Abergavenny Chronicle

CREW TAKEN PRISONERS BY RUSSIANS I The destruction of a Zeppelin in the Baltic is reported in an announcement made by the Admiralty through the Press Bureau on Tues- day night. The statement is as follows:- "The Naval General Staff, Petrograd, com- municate the following On Monday morning a Zeppelin appeared above Libau, and had time to drop nine bombs on the undefended part of the town. "After being fired at by the forts, the Zeppe- lin fell into the water. Small craft were sent out and destroyed the airship, and took the crew prisoners."

A PRIVATE'S POEM. I An officer on the Headquarters Staff, in a tetter to his wife, encloses these verses, com- posed by a private soldier. She has forwarded them to the "Morning Post." "They show," she writes, "what a good heart our men are in." IN THE TRENCHES. I NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1914. ) I've come to France prepared to shed my blood, But not to perish miserably in mud. I'm ready to attack with might and main, And here I've sat six weeks inside a drain While all that's left of Bill, who took a snooze, Is just a bayonet rising from the ooze. Just find me out a bit of ground that's dry, And I'll soon show the Blooming Germans why But now I can't advance against the brutes With half a ton of France upon my boots. Altho' wet through, I still keep bright and cheery, "Warmed by the pipe I got from Princess Mary. ————— ————

Twenty thousand troops were inspected at Epsom Downs. They comprised the Second London Division of the New Army, in addi- tion to the Public Schools Brigade of the Royal Fusiliers, who are billeted in Epsom Town. They were under the command of Sir Fred Stopford, and came from many miles round Snow fell heavily all the time.

THE "SCRAP OF PAPER." SIR EDWARD GREY AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR. Sir Edward Grey has authorised the publica- tion through the Press Bureau of some "ob- servations" upon the report of an interview recently granted the German Chancellor to an American corresponent. In the interview Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg justified Germany's violation of Belgium neu- trality by the allegation that Belgium had broken the neutrality herself by abandoning it in connection with England. He made the statement that England was prepared to violate it in 1911 by landing troops without Belgium's consent. This statement Sir Edward Grey declares to be absolutely false. As for conversations between British and Belgian officers, which have been distorted by the Prussian Chancellor. Sir Edward says that in 1913 he gave the Belgian Government a categorical assurance that no British Govern- ment would violate the neutrality of Belgium; and that "so long as it was not violated by any other Power we should certainly not send troops ourselves into their territory." "If the German Chancellor wishes to know whv there were conversations on military sub- jects between British and Belgian ofifcers, he may find one reason in a fact well known to him, namely, that Germany was establishing an elaborate network of strategical railways, leading from the Rhine to the Belgian frontier, through a barren, thinly-populated tract: rail- ways deliberately constructed to permit of a 1 sudden attack upon Belgium, such as was car- I ried out in August last." I WHEN WRONG BECOMES RIGHT. Sir Edward says:— "It would seem according to Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg's code a wrong becomes a right if the party which is to be the subject of the wrong foresees the possibility: and makes preparations to resist it. Those who are content with older and more gene- rally accepted standards are likely to agree rather with what Cardinal Mercier said in his Pastoral Letter. "'Belgium was bound in honour to de- fend her own independence. She kept her oath. The other Powers were bound to re- spect and protect her neutrality. Germany violated her oath", England kept hers. These are the facts.' "The real nature of Germany's view of her 'responsibilities towards neutral States,' may, however," Sir Edward goes on, "be learnt, on authority which cannot be disputed, by refe- rence to the English White Paper. If those responsibilities were in truth taken seriously, whv, when Germany was asked to respect the neutrality of Belgium, if it were respected by France, did Germany refuse? France, when asked the corresponding question at the same time agreed. This would have guaranteed Germany from all danger of attack through Belgium. The reason of Germany's refusal was given by Herr von Bethmann-Hoiiweg's colleague. It may be paraphrased in the well- known gloss upon Shakespeare: Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just, But four times he that gets his blow in fust. They had to advance into France,' said Herr von Jagow, by the quickest and easiest way, so as to be able to get well ahead with their operations and endeavour to strike some decisive blow as early as possible.'

