Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1915-12-17, Page 2NOTES AND COMIVIENT5 The •success of the French $5,- 000,000,000 war loan is complete. Olt the 'appointed. day the French people came forward with their money. With all respect for French patriot- ism, which needed not even this as- .. tennding demonstration to prove its vitality, the speed with which the ap- • peal was answered gives most strik- ing proof of the business value of an epigram.. It was designated as "The Loan of "Vitor^y." To the long habit of French investors of regarding national bonds es highly desirable -oto the letters Vora the trenches calling for this • help at home—to the practical argu- ment that either for carrying on the war or for paying indemnity ,in de- feat money must be raised—to these was added the appeal of• the winged phrase "The Loan of Victory"! Required to give a popular title to a loan the British would probably say something about "imperial defense." The German effort would state clear- ly what the loan was for in one of those polysyllabic compounds which trail off into space and leave all other nations aghast. It is hard to ' irrt,„ ire an epigrammatic triumph for •„ee:Mier, To achieve that unerringly required the geniue of France. • "The. Loan of Victory!" 'What hopefulness, what patriotic suggest- iveness, what, coining of pence into poetry and of sous into song! What ruhtle intimation of the joyful union 1 of a good investment with civic duty ckonel No wonder the loan was taken .:gin the first day. What Frenchman, or Frenchwoman, either, could resist the cheerful atmosphere of associa- 4.ioi. with a loan whose very .title sottzids like the rush of a Winged Vic- , tory to salute the tricolor. of Le Belle France! SPEED OF' ANIMALS. Comparative Times of the Average Animals. - The "speed of a gazelle," "fast as s horse," "fleet as a (:leer," "slow as an ox," are all familiar terms. But few know just how fast or fleet or slow these things are. An interest- Ing computation just made- by scien- :ttt a is designed to throw light on the matter. • r . riding -horse covers 40in. while : t,ilsl ig. while at a jog -trot it covers second. The two -minute horse covers 44ft. in a second. The leisurely ox moves over only 2ft. .i seeond when hitched to a wa- gon, and about 20in. when attached to a plough. .,lie elephant which can pull more �.ther six horses, moves over about 414ft in a second, and running as rapidly as it can, is able to travel but 18ft. in a second. The lien is claimed to run faster than the swiftest hunting -horse, which is from $Oft. to 1AOft. •a second, ac- cording to the country through which } it is compelled to travel, Test : differ greatly es to the speed Of a bare. Sortie claim it can travel at the rate. of 60ft. a second, while others claim it cannot travel more than half that distance. The great variety of deer are all • quite speedy, but in certain localities they can travel much more rapidily than in others. A roebuck has been known to cover 74ft. a second when pursued by dogs. The giraffe is said to pass over the `i•round at the rate of about 50ft a eecord, while the kangaroo covers 10ft. to Elft. a second. The tortoise is much slower, One Sin. in length covers but about tin, ilt a second.. tit VICTORIA CROSS MAKING. Each One Made of Hard Copper From Specially Made Die. When an ordinary medal is made a steel die. is used, and the article can be turned out complete with one blow of the press. Thousands can thus be made in a very short space of time. Bat for the Victoria Cross there is no die in existence, Each Cross is made separately, and this is as it should be, for tho Cross ranks far higher than any other military deco- ration. which it is in the power of the country to :bestow. •'ihe bronze, as is known to most people, is a part of some of the Rus- sian gine` captured in the Crimea. It is of very hard quality, and it is outtothE workmenascaTe- �tv�ighccl care- fully tie it it were so much gold. The first Cross was modelled in hard wax, and after the design .had been Improved,. a model pattern was cast. This is preserved with thea greatest care, and from it are made the moulds front which every' other Cross is east The moulds, as is usual in all cast- ing, are made in two pests, and the surfaces prepared with blaclelcad, iso q• to make them smooth. BANK OF MONTREAL NINETY - EIGHTH ANNUAL RE- PORT SHOWS BANK IN VERY STRONG .POSITION.. Exceptional interest attaches this