HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1915-8-12, Page 6THE FIRST YEAR OF. THE WAR
Miter Estimates That Four Million Nen Have
Beau Killed or Died From Wounds
Perhaps the most outstanding phase
o the war at the end of its first year
(July 28) is its unprecedented horror,
and it shall be the object of this ar-
ticle to bring it before the mind, of
the reader as sharply and graphieaiiy
.as possible by the use of a number of
vivid illustrations and by the arrange-
ment of statistics .in a naval fashion.
These illustrations and statistics were
• compiled by A. E. Stillwell, an Am-
erican financier of renown, for use in
his book "To All the World,"
"In the French and German war of
1870 there were, in both armies, just
over 1,700,000 men engaged. The
mortality lists in both armies were
about 100,000 killed, or about 19 per
cent. which ignores the number that
died from wounds and exposures
within, say, six months of the con-
clusion of hostilities—about another 5
per cent, To be conservative, how-
ever, and err on the side of under-
estimation, we will say that the total
easualtiec mounted to 20 per cent of
the contending forces.
One -Fifth Meet Death.
"But how different is this war from
all others. The war of 1870 was de-
eidod within a few weeks, excepting
the siege of Paris, where hunger was
as groat a factor as shot and shell.
Also, it was fought entirely on land;
and. further, the implements then
used were by no means as destructive
as those now employed. There were
no dirigibles, no aeroplanes, no "76,"
and the Krupp guns were very infer-
ior'to those of to -day. Indeed, the
death rate could safely be estimated
at 20 per cent. We must remember
the causualties incident on sea en-
gagements and the destruction of the
merchant marine, deaths from hunger
and suicide among women unable
longer to beer the strain imposed
on them,
"To err on the safe side we will as-
sume that there are 27,000,000 men
in the armies and navies of the con-
tending nations, and that the death
rate will not be 20 per cent. as before,
but 15 per cent. This implies a list
of 4,00,000 men killed or dead from
wounds received—a very conservative
estimate. Twenty-seven million men
engaged in one war; while the total of d
all the men engaged in all the wars .e
of the world since 1793 is only 18,500,- i
Y
spent itself, and the nations are ap-
palled at the inereaeed taxes that
must be borne by every citizen of any
of the countries involved, we must not
forget the many men minus' arm and
legs, and with livings reduced to a
mere pittance. We must remember
else the 2,000,000 helpless wrecks, in-
sane, blind, wounded, dismembered, or
too ill ever to work again,
No Estimate of Anguish.
"One more illustration. Grant that
the average age of • the 4,000,000
either killed or dead from exposure
and disease was 30 years. The ex-
pectation of life at that age, accord-
ing to mortality tables issued by the
insurance companies, is another
thirty-five years. Calculating on this
basis, we have 140,000,000 years of
life that have been taken from the
world, leaving out of account the
ether 2,000,000 whose lives will pro-
bably be shortened by the privations
of campaigning. Altogether we may
say that the tax on years of human
life will amount to 200,000,000 years
snatched from the lives of young and
vigorous men.
"Perhaps the most tragic feature of
the war is the suffering of the wo-
men. Is it difficult to conceive of
their anguish? The mothers, bow-
ed with years, standing at the portals
of the next world, awaiting the last
call, their heads with halos of white
born from the long toil and sacrifices
for their loved ones; and now, when
peace should be their portion, their
manly sons, in answer to their eoun-
try's call, are taken from them to
fight in distant lands. Where are
they to -night? Perhaps suffering in
those mud -soaked, germ -producing
trenches, or shot or left dying alone
on the battlefield, Are their names
emong the missing? Are they dead,
buried in unknown graves? Are their
bodies floating, with hundreds of
others, in rivers and seas? Or have
they been burned on some obscure
field? The nights are long and al-
most drive them mad, and the morn-
ing brings no relief.
"Millions of women, too, are driven
from their homes by the advance of
the conquering force, or left in the
-strict with their homes utterly de-
troyed and themselves forced to herd
n fields and hedges with cattle. Sure -
their lot is far worse than that of
the soldiers in the trenches. He has
the Red Cross to attend him when he
is injured, because he is a fighting
unit, of value to the nation, fodder
for cannon, and they feed him and
care for him so that he may fight
again.
The Pensioner's Fate.
"Take the ease of the young wife.