VALLEY OF DEATH. PEASANT'S EXPERIENCE OF TWO MONTHS BOMBARDMENT. Many fugitives from the neighbourhood of Soissons and the Valley of the Aisne, where the fighting has been fiercest, have arrived in Paris. Their narratives (says Mr. Philip Gibbs, in a message to the "Daily Chronicle") help one to understand more clearly the general devastation and pro- longed agony which exists in the Valley. of the Aisne and the villages on its north side. It is a valley of death. Official reports mention only a few villages by name, according to their strategical importance; but there are a hundred hamlets or more unrecorded in dispatches and denied even the tragic honour of this notoriety, which have been struck by death and are now but charnel-houses of bones and ruins. Week after week, turn and turn about, German, French, and British shells have crashed over those places, making dust and ashes of them. Peasants who clung to their cots, hid in their cellars, and at last fled, describe all this in a sentence or two. They have no grievance, even against fate-their own misery is swallowed up in that of their neighbours, each family knows a worse case than its own, and so, with a shake of the head, they say there are many who suffer these things. Shopkeepers and peasants of Celles, of Conde, of Attichy, along the way to Berry- au-Bac and from Billy to Sermoise, all these who have now fled from the valley of the Vesles and the valley of the Aisne have just the same story to tell, monotonous, yet, thrilling, because of its tragedy. It was their fate to be along the line of death and destruction. One old fellow, who has just come from Vailly, has lived for two months in a continual cannonade. He has seen his little town taken and re-taken ten times in turn by the French and the Ger- man. When I heard of this eye-witness I thought, "Here is a man who has a marvel- lous story to tell. If all he has seen, all the horrors and heroism of great engagements were written down, just as he describes them in his peasant speech, it would make an historic document to be read by future generations." But what does he answer to eager ques- tions about his experience? He is hard-of hearing, and with a hand making a cup for his right ear, stares at one a little dazed. He says at last: "It was difficult to get to sleep. That is all he has to say about it, and many of these peasants are like him, re- peating some trivial detail of their experi- ence, the loss of a dog, damage to. an old teapot, as though that eclipsed all other suffering. ♦

FRENCH WAR MINISTER. I The War Office makes the following an- nouncement "M. Millerand, Minister of War in France, accompanied by M. Gerald Nobel, Captain Cambefort and Captain Doumayron, spent last Friday and Saturday in England. They visited Aldershot on Friday and saw the troops quartered there, as well as two Territorial divisions. On Saturday His Excellency was re- oeived by the King, afterwards calling at the War Office, where he conferred with the Secretary of State for War. HM. Millerand expressed his great pleasure with the appearance of the troops and his entire satisfaction with the results of the exchange of views which his visit enabled him to effect with Lord Kitchener and others."

ABOUT BULLETS. I In Napoleon's wars a bullet seldom hit an enemy more than 200 yards distant. A marksman with the Lee-Enfield or Lebel rifle can bring down man after man at 1,000 or even 2,000 yards under favourable condi- tions—but the conditions seldom are favour- able. Napoleon's Old Guard considered twenty-five cartridges a reasonable equip- ment for a whole campaign. In 1870-71 the German average consumption was sixty-five per man for the entire war. Many German soldiers fired 4,000 cartridgei apiece -in the first month of this war.

Hugh Grosvenor Taunton, a solicitor, who was charged with conspiring to obtain ten guineas by false pretences, was found not guilty at the Old Bailey and discharged. With Chinese and American capital a new steamship line between China and New York is about to be started. Dividends are guaran- teed by the Chinese Government in return for ) the advantageous freight rates on selected pro- ducts.

I BRITISH AT LA BASSEE. I GERMANS REPULSED WITH SEVERE LOSSES. Tiee frees "Bureau issued the following brief official report on Tuesday evening:— "Yesterday, in the neighbourhood of La Bassee, the enemy delivered several violent attacks against the First Division. They were repulsed with severe losses. "In one place alone, on the La Bassee road, 300 Germans were killed and 55 prisoners, in- cluding two officers, were captured. h An attack made on the French lines oppo- site Ypres was also repulsed with great loss." The French official report sta.;?s that five attacks were made on the British lines at Givenchy and Cuinchy near La Bassee. The Germans made slight progress, but were then driven back, leaving many killed and a num- ber of prisoners. While the attacks were in progress attempts at diversions were made at several points along the Allies' front.

I NEW MENACE TO GERMANY. I SUBMARINES ON BALTIC TRADE ) ROUTES. There is news of a fresh menace to Ger- many. Russian submarines are showing activity in the Baltic, on the only routes open to German merchant vessels which have been bringing supplies from Norway and Sweden. The German light cruiser Gazelle has been torpedoed by a Russian submarine, and has put into Sassnitz, on the island of Ruegen, damaged, and in a sinking con- dition. There are also rumours that hostile sub- marines attacked a German squadron cruising off the south coa-st of Sweden. This attack has led to the stoppage of the German ferry service between Trclleborg and Sassnitz.

