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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1914-12-18, Page 5OU tari 3, 2:a eric rate ORA aria .te 3tor ; t e la ou ;pita res wnit th clip Dru uric Ha Nhol Inca Brie nd aye igen e an dojo y, ala 0. f hot 0 shi sd Eig ak ............ GERMATI REAMS PLIGHT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DELUDED BY THE WAR CHIEFS. Business Men and Financiers Ku War Has Snapped 'Nation's •Prosperity. on' Ot, ng th th nd an rs rs p - es Y, re e, rs r- ic Thd h e e d d e Copenhagen Copenhagen corresponde 47.lf the London Times sends an inte view with a distinguished bank of a. neutral country, whose lo standing business relations wi Germany required him to ape eeven weeks in that counti-y r cently. "It would he a grave fallacy' • the banker says, "to judge Germ affairs by the German newspape of to -day. They -must not only su press what tate Government do not want printed, but are require to :publish that, and that onl which the Government lays befo them. Everything, for instars tendieg to suggest that the rigo of war are slowly but surely unde mining the national economic fabr is strictly oontrabrand." The banker's contact with Ge anon bankers and business men eon vinced him that they realize no that "Germany has been plunge into a tragic and pathetic adven tare." "Even the great industrialists o Rhineland - 'Westphalia, thoug many of their works are occupied i the production ef war materials te a wholly unprecedented extent," h says, "are depressed and melan c1toly over the awful struggle inn which Germany has been precipitat ed. They are men who cannot b deluded lv official optimism an blaster. They are men accustome to deal with facts. Assured of Suctess. "The General Staff told the great captains of industry, who in Ger- many are a hardly less important factor in the conduct of a war than the staff itself, that the plan of tam- paign, reduced to essentials, was this : We shall smash France with- in three weeks, then wheel about and deliver Russia a knockout ;blow before she has had time to com- plete her mobilization. Belgium will offer only the resistance of sul- lennees. England will not 'come in' at all. The German Govern- ment had the positive assurance of leading Englishmen to that, effect. 'Well, this hammer and tongs programme has not been successful. Cogs have slipped at numerous vital points. Belgium's resistance, •to be- gin with, was more than sullen. England did come in. Paris Nvas not occupied .by August 25, and Reissia„ far from being "kuoeked out,' has not even reeled. Not a single one of the General Staff's abjectives has been attained. Checkmated in all directions, Ger. many has little but an enormou. death roll to counterhaLance the terrific effort the first hundred dap of war have cost her. "These are the immutable things which thinking, business Germans see and know. They realize that, thanks to a very far seeing econo- Inie and financial organization, their trade and commerce have thus far, barring the annihilation of the Gernian merchant marine, been dislocated perhaps to no greater ex- tent than the trade and commerce of their enemies. They look across the Atlantic and see that even America, as could not be otherwise in a real world war, feels the blight of Europe an.d Asia' e colossal blood Ietting. But what German indite - trial leaders also realize is that prelongation of the war into months and years must spell event- ual ruin. Effect Not Shown Yet. "I could see. no signs that Ger- many, as yet, has actually felt the effect. of her great adventure. But the cumulative effect of the oondi- tions which war brings, especially now that intelligent Germane know it is to be a prolonged struggle, measured at its full value. It is becoming increasingly plain to them that they cannot win. "A military nation trained from the 'cradle up to believe in the might of numbers must, viewed merely from that standpoint, now see that the odds are overwhelmingly agaiast them. "Men like Bailin. and Heineken, Whose liners have been swept from the seas as if by some all devastat- ing hurricane; people like the tex- tile magnates of Westphalia .and Saxony, whose looms are silent hen no more American cotton an be imported; ironniasters , like Krupp, Theasea and Stinues; elec- rical .tiagnates like Rathenatt and the ,Sitieonone-Schuckerts, who know 77 The Kaiser and the Crown Prince ISE Bad News From the Front. learn that war is not what it was cracked up to be.—"Frise," in To- mato Star Weekly. what uninterrupted supplies of staple raw stuffs from abroad, such as ,copper and petroletun, mean; bankers like Von Gwinner and Fur- stenberg, who know the have which the financing of war and stoppage of exports work to German credits at home and abroad, these men are under no delusion. as to what the war is doing and will do, the more it develops into a. protracted, vic- toryless affair of mere give and take on three er four vast firing lines. "They are immensely patriotic, all of them. They cannot truthfully be described as downhearted or hopeless. 