which had bean stuffed with a pair of trousers of which one man had di- vested himself for the purpose. Some of the rescued men had no trousers and these were eared for in' the warm engine room. The na- val men had been in the cutter for nearly twelve hours. The crew of food and tobacco among the be- numbed sailors. When 'they landed at Brixham the residents brought blankets, clothing and boc,ts forth? survivors and housed them in com- fortable quarters. Later. e, The British Admiralty issued Sim - day a. supplementary list of sur- vivors of the battleship Formidable which was sunk by a submarine off the Devonshire coast on Friday, bringing the number of those saved up. to 200 out of a. crew of 780. Fur- ther survivors who have reaelted Lyme Regis in Lyme Bay tell a terrible story of exposure and hard- ship in an open boat over which the seas dashed continually during a< twenty hours' buffeting by the, waves. Early Saturday anorning the police of Lyme Regis heard cries for help coming faintly from the sen. Soon afterwards they found a warship cutter on the chore,' containing forty Hien, all so ex- hausted that ,artificial respiration 't 9 necessary tir5 a n many eases, In spite tea ofimpossi- ble medical aid it was impussl ble to being nine of the men back to life. When the cutter left the Formid- able she had 60 men aboard, but during the long struggle with the gale twenty died and their bodies were east overboard to lighten the boat and give the living a better chance o£ escaping. At an inquest held in Lyme Regis, Master -at -ernes Cooper, of the Formiaable, said that after the explosion the vessel settled to :starboard and was oover- eel with debris. The hien in the cutter were so .scantily clad that even heavy work at the oars was. ineufiieient to keep them waren. Thelaunching of the beat in which these survivors left tha ves- sel was accomplished with the ut- most difficulty, The heavy seas rock- ed the battleship •eenstantly, and one boat was smashed against the bridge. Immediately after the laumehing the officer in charge shouted to the men to make for two liners whose Aphis were just visible seven miles away, but they were unable to find the liners. It was a terrible task to keep the boat head to - wind. Heavy seas were constantly break- ing over, and during the launching a big ole had been stove in herr stern. Commander Hewlett Rescued. A despatch from London says: The newspaper Aeroplane learns that two German destroyers ` were seen approaching the aeroplane of Flight -commander Francis Hewlett, son of Maurice Hewlett, the novel- ist, who was reported Missing after the recent aerial raid on Cux- haven, and that there is reason to believe that he was saved by the Germans, Caller—"So your sister and her sweetheart are very close mouthed over their engagement?" Little Ethel—"Close-mouthed ! You ought the trawler distributed hot coffee, to see them together!" iLilEIYLET OF THE WAR B ritish Public Cease Criticism --There to Fear An Invasion A despatch from Loudon says : Criticism of the Govermnent's war preparations which was rampant during the ea.rly stages of the war, has largely eo,asetl. - The. VT,ar Ofiiee has now enlisted' the seryices of business men with experience in carrying out big en- terprises to take part in the work" of supplying the array, and the liaborunions have volunteered to watch the execution of Govern- anent:i&entracts, not only to see that proper equipment and - rations are euppl edeto the soldiers, but to pre- vent "sweating. Arneld 'White, a promineet wri- ter and former colonial official,' has been ma,king a thorough inspection of the .training camps for the pur- poke of detecting any'scnndals and mismanagement. Having been - a bitter enemy oif the; Government, his s No Need 'mine of view was not prejudiced in i,ts. favor. He writes: "Having visited 36 •oamps in vari- ous parts of the country, I awn thor- oughly cheered . In the majority of cases baseness men are handling the difffen1t problems of war. Dwellers inland leave no conception of '.the. thoroughness; efficiency and silence with which the . War Office and the Admiralty have co-operated for the business oJ' preventing a German raid or invasion. The alarm that is still felt in some parts of these is- lands is wholly unjustified, because, firstly, the bus:me:es efficiency of the fleet under Jellxope has inoreased since the war began, and, secondly, because the practicalmeasures adopted by our