South Wales Weekly Post

ø: For all Classes of Printing Work At Moderate Prices WRITE OR CALL AT THE OFFICES OF THE SOUTH WALES DAILY POST WRERE Samites cas *b Inspkcted A-VU Lowest Qtj oratioj"s Okxaikid.

The dispatoli of Sir John French—destined to become a document of considerable his- toric value—is nob the production of a leader who-.se side has been worsted in the fray er fears that ha is being beaten, but of a General who, whilst realism? the im- en,sit,v of the t,a,sk before, him, is, by rea,son M what has already oon done, confident regarding the ultimate issue, His lang'Ukige reflects pride in the British Expeditionary Foros, a whole-hearted recognition of the superb ma-anes* in which it has comported itself against great odds, and cons.equ'fIutly his perfect confidence in the instrument given him to handle. The only defect is that the Force is not bigger. j General French declares that the British j have established "personal ascendency"— man against maa—ovasr the foe, a fact worth many battalions always, and especi- ally 50 when circumstances will allow of the opposing iorces to meet numerioailly on equal terms. In fire-efficiency, self-control, resourcefulness and spirit, our little Army in the hou.r of the supreme test, has right well sustained the traditionally high repu- tation of the soldiers bred in these islands, It is not within the province of the BrittisL Commander to deal with the soldiery ef j France beyond testifying, as fie does, to the loyalty with which one section has co- operat.ed with the other, but we may be sure that the French, who have also suf- fered from the handicap imposed by in- feriority iti numbers, have displayed that aash. intrepidity and initiative which ha;ve for centuries been their distinctive qualities. In the light offered by General French it becomes passible to discern t-he task as- | signed tlia Allies' left wing, whether as the resuilt i ,£ a pre-conceived plan, or of the necessities arising from a frustrated offen- save movement, which disclosed the German right to be in overpowering strength. One sentence in the dispatch :— The British Expeditionary Army .has conformed to the general movement of the French forces, and acted m harmony with the strategic conceptions of the French General fci'taff," properly understood, will col- lect a too prevalent idea that the British tiertaiul is a free ag in respect of the strategy followed, and 'controls an inde- pendent force. Of course, he has been con- I sulted at the outset, and is still being con- sulted but in the nature of things the general .plan is that of the French High tStaif, who arc familiar with the conifgura- t ¡"!of the country, the strength and weak- riesis-ig of the fortresses an d entrenched posi- tion*, and, in General Joffre, have the re- }w ^entail ve of th-fe nation, which furnishes • AWMMit eleven-twelfths oi fcli? forces in the lield. What the general plan provides for *vond raj^eat upon Paris, the i'1- "Wi&gm pay price tor every mile ad- vancjed. is y? t".b:' learned, but .iw m-st ?.? ? at/1H "\??a hœ ?veaJ? the capacity j xmm difficult w<??t??? .?m?'b? b? ?<??d to under- ?.k's.' 1 y order to gnage the success achieved We have consider what the enemy set out to do by throwing all its weight in the western 11 It ad- theatre of operations. "It. is generally* ad- mitted" (-observes Mr. E. B. Osborn in t-he \meteehtb Century and After" Maga- zine) "that the modern science of warfare is i: creation of the German mind; that tho student must go to Germany, to the ist intellect tial, who are mainly responsible. latest attempt to wreck the world's civilisation, if he wIshes to learn how to win campaigns on paper by solving a series of mathematical problems. Whether the scientific principles I urn- be successfully applied on the present occasion remains to be sect). Mr. Osborn is extremely doubtful for a variety of rea- sons. According to these scientific princi- ples Germany was to achieve victory by a campaign in France short, sharp, and de- cisive. By means of an elaborate organisa- tion, specially constructed strategical rail- ways to facilitate swift transport, the massed strength of the Empire was to be hurled against the French and the latter crushed I before she had ffcund her feet in a military sense. 41 Britain and Belgium threw their snia.ll armies >nto the scale they would not allie to appreciably affect the gi-eat pre- ponderance of Germany. The Belgians, if t-hey opposwl in earnest, would be brushed aside; tii, campaign would be practically over before the British could bring their little lot to the C-,ont-inent.A,a for Russia, there would be time and enough to spare to bring back the triumphant hosts from France to settle with the Muscovites before the latter could do any real mischief. The Prussian method of waging wai f ire had proved effective to an amazing degtoe, as directed by such a genius as Moltk-e. In thw coarse of 'three weeks the military power of Austria was completely over- thrown in 1866, find hardly more than a month sufficed in 1870 to coop up belpltssty in an engirdled fortress th-? only French army that wa& not irretrievably, broken. Wc'thin th pae. week s of the first encounter dietween the fk-imans and the French, 4 he former fought and won the great of Spicheren, Mars-le-Tours, Beau- moni, Worth, Oravelotte and Redan, cap- t'urmg hundreds of thousands of prisoners, flnrl .1- .r il. A J -on n \'H" UU1l\ ')1. une guii6, 2iuiyrei niia war material of the French fiefld armies. In the -r-astern theatre we have now dramatically effective battles of the same kind; t.he Ser- "iitns wiping out four Austrian Corps on the Drina, and the Russians at I^emb ig putting to utter rout an army of 200,000. capturing about 70.000 of the latter with two hundred guns and a great accumula tion of army stores. And in a lesser degree the check inflicted upon the Russians in the mora#s area of Eastern Prussia, against whom a great reinforcement, of fresh troops Was unexpectedly (thrown, nepresonted a decisive result. Biit although Germany bent her cbiefest 1rught in that direction—-nitting the very, ?.?? of her troops against the AHMs' f?r'?'