I STEAMER TORPEDOED. SUBMARINE WAR ON OUR MERCHANT SHIPPING. The British steamer Durward, of Leith, a vessel of 1,300 tons, has been torpedoed by a German submarine twenty miles from the lightship at Maas, off the Dutch coast. The crew had to leave the ship within ten minutes, and were ordered to proceed in their own boats to the lightship at Maas. The steamer was torpedoed. Later on the crew were landed at the Hook of Holland bj a steam pilot boat. A message from Amsterdam to the "Daily Chronicle says that Captain Wood and the twenty members of the crew of the Durward all speak highly of the manner in which they were treated by the Germans in the submarine. Their ship, they state, was on its way from Leith to Rotterdam with a general cargo. One of the officers told the Chronicle" correspondent that those on board saw the submarine coming towards them when eighteen miles from the Dutch coast and a few miles from the Maas lightship. I TEN MINUTES TO CLEAR. On coming alongside, the German officer in perfect English gave the crew ten minutes to get into their boat, as they were going fo sink the vessel. The first boatload rowed to the sub- marine and were taken on board. On the return journey several German sailors armed with revolvers travelled in the boat. They went through the ship, telling the crew not to stay a minute longer than necessary, and not to attempt to save any- thing except the ship's papers, which the Germans seized. When all were taken off in two boats the Germans again went on board and placed time bombs fore and aft. Then the two boats were attached to the submarine and towed towards the Maa £ lightship. Fifteen minutes later two heavy explo- sions were heard. When the boats were a few miles from the lightship they were sent adrift, and the men rowed to the lightship, while the submarine returned to the Durward. The Durward crew did not see their ship go down. One officer declared that the Submarine carried a disappearing gun. The crew of the Durward lost all their belongings, but consider themselves lucky that they were towed towards the lightship, and not cast adrift at once. VON TIRPITZ'S THREAT. I This is the first British merchantman to be torpedoed by the enemy since Admiral Von Tirpitz announced a new plan of cam- paign in an interview last month. He said: —"England wants to starve us. We can pray the same game. We can bottle hor up and torpedo every ship of the English or the Allies which nears any harbour in Great Britain, thereby cutting off large food sup- plies. I believe that submarine warfaije against the 'enemy's merchant ships would b3 more effective than an invasion by Zeppelins."

SAVED BY HER DOG. f Mrs. Percy Green, of 59, Douglas-road, Goodmaycs, owes her life to her retriever dog. Alone in her house, suffering from a chill, she had a fire in her bedroom. Whilst she was asleep a cinder fell on the hearthrug and caused a fire. The dog tried to awaken his mistress by barking and licking her face, but did not make her realise that the room was on fire. The flames spread to the bed-covering, and the dog sprang on the bed and dragged Mrs. Green to the floor. She was now fully awake, and she found that the room was full of smoke. She was able to put out the fire, and received only slight injuries to her hands. But for the action of the retriever ("Sammy") she would have been overcome by the smoke and would have lost her life in the flames. This is the second time that Sammy" has saved Mrs. Green's life. On a former occasion she was attacked by a lunatic in Epping Forest. "Sammy" held the man until help arrived. It is a notable coincidence that Mrs. Green, T7ho is the Ilford hon. sec. -of the Canine De- fence League, and devotes most of her time to rescuing homeless dogs, should have been re- warded for her humane work in this manner. She has saved many dogs, and in turn a cog €ias saveS her. "Sammy" is to receive the medal of the Canine Defence League.

CONVICTION QUASHED. I In quashing a sentence of seven years' penal servitude, passed on Alfred Golathan at the Brecon County Sessions, the Lord Chief Jus- tice, in the Court of Criminal Appeal on Mon- day, said that it was shocking that a man should receive ..uch a sentence when he pleaded guilty to quite another offence to the one with which he was charged. Golathan was charged with entering a dwell- ing-house by night with intent to steal. He pleaded guilty to being in the house for shelter, but denied being there to steal. He was, how- ever, found guilty on the heavier charge, and sentenced to seven years. Mr. Justice Ridley said it seemed that the appellant was in a bedroom striking matches in a woman's face to see who she was. He explained that he was looking for shelter and was searching for the loft. b

It has been reported to the Metropolitan Asylums Board that one of the sick children in Millfield Home fell, and the pin of a flag he was wearing on his coat penetrated his chest and heart and broke off. A success- ful operation has been performed. Sir Garrod Thomas has presented to the Welsh National Memorial Association for the Eradication of Consumption a house and rage at Newport worth £ 8,000.