military engineers; if generally known, would enable the timid to sleep quietly in their beds." Broad. Hint at Conscr tion in Britain A despatch from London says : A hint that 'the British Government ienteinplates the iatrodiidtion of. aonsoription for increasing the army and navy was dropped. by Thomas J. iMac ansaia, .Parnamen- Lary secretary to the ' Admiralty, �vlarle , aapeaki,nig at ; the Browning Settlement. Referring to the fa,ot thee there were many thousands of. young: Hien in the United Ki'ngdom without dependents < who had not', answered the call` bo the colors, Mr. Maonamia.ra •aid: "If they think oder are going. to enjoy., a life oif freedom alt the other fellows' expense they won't enjoy,it much 'lo'nger." The recruiting boom which Com- raencied after the " holidays contin- ues . 'As t!]re;eresuet:. of six open-air meetings at Cardiff, eaddeeseed by wounded soldiers, there isan ex- traordinary, rush to the reoruiting offices: U'ttENApi'iJ lJ t3xaf tN DZ AL 1 IIIT Mine -throwers are About the Gale' Porta ,et Artillery :Useful to the Enemy, A clespateh frond. Germany eayys The battle is now stationary at many parts of the long front in Poland. The rapid movements of the German .army forward and backegrd, with kaleiduseupic changes in the situation which hitherto have characterized' the war- fare in the East, have given place, for the time being at least, to a struggle a along a heavily -entrenched line of field fortifications resem- bling those in an France, The Germand Auetrien allies are in close contact with the army *f Grand Duke 'Nieho?as, ' but they are engaged in sapping instead of manoeuvring their way forward, During the fortnight, which a :fior- respondent ere the Associated Jrese spent at the front attached to one division in the battle line along the Rawka River, the operations were marked by advances of from 10 to 12 miles in a few places, but in gene eral the infantry is:fighting its way foot by foot with the aid of artil- lery support le these operations theartillery an i ^ h dmn mine -throwers are e t ro trumps instead of the oldiers' - legs. The mine -throwers are . particular- ly effective. Although the heavy artillery- is handicapped by wea- ther conditions and the short days, whieh wake observations and the direction of the Are possible only for short periods, the twine -throwers: are busy day and night hurling pro- jectiles of 200 pounds of high explo- sives from trench to trench at a range that is very effective. Dur- ing the comparatively short time one of these huge missiles is in view, wobbling through the air along an erratic parabola, the sight is most impressive. The projectile can he plainly followed 'with the eye, and the tension upon the men in the trenches as the bomb oomes nearer and nearer is.beyondall,eomparison to the effect caused by heavy artil- lery shells, whiolaare unseen until the explosion- throws up a column of earth and eeatters the fragments of the shell in all directions. 4 "I say, old chap, I'm in shocking luck. I want money badly and haven't the least idea where I can get it." "Well, I'm .glad to hear that. I thought perhaps you had. an idea you eould borrow from me," BALKAN U.0[ NOT . DISPERSED 4,1regi a Regards Bulgarian Attie tulle as a 7tenaee to-• Macedonia. A despatch from London says: The perseveting steps which have been take.a to bring about an un- der •tanding between the C'hristia:i Balkan States, and with the idea of securing the neutrality of Bulgaria, apparently have net met with com- plete st.c e.S, according to des- patches e -patches received in London frour the Near Eastern capitals, and Greece, Servia and Roumania are preparing fur eventualities. During a disenssion of the budget in the Greek Chamber of Deputies M. Theokotfs is reported to have deelared that the speech recently delivered by the Bulgarian Premier regarding; Macedonia. which Bul- garia eunsalered should have been reeled to her after the last Balkan War. constituted amenace, white the Greek Minister of Finance said that Greece was making urgent mili- tary preparations to maintain her liberated territory. Auu'ther despatch from Athens says that the Greek Government has forbidden the exportation of cer- e, u tits Q ur :cattle, , , fora a and arms. Should Bulgaria, contrary to ex- pectations, attack Servia with the object of recovering Macedonia, Greece, by her treaty obligations would, it is thought in political cir- cles here, come to the assistance