? stupendous efforts in the Weptern -t) '° ? have so far c?mpMetply failed of their ?°SP" Instead of swift, deadly bJow8 h ??S been struck, disintegrating if not i ??y <L?stroyin? the enemy, the Ger- )11ans haY h1d ? submit ? a gradual ?d- "nl"Æ' h' ']' d I v lr'f>S^ wasteful in l ives an d matcria L and t? 3 Am?s have evaded the knock-out  ??'?ywher.e. The Be?ian armv ? is intael, and stil] active in the ?!d the en C' a:rtn:e on the' right, centn> nnd fre ln*'act-. th? Oast with its British u'i-ri:,Wlr\ ,reflehirig Paris und?featpd bc- C;,V 5„ "'10'<pn- The prosent situation 1),e- ???"??" The pr?nt situation as ,^+ 0,i.(*enerail French mav nc?t be fr,,rn oil, gtandi-,oint, but with a ?,n k??? ? ? ?-ts he ? .atoned '■ana A oonudent. ?? the ??'? ?'? "? won gn.at ietc)r"t"9 t.hey ???'? ?'"?? the ???? d?'?'? ?'hich the 0ermHn war- ?-ds had c?Ol]IW=Ily rel:el upon. General French carries the narra,tive to the 'I point where the British Force- -its losses in battle and by the attrition due to other causes made good by 19,000 fresh I rool)&- is described as south of the river Marne, In company with its French Allies of the jett wing, enjoying the first spell of rest after the ding-dong fighting day by day since the 23rd August. Naturally he has not a word to any respecting the future. The halt of the German left when almost in sight of Paris, followed, by a slant, south-eastward, seemed to suggest an at- tempt to get behind the French centre, but later came the news that the movement had I be-bn averted. The real significance of the pause is puzzling the military critics on this tide of the Channel, with only incomplete data to go upon. The German centre and left, who have to operate in the gaps pur- posely left open between the vstrong places at Belfort, Verdun, Tool and Epical, have palpably failed to move forward in accord- ance with the scheduled times, and are .oil] being held by the Frerch, most tena- ciously fighting for evory yard. Hence- it Va: not unreasonable to infer that the German right is marking time to enable the retarded centre and left to come up and participate in the attack upon Pari s. The French capital, fully provisioned as 1 it is believed to be. and adequately and effi- j cic-ntiy garrisoned by not fewer tlian 170,(XX) I men. can be left to resolve its own iat-e-- with an active army within resell ready to co-operate—or used as a strong support to the Allies in an offensive action. But the Jesson of Metz will prohablyprevent it from luring within the walls armies capable of inde- pendent action outside, with naturally strong defensive positions as Cherbourg available resting on the eea, where warships could lend effective aid to the land forces. For the main end is to win time until Russian pressure becomes perilous to the heart of Germany, compelling the abandonment—in- vol ring disastpr-of the march on Paris, I or such a diminution in the German forces in Franco as will enable the Allies to as- sume the offensive. In this connection re- ports of -the diversion of Germans from the west to the east, w hether indicated by the large number of Icxtdod trains alleged to have been seen making for Germany or based upon wireless messages reported to have been intercepted in Holland, should lie re- ceived in a spirit of wholesome sceptioism, In times, of war reports deriving their in- spiration from high quarters have often no I mission except to deceive. It M almost unthinkable that the G-er- mans when within striking distance of Paris, will refrain from attack, unless thoroughly exhausted in getting there. For "Take ParÜ. or d" is said to have been the final ad- monition given them. Confidence in fortifi- cations has be-on somewhat shaken by the comparatively easy capture of Namur; otherwise an entry into the French capital by storm or the subjection of its forts by bombardment would be deemed possible only after weeks of preparatory work. For the new scheme of defence, based upon the experience of. 1871, is most formidable. In. the last siege the bombardment, from which bo much was expected, availed little. Paris fell after three months' resistance because of di^em^snfe .ajjd famine. Fbrtj^four yeal's ago demonstrably superior to the instruments of offence. For strongholds like Metz, Bel- fort, Stmsburg, andPa,l'Í had to be elabor- ately invested by forces relying not on their guns but the aid of General Famine. The rivalry between means of offence and defence has persisted through the ages-the balance cf superiority inclining now this way and then another. The armoured knight re- presented more tOian a. single unit- ?o long as a.-isailed-exctpt at close quarters—merely by the arrow. The introduction of gun- powder shifted the advantage to the side of attack. In the same way the first armoured ships were impregnable, to the most powerful of guns. In the present war Germany— known in advance to be superior to France in heavy guns, though the ordinary field ar- tillery of the latter is proved to be excelled by P-one-axe. using for the siege of fort- resses an 11-inch howitzer, which is playing havoc with forts. The latter, if subjected on land to batteries of guns of overpowering strength—the turner from the chemical in- gredients in the shelle. have a suffocating I effect--and concurrently to bombs from the sky dropped by airships or aeroplanes, are apt to find the strain intolerable. As evi- dence of the tendency to revert to old-time weapons, we have the fitting oi French aero- planes with boxes of steel arrows or bolts four feet long. These when released acquire such momentum in the down (light as to be able to pass through a man from head to foot. Human ingenuity is in no sphere !óO fruitful as in that of destructiveness, whe- ther against life or property. ———.