I TWO MONTHS OF WAR. I FRENCH OFFICIAL "BALANCE SHEET" ISSUED. An official review of the operations from November 15 to January 15 has been issued by the French Government. The "Times" Paris correspondent, in forwarding a sum- mary, says the document, which is marked by considerable optimism, is in the form of a balance-sheet which shows the steady, if unsensational, French gains everywhere along the front, save in the neighbourhood of Soissons, where the enemy captured some 1,800 metres of trenches. To the "credit of the Germans is placed the destruction of the Cathedral, hospital, and Halles of Ypres, the bombardment of Armentieres, Bethune, Arrtis, Soupir, Sois- sons, a church at Nancy, a hospital at 'lhann, and also a progress of 300 metres in the Argonne near Les Meurissons. The French gains include the recapture of the left bank of the Yser between Knocke and Hetsas, the capture of Saint Georges, the widening of the front around Ypres. and the bringing to a standstill of furious infantry attacks between the sea and the Lvs. In the next section, the front from the Lys to the Oise, the forward movement, which has been slow but general, includes the capture of Vermelles, La Boisselle, Quesnov-en-Santerre, and many lines of Ger- man trenches. From Reims to the Meuse there has been an advance of a kilometre in the region of Prunav, and of two kilometres around Perthes, where seventeen German counter- attacks have been repulsed, and of a kilo- metre in the Argonne in La Grurie Wood, while the enemy has been pushed still farther away from Verdun. In some ways the most important gains recorded arc those between the Meuse and the Swiss frontier, considerable progress being recorded in the woods of Consenvoye, Apremont, Ailly, Mortmart, and Le Pretre, where the enemy's attempted offensive has been vigorously checked and an advance made to the north-east of Nancy, north and south of Senones, and throughout the whole Ban-de-Sapt. The capture of Aspach, Stein- bach, and the heights eastward has been accompanied by progress towards Munster, Cernay, and Altkirch. FAILURE OF GERMAN OFFENSIVE. On a review of the general result- it may be said that the last two months have seen the failure of the German offensive. The French are steadily consolidating their posi- tions, and are in good posture for their next task. While it is difficult to refrain from opti- mism in view of these results, evory day brings fresh report of vast German defen- sive preparations. The triple line in Belgium has already been described, but from the centre there is little news of what is occurring on the other side of the trenches. From Upper Alsace, however, where the fighting is more open, it is known that the Germans have constructed line upon line of cement trenches, and have turned every hillock in the countryside into a fortress. The fighting near Silberlech, where the French offensive is meeting with a vigorous opposition, is an indication that, although the German offensive may be broken, the Allies have yet a hard task before them. None have better reason to realize this than the French, who appreciate that for the present their main duty is to held firm until the full strength of the Allies can be brought to bear. «»

"AT THE BACK OF THE FRONT." HOW WAR CORRESPONDENTS GET "NEWS." What with the events which have not happened, though we are told they have, and the things we may not tell of, even when they are good and have happened, and the things which are deemed fair subject for comment, though the Censor deletes them, the life of a war correspondent under modern conditions is something like that of a mouse under the patronage of a cat in a house where all the nourishment is kept in traps. On Friday, for instance (says Mr. H. M. Tomlinson, in a message to the "Daily News" from Northern France), a German aeroplane flew over a village near here and killed two soldiers. You may have read about it. It could have been more proof of the renewed activity of the enemy's aircraft had it been true. But it was not true, and the soldiers are all right whoever they were that died. In this big- and chaotic affair it is safer -as even the Germans will presently dis- cover—not to believe anything either be- cause one wants to or because it is given to one gravely in good faith, or because the fellow who tells you has a kind eve and honest parents, or even because you think it must be true. "THOROUGHLY RELIABLE." I think I can guarantee this bit <)f in- formation from the back of the front (as an expert would say) to be thoroughly re- liable. I don't know how I can prove it, except by means of a cable received in London from Copenhagen, and published in a London paper (not this one). It does not matter what the cable was about, but Copenhagen heard of something which had happened in Alsace through its Berne cor- respondent. The London edition of the story was lifted into a Dutch paper. A Paris paper found it there some weeks later, and administered first aid. It revived. The Boulogne correspondent of the original London paper which had first got the story from Copenhagen (via Berne) thought it was so interesting that he rescued it from the Parisian paper and dispatched it to London, where his paper admired it yet again, be- cause it was so very good, and because it was some time since they saw it last. You cannot kill the truth. THE LA BASSEE STORY. I One can imagine how the troops in the trenches before La Bassee must have felt when they saAV the London papers recently announcing their success, for one hears they are. often up to their waists in water and mud, and that wounded men have been drowned in their own pits. The bitter com- ment of men who find we are blithely dis- cussin g a forward movement, when their condition is literally that of sticking in the mud, and under fire, may be imagined. We are no more reasonable when we speak of "the stalemate in the West." The de- scription is not accurate, for it should be obvious to anyone that the present line is one which cannot be maintained indefinitely by both sides. The line will break before that side which is now making the best preparations to do it when the call comes; and the assurance of the Allies in their ability is not less now than it was last October. But the impatience of people whe are asking, in the middle of a sodden winter, how long the war will last, whcr war is largely a matter of effective commu- nications to maintain vast bodies of mei under abnormal conditions, is perhaps natural to folk who are chiefly responsive t( large sensations, and who think of history as a panorama of dramatic occasions.