Before her were years of hope. Her
usband was able to earn a good liv-
g, and their home was partly paid
or. One or more children have bless -
their union. How bright was the
ture with its store of years, its un-
odden paths, hopes and ambitions!
ow she is alone, with nothing to live
on but the beggarly pittance grant -
by the government. If her hus-
nd is killed out into the world she
must go—perhaps to starvation, the
uture a blank. Or he may return
her a helpless invalid, able only to
and watch her and his children in
ant."
These are the thoughts that must
come to one as the first anniversary
of the world's greatest war draws
near. And the end is not yet insight.
000. If the mortality lists of the
Present war run as high as 20 per
cent the loss of life will be commen-
surate with that of all the wars of
the last 122 years.
A Grewsome Picture.
"Let us look more closely at this
picture of slaughter. The average
width of a man's head from ear tip to
ear tip is about nine inches, Suppose
that the heads of all the killed were
placed together in a line, each head h
cevering a space of twelve inches. in
This would mean 4,000,000 feet of
heads—say, 800 miles—forming a hu -
ed
man hedge from London to Berlin. Re- fn
member, these are not the heads of tr
the weak and sickly and useless, but, N
in 90 per cent of the cases, the heads 111,1;
of youth and strength, the flower of e"
their respective nations.
"Let us regard it from another
angle. Say that the average height ,f
of each soldier is 5 feet 9 inches. If to
each one of the dead were lined up, sit
occupying six feet of space, they w
would 'form a line 4,800 miles long,
rear one-fifth of the world's circum-
ference. If the average speed of a
train be thirty miles per hour, that
train would require nearly six days,
punning continuously, to pass this
line. Again, if these 4,000,000 dead
were laid in rows of 500 and stacked
body on body in tiers, the stack
would be over a mile and a quarter
high.
"Take another illustration. Say
that four feet is the distance from
tip to tip of the outstretched hands of
the average person. We may take it
that 50 per cent of there dead are
married, and, on this basis, if all the
widows caused by the war were to
join hands the line resulting would
be 1,500 miles long.
"Bach of the dead no doubt had one
parent living, which gives us 4,000,000
bereaved parents, who, grouped in the ero
same way, would form a line 3,200mo
miles long. Then there will be at 3,200i
ed
least 4,000,000 fatherless children,' Bu
who,by joining hands, would stretch not
for 2,400 miles. Thus we have a total' ton
of .7,200 miles of mourners—wives, eno
parents and children. wi
"These illustrations are undoubted- few
ly . ghastly to contemplate, but if the un
victims could endure the suffering and pea
death that came to them in battle sug
Jac
GUN COTTON BAIT FOR FISH.
British Soldiers Got Idea From Shell
Explosion in Water.
A part of the equipment of some
British cavalrymen just returned to
France from a few days' furlough in
England is a fishing rod and several
varieties of floats, But there are
others who prefer to fish for the pot
in more sudden and ruthless manner.
Their method is very different, They
operate in those parts of the canals
where roach and dace are thought—
not always with reason—to be num-
us. The .. final attack, as in all
dern aggressive operations, is open -
by the expenditure of explosives..
t in this ease the expenditure is
great. A small wad of guncot-
neatly exploded under water is
ugh to account for all the fish
thin a considerable radius; and a
moments after the discharge the
dersides of the roach and dace ap-
r on the surface. The idea was
$gested by the accidental havoc
oth among the fish by a certain
k Johnson,
New Cutlery Cannot Stain.
surely the reader can endure to con-
template these conditions.
Shocking Total, Maimed.
"It is estimated that 1 per of
the men engaged will lose one or both E
arms, and that thesame proportion wo
lose one or both legs. Let us hu
figure, however, that less than one- Mei
half of 1 per cent of these 27,000,000 com
will be deprived of an arm and the one
same number of a leg. The average
length of, the human arm is eighteen
inches. Even at this modest figur-
ing if each amputated hand could
grasp the stump of the next the re-
sult would be thirty miles of arose. mal
If the Iegs were similarly placed they oug
would extend' for forty miles; and But
arms and legs, lining each side of the ous
road, would reach from London to the � con
sea, + the
"Wlrratt tho present c to 1 1 1
very device which helps to relieve
omen of the great and continual
*den .of maintaining the home as a
ng concern should be heartily wel-
ed, and, Sir Chiozza Money says,
of the best things that have been
TRADING IN THE TRENCHES, c�
iritish and German Exchange Tea �.Qle�n ItalyPriv2n Uniform
for Cigars,
War has occaeional amenities that
modify its horrors, as the following
story, told by one of the actors there-
in, gees to show, The tale appeared
in the London Daily News, Its truth
is vouched for by that newspaper:
A white flag rose slowly from a
German trench, and moved itself
about to attract attention. British
rifles in the trench across the way
were at once fixed on it. A, hand ap-
peered, beneath the ling. Then came
an arm and a head, and presently their
owner, a German captain of infantry,
clambered from the trench. He flap-
ped the white flag, and advanced
slowly but confidently. When he was
twenty yards away, he was ordered to
halt. He did, and a British officer in-
quired his business.