A raid by a, small German squadron as far as the Dogger Bank has been the out- standing feature of the week-end's naval news. Some 12 to 15 British trawlers were sunk, according to the official version, but. taken to Kiel around the Skaw. the northern promontory of Denmark, according to the fishermen on the vessel that escaped. The- will be vseful toO the Germans for mine- swepping and mine-laying, but the chief im portance of the raid lies in it* disclosure that the Germans arc not content to be en- tirely passive, but are prepared to undertake minor operations short of a pitched naval battle. It will not be safe to depend too much upon a deterioration in German naval morale. Their fleet will fight at its own time, not at ollr,3, and if the recent raid into Heligoland Bav was displayed to tempt out the larger German vessels, it failed in that purpose. There is a brndanee of evidence that the interposition of England in the war was never taken into German calculations, and theil navy suffers in consequence from the paralysis arifring from the loss of the initiative that is essential to a largely out- numbered force. It has toO pull itself -to. gether and make fresh plans, and in th« meantime is doing well in keeping German Baltic coasts inviolate. One thing it has been able to do, how. ever, and that. i". lav a pr"tty complete chain of mines in the North Sea some 20 or 30 miles from our North Sea. Disasters have now <?rnrr? off HarwK-h and HI1H.1 Th( Wilson iinpr Huno—carrying Russians to. not from, Archangel -was blown up I shortly "fteT ?avin? thf Hnmbpr, but nearly all her crew and pn,s?n?ers were waved. The light cmiscr Pathfinder was less fortunate. A mine appears to hav ex- pMpd near her mas?ine—aa was the errc with n'P Rns?at) nao?hip Pftrop3V?sk ?ff Port Artimr—and in few Tninn? she and some two hundred of her crew were at the bottom. The loss of -.n many gallant seamen excerpt-ed. tllp. ir-iaeni, is not serious: we have plenty and to spare 01 such craft. The i circumstances of were appalling a calm, sunny day, and unruffled waters; then a sudden thunderclap beneath her hull, a Isndden upheaval of water, an enormous cloud of smoke, and destruction for the ship 'and death for the greAter portion of crew. • Yeans ago it was known that. the Gear- mans would strew mines freely in the track of commercial as well as naval maritime bra-flic, but how they effiocted laying down of the pipesent mine fields in view oi tihe u'riexpecbedness of the declaration of ,va.,r by England is not eaey to say. A good deal probably bean accomplished irom trawl-srs and vessels' posing as neutral mer- oliant. vesisels, which operated with ro- n)iark,r>btk> promptitude. So far, however, no mines have been reported off the Scottish coast, where t?.e ?-iciTM?y of t.he Orkney s and the .?Ft-h of Fotr? wo?dd p?A'taanly ha.v! b?e? mined by t?h?; <?!'ma?M had they had time and oppt?-tumty. The chi?f suffeaz.. so far haw Il th.ø vessel of th? British i coast-patrol 3q?dr(?, l?t c?iis&rs and des?iov?'a. like the Amph.ion, Speedy, and Pathfinder. Th?rp M wme comfort m the knowledge that- the case.s of the Speedy and Amphiou show that mines are not in every oase instantaneously destructive, and that the greater part or even the whole of the crews of the vow-eas which strike these terri- ble envies* of war may be rescued. )

Unless softened and made degenerate by long immunity from suffering—the need of self-sacrifice and calls upon physicaj and mental endurance arising from national trials—the people of this country will lia-, o the honesty to recognise disagreeable facts, as well as the courage to stand heavy blows, without flinching. And the foremost fact demanding recognition just now is that but for the com- bination of fortuitous circumstances re- sponsible for bringing about the war now and under the existing* conditions, the Brit- ish Empire might have been smashed to atoms if left unaided to wage the war which Germany was determined to force upon us at the "selected moment." Happily, the arrogant war-lords at Berlin blundered so badly as to bring about war with a com- bination of Powers, thereby upsetting their calculations, which provided for the crusti- ing in turn of the countries likely to oppose the new Caesarism aiming at the mastery of the world. The Germans apply- military tactics even to State policy, and this idea of breaking down the resistance to German au- tocracy and tyranny by the "defeat in d-e- tail" of opponents was an alluring one. from the White Papers issued to Pariia- njent revealing the correspondence and diplomatic conversations immediately pre- ceding the war from similar disclosures by other Governments, and from the writings i oi General von Bernard j, now known by events to have expresited tho thoughts and J intentions of the ruling class in Germany, it can plainly be gathered that the scheme pre- pared at Berlin and forced upon Austria. contemplated a war upon Franoe and Russia, j in which all the might of Germany, Austria- Hungary and Italy wAs to be engaged. Great Britain was not expected to be a parti- cipant because of the Irish trouble and the asf-umed incapacity of -Mr. AsqiLith's Gov- crnmerit to declare war by reason of the in- faience, of certain elements whose support was necessary to the continued existence, of the Cabinet. Tile ignoble role t'll s country by the Potsdam schemers would not only enable Italy —inviAcibly opposed, for •si^iaaigntoi Reasons, ._tp war 4gatrl4 the griiitest ol naVai fbwers—to march in line with the Germanic allies, but also prevent Belgium from offering more than a verbal protest against the violation of her sovereign rights as an independent, Power. | Under this arrangement France, distracted by the possibilities of an Italian attack, waft to have been invaded in overwhelming force on the Belgian froiiti.