By the bursting of a dam at White Bridge, on the main road to Southerv, a. further thousand fertile acres, extending to the parish of Hilgay, are now deeply flooded. About thirty families in this area. are affected. Water is still pouring through the Little Ouse bank, which collapsed on January 3, causing extensive floods. At the judging for the championships at the National Dog Show, Birmingham, an English setter, Wetherall Blue Girl, belong- ing to Mr. George Potter, Carlisle, was awarded the trophy for the best dog in the show. This was the first time the dog had been shown. At the Hereford Bankruptcy Court, Frederick Nedahl, a baker and grocer of Burghill, came up for his examination, and, as one of the reasons for his failure, he said people thought he was a German, and he had lo-st his trade. His father was a Ger- man, but he married a Welsh woman and was naturalised many years ago.

I WHY PROGRESS IS SLOW. WEATHER CONDITIONS ON WESTERN FRONT. Why is the progress of the Allies on the western front so slow? The answer (says a "Daily Telegraph" correspondent) was con- tained in one of the last French communiques, which said that the slowing down of the offen- sive must only be ascribed to the present weather conditions. This explanation may have seemed cryptic to the layman.. It can, however, be easily understood if it is illus- trated with a few instances. There is a saying among the. French gunners that a sunny day means victory for the French. They call such weather "Un temps de Francais." The reason is obvioas. If instead of firing from the map you want to see the- ground vou are firing at, you cannot do any efficient work as long as the light is not suffi- ciently -ood. This. unfortunately, is the case during most of the winter. People of the towns vk> not take account of this. They do not realise that whenever it. rains it is impos- sible to see 500 yards ahead, although there- is enough daylight to allow anybody to cross, a street without being run over by a motor- car. Now it has been raining for the past three or four weeks about six days out of seven. In some rare instances it has been, freezing: in that case, although the sun cqmes out, there is a mist all over the ground, which, makes the gunner curse worse than before. The conditions have bee:1 even worse for in- fantry. It is all very well to Bav that a regi- ment may incur very few casualties by rush- ing at the proper moment, but how are men to- run when they sink in the mud up to the knee., sometimes up to the waist? This is not exag- gerating it in the least. At attack was re- cently successfully carried out on a German trench in the north. The men had to run. over about 400 yards of open ground before reaching the enemy's line. They did it. Sixty of them lest their boots on the way. When they returned after the fight to try and pick them out of the mud, they found that the boots had all disappeared, sunk out of sight in the mire. In the same regioi three horses had to 00 left in a field from which it had not been possible to drag them out. The same condi- tions prevail in many other parts of the front.- Not only are the trenches full of mud and water, but apparently harmless fields turn out to be dangerous bogs as soon as the men at- tempt to traverse them. In many cases they have to be rescued by others from being buried- alive. Under such circumstances, a general offen- sive made at all costs would be as foolish an. undertaking as the German attacks on the Yser and on Ypres. The Germans had good reason to aim at a swift success; the case is different with the Allies, who grow more numerous, better armed, and better trained every day. Therefore, it is not to be expected, that anything will be attempted on a big scale before the ground has had time to dry and the weather has cleared.