year to the Annual Report. of Canada's deli,. ' leadt •Bank,and the addresses de'. g the verAnnualMeeting e at theby d � President and General Manager. They afford an insight into the financial consequences of a year of war on the country generally, and into the out: look for 'the future, as interpreted by men who have every opportunity to judge it. Mr, H. V. 14Torcdith, the President, pointed out that the effect of the war on Canadian trade had been less in- jurious than had been expected, and Mr. H. V. Meredith that this year's bountiful harvest may not only be, expected to stimulate cur- rent trade, but to attract renewed emigration to Canada. The Annual Report shows the Bank of Montreal in a position of unprece- dented strength. With assets of $302,980,554—an increase for the year of $38,800,138—it takes rank with the mast powerful banking insti- tutions in the world. Of this enor- mous sum, no less than $170,007,568 is in cash and liquid assets. This is over 64 per cent. of the Bank's total public liabilities—a ratio whose sig- nificance will be better understood when it is compared with 55.4 per cent. last year, and a little less than 50 per cent. (considered a high pro- portion in normal times) in 1913, While holding so large a proportion of the Bank's assets in liquid form does not tend to large profits, it is a source of great strength not only to the Bank, but to the whole of Canada, in these trying and difficult times. The profits for the year, however, were most gratifying. Amounting to $2,108,631, they provided for the usual 'quarterl'y dividend and two 1 bonuses on the Capital of $16,- 000,000; the War Tax on Bank Note Circulation, $127,347; and left over $60,000 to be added to the Profit and Loss Account, bringing the balance of the latter up to $1,293,952. This, of course, is in addition to the Rest Account of $16,000,000—equal to the Capital. Owing to the reduced volume of commercial business in the country, the current loans dropped from $108,- , 845,332 in 1914 to $99,078,506. Loans to municipalities, on the other hand, show an increase of over two mil- lions, 'reaching the figure of $11,203,- 472. One of the most striking and im- portant features of the Report is the remarkable increase in Deposits. Those bearing no interest have in- creased during the year .from $42,- 689,031 42,689,031 to $75,745,729, while interest- bearing deposits have grown to $160,- 277,083—a total increase of $89,800,- 188. Though this is partly accounted for by special transactions, it must be regarded as highly satisfactory and an especial niaek of public confi- dence. In reviewing the year, the President laid special stress on the record har- vest in the West, where a greatly increased area under cultivation has given the highest average yield in the history of the country, ''he esti- mated value of the grain crop of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan he placed at four hundred million dol - Jars ---a sum which could be depended upon to liquidate much indebtedness and stimulate current trade. Referring to, the remarkable change in Canada's position' from a debtor to a creditor nation, Mr. Meredith • said: "In the seven months ending Octo- ber 31st, 1913, the value of exports of Canadian products was period same $45,550,- the 000, and in li p c of 1914 was $226,757,000; while this year in these seven months we have exported Canadian products of the value of 026,430,000, or $100,000,000 more than last year, and the great crop PI surplus has still to go forward. "Comparing the foreign trade af' Canada for the seven -months' period ending with October, imports have declined from $390,544,000 in 1913 to $253,107,000 in 1915, while exports of domestic products, as.. I have said, have risen from $245,560,000 to $326,- 430,000; and adverse balance of $145, . 000,000 beingconverted into favor - 3 323 000 a arise of 7 or bleb 1 a bet- terment � bt a , r it of foreign f e teriiient in 'respect sn trade of no less than .