-t-,i,t-hip German grand manoeuvres for years past-, M well as the construction of strategical railways with no commercial justification whatever, had made manifest the German determination to use Belgian territory so as to evade the strongly fortified line of Belfort, Toul, Epinal and Verdun—-and with such swiftness as to dis- locate the mobilisation of the French Army and consequently make easy the march to Paras and the subsequent return of the con- querors in time to confront the Russians be- fore the latter could reach the Oder. In the light, of recent happenings the authors of the plan cannot be accused of unwar- ranted confidence. The unexpected intervention of Great Britain, bring- ing in its train the neutrality of Italy, and th* heroic resistance of the Belgians, alone prevented first-, the crushing of France, and the defeat of Russia—believed to be un- prepared for war. Afterwards would come the gathering of II the fruits of victory. Belgium, if not, for- mally appropriated, would be absolutely un- der German domination, Antwerp becoming, As t bf-?1(i in the words of Napol eon, As a pistol held against the heart cf England." France would be despoiled of the best of her Colonies, in- cluding those having ports suitable for serv- ing as naval bases for a Power which could employ the enormous indemnity wrung from the vanquished to build up a navy of over- powering strength for the next stage in the conquest of the world. Our destined fate was to face alone, without a friend-in Europe, the Colossus glutted with the spoils of battle and made strong with the resources forcibly acquired. It is to the credit of Sir Edward Grey Hind his colleagues that they saw the trap laid for their feet and falsified German anticipations by deciding that this country's ultimate safety should not be sacrificed by committing it to a craven policy. With the result tha.t the inevitable war with Germany has come upon us not as one hopeless from the start, hut under conditions which ensure doughty Allies who have not ne- glected their preparations for war or failed to train their manhood to efficiently fulfil the first duty of citizenship. But. consider what would have been our plight if reduced to the necessity of coping j with Germany alone? Even if Italy L¡od aside, the iNWite era n ean-fht, principal route for our food supplies— would have been at the mercy of the Aiistrian-, unless we sent there an adequate force depleting to a. dangerous degree the fleet available for hold- ing the North Sea. On land our puny army, compared with the millions of Ger- many, would seem scarcely more than a police force. Without, the necessary cruisers k scour the seven seas for German com- merce destroyers, fincc every availa,ble unit would be wanted in home waters, tr?dR and commerce would be paralysed and the food supply become most precarious. Famine in gh a case would be the enemy's most effective ally. What is the moral of all this? First of all profound gratitude to Providence that events have been so ordained that we con- front with conifdence the formidable Ger- maji war machine not alone, but with several and powerful Allies. And. further, the' criminal folly of listening to politicians who made hght of the German peril and strove to prevent such military and naval preparatione as we ?11 now know to have been ?t?fntia.! to national safety. From this faction now arise cries of protest against the¡ breaking of an 'mpH?d political truce, when "te public are reminded that if Lord Roberts' warning had been heeded in time, we should ¡ not now be reduced to the extremity of enrolling untrained men who cannot- for ¡ months do the soidie- 5 work that requires to be done. The lads who are nobly re- sponding to the call of the blood cannot make an army until weary weeks and months have been spoilt in rendering them fit. But for Ilic, Little Englanders, we might now have r million and more of young men as fit as the Territorials for the final touch. But any allusion to the national jslackness induced by short-sighted politicians is de- nounced by the conscience-stricken (who want their conipromising statements to be forgotten), as a breach of a political truce pleaded to protect them from the oonse- quencas cf their actioti in trying to persuad e the public that no danger was to be appre- .z go v was W. be appm- hended from Germany: in opposing efforts to organise the manhood of the (,(-Amtry for national defence, and in striving to reduce the expenditure upon a navy which now is our only safeguard from the fate that has overtaken the poor Belgians. I-

Gett-matn right wing movas Paris- wards inexorably -as it mus.. sin,.e halt or retreat would be equally disastrous. It has faibad of its main purpose, the OJ- veioping and destruction of the opposing Anglo-French force. The latter is still in- tad. haYi.n successfully accomplished the most difficult task that any army can be asked to undertake, fatl back in order and unbroken, whilst making the invaders pay the full) price for every mile of ad. vanee. Paris, the German objective, may be reached by Sunday, but only as a nut hard to crack. Fo- the Allied army can either pass into it protected by the girdle of forts, and afterwards strike left or right as the opportunity < iters, or, avoiding the lure of Paris, go Wyyrid, leaving the latter to provide its own defence against an "nemy perturbs by the knowledge that, besides the forts tJ¡¡P(1) is a strong army in lieing, capable at a. y moment, of cutting in. The Austrian Army seems to be afflicted by a curse; in every campaign it has waged it ii-ts suffered a. dereat, frequently crush- ingiy conclusive as at Ijeuthen .(gainst Frederick tlte Grt: Jlohenlinden against Moreau; Austeriitz against Napoleon: Sol- fei ino against NeyHadowa against Molt-lce. Catastrophe has swrltly befallen them in this fearful war. the Servians crushin g the army opposed to them on ;he banks of the Drina, and the Russians overwhelming their right around Lent berg..V >re than half oi their sixteen Army Corp? of the first line have now received a disasjoijs overthrow, with great losses in killed. wounded, and prison- ers, guns and equipment; and though in the West of Poland ami Galicia a detached wing remains, it is the uniy-" tar,ge. force that re- mains fairly intact .-or the protection of Vienna. For the res.,1 Austria is defended | only by the debris of Shattered Army Corps, depleted and dejected, pursued by masses of -victorious e-nernk* jfrho march, from tri- umph to triumph. PJt.y thousand pris- oners and two guns have the .