I THE FALKLANDS FIGHT. —— <?-—— BRITISH SAILOR'S STORY OF THE BATTLE. The fight off the Falkland Islands is vividly described, in a netter sent by Able Seaman H. C. Morgan, of H.M.S. Kent, to his wife at Yarmouth. At 12.55 p.m., he says, the first shot was fired from the flagship, which opened the en- gagement. A large number of us were on deck, and we gave some hearty cheers when the guns of the cruiser leading the battle line began to speak to the German battle fleet. Many of us shouted, "Now for our revenge for the loss of our poor comrades on the Good Hope and Monmouth." The Admiral com- manding our squadron cut the two big German cruisers out of the line beautifully, and the re- mainder of us engaged the smaller ones. Our first shot was into the Leipzig. We then turned off and engaged the Nurnberg. The engagement lasted two hours and forty minutes, and the Nurnberg was no more. Opening the lire at 10,500 yards, we closed the action at the range of 2,300. I should think it is a record unequalled in modern naval war- fare-that is to engage at so close a range. Almost at the close of the fight our enemy hauled down her colours and ceased firing, the white flag was hoisted about half-way up, and the man who hauled it was shot by one of his officers. It was immediately hauled down- again. Even to the last they had hopes of doing something under the hand of treachery, thinking we should steam up close to them to pick up their wounded and drownin g men,, when t e.v would have fired a torpedo at us. But Captain Allen was one too many for them. One of their guns spoke again after the tempo- rary lull, when the order was given to open fire from lyddite. The first two rounds blew about fifty. or sixty into eternity. From in- formation gathered from one of the survivors the greater half of their ship's company was blown to pieces. The execution done by our lyddite shells was terrible. This particular survivor pays great tribute to the captain of our ship for the splendid manner she was. handled. The enemy tried hard to torpedo us, but was foiled on each occasion. Unfortunately we did not come out of the fight without losing some of our own hands. Owing to a charge of cordite being set on fire several poor fellows were burnt to death. I do not think there are any survivors from the German flagship, and very-few from the other one-the Gneisonau—and the Leipzig had about. sixteen left alive when she dipped under the "waves.

SEPARATION ALLOWANCES. The following official statement was issued on Sunday evening with regard to the separation allowances to dependents of soldiers (other than wives and children): The War Office desire it to be known that instructions have been issued to pension officers that in estimating the money value of the support given to a dependent it is frequently necessary to bear in mind that the absence of one member of a family will increase the household expenditure per indi vidual. In such cases they are to consider what sum, within the amount paid to the dependent by the soldier before enlistment. would place the dependent in approximately the same condition of comfort as when the soldier was at home. The amount so arrived at is to be taken as the extent of the depen- dence, on which the War Office allowances are based, the soldier paying his share according to the scale laid down. Procedure for the consideration of appealf where claimants are dissatisfied will be an- nounced shortly. The local branches of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association will be willing to assist with their advict any claimant who desires to have his or heL case further investigated.

TEETOTALISM BY WILL. Probate has been granted of the will of Mr- Richard Cory, of Oscar House, Cardiff, chair- man of Messrs. Cory Bros. and Co., colliery owners and coal exporters. His estate has been valued at C328,364 gross, in the United King- dom. He provided in his will that no person shall benefit by the bequest of his residuary eftato unless he or 6he shall come and remain a total. abstainer from intoxicating drink. The chief bequests under his will hAve been* already published. The residue of his estate was left equally between two sons and five daughters. He directed that no person shall, benefit who adopts the Roman Catholic faith. He bequeathed to his nephew, Sir Clifford: Cory, M.P., some article from among his per- sonal effects as a token of esteem and "appre- ciation of his staunch support of the Protestant, faith and his attitude in regard to Home, Rule.

Orders having been already issued by the military authorities for prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors after 9 p.m. in an area including Bradford, the city s licensing magistrates have extended the order to clubs. Y cu could not be robed more honour- ably," said his Honour Judge Shortt at Rochester County-court, on Tuesday, to Mr. Wallace Watson, solicitor, who explained his appearance in the uniform of lieutenant- commander of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