$218,000;000 within. the short space of two years." Taking a prudently optimistic view of the future, Mr. Meredith said: • "The position of Canada is a highly favored one, with an assured future of growth, development and general prosperity. At present, however, we live in the shadow of the great war, to which all else must be' subservient. What its duration will be, and the position in which its termination' will, find us, can be matter of the merest conjecture. The vast armies now en- gaged in the struggle cannot be kept. in the field indefinitely. The financial factor is daily assuming increased importance, and in this respect :the advantage is unquestionably with Great Britain and her Allies. "After the war, a readjustment of trade conditions is to be expected. The flood of wealth which has attend- ed the export of munitions and war supplies must of necessity be largely curtailed, and a new set of problems will have to be faced. As I have said ' on former occasions when I have had the pleasure of addressing you, if economy be exercised to meet the in- creased burden of taxation, of which we must bear our share, and the pro- d tif bl ti1 i uc on o exports e articles n - creased to the utmost extent, to pro- tect our gold supply and minimize our borrowings, and if we keep strong in working capital, then no matter what difficulties the future may have in store' for us, we can look forward to them with a degree of complacency. Our agricultural resources and unde- veloped wealth will enable us to. bear the strain Which may be imposed upon us, and we shall in the end come safe- ly through the period of economic upheaval and world-wide conflict— with a larger debt, it is true, but with our• ability to meet it unques- COMMAND OF THE SEA DOOMS, GERMANY TO CERTAIN DEFEAT Hew Great. t Britain Upset I' t eror William's Ropes of Con- quest. An article, entitled "The Value of Sea Power; If the British Fleet Had Not Moved," was written at the re- quest of Sir Gilbert Parker by Mr, Archibald Hurd, the famous British naval expert, for the New York Her- ald. In it he says: The Germans had so completely outdistarced all the other continental powers of Europe in ships of war that on the outbreak of hostilities they with the co-operation of Austria- Hungary were absolutely assured of • command of the 'sea if the British fleet did not move. The following statement reveals the preponderance possessed by the central powers; Ger. Aus. Total. Dreadnoughts— Battleships 16 • Battle cruisers . - 5 Pre-dreadnoughts— Battleships, re-dreadnoughts— Bat-tleships20 12 Armored cruisers 9 3 Cruisers 48 10 58 Destroyers 130 15 145 Torpedo boats 80 58 138 Submarines 30 6 36 3 19 5 32 12 France. Rus. Total: Dreadnoughts— Battleships 4 — 4 Battle cruisers — Pre-dreadnoughts— Battleships 19 8 Armored cruisers 19 6 Cruisers13 9 Destroyers .. ° 84 95 Torpedo boats 150 25 Submarines 53 25 Barred German Landing. Sea command is still exercised by armored ships and cruisers. In the boned and our economic position not first line of battle, the dreadnought seriously impaired." class, the odds were twenty-four to l♦ four at the outbreak of war. In the second, thirty-two to twenty-seven, GERMANS FACE HARD WINTER. but of the Russian ships several were I shut up in the Baltica • In armored, 27 25 22 179 175 '78 Predictions that„ theeepro , lt.ecl isnts..the. stx,ck:a;th of France, and :winter will be very severe have � !a1t- gussia—the ships being mainly obso- spired comparisons between the GO lesceiit—was more apparent on paper Man campaign in Russia and Napo- than real, and in scouting ships the leon's Russian campaign of 1812. central powers had no mean advan- Abbe Moreaux, of the Bourges tage. Even if Italy had joined the (France) Observatory, points out that 'powers of the dual alliance, Germany a curve indicating the European lo- and Austria-Hungary, with stratege calities where the average tempera- tical advantages of no mean value, ture in January is zero centigrade, or 32 above zero Fahrenheit would pass loner the coast of Norwa rotected g, asceiud--abruptly along the west coast of Denmark, and follow a line consid- erably westward from Berlin, turning ;.slight risk, have transported troops to eaetward in the region of Trieste to any point on the French coast. The the Black and Caspian Seas. Another value of superior sea power in amphi- curve marking a zone where the aver-ious warfare is the element of stra- age temperature is 14 degrees above ,.tegic surprise which it confers on its sero Fahrenheit would comprise Ber- !possessor. TheFrench fleet would lin, Vilna, Riga, Dvinsk, Moscow and !have been tied in the Mediterranean Petrograd. To make up this average, ; by the menace of Austria-Hungary, however, zones of greater cold are and the German navy would have had comprised, the maximum at Petrograd 1 no difficulty, owing not to superior being 38 below zero, and at Moscow seamanship, but to superior numbers, 47 below zero Fahrenheit. in seizing the command of the North Examining the situation from a Sea and English Channel.