The German answered in perfect
English, "I want to have a few words
with you chaps. I want to ask a fa -
von"
"What are those parcels under your
arms, then? What are they for?"
"Don't worry about them," said the
German, He was warned that rifles
covered him. The defenders of the
trench could not risk having explo-
sives hurled among them.
The German captain reached the
British trench and jumped down.
"I've come to beg some tea," he ex-
plained. "We haven't had a cup of
tea for a fortnight. Our supply has
gone wrong. Give us some of yours,
and you can have these two boxes of
cigars. They're fine cigars, too. You'll
like 'ern. I'm in the trade. Before
the war I'd been in the business for
more than a dozen years in London, in
a shop on Bond Street."
So they made him welcome, and
invited him' to have tea with them
then and there,—they were just pre-
paring it,—and he stayed, and they
all talked of London, and nothing
about the war. Afterward, they gave
him a pound or two of tea, and he got
out of the trench and was returning
to his own.
A few yards off, he tarned back and
called out, "Any of you likely to be
seeing London shortly?"
A soldier replied, "Yes, I expect to
go home there on leave in a day or
two,"
"Well, would you mind calling on my
wife—she's there with our six chil-
dren—and telling her how you saw
me, and that I am unhurt and well?
You know how hard it would be for me
to get a letter through. She hasn't
heard from me."
"Certainly, I will. What's the ad-
dress?"
"Number — Holloway Road,"
"Did you call?" asked a friend of
the soldier, when he related the story
here in London.
"0f course. It was no trouble. His
wife lived next door to my mother in
Holloway Road."
THE LOST FORTUNE.
An Old Spanish Woman Met With a
Great Calamity.
In "Quiet Days in Spain," Mr. C.
Bogue Luffman tells of a great cal-
amity that befell his landlady, an old
Spanish woman named Maria. Like
most women, Maria longed to be rich.
Out of her ten pesetas of board money
a week, she contrived to save, and
bought a setting hen and a dozen
eggs. In due time ten or twelve chicks
appeared, and Maria grew to be as
independent as she was overjoyed.
She neglected me in the most brutal
fashion, says Mr. Luffnean, and made
no better excuse than that she must
attend to her "children," which cer-
tainly were a fine lot. Quite a new
language came to her with the feath-
ered tribe, and she used to forget her-
self so far as to talk to me as if I
were one of them; then when she saw
me laughing and remembered her
mistake, she would spurn me with
something like, "Bah! You're only a
barren old rooster!"
One morning, at peep of day,
Maria burst into my room, -and with
a horribly wailing moan threw her-
self at the foot of my bed and col-
lapsed. I got up, and laid her on
the floor. As she breathed heavily
and champed her mouth, I concluded
she was in a fit. I undid her dress
at the throat, and tried to bring her
round, but got no more result than a
horrible fit of crying. She lay for an.
hour or more in this state, and show-
ed no signs either of getting better
or dying. outright. I took a can, the
domestic utensil of the country that
is used for cooling the floor in hot
weather, and with this I watered her,
first on the head and chest, and then
all over. It made no difference. She
sighed, cried, and rolled about as if
in great mental rather than physical
agony; and I became aware that she
knew of my presence, and how I was
behaving, but either could not or u
t
oi
would n stop her tears. w
This mad grief went on for three b
solid days and nights. What I got to d
eat doesn't matter. All that I romem-{ r
i her is that I was so utterly worn out h
from the starving, and the unreason -1T
! able yells and complaints of Maria. b
Then almost on a sudden she eeemed1s
recover and regain her speech. The: w
ry first words she uttered were, a
Ah, I never had but one chance to
else a fortune and now that is tak- h
from mei" f was still in the dark,' i
but the dawn soon appeared. The w
cause of all this trouble was soon to h
be made plain. Maria had got up as
usual at daylight, to find that a wolf
or lynx had come in the night and car-
ried oft the hen and all her precious T
._. - r33JSIBBRO
irbe Crown Prince in the uniform ofj
an Italian naval officer. j
A PRAYER FOR THE NATIONS.