>T"yh of ¡JJC Pur in the '•-eek-V.ng' struggle east and ti*>rth of Lemberg; in killed and wounded ike Anstriana have lost more than an Army Corps; in prisoners, two Army .Corps. Against the Russians and the Servians their lore's are equivalent at the least, to Ot-c Armr Corps. One of the Austrian errors was. plainly the extreme dispersion of their forces. A lucid statement from Petrugrad shows that on their left. in Western Poland, they were ad- vancing upon Warsaw, and wera compelled to transfer a large portion of their force to the east of the Vistula to meet. the advance oi the Russian Ariiii- under General Ruszky, who was moving upor Lemberg from Rovno in the south-east, and. was threatening the rear of the Austrian right- flank. Against the Russians, fixed with enthusiasm, led with a vigour unprece dented in their history, the Austrian force, fatally heterogeneous, a mosaic of nationalities ignorant of eaell others tongue, with no heart in their work and no ideal or object for which to strive, j could oppose a resistance incapable of with-' standing mufii shock. The Russian Army is ¡' doing wonderfully. The memories of the Japanese disasters i,re being wiped out. Splendidly organised and trained in a prac- tical school, the moujiks are being marched to battle as never known before. They have done in the past surprisingly well even whilst battling against the evil in- fluences of corruption, all incompetent corps of officerB, mismanagement and fatuous lead- I ing. To-day. with efficiency in every branch, and resolute, active commanders, their army plays its role beyond expectation. If the Western Allies, for rea.sons at pre- sent obscure, find their chiefest comfort in the reflection that they have avoided defeat, the Russians do not .dwell upon a nega- tive solace. The occupation of the 'North- Eastern region of the province of East Prus- sia, and the triumphs in Galicia and Poland, are sot-id, weighty achievements to the good. But they have discovejed their main enemy to be as formidable upon the east as he has demonstrated himself to be upon the west. The reverse near All^nstein shows that- a great portion of East Prussia is still in Ger- man hands, it testifies to the skill and bold- ness of their adversary, and it predicts a stubborn and protracted resistance to the march upon Berlin. The Russians declare only two Army Corps were engaged; the Germans afP^m w the contran", five or Rix were defeated. aD? that the prisoners rea?h the tot? of 70,("r. If the II c'—tme the bkw is not serious, i* 3 ?httie morti'vm?: the C?m?n M' connt makes I n "~rv serious Tepul?. T?'<' Buysu?i? have inoxbn?T?-ible lumbers to draw m>on and can ?nefdilv T"Pk?? ood th?r !?sses. bnt it is essential to 'he '?? n? the W4"st t,h;:¡lt, I they should not 1M", ?)0 much t?e in t.heir invasion of ?a!<t?*? Germany. Tihe ti v, n tv for '<w?tn??s of action is the o ri; (, ?hc Buawan H? well as the German campaign. I There appear* to be -at least one German I Arrnv Corps—the 5th or the 6th—in Silesia and German Poland, and three others in East Prussia. Allowing for a very large number of reserves, the German jtrength in I this quarter is so considerable that it is a mystery where the Germans in France ob tain that overwhelming superioi-ity iii num- bers that is spoken of in every British and in very many French accounts. A Con tin ental army can be duplicated when the re- serves are called UD, or more than duplicat- ed Bulgaria in the Balkan war raised her army from a peace footing of 60,000 to a wa.r footing of over 400.000; Servia, from 30,000 to 250,000. It was a boast of Bia- marck's that Germany could place a million men in the field on either flank and keep a million in reserve. <jterirmy has five mil- lions of trained soldiers available: the secret of her numbers appears to be a far greater utilisation of the reserves for service with the colours than had ever been conjectured. The close of the war should defer up ma.ny fascinating my&teries. History is about to repeat, itself-bct with a difference. The extent and character of the latter hys yet to be revealed. But, as in 1870, Pari" is to be besieged by the Ger- mans, and the French scat of Government has been removed to Bordeaux—that rich old city in the soath-we^t, deriving its import- ance on the one hand from the safe and eassv access to the sea offered by the river Gar- and on the other from the long stretches of vineyard whose soil is of gravel rather than of earth, and produces the best claret in the world. The pea-like pebbles composing the surface to the depth of many feet, -the deposit of a time when the wbole area. was under the sea—provide the vine with that evenries.5 of temperature it de- mands, which in this country is obtained by means of artificially heated glass-houses. During tie day these little stones gather heat from the siuishine, and, acting as storage batteries, yield it to the. vines during the night. Alld as tlte outlet for the over-sea traffic, the outcome of tile bountiful har- vest gathered fron) the wide-reaching plains j around, Bordoaux has for centuries been one of the greatest cities of France. It has lived and thrived by wine just as Cardiff lives by coal. If the extent and character of the history repeating itself for Paris and France has in its fullness yet to bo revealed, in part it is already visibly and conspicuous. When the Germans reached Paris in the a..iomn of 1870 every French army in tlie field I d f-een truslied or captured. The whole military fabric of the country had collapsed under a. succession of heavy blows, and the French Navy had proved so ineffective at sea. that, the bulk of its crews bad been brought ashore to take part in the land battles. All France lav prostrate apparently at the feet of tlie 1 Teutonic conquerors. The head of the French Empire was a prisoner in tlie hands of thb enemy; the Imperial Government had gone to piel-.e5 r.nd disappeared, and France —as the alwrnative to immediate surrender— was callod upon to defend its capita], create a Government, and organise an army in tlie teeth of foes whose grip was daily becoming more deadly. But for the genius of Gam- betta., the