„ +' meteorological point of view, Abbe I Destroy French Commerce. I a y, p by the ulf stream from greater cold ,would have possessed a sufficient mar- gin against their opponents. There would have been no blockade of the North Sea. What of that? ,,it may be said. Well, it would have meant that the Germans could, with Moreaux finds confirmation of the pre- But that is not all. The Germans diction 'of naturalists in reviewing, in would not only have obtained this his opinion, a period of cold winters, I overwhelming military advantage, but and he thinks that the German sol- diers may experience the same vicis-;`could have been able to shut off all French oversea commerce. silt -ides as those that cost Napoleon �' Nor again is that all. France and 450,000 men from the ``Grand Army.” I Russia had no men of war of great Larrey, who wore a thermometer' fighting weight in the outer seas; the during Napoleon's Russian campaign, i Germans were represented by some has left rcfeords showing that as early I of their most powerful and swift crui- as November 14. the "Grand Army" 1 sers. What would have been -the fate had to endure a temperature of 12 of the mercantile marine of France? below zero Fahrenheit on the line I These merchant vessels represented from Vilna to Moscow—the retreat l in value many king's ra;.soms. About having been begun October 18. From i sixteen thousand sailing ships and Noveniber 17 the thermometer went two thousand steamships would have down rapidly to 22 below zero; De -been in danger,- together with their cember 3 to reach 34 below zero when I cargoes. nger,: ;rs merchant ships the retreating army reached Malode- I would have shared the same misfor- cyn. Equally low temperatures, ac- tune. cording to Abbe Moreabx, are almost Cause of German Hate. certain to prevail over considerable parts of the German front if it is For the period of the war how maintained on the present line and 1 long would it have lasted? Russia are.almost certain to overtake the 1 and France would have been, to all German forces in retreat unless they 'intents and purposes, besieged. Nei- abandon their positions immediately, esu Quite a Feat. There is in the employ of a Ver- mont man an Irishman who recently met with a domestic affliction. As soon as the employer was advised, he sought out the Celt and offered his condolenees. "X an sorry to hear, DanieI," . said he, `that your good wife is dead." "Sure, 'tis a sad day for ire, sir," then country ,would have been able to use the sea for any purpose. That condition would have reacted on their military and economic power. They Y would have been in a position to bring in no food, raw materials, nor muni- tions. The Germans, and riotcoun- tries of the Dual Alliance, would have had the run of the neutral Markets of the world for munitions, men, and matey. On : the American continent ere ---and are—about there ry t alone twenty million Germans and Aus- replied the Irishman. "The hand that triens, who could have supplied not rocked the cradle has kicked the only men to reinforce the armies of bucket." tie Central Powereain Europe, but Men to make munitions and other men of great financial and industrial ex- perience—some of them millionaires— to assist Germany in getting gold, raw materials for all purposes, and even luxuries. Life behind the lines of the German armies would have con- tinued much as under peace condi- tions. The population of the German Empire were eager for war, because theybelieved that even if Italyjoined d Russia andFrance, they .couldcount on on using all the 'seas to their advan- tage, drawing from them everything they required: Were their calculations ill-founded? In one particular . they were. They assumed with confidence that the Bri- tish fleet would take no part in the war. They were wrong. That one error of judgment made all the differ- ence: it is more, than probable that it cost the Germans the victory they be- lieved, in the last days of July, 1914, to be within their grasp. Why? When the war broke out the relative strength of the British navy was al- most in the proportion of twq to one in comparison with that of Germany. Think what that meant. All the con- ditions at sea were instantly reversed. German hopes were doomed when the German anticipations as to the use which would be made of the British navy proved