DREADNOUGHT RAIDERS CAUGHT BY BRITISH SQUADRON. 6ERNIAN BATTLE CRUISER SUNK. A great naval battle was fought in the North Sea on Sunday off the Dutch coast. A strong German squadron of battle cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers, steaming westwards, no doubt with the intention of once mors bombarding defenceless towns on the East coast, was completely routed by a British squadron. One German battle cruiser, the Blucher, was sunk, two Dreadnought cruisers were seriously damaged, and only the precipitate flight of the German ships into their own mine fields prevented the annihilation of the entire squadron. No British ship was lost, and our casualties were light. Th Admiralty announcement of the battle is as follows;- I Sunday, 7.50 p.m. Early this -niorTi-Ing a British patrolling squadron of battle-cruisers and light cruisers, under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, with a destroyer flotilla under Com- modore Tyrwhitt, sighted four German battle-cruisers, several light cruisers, and a number of destroyers, steering westward. I and apparently making for the English coast. The enemy made for home at high jspeed. They were at once pursued, and at about joined between the battle -cruisers Lion, Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable, on the one liand, and Derfflinger, Seydlitz, Moltke and Blucher on the ot her. A well-contested running fight ensued. Shortly after one o'clock Biiclier, which liad previously fallen out of the line, cap- sized and sink. Admiral Beatty reports that two other German battle-cruisers were seriously dam- aged. They were, however, able to continue their flight, and reached an area where dangers from German submarines and mines prevented further pursuit. No British ships have been lost, and our casualties in personnel as at present re- ported are slight, Lion, which led the line, having only e'even wounded and no killed. One hundred and twenty-three survivors have been rescued from Blucher's crew of 885, and it is possible that others have been saved by some of our destroyers. No reports of any destroyer or light- cruiser fighting have yet been received at -the Admiralty, though some has ayparentlv taken place. Their lordships have expressed their satis- faction to Yice-Admiral Sir David Beatty. THE BRITISH COMMANDERS. I Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, K.C.B., has commanded the First Battle Cruiscr Squadron since 1912, and was in command at the fight in Heligoland Bight on August 28. Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, in charge of the Destroyer Flotilla of the First Fleet, also distinguished himself in the Heligoland Bight fight, where lie led the attack, on the Arethusa. The Arethusa also took part in the air raid on Cuxhaven. THE SHIPS ENGAGED. I The Lion, Vice-Admiral Beatty's flagship, -was completed at Devonport in 1912. She is a battle eruiser of 26,350 tons, and has a complement of 1.000. Her armament con- sist of eight 13.5in. and sixteen 4in. guns. She can steam 31.7 knots. The Princess Royal is a sister ship of the Lion, was completed in the same year, and has a speed of 32.4 knots. Both the Lion and the Princess Royal cost JL2,000,000 to build. The Tiger, a sister ship of the Queen Mary, is of 27,000 tons, and has an arma- ment of eight 13.5 in. and sixteen 4in. guns, and she carries three torpedo tubes. Her designed speed was 27 knots. She was com- pleted in May last year. The Xew Zealand, completed in 1912, has a displacement of 18.750 tons and a comple- ment of 8C0. She carries eight 12in. and twenty 4in. guns, and has three torpedo tubes. Her speed in 29.13 knot6. The Indomitable, a battle cruiser of 17,250 tons, carries eight 12in. and sixteen 4in. guns and three tprpedo tubes. She was completed in 1903, and has a complement of 750. THE GERMAN CRUISERS. I The Blucher, the biggest of the enemy's ships we have vet sunk, was an armoured cruiser of 15,556 tons. Completed in Septem- ber, 1909, she had a complement of 847. Her armaments consisted of twelve 8.2in., eight 6in., and sixteen 24-pounder guns, and she had a "peed of 26.4 knots. She was built at a cost of > £ 1,349,000. The Seydlitz is a battle cruiser of 24,350 tons, with an armament of ten llin., twelve 6in., twelve 2 4-pounder, and four 14-pounder guns. She was completed in 1913. The Derfflinger is a sister ship to the Sevdlitz, completed in 1914. Both vessels cairy five submerged torpedo tubes. The Moltke is a sister ship to the Goeben. She is a battle cruiser of 2:(000 tons, with a complement of 1,107. She carries ten llin., twelve 6in., and twelve 24-pounder guns, and has two torpedo tubes. She was com- pleted in October, 1911, and her best recent epced was 28.7 knots. GERMANY HOODWINKED. I The B'ucher (says Mr. Archibald Hurd, in the "Daily Telegraph ") was a particu- larly interesting ship, No one who had any knowledge of British and German naval policy could ever forget when they came across the name of this man-of-war how completely the Admiralty hoodwinked the enemy ten years ago. It was announced in the spring of 1905 that we were going to build "cne battleship" and "four armoured I cruisers," It was shortly afterwards re- ported that the German Marineamt had succeeded in piercing the secrecy with which the Admiralty had surrounded the work proceeding on these