hold he established over his countryman by a fiery and inspiring elo- quence, all seemed lost irretirevably. He was principally responsible for a. national rising en masse of French manhood which, even if denied success in the military t/ense, invested ultimate surrender with an im-I perishable glory for the vanquished. To-day Paris, if and when invested, wiii i.ot I-* left naked to its enemMa. Thelle has been no surrender of a whol e iiirmv as at Metz by Bazaine, no sanguinary Sedan involving the entire sacrifice -)f aTic,tlic-r, aDd not even a decisive defeat as at Grave- lotit-e and Worth. The great army, which began the struggle with a front extending from Belfort in the extreme. owL to Lilte in the west, haos yielded ground on its left wing under the pressure of overwhelming numbers, untiti the German right, com- posed of picked troops effecting a wide turn- ing movement, is now within striking reach of Paris. But if the defending side has failed to arrest tlie momentum of the enormous forces bearing against it. there has been in rout or collapse. Every lnl •ha* Wit obftt'ar.'iiely contested,, heavy price .exacted for fvery & dvance, and Paris I reached with the Allies still intact and unbroken, with ports at tbe rear through whzvh they ca-n; be reinforoed, and their stores of food And ammunition replenished. On the other hand the Teutonic ot, i" like the exile describeo. by Goldsmith, whose every mile away from honx" added to the weight of a lengthening chain." The lice of communications Le so prolonged as to offer tempting opportunities for the enter- prise of the Allies. More especially as the latter hav e unchallenged command of the sea. which is at no point, distant, and can select a base from wibich the severance may he attempted. This advantage is the greater because the German Armies in the centre and German left, have so far entirely fa.iled to -realise their put in the German war plan of breaking through and providing an alter- native line, of communications, lesa suscep- tible to s-ttack from seaward. They are held up by the defence, so that ,the German right, exhausted and spent, de- spite the replacement of the weary by fresh substitutes, completes its curve, ending on Paris, without the support expected from the centre and left conforming with the general movement origin illy designed. Hence Paris, which in 1870 was exposed to the attack in full strength of the Ger- man Armies, with no justified expectation of aid from any side—because no .adequate relieving force was in sight, or even prac- tical of creation—is now, if left to its own defenoes, a problem most difficult of solu- tion. Investment on the same lines as in 1870 is not only beyond the strength of the Germ- right wing, liable at any point to a sortie from within or attack from with- out trom Armies still unbroken and able to draw reinforcements undisturbed.4 but. would involve weeks of delay, when every day lost places in increasing peril the German capi- tal. threatened by the R.uss1."ns. Conse- quently we may have the desperate course pursued, not cf patient subjection of the forts encircling Paris, but the hacking of a way through with the aid of the terrible 15- inch guns, regardless of loss, into the French capita] to effect a spectacular triumph of little strategic value—like tlie occupation of Brussels. In war the capital of a. country is made the objective because its capture is indica- tive ot the collapse of the defence, and terms can therefore be exacted at the discretion of the captor. But an occupation of Paris with the majority of its forts unsubdued, and the armies of France and its Allies in unimpaired strength in the fieild, would constitute a thaatricail display—nothing more--and be extremely perilous besides. For it is but reasonable to believe that the Allies, supreme on sea. and able to draw practically 'inexhaustible supplies of men from Russia to supplement the armed forces from India, and the BritMh Dominions beyond the seas, have t,ér counterstroke m preparation, which, ii efr?tlve, may leave the German riht wing in the air. The latter, once definitely committed to Hs mission, had to go on, dropping lives as the trees do leaves in autumn, I and aggravating wj¡'h every ad- vnnco the difficulty of ensuring supplies of food ,md ammunition. It could not stand MtiU or fall b-?ck without inviting dieter. Paris lures d 8-? a place of re fuge for rest and recuperation. But I unless the armies from the centre and Ger- man left can also i-rak,. their wav to the j French capital, the latter ir taN- prove a deadly 1 happen that, the Allies place a strong army in rpositirfn wliciv, if. cap cut the line of communications, reducing the German right, wing to the condition of a diver whose air-line has been s-vered. We are only in the first stage of the war. are several to follow. In our hours of depression do not let u? forget that" Grat Britain is slow in developing its military re BriWn is el?-T iik devel(,.p il)c,, ith, ii; i itiry e sources, but, unlike other countries, we he- roine stronger not weiker with the prolonga- tion of hostilities. Because of t-his we later- ally wore down Napoleon, the greatest mili- tary genius of ail time, and finally immured him in St. Helena, a caged and impotent- I peril to the world's pea/ Germany has 00 far 1)fY"n able to command superior foroes at j the critical poim, not- by reason of better generalship, but seeause the entire manhood of a country, with a population more than fifty per cent. greater than that of Frcwr.ce, has been thrown into the fighting line. The I ■army of 800.000 an a peace footing, supple- mented by conscripts, reservists, Landwehr and Law--d.,tunn-cAc)nilooeft of the last line <rf defer- e—liave been flung into the strife in the hope and expectation that numbers must prevail. Consequently their first shock is the worst, and if nbhstood must thereafter become weaker. Whereas the Allies, having command of the sea- -a factor not for c-ne moment to be forgotten in calculations respecting the ultimate rE" sult will grow in strength and resources day by day. It. is t^-is element in the situa- tion. that Ka-iserism and an assurance of freedom for mankind.