7,hey are not grumbling. But neither can they ;be said to be even remotely cheerful over the ul- timate prospect. The war has not yet, sapped the prosperity at the zenith of which business Germariy found itself three and a half months ago. But war has terribly jeopard- ized prosperity. 'A man cannot tarry long in Ger- many these days without having it borne in upon him with what fere- cious fury all elasses of the popula- tion hate England. England is blamed for the collapse of the Gen- eral Staff's grand plan of eampaign. England is depicted as 'the one and only foe.' The 'great settlement' is to come eith her." Servian Monuments. Servia is becoming a country of monuments. Among the peasants a custom prevails of honoring rela- tives slain in battle by the erection of a block of wood, in which is rude- ly -carved a bas-relief of the depart- ed. These monuments are .erected near the soldier's home, when it is impossible to place them on the field where he fell. As the Servian heroes are now falling in the en- emy's territory, the monaments are necessarily raised in their homes, and very few farms are to be found to -day in which at least not one of these crude carvings is not. to be seen They are usually painted in vivid reds and lolues. Above the head of the wooden figure is an in- scription giving the soldier's name. +-- Going Into Bathe. A favorite story of a famous gen- eral, who is now dead, was of two soldiers in a well-known Scottish regiment, one- of whom was going into battle for the first time. The crack of rifle fire was heard in front, and the bullets began to fly. The recruit, feeling that his hour had come, Shouted to his mate in . the first "Dirma hole Geor- die, I'M ahind ye!" Men boast ot their bravery when they resist a small temptation. Mr. Bingham—Why did that we man keep you standing et the door for half an hour? His Talkative Wife --She said she hadn't time to come in If UNUSED GERMAN NAll'f,„itieththetbienenmeo navy lawembodied wrandtlm ..eeee the Navy bill of 1900. This illumi- nating document was .apparently .. prepared by Grand Admiral Von ' Tirpitz, the Naval Secretary. The firet paragraphs are of particular importance in the light of recent events: 'A naval. war for economic in- terests, particularly for commercial interests, Will probably be of long duration, for the aim of a superior opponent will he an, the more eom- pletely reached The Longer the War Lasts. COST FATHERLAND A BILLIO AND A HALF DOLLARS. Have Been Building Fleet for Fif- teen Years, But It Fears to Make a Sore. An article, which will reassure those who are perturbed by the occasional losses of the British navy, appears -in the Fortnightly Review, by Mr. Archibald Hurd, entitled, "No Naval Battle—Why "Our margin of safety at sea has indeed increased since hostilities opened,'' says Mr. Hurd. "Instead of the enemy wearing down our superiority we have increased his inferiority. "When the war opened we were almost in the propartion of two nr) one against Germany; we have not lost even in the proportion of one to one, and we have passed a larger number of new ships into c.ommissioan "After nearly three months o war we are aetually stronger ut material than we were, and •the chances of German or Austro-Hun- garian fleets endeavoring to resume the use of the seas has ,decretteed. "We have every day about four thousand ships moving on the oceans, engaged in trade; we have hundreds of transports bringing to our ,aid the military strength of the Empire: we have maintained our postal and telegraphic eommunicae none with the 'Utternioet Parts of the Earth. "All these benefits. the enemies have abandoned; they have evacu- ated the seas. "The German navy at the out- break of war represented the cunni lative results of fifteen years of rising expenditure. The extent of the sacrifice made by the German people in response to the .demands Of the Government oan only be ade- quately appreciated if the move- ment be studied in its financial as - peen "If we take full aCC01113tof all the avenues of expenditure, reveal- ed and unretealed, it may be as- sumed that upon the effective Ger- mall fleet an aggregate •SUM of not less than iea00,000,000 has herr spent. •"Germany attained the second place among the great naval pow- ers, but in the rneaatime, owing to our unrivalled shipbuilding facili- ties, we had been enabled to rein- force our supremacy. Consequent- ly in relation to Great Britain, Ger- many •at, the outbreak of war was. actually Weaker on the seas than ehe was three or four yeare befere. • "What were the German people led to anticipate that their fleet would achieve? We have an officio.; statement of Germany's ambitious, To this must be added that a, naval war which, after the destruction or shutting up eaf the German sea fighting force, was confined to the blockade of the coast and the cap - tare