vessels. In the follow- ing year, 1006, the Germans laid down an armoured cruiser, which they believed would be at least as good as anything we were building, and in the following year two Dreadnoughts, which were to be as power- ful as cur Dreadnoughts. Once more the enemy, who in all matters of secret service within my knowledge, as in J diplomacy, has shown himself foolish and cocksure," was deceived. Everyone admits now that the so-called German Dread- noughts which were laid down in 1907 were comparative failures. and the armoured cruiser, Blucher, which is now no more, was the cause of continual irritation to the German naval authorities, because she re- minded them of the way they had been de- ceived by Lord Fisher's bluff. She carried twelve 8.2in. guns, while the contemporary British vessels of the Indomit- able class, to which she was to prove superior, carried eight 12in. guns. The result of the action is the price which Ger- many has had to pay for being too clever. It can hardly be doubted that the German I naval authorities were deceived by one of their agents in this country, and hence their expenditure of < £ 1,250,000 on a ship, completed only as recently at 1910, which, it was realised from the first, was a mis- take, and which has now been Bunk in the North Sea. A RUNNING FIGHT. r The "Times" naval correspondent says:— I After this affair the German newspapers and their naval critics will cease their gibes about the British Fleet being condemned to inactivity and afraid to leave its porta. One large armoured cruiser sunk and two battle- cruisen; seriously damaged are fairly good evidence that our seamen are on the alert and are quite ready to give the enemy an opportunity for showing what they are made of w henever he cares to seize it. Although we are not told exactly where the British patrolling squadrons met the Germans, it may be assumed, since it was in tha early morning, that the latter in- tended to make a descent upon the English coast, and therefore it was probably in the •neighbourhood of the Dogger Bank. How- -ever much they were inclined to throw their shells up in the English churchgoers IOn Sunday morning, they were in no fettle for a right, and. as Sir David Beatty says ra his report, they turne-d at onoe and made for home at high speed. From what we know of other battles at eea and the Ion? ranges at which fire is opened, it may be that something near ten miles separated the squadrons when this happened. Then apparently a running fight of a hundred miles or more took place. The Lion and her consorts, which included, it will be seen, the Tiger, but recently out from Clydebank, and the Princess Royal from Barrow, are of over '28 knots speed, while the New Zealand and Indomitable are but little sl ower. They would therefore be able to overhaul the German ships, of which only the DerffiingeT is credited with slightly higher speed. It must have been a magnificent sight, this chase with all these ships tearing through the water at something like thirty mih" an hour or more. and it is highly creditable to the marksmanship of the British gunners that at the rate the ships were moving they should have inflicted such serious damage on the retreating enemy. The names of the four German cruiser? include all the known effective vessels oi this chI' in German waters with the excep- tion of the Von der Tann, which was re- ported a few days ago to have sustained in- jury of some sort. Now that the Bluchei has been sunk, and Admiral Beatty reports two others to be seriously damaged, the strength cf the German battle-fleet in this respect has been reduced to a couple of ships. Probably if the Derfflinger was lead- ing it may be supposed that the Sevdlitz P,nd Moltke are the damaged vessels, and it ltoay yet turn out, when a report has come from the British destroyers, that these ves- sels have shared the fate of the Blucher. Ill any case, they are not likely to be avail- able tor raids for some time to come. By this action, moreover, the Germans are de- prived of the services of a fast wing to their battle fleet if ever they challenge the deci- sive fight for sea command. —— <*——

BRITISH SHIPS ALL SAFE. On Tuesday night the Admiralty issued a statement giving further details of the battle in the North Sea on Sunday. The announcement, which was issued from the Press Bureau at 9.20 p.m., is as follows:— "All the British ships and destroyers en. gaged in Sunday's action have returned bafely to port. "The Lion, which had some of her for- ward compartments flooded by a shell below the waterline, was taken in tow by the Indomitable. "The destroyer Meteor, which was also disabled, was taken in tow by the destroyer Liberty. Both vessels were guarded by strong escorts of destroyers. "The repairs to both vessels can speedily be effected. The total number of casualties among officers and men reported to the Admiralty i3;- LION.—17 men wounded. TIGER.—1 officer and 9 men killed and 3 officers and 8 men wounded. METEOR —4 men killed and 1 man wounded. "It is not believed that any other casual- ties have occurred, but if so they will imme- diately be published. "As soon as Sir Deavid Beatty's report is received a fuller account will be given." This report satisfactorily disposes of the German claim to have sunk a British battle- cruiser and two destroyers.