of Servia, 'and the Balkan peninsula would be in throes of .a third war. Turkey apparently expects trou- ble, as the Ottoman Government has expelled the subjects of all neu- tral countries from the Darda- nelles. In ;Albania the rey4•lution is saki to be spreading, and the Italians, who oceupicd the seaport of Avlona, have sent, a battleship to Durazzo to proteot Italian interests at that Albanian port. 4 SE;iiI) MAIL BY ARROWS. Germans Canlisettrte Implements ['sect to Avoid Their Censorship. A despatch from Paris says : The Germans generally confiscated bows and arrows found in northern Bel- gium, where archery still flourishes. French humorists were aroused at this action at the time, but it ap- pears that the Belgians were using the arrows to shoot letters into Holland to avoid the German een- soorship. Portuguese Forces Were Defeated A despatch from Lisbon says: The Portuguese Government has sup- plied details of an engagement be- tween the Portuguese and German forces in Angola. The German ar- tillery attacked Fort Naukilla, and the Portuguese made a steady re- sistance to the enemy's entry, which tried to turn their left wing. The great numerical superiority of the. Germans obliged the Portuguese troops to retreat. Cavalry was en- gaged on both sides and there were many losses. Eight Portuguese offi- cers were killed and missing and one is a prisoner. Birtish War Prisoner Must Die A despatch from Copenhagen says: A Berlin message says that the German supreme war tribunal has sentenced a British war prisoner named Lonsdale to. death for as- saulting a German officer at the Doberetz ooncentra:tion camp. Lows: dale, in the first instance, was sen- tenced to ten years' imprisonment, but the military authorities' appeal for a. sentenoe :of capital punish- ment has been successful. Lons- dale, it is admitted,. did not hurt the officer, and the prison guard beat him off. Austrian Dreadnought Torpedoed A despatch to the London Daily. Mail from Venice Contains a report that a French •subm.arine boat has torpedoed the Austrian Dread- nought Viribus Unitis at Pols,. It is said the hull of the Dreadnought was pierced, but that she succeed- ed in reaching her dock. The Viri- bus. Unites is of 20,000 tons displace- ment, and has a complement of 1,000 men. She is one of the four ships constituting the largest type of the .Atestriam navy. IRSIIIPS. AT.TkCK file Allies flare Another Raid With Dirigibles and Aeroplanes on Metz and Other Points A despatch from Dunkirk says: In answer to the water plane raid on Cuxhaven German aereplanes on Wednesday raided Duukirk, and for more than half an hour were dropping bombs all over the town. According to returns already in, 15 people were killed and 32 wounded. The visiting fleet comprised four aeroplanes, both Taubes and Avia- tiks, which flew several times across the city, dropping bombs on each journey. Soldiers in the streets replied with vigorous rifle fire, but the aeroplanes sailed calmly on. One seemed to have been hit, .for he turned on his head and descended several hundred feet before right- ing himself, but all got safely away. The bombs fell first on one side and then on another. No sooner did one aeroplane seem to be departing than another arrived. The whole eity eracked with rifle shots and bombs, which threw up dense Outlets ds of o b 1 ticksm a - I.e. Buildings and windows were smashed in ll' directions .and tramway lines at one place were cut clear through. The first bomb fell on the fortifi- cations and two more near the rail- way station. Another landed in the Rue Caurnartin and another in the kitchen of the military: hospital. Another fell near the Town Hall, others int the RuesPierre and Nieu- port, and also near ,the arsenal. Two fell in the suburbs of Rosen deal on a jute factory. The cies- triets of Coudekeque and of Fumes also suffered, and many were wounded there. Ode child had an arm blown off, while another with an old woman was killed outright, being dreadfully disfigured. The bombs were filled with shrapnel, which pitted the wane and build- ings. A horse in the Rue Nieuport, close to the spot where a •bomb fell, was mutilated. British ambulances carried the sufferers to the hospital,; Some were dead on arrival there,' The fifth German aeroplane re- mained as sentry outside the town„ taking no part in the raid, but ' hold- ing in itself in readiness to attack any i of the allies' aeroplanes seeking to repel the invading