Very Appropriate for This Time in
the World's History.
Almighty God, Maker of Heaven
and Earth, Ruler of the Universe,
Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and
End of All, we humbly come before
thine August Presence, we bow in the
dust at Thy feet, we confess our great
and many sins, we beseech for Thy
mercy and Thy pardon. Teach us,
Great God, the meaning of the tumult
of the nations. Why are the light-
nings of Thy wrath poured out? Why
doth Thy fierce anger burn, why are
the people consumed, why the agony,
the bloodshed, the misery, the horrible
whirlwind of passion, revenge, hatred,
raging in the souls of men
Great God, speak clearly, we be-
seeth Thee, let Thy people know
the meaning of this Thy day of ven-
geance. Surely Thou bast been
most merciful in the past, surely Thou
has led Thy children in a plain path
by the hands of Thy servants, surely
the teachings of Thy Holy Son is
plain. Through Him Thou hast
taught us to love Thee with our heart,
our soul and our strength, because
Thou hast first loved us and hast
sent Him as the token of Thy love.
Through Him Thou hast taught us to
love our brother as ourselves.
Great God, how have we learned
the lesson! With deep humility we
confess our sin. In place of love we
hate. We have broken Thy law; we
have followed our own will, not
Thine; we have forgotten our bro-
ther's needs; we have let sin triumph
over us and reign within our souls;
we have defiled Thy temple; we have
desecrated Thy holy place; we have
altogether turned aside from Thee;
we have proved ourselves unworthy
of Thy love. And now, too late, in
this the day of Thine anger we re-
member, alas! Thou art the same
unchangeable, unchanging God. Thou
are Jehovah of Hosts, as well as
Heavenly Father, Thou dost hate sin,
Thou dost punish terribly those who
will not repent, Thou doth annihilate
those who will not heed Thy warn-
ings.
And now, Great God, we beseech
Thee that by the power of Thy grace,
by the love of Thy Son, open the eyes
of the people. Let them see Thine
anger, let them hear the thunder of
Thy Voice, let them feel the lightning
of Thy wrath until all men shall say,
verily, there is a God in Heaven; veri-
ly, His Will shall be done on earth;.
verily, there is no hope for mankind
except in obedience to Thee. We be-
seech, of The, Great God, not to stem
the torrent of Thine anger, but that
quickly the world may. learn' the aw-
ful lesson of its folly and may turn
to the living God; whom to know is
light and joy and peace, now and
ever-more.—Amen and Amen.
A SIR JOHN FRENCH STORY,
Shows the Kindness of the British
Commander -in -Chief.
This story illustrates in the best
possible manner the solicitude for his
men which is characteristic of Sir
John French. During a surprise visit
behind the firing line the British Com-
mander -in -Chief carne upon a boy
Territorial who was in the act of writs
ing a letter. Sir John French was
surprised to see he was sobbing bit-
terly as he wrote, and questioned
him as to the cause of his grief, The
lad, taken unawares, made attempts
to overcome his emotion and stam-
mered out some sort of excuse, but
the Field Marshal was not to be put
off, and speaking kindly, insisted on
towing what was the matter, There-
pon the boy produced a letter, It
as a tragic letter from a younger
rother in England, telling him of the
eath of their mother following the
eceipt of an unofficial report that
er son had been killed at the front.
he family, it appeared, was in hum-
le circumstances. General French
ent the Territorial home on three
oeks'leave, He gave him, moreover, th
substantial sum to help to pay the en
neral expenses, and he dismissed th
im with the words, "Bless you, my th
oy. Your mother at any rate died s
ith the satiefaction of knowing that m
er son did his duty,' th
H•
It's easier to point than to plod.
invented in this connection is the new to
stainless steel. Knives made of it ve
have not to be cleaned in the old,: "
dirty way; they merely have to be , m
wiped. Many British firms are now' ei
GREATER THAN ITS RULERS, FINANCING—THE—WA
The Victory Must Come to Brits
'Through IIind, Will and Soul.