of merchant ships, would cost the opponent little; indeed, he would on the contrary, amply co ver the expenses of the war by the simultaneous improvement of his own trade. " 'An unsueceseful naval war of the duration of even only a year would destroy Germany s sea, trade, and'would thereby bring about the most disastrous oondthens, first. in p f her .eooneenic, and then, as an im- mediate consequence of that in her site social life.' "Grand Admiral von Tirpitz was sufficiently innocent to kaRsu me that what was would always be, and b hence the assumption that 'a great c naval power will not, as a rule, be in position to bring all its stiik- ing forces against us.' Not only did the greatest naval power carry INNIS FROM WISH COAST BLUNDERS Olt BA:REHR WHAT THE WEST ERN PEOPL ARE DOING. r gress ot the Great West Tole to a Few PointedPiaragrj,bs. Paragraphs.," Bert Calembell, of Vancouver, *as sentenced to two years in prison for forgery. The United Fruit Growers of Vernon, may ship se. :carload of Okanagan apples to the Belgian refugees in England. The ore from the gold -producing property of Louis Haws at Porto Rico flats assays $140 to $160 per ton. The large clock for the new $41, 000 post office building at Green wood arrived and will be placed in a few days. The Lost Creek Mining Company will shortly construct a flume on its property at Roany placer camp. The work will cost $100,000. Vancouver firemen have protested against the redaction in their sal- aries, claiming that they are the most poorly paid civic employees. Jean Goulet, Of Elko, was attack ed by an epileptic fit on Friday on the bank of the Elko River at Spar - wood, and falling in, was drowned. The et:instruction of the new wharf at Halls Landing has been cam- menced by the Dominion Govern- ment. The structure will cost $5,- 000. A gang' of men are at work at the Golden Fawn Mine at, Sheep Creek and fine ore is being struck. The whole camp is looking better than it, ever has. In reply to an appeal from Kam- loops for the institution of Govern- ment work in the riding, A is an- nouneed that $2,000 will be spent in the district. The Provincial Executive has granted the sum of $1,500 for the construction of the Roseland. bridge, to replace the old one, which was recently washed away. The Pacific, Peace River & Atha- basca, Railway Cempeny will apply to Parliament at the next session for an act authorizing it to con- struct and operate lines in the north. Report,s from Graham Island state that the pioneer oil drilling rig working on the -western coast has attained a depth of 1,500 feet where the stole is heavily sator- ated with oil. W. W. Dowel, of Port Alberni, broke all former records in the pro- vince in from the jaws of a sea lion that gave chase to his dory in which was Captain G. W. Faulkner and hines.elf. As. a result of the recent disas- trous fire in Fort George the light- ing system was destroyed. The situation is expected to be relieved inhe few days by installing a temp- orary system by the Northern In- terior Power Company, The body of Alexander Burnett, one of the fur mw en ho lost their lives in the auto ace:Went. near Port Coquitlam, was recovered from the itt River by Indians. The remains f Struthers, Gunn and Matthew iven have yet to be found. An Indian boy. charged with the tealing of cattle. was. committed or trial at the Kamloops Assizes y Justice Morgan. Considerable settle stealing has been going en in he district for home time. Ash.. loft is afflicted with the same coni - leant. Norman Smith, aged 35. and well-known rancher of Louis reek, near Kamloops, was found ead with two bullet wounds in his ody. The wounds were from a irty-thirty rifle, He is believed to axe been recently under severe ental strain. out the concentration which Grand a Admiral von Tirpitz had assumed c that, it would not, carry out, but by ei arrangement with France it was b able, soon -after the opening of the eb war, to entrust to Vice -Admiral h Bone de Lapeyrere the defence of m B itiah t n erests in the Mediter- ranean. Thus we were in a position to hold the North Sea with praeth cally all our strength,. as we do to- day, while France held the Mediter- ranean with all her strength, as alae does to -day, and consequently theuf basis upon which the•expansion the German fleet had beer planned was swept away before the peeve WaS broken," Conimon juvenile Complaint. I hear that, your boy is laid up. Anything serious ?" -We were afraid so at firet, but the doctor diagnosed the trouble as merely. a bad attack of don'twante togotesehoolitis." — ''Oh, doctor, I have sent for you, certainly I must .confess that 1 have not the slightest faith in rnucteen medical science.'' ''Well," said the doctor. 'that eloesn 't mat- ter in the least. 