nirthe- details of the Russian reverse in East Prussia #hew that the western half of the province is still in German hands, and Ost-erade-Neidenberg, where the German victory occurred, is some seventy miles east of the Vistula. The first Russian Army to enter East Prussia m.J chcd nortli-west.wards upon Konigsbevg the eorps defeated com- bined the Russian line to the pouth-we £ t. l'ntil the Germans have been ejected, an advanced upon Thorn will find its right flank and rear menaced, and there may be delay in assembling a force ?a;fi:eiein> to deal with the strong German army, maasod swiftly and superior, according to Rus- sian account, by a fe.kilfiu use of an admir- able railway system, which won the victory at 0?tera<le. The German official account, which was even boidsr than the Russian despatch, claimed that < \iO,OOO prisoners'' were taken; tiio- RnNtÍn. admit the loss oi the general officer iu command, Sameonoff, and two other high officer^ which points to casualties of considerable seventy. Another interesting point t rait is the Russian admission of the effectiveneas of the German field artillery brought into the field, as well as the superiority ot the German field artil- lery—apparently of a latair type than thus general run of German weapons-aver the Russian field guns. In the armamftnt of an immense army like the- Germans', w here fresh artillery .is con- t-inualiy being raised, it is inevitabJa that opportunities should be offered for tlie in- tioduction of a mere modem t.)Te. of plJl than that which provides the bulk of the tier man anna-moat and d^tes back to 1896. The effectiveness of their siege artillery lias i been one of the surprises ot the war ,ntl it has produced very pronounced and import- j ant results. German gunuery, indeed, is-n- clared llY the brilish -w-flose -c,wti- weapons ,r,e outnumbered by four to one—to be re- roarkahl.v oompetant, and the; direction of the fír" bv aercnitna i* » .).t fckilfal character. An. returned to this country from Berlin, has brought with him )w,.mme valuable impressions of the German capital in war' lime. Life, I lie says, is nearly normal; food is cheap • and jJmndaut; but at the flying grounds of Johaimisti-wi as many as a hundred aero- plants can be seen in the air at once, and perfect swarms of flying cratt are being built 1J.rl manned. German efficiency, in | this branch of aerial warfare has been an- ,other great, and a disagreeable surprise. We are gradually takiu, •* the true measure 01a very formidable hie, and disillusioning our- salves of many erroneous ideas that became prevalent in the first fortnight of the Avar. j The capacity of our enemy for an ÜI- finite attention to details can only be I realised hy those who liave had personal experiences of Germany. Here is an ex- ample of it—slight but significant. A thiough train running from YinHa. left. about 8.30 p.m.. to Frankfort, which is reached about 12.30 p.m. the next day. A station before Frankfort, a man boards the train and distributes handbiiiis. Theso bear a list of the dllief trains leaving Frank- fort and their times the time that a I traveller who is journeying further has to wait at the great mid-German railway centre: and the restaurant at which he can lunch. Every wish and need is fore- j, seen in this manner, and upon a great scale tthe same organising capacity and presciense is witnessed ilrroinglioui the ) nation and its r.lfaa-s. We in England, plunged at present in the chaos of an effort to create an 'mmense and a totally new army. for which everything has to be manu- factured, with the slenderest bases of trained men to h-^truct the raw masses of recruits, may well he thankful for the shield that the Navy interposes between us and a mighty, desperate and able enemy, giving I us lessons to ma ke good glaring deficiencies. From the sea there is no sign of further conflict, but without a shot fired the deaddy i commercial paralysis enforced by our cl-I mg ot. ttie (jrerman ports is telling, very glowly, but very surely. Yet do not let us I overestimate even this irresistible weapon that our Navy wields for it is by far the better plan to credit an adversary with a determination to win and a. belier" in victory equal to onr own. and an equal readiness for sacriifce. Fuller .iceounts of the action off Heligoland have come to hand, and they re- veal the brilliance of the British tactics. The German light cruisers and destroyers were luted to sea in a com bat upon level terms with opponents of 'ight calibre; then there cut in sharply the hea\ier British cruisers and then the ponderous battle-cruisers, whose huge broadsides were 'nst!?ntJv fat?L It is to be noted that in the opening stas?tbo Germans proved dangerous opponents: tbe Aret-busa and at least one destroyer was in a. critical position, and a naval officer testi- fies that "they gave a-s good as they gOt." And in the closin g stages, when confronted with the most fearful odds that could be en- countered m naval warfare, not one vessel surrendered the Mainz and Ariadne sank under volcanoes of shell fire with flags flyino- and guns firing. Gradually news is leaking through of, a number of captures of British vessels at "-a, a.nd so far only the Kaiser Wilhelm, of a number of commerce destroyers has been run down. Th« loss inflicted so far is insignificant: but these boats have a not inappreciable cnoacitv For further mischief.