This country is greater than
rulers even yet suspect,' Its
measurable reeolution to hold on, fig
harder and conquer will perhaps now
be known until some one serioua
hints that failure may be approa
ing, or suggests that we should I
go, says the London Observer. The
indeed, those who have doubted
,see, and the Germans will see. Brit
will find herself with a vengean
Britain will know if need hew to fi
leadership worthy of her b' puttin
her whole Government into the han
of the half' a dozen men who uncle
stand the conduct of war, and are ea
able of directing an empire,
As the psychology of our own d
mocracy is one of those imponde
able forces that Bismarck alwa
tried to reckon with, we make n
apology for dwelling on it, This wa
in one sense a war of mechanis
Its mechanical appliances wrought
the utmost pitch of destructive in
genuity that modern technique ca
devise are yet but implements. The
are higher tools, but in the hands o
"the tool -using animal" they are tool
no less than the rudest flints first use
in fight by primitive man, It nee
no saying that we must move heave
and earth to overhaul the enemy
his continued advantages of produc
tion and to secure for ourselves an
our allies an equal and ultimately
superior equipment of war. Neve
theless, when everything else has' bee
superadded, the issue will be deter
mined not by the machines, but b
the character of their wielders.
The victory must come to
through mind, will and soul. If w
were inferior in these nothing coul
save us. In our capacity for thes
we are inferior to no race on earth
and it is time for this truth to shine
out again, as in the first phase of the
war. Nothing can endanger us, but
the lack at the top of power, energy
and decision worthy of the temper of
a people who when fitly led are worthy
yet of the forebears who won Milton's
thrilling praise. Now, as in the days
of Cromwell and Chatham, Britain is
ready for heroic leadership, and de-
mands nothing less. We are certain
that the thing will come with the
need, but the true touch and accent of
heroic leadership are only known
when, in the very hour of difficulty,
the spirit of indomitable courage, ex-
ertion and resolve are breathed into a
whole people by men who scorn weak
concealment and seek strength from
the full and square fronting of ems
ergency. Never in a crisis of war was
a great nation fully roused by any
other method. It is urgent to have
recourse to it now.
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WAR STAMPS.
Slightly Higher Price Than the Pre-
vailing Postal Rate.
The first sets of postage stamp
made by any of the European coun-
tries containing war scenes has just
been issued. They have been issued
by Austria. While available for post-
age, they are really charity stamps,
as. they are sold at a price slightly
higher than the prevailing postal
rate.
There are five stamps in the set,
their respective values being 3, 5, 10,
20 and 35 heller, the Keller of Austria
being equal to the German pfennig,
about one-quarter of a cent. The
stamps are oblong in shape, neatly
engraved with the war scene In an
oval surrounded by the words, "Kris-
erliche Konigniche Osterreichiche
Post"—the imperial and royal Aus-
trian post.
The 3-heller stamp is purplish in
color, with a view showing fighting
in the trenches. The 5-heller stamp
is green with a cavalry scene.:The
10-heller stamp is red, showing one
of the big howitzer guns being pre-
pared for firing. The 20-heller stamp
is a dull blue green with a war ves-
sel of the dreadnought type, and the
35-heller stamp is ultramarine in coI-
or with a beautifully engraved view
of an aeroplane in flight.
The figures of value are in the
corners at the bottom of these stamps
with the additional charity tax value
in the centre. The 3-heller stamp re-
presents an additional value of 1
heller, the 5 and 10 heller stamps have
an extra value of 2 heller, and the
two highest values have an addition-
al value of 3 hellers over the regular
postal rate.
These stamps do not supersede the
regular postage stamps.
'1
Berlin's Plans 45 Years Ago.
Speaking at Chestsey, England, on
the 2nd inst„ the Earl of Meath said
that the war was going to be a long I
one. It was one of the mistakes we °
had made to think it would be short.
Year age he was'
Years g in diplomacy, and
had special opportunities of knowing
that the war was coming on. Forty i
years ago Germany was determined r
to snatch the supremacy of the sea
from Great Britain. He was in Bri-
tain forty-five year's ago, and he knew 0
then what was going to happen. He E
remembered the saying of Bismarck, T
w ho applied it to any nation, namely,
at they were going to bleed their
envies white, and leave them only,
sir eyes to weep with. Ile urged
e necessity of military training in
r--
A Comparieon,of the Methods Adopt-
ed by Germany and Those of
England,
The minuteness and detail of Ger.'
neon misrepresentations are quite ex-
traordinary, and one is not surprised
to find that they have taken consider-
able trouble to mislead the public on
this continent into the belief that the
condition of their national finances is
in some wax superior to that of the
British Empire, In point of fact the
two positions are scarcely a subject
for comparison, but are' clearly a mats
ter for contrast:
German Methods
of `war finance are curiously like their
conduct of the war itself. They are
based on the supposition that Ger-
many must win, If and when she is
defeated, and defeated she assuredly
will be, and instead of receiving war
indemnities she has to pay them, the
financial confusion cannot fail to be
appalling. From the days when cer-
tain of our early English kings "clip-
ped" the, coinage to make their store
of gold and silver go further, debase-
ment and inflation of currency have
been the familiar incidents of clever
but desperate national finance.