fleet. IN FOliii'ARDING MAIL. any Letters Intended for Soldiers Abroad are Insufficiently Prepaid. It is found that a number of let- ters, post -cards, packets andother articles of mail addressed for de- livery in England, and on the Conti- nent, wore partieularly for mem- bers of the expeditionary force, are received at the General Post -office insufeeiently prepaid. Mail matter acldreesed to Cana- dian soldiers in France or else-; where an the Continent must be fully. prepaid at the usual postal union rates, which for letters is five eents for the first ounce:. and three eents for each additional ounce. In cases where -the senders of letters or newspapers or other articles of mail matter do not know whether the addressee is in England or abroad, the *lily way in which they Can be sure of it being fully pre- paid is to pay'the postal union rates on it, This ie for the reason that it is impossible to collect any sur- charges placed on an item of mail matter from the addressee if on ac- tive service. All insufficiently prepaid letters, post -cards and packets addressed tc the British expeditionary farce serving on the weer tinent will be rettit•ned to the senders. As to the rate of postage for par- cels addressed to the soldiers now at Salisbury Plains, or in active service, enquiry should be made at the General Post-omire or one of the postal stations. 4, Avoids Monotony. "Do you always leave a card when ,you rail f" "No; sometimes it's an um- brella." FRA10E BUILDSAIR FLEETS Large Divisions of Aeroplanes Will Operate, In- stead of Raids by a Pew Machines at a Time A despatch from New Yorks says: France is building two great fleets of aircraft, armed with oanron, darts and bombs, with which to in- vade' Germany in the spring, accor- ding to Pedro Chaps; a Mexican aviator, who, has been in Europe for the past four years, and who arrived here an the Cunard liner Carpathian. Hundreds• of armored biplanes, each carrying a small, cannon and bombs, and numerous monoplanes equipped with bombs and steel darts, will be ready to sweep across the German frontier when winter is passed, he said. The monoplanes are intended mainly for somal work, and will make a speed of 120 miles an hour. All the aero - panes will have a cruising radius of 130 miles from the frontiers, said Chapa, and their attack will not be in the farm of raids by a, few ma- chines as hitherto, but by large di- visioes. The aviators to man these machines are now being trained in several large cities for the purpose, he said. CANADJAN REMOUNT DEPOT Col. Grant, Morden R -tarns From Front, Where U , Narrowly Escaped a Bursting Shell A despatch from London says: Colonel Grant Morden of Montreal, formerly of Toronto, has returned to England. after see -evil weeks spent at the front. He has estab- lished a Canadian remount depot in France. Col, Morden hada narrow escape while he was in the trenches. A shell burst dose beside him, and his hearing has been temporarily impaired by the concussion. In a little French village within sound of the guns Princess Patricia's Light Infantry, the first of the Can- adian contingent to go to the front, are billeted, waiting their turn to go into the trenches. They were accorded a splendid reception, by their comrades in arms and the Frencb villagers. rt YK, • Armored Car to Go with Second oath) geiite RUSSIANS AGAIN INVADE. Czar's Troops Have Crossed the Carpathians by Four Passes. A despatch 'from- London says: Reports emanating from diplomatic sources in Ronne are that the Rus- sians have again ,crossed the. Car- pathians into Hungary. Four of the Mountain passes are said now bo be inthe possession of theforces- of Grand DukeNi•c+hola,s, which are at the heels of the Austrian army re- treating towards the p1ains to the southward. The opinion is held that, this new invasion of Hungary, rendered • pos- sible by the collapse of the Aus- tanan offensive an Galicia, will inake it inevitable for Field 1VIarshal von leiude.n•burg to drew off the German army with which he has been vainly trying to break down the Russian defences on"the Beare and Rawka. Rivers to the ,weet of Warsaw. With Hungary at the mercy of the C•oseeeks, and with all hope gone of the defenders of Cracow being' reinforced from the south, it is ex - heated that the German comman- der-in-chief will immediately find it necessary, to. 'transfer thegreater number of his troops from Poland in eedoe to defend the Silesee fron- tier from, invasion.'