unfounded. Why do the Germans hate the Bri- tish people more than French or Rus- sian? It is not because of the wealth " of England, or her trade or her col- onies or her shipping or her armies of 3,000,000 men—it is because the Brie tisk fleet so decisively turned the scale that from the date of the British ultimatum the £300,000,000 which the enemy had spent on naval expansion became profitless. Germany realized ' as in a flash that, owing to the ma- jesty of the greatest sea power, she could not obtain the rich dividends on which she had counted with complete confidence. Navies Win Land Battles. The predominant influence on the history of the world has been not the soldier, but the sailor. A Frenchman once said that it was the ships of Nel- son which won the battle of Waterloo. England has never possessed a great army, nor has the United States. When the German Emperor read the books of the American seaman, Ad- miral Mahan, he determined that he must have a great fleet, because from the days of Xerxes and Themistocles navies have decided the fate of em- pires. It might be said that all the decisive -battles afe he •worlaelleaneebeen fought on the seas. That would seem a bold statement, but it is a clear approximation of the truth. Without sea power, land power -that is, sol- diers—must be imprisoned, and in modern economics conditions may well be reduced to starvation—starvation for want of shells as well as food. TOBACCO TELLS WEATHER. Sailor's Weather Tips Gathered From Favorite Leaf. Soldiers and sailors have several ingenious ways of forecasting wea- ther. Clouds provide commanders with valuable clues as to the condi- tion of the weather likely to take place in the near future. A flat, widely -extended cloud, streaked like the markings on a mackerel, is • a sure sign of approaching rain or snow. Small, well-defined, rounded masses of clouds, in close horizontal arrange- ment, are sure forerunners of storms. Fair-weather clouds are those which pile themselves up in picturesque heaps high in the sky, although when gate Chapped Hands Quickly l Healed Chapped hands and lips always come with cold weather, but ,.Trade CAMPH•ICE VVtiade ieA Cauaada brings sure and speedy relief. Children especially need Vase- line Camphor Ice for their rough and smarting hands. Our new illustrated booklet de- scribes all the "Vaseline" pre- parations. A postcard brings it. AVOID SUBSTITUTES. In- sist on "Vaseline" in original packages bearing the name, CHESE13ROUGH M A N U.FACTURING CO., Consoli- dated, For'sale at all Chemists . and General Stores. CHESEBROUGH MF'G CO. (Consolidated) iSSO CHASOT AVE.,MMMONTREAL ragged at the top they foreshadow mild thunderstorms. Soldiers are largely guided by the dawn in their opinions as to future weather conditions. A high dawn which is first light behind a bank of clouds foretells wind, whilst an un- usual clearness near the horizon in the early hours is a very sure sigh of rain. A grey dawn. is a reliable fore- cast of fine weather, but the red dawn means bad weather er rain. Red sunsets tell soldiers that fair weather may be expected on the mor- row, and bright yellow at sunset fore- tells wind and a pale yellow sunset rain, Sailors regard tobacco as a valu- able barometer. It only requires a mere ruining of the fingers through the small pieces of shag to tell an experienced Jack Tar what kind of weather to expect. If tobacco is left uncovered where the outside atmosphere can reach it, it will indicate very accurately the probable condition of weather for several hours ahead. When the tobacco becomes very dry, it is a sure sign that rain will not come for several hours. Should the tobacco seem tough or not dry and not very crisp to the touch, rain is near at hand. According to the different changes in the appearance and feel bf his favorite weed a sailor can foretell rain or clantp, cloudy wea- ther, or clear, fair weather devoid of ram. Do They Sleep Less? Women evidently sleep less than hien. Why so? Well, we seldom hear of a woman 'talking in her sleep. Cider gets sour with age—just like some of us. 00 ss 001001•4010=1001,ZEOM Why asePains? Hero is a testimonial unsolicited "If I had my will it would be advertised on every street corner. The man or woman that has rheumatism and fails to keep and use Sloan's Lies anent is like a drowning man refusingrope."—A.J. Van Dyke, a Lakewood, N.:l. 9 µ �tli5 gi 13.6c,11G'ionaa 1111111111111iiiiitl 4i4 a sn 0 q'. M SP' AINI SOREt I d