By the exercise of great pressure
the German Government have accu-
mulated in the Reichsbank some
8120,000,000 of Gold.
This seems to have been skilfully and
effectively done, and undoubtedly
there is extremely little gold in Ger-
many apart from this well advertised
store, But of the Reichsbank notes
alone there are issued some. £270,000,-
000 and in addition to that an un-
known amount of
Notes Issued' by the Government
against which no gold at all is held.
This is complete mobilization dear to
the German mind and terribly ef-
fective for the first blow, but leaving
no "unseen reserve,"
Probably the debts "on balance" due
by German bankers to London and
Paris, together with interest on
loans necessarily unpaid during the
war, all of which automatically fall
due on the conclusion of peace, amount
to a total far exceeding the sum of
Germany's gold, so that the appear-
ance of strength given by skilful mo-
bilization disappears under. analysis.
It is necessary to remember that
Germany is almost entirely
Deprived of All Foreign Trade.
She is in effect, together .with Austria-
Hungary, reduced to almost complete
financial and commercial isolation.
Under these conditions, and so tang
as they last, various things are pos-
sible that will become quite impos-
sible immediately that relations with
the outside world are resumed. For
example, the forcing of all gold into
the hands of the official band, the en-
tire draining of all the ordinary re- r
positories of gold coin, has two im- p
portant effects. First of all it gives p
an impressive sound to the bankers
represented and the Reichsbank's re-
serve. In the second place it deprives d
the new paper currency of competi- s
tion with coin. In that way, if the
matter is conducted with the' skill of s
which German organizers are thor-` u
oughly capable, there is to reason why h
during the war, it should not remain u
at what might be considered par, for s
LATEST GERMAN, )'a
'I SUBMARINES
THEY ARE NOTHING LESS THAM
SUBMERGED CRUISERS;
They have Ingeniously Mounted 4-
Inch Quick -Firing
Guns.
That the latest German submarines
are practically submerged light cruis-
ers and earry guns which make them
fully as formidable in offensive 90
vessels of the latter class is the state-
ment made by a' leading English au-
thority on nave matters..
"When the war broke out,'" he -said,
"Germany, like the other sea powers,
had a certain number of submarines
that carried guns. These, however,
were small weapons. The Calibre of
the piece and the way in which it
was mounted made it ineffective for
such purposes as sinking a ship.
Really, these • submarines, weapons,
whether placed outside the boat or
on a rising carriage, were :little more
than experiments.
"Germany is now using much larger
submarines, and these are armed
with a 4 -inch quick -firing gun, which
bears about the same relation to the
earlier submarine weapons that the
17 -inch howitzer does to the ordinary
field pieces,
Ingeniously Mounted.
"In addition to introducing this big
gun into their submarines, the Ger-
mans have mounted it in a very in-
genious manner,, Gun, platform,.
etc., are careied snugly inside the
boat while she is cruising, and the
method of bringing it into action is
very quick and efficient. Two men
take their seats on the elevator plat-
form beside the gun, A pull on a
lever, and the platform shoots up,
carrying the gun' with it.
As it rises from the boat the gun
Iifts off a hatchway, which automati-
cally forms a protective shield for
the gun and the men who work it.
One of these men trains the weapon
around to whatever direction is re-
quired, while the other elevates or
depresses and'alto fires it. Another
pull of the lever, and down drops the
gun again, the hatchway closes auto-
matically above it, and the submarine
is ready to dive.
"For attacking merchant vessels
this 4 -inch gun comes much cheaper
than torpedoes would, and in some
ways it is more effective. A torpedo
costs thousands of dollars, and it
may -Hiss its mark. Scores of Ger-
man torpedoes have done so. But a
round for a 4 -inch gun costs little,
and if the first shot fails a second
can be sent quickly after it,
Long Range Guns.