'Yon see, a mule has no faith in the veterinary sur- geol.) end yet he cures him all the "GOD FORGIVE US! f' OUR WORK!" • Pitiful Cases of Soldiers Shootit Their Own Troops by Mistake. It was at Beacon Hill, during the Boer. War, that there happened on, of the saddest incideate in. the. his' tory of the British Army. T1s, East Surrey were in a hollow between two .hills, creeping •itp.. the ' 'valley. The West Surrey reg,Itment half -it mile away, ;caught ,eanlet of the crouching figures., and took them for Boers, says Rea.r.ROIe3 Weekly. In a moment a heavy volley rang out, and it wasenot until an officer realizing the taieta,ke, ru.elheel'out in front of the West Surreye, that the firing ceased. A nurse, writing aafterward Iran the Eastoourt Hospital, :mkt it was pitiful to isee the 'Ateet, :Barren's come ing in ane after another, bringing. cigarettes, dainties, nee pre sent they could find, her the wounded men, then, hearing their groans, turn away, saying, "Gott forgive us! This is our work R' In suoh a gigantic eonfliet as present war, with nettle stretching 100 wits and 1.• • similar Mistakes are earnest i• to wean We know of two. In the second week in Au when the French ware fiat:time Muelhausen., ones regiment: got fai in advance :Jf the. -.0t,lea„ and was ordered to ga bank. As they returnee/ aline af their !comrades fired at, anien, under the I impression that they wire Oe.rmans. Twenty men were kilnee :ea./ a large number wounded Gen. Joffre's Preeseettion. It was this blunder whiah caused General Joffeetn .havinearde printed an colors showing 'title uniterms and head-dress, ef tate vizrioria hritnehes of the French se.rvico, These have been distributed ail aireueli the army. The other caiw, wan more recent. It happened in Belgitrat early in September. We have at. on fairly good authority that 1, Saxon regi- ment fired upon ,ern Bavarians, taking them for Beelgia.ne. As it was dark at the tame the mistake is hardly to be wondered at. Then there v7z•x-k.: th o neven erip pled German warship, iv Kiel ha). bor. The stere 'arab two Germa. squadrons in th- Ratio kinetted fie on one another Aerie, an a. mist morning, each taking the ether he Russian ships. One of the 9r:4400W; kpf troops firing upon ellade :,,evn people occurred in Ito:rami,i in tiee. year 1885. At that tette le Inman la. wee in a very dieterned aerial [thee and bands of robl.)6r-s---reimill --prowled over bili eemineree raiding the villages and tfaxrii.a. 'the largest of ateate kande made its headquarteere in the forest .of Rhodepe and gr.t'hoally inereased until it beeerne tOOeibring. It spread tern.e. el;neigh .fin.s whole countryside, and at teal; dhe govern- ment sent a leeigly -a teeeme te, hunt it down. The robber F•vbri4:1w.ss located on top of a mountain, end elle oulonel in command et the. enenea split his frees and eens half op :melt side so as to attack from ken pt), ran eimnh taneously. TheTwo gad ioo A thick fee, fall and the robber • took advantaien of !le th aea quietly by a pifii knewa arty themselves. The anelen, • t ria iv of this man :esti v ro, th aseent. and alto ,two leadiee, ea crawling along enhir ,e.iver of rock, and brushwed, rent .r.14 the tip. They at in' e evened fire and ought de,eporately tor s. u Ito e hoar iefore rhe !II 44111,413({4 vcrits d.1,3r.34 v ered. iglity were killed eine tion e-eund- d. There is at tease, keno ca ee on re- ord of a leader parpineely firing pen hie evert ereepe Tithe was Os - Ian Paella, elle areentent, general •horn Turkey lea preehreend for a entury. In the Ri ijnrIaisl, War hi le77, sman intrenohnd himeetf in the 1' go ef Peen. and held it for onthe, fightate' ereveral treater:delis attles, and being beetle -en in the end y sheer etareation, In the second hathie of Plevna the arks' bega'a hy a, fu rione &Lenge ` own hill upon the. Itneelane. The rash of Moe impact hen bawl eeni- ared to a eolliettat boeween two ailway trains. The Ras:slang were mote numer- is Turk s he- n to give way At once Osman dered his artillery to fire en their. n troops,: and the tateeie, realie- g that they woad lento mote ley under their etwri" ehell fire an by advatating ander the . rifle e of the• Ruentiona, changed again d drove the Rueeiasee them ne4. won a. great vietery. E indomitable Spirit. The indomitable epirit of the c British soldier is strikingly illus- trated in a letter from a London Daily Express reader. "My ne- phew, Lieut. J. Rennie, of the I Black V, retch, he writes. "was m wounded on Senteber 16 in the battle of the Aisne. He recovered in five weeka at a base hospital in France, went back to the firing line. and got it again in the leg. He was lanky not to be killed." The soldiers were dining and or- derliee were hastening back and forth with. pails of steaming soup. Wolselen stopped one of them and ordered him to remove the lid of 'his pail, The ettan obeyed .prompt- ly, and the General said: "Let nee taste it.'' "But----" began the or- derly. "Let me taste it, I say," ex- claimed the General, testily. graceful !" exelaimed. 'Ws for ail the world like diehwater!'' r'Tliat's what it is, sir," said the orderly saleting gravely. 0 el ot gaIa m b d p or ow in retiring th fir an