"Besides "this, the gun has a long
ange. It fires a thirty -one -pound
rojeetile with sufficient velocity to
enetrate ten inches of iron at close
range, which means that the shell
will carry a long way, and it is more
ifficult for a ship to escape from a
ubmarine thus armed than from
one using torpedoes only, particularly
o as the Germans have adopted for
se in their submarines a torpedo that
as a short range but carries an un-
sualiy powerful charge of explo-
ive."
the simple reason that it has nothing
with which it can be compared. One
indication from outside that is visible
in respect of the effects of an exclu-
sively paper currency is that so far.
as foreign exchange is concerned Ger-
man bills are at a
Discount of Some Fifteen Per Cent.
One thing, and one thing only, could
rescue Germany from a condition dan-
gerously like national insolvency, and
that is success sufficiently decisive to a
enable her to exact heavy indemni- e
ties. Anything short of that would
not only fail to avert•financial disas-
ter little short of ruin, but would
leave an industrial and commercial w
situation of unparalleled and almost a
insurmountable difficulty.
The British Position fo
3
MANSION NOW A HOSPITAL.
Roehampton House Shelters Men Who
Have Lost Limbs.
Roehampton House, England has
now been altered into a military hos-
pital for the exclusive use of soldiers
and sailors who have lost one or more
of their limbs in the war. It is known
s one of "Queen Mary's Convales-
ent Auxiliary Hospitals," and its
chief interest lies in the peculiar ser -
ice it is to render.
Only soldiers and sailor's whose
wounds are healed are to be accepted
t the hospital and there they will re- '
ain during the long period necessary
r the fitting of an artificial limb.
It has been 'computed that up to
June 17 last no fewer than 674 limb-
less men have been discharged from
the service, and that figure takes 00
account of the men now in hospital
or those maimed in the Dardanelles
fighting.
d•
PROUD OF JOFFRE.
House Where General Was Born Still
presents an almost complete contrast
to the German. First, there has been
no complete mobilization of gold and
no systematic effort to force gold from
private persons into the Bank of
England. Second, the total of notes
issued for all purposes is much more
than covered for 8 by the gold in
the Bank of England. Third, besides
all this gold there remains a large
amount in the hands of the banks
other than the Bank of England, and
the general public. In other words
British finance is definitely on a gold
basis. The British Empire is finane-
ng the war by borrowings from its
vim people on a legitimate
Interest-bearing Basis,
andthe lseof
n at close the war there need
be no confusion, but an ascertainable
acreage in public debt and revenue
equirements,
This deseriptibn will on the whole
adequately apply to Canada and the
ther great dominions of the British
mpire.—By A. J. Gihzebrook, in
oronto Deily News,
ring the stainless cutlery, and it
ht soon to be in universal use,
apparently the trade is. not desir-
of bringing about this welcome
summation, on the ground that as
new cutlery lasts longer less cut -
will be required in the future.
Is
cheels, and asked why the Govern-
ent asked for boys of fifteen to sign
e register unless it was that they P
realized the war was going to last
three years.
But few men ever grow up. mer--
hat's why the world is full of human'
I i p
1 children. guide osis
Ambiguous.
Uncle Sol threw aside the letter
e was reading and uttered an ex-
clamation of impatience,
"Doggone!" he cried, "why can't
eople be more explicit 2"
"What's the matter, pa?" asked
Aunt Sue.
"This letter from home," Uncle Sol
nswerod, "says father fell out of
ho old apple tree and broke a limb,"
Stands.
Rivesalted is a small village in the
Pyrenees Orientales, the French Cat-
alan. The mountains are high, the
people are picturesque. It was here
that Gen. Joffre was born. Ask' him
should the opportunity arise: "Where,
General, do you come from?" and he
will answer, as he has on one occa-
sion on record: "1 am a Catalan of
It is in the Roussillon that the wine
Roussillon."
of that name is'made. The village of
Perpignan lies near by, On the edge
of the district lies Rivesaltes, proud
that it is the birthplace' of the 'great
French General.
The house still stands where he
was born, one of eleven children whose
father Was a working cooper. But
Joffre was educated by an uncle at
Perpignan. The uncle loved mathe-
matics and so he loved the young Jof-
fre, who at so early an age left his
playmates to solve arithmetical
tangles. Even then he was taciturn,
as he is to -day, which perhaps es -
counts for the brief response, "I am
a Catalan of .Roussillon,"
5