The Admiral of the Atlantic," will find the "Kieu Row" a "Rotten How." The war offers one advaiit.gc-it is teach- ing the youngsters European geogvaphv. "'P-<>-<'>- Certain—and they arc not many—?of the Swansea. Docks fir:ius arc professing patriot- ism but not practising it. Until recent e.ts. ? gwaii--a pubic official rather r, if, d h. "X.Hiser": moustache. It's another shape now. j

The GCgine attached to a train leaving Swansea with recruits this week was appro- priately named "Kitchener." A hint to the relief commit,tee." The curates of a parish are not far from being the best judges of deserving cases. If arrangements could be made a, Swan- ftOa. for parties of friends to.jfoin the same re- giments, recruiting would be considerably augmented. II The name Tommy At kinf..t the frotal has given to his foe and tfee enemy of civ: na- tion is Willie the Weed. les, and a --a7lL- one. too. I x < -< I It is proposed to raise a corps of South Wales University students wit.h a battle ory of Remember Louvain. What's the mat- I ter with Sospan Fach "? Recruiting at Swansea lias now found itp feet. In tibo opinion cf good judges, the lada who offer themselves aad are passed, in point of quality ara Swansea/? tsks like breaking another re- farftiliea having all their iwiis Serving at the. imA. Two's and three's ar« comparatively common. ??-<t<-<f-!>?. V Oh:l1 tee' for the, re?df:'?? of the RR | sian, Belgian and Japanese National Anthems at the Swansea Salisbury Club "smoker" lt<)t fc),-t-licou);jagl much as the oompany w. ukl have appreciated them, j i It sei-me that the Territorials don t like to b& called" Torriartt" because association -,Ni,h to be degrading. But. me ipiggest n better endearing diqiin- I-e 1 The coml"v at the Salisbury Ctttb nweW ii;g mado no miiitake a'out- tlie singing of od Save the King." tmd it w¡¡,saløo evi de.Et ¡.hat the Britishev i. ««tt-ii»g to kpow the "Marseillaise." The Freiich National Anthem -,Naa led by u Frenchman. The Swa«iaea oiltciai* ol the Seatoan'tt acd Firemen's Union state that to demon- strate his "patriotism," the owner of a boat ill the docks has discharged his white deck hands, and replaced them with Ajsj atfje iiabour. Rofushensi blr, if t-i-«e. S • <4. A corresp<»ndf in, wants a recraiting. office opened at, Lou^ V;r to a-yajce the paUiotic- spirit there. 4>fc. see th. groinv- of Tosqag merl Pt,&iioing oi; the Bush corner niakM one a h^art sick." We i.-jn,.h..r c » there. A noticabrc d .the send-off at High-street, Station on Thursday evening, wat4 the subdued demeanour of the woniea folk who had uo friends or relatives leav- ine. They seemed to realise that it would not be 'long lief cue someone near and deal to tliem would also be called away. The Swansea public in the second war tpecifll edition of the "Daily Post" on Sun- day obtained first knowledge of General French's historic dispatch descriptive of the ten days' hard fighting in France by the British. V" ♦' i The perse-n who jeered at the uniform of a member of the Welsh Horse, out.side the Antelope Hotel, Mumbles, on Sunday night wiU not readily forget the -effective measures adopted by the object of his merriment. A by the o l ) j ect. c?, bystander described it. as "the sweetest upper-cut. lie hadyor seen." Aat lias loat a disfcin,uish^d son by tlie deatih ot .Mr..Ta.mes llicks'^n Irnes, mui of Mr. John Innes, late of Llanelly. He li^s been described by an aut-h.o-rit-y as one of the Uh.Sf, brilliant of the new English {winters. Has pictrues a<t tlie New English ivero always wortii 'stopping One of the outstanding successes revealed by the war is the Boy Scout. He has proved simply invaluable. Wherever service has to h:, rendered the Scout," with his invincible sense if honour, has been He repre- sents a. force of immeasuitable value when • manhood is reached. The Boy Si-ii,ts are simply splendid. One particiiibrly jvathetic incident oo- curred at High-street station on Thursday evenang, when a white-haired mother rushed as well as site could into the crowd as it left the platform just too date to see her boy ol*. The Daily Post suggested that the lads offering themselves at Swansea for Kit- chen?T's Army s hould, during the hours of I' wait.ing for examination, h?ve a cigarette to j smoke and a paper to read. The papers have I been forthcoming, and h. Evan Evans pro- vided 5-000 Cigarettes which ).re being served out by the Boy Scouts. Captain C. J. Howell Thomas, of Swan- sea. who holds a very prominent position in the public service in London, is serv- ing with the 1st. Welsh Howitzer Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, which ia now sta- tioned at Northampton. There are thou- sands of W?Jah tTx?pe here," he writes to Air. Tim Evans, the tr??nrer of the Lon- don W?Lah, Ru?hy Club, and as I write T c?n h?ar the strains o)? Hen Wlad fy Nhadau' from .same of the troops before ?the\7 ret-ir? f< r the ntj?it." (?ptain HoweH Thomas is keen about the proposed London Welsh Corps. He thinks it should have been in being years, ago, Dr. Railings is certainly the. most mis- undersioodrand most unhappy man HJ the universe. Not satisfied with disturbing the local of a Illyl euburb by indiscreet ac- tion, he now in sanctimonious guise seeks, by reflection ou the conduct of certain gentlemen—Hprhich conduct has since been endorsed by the manhood of Swansga, young and old--to make a covert attack on the Church. Some people might consider this an unsuitable time for the venting of personal spleen. The doctor evidently thinks it seasonable. But it brings little satisfac- tion to the wife with her "man'' at the front fighting for 'his a.nd onr and to the little child who wails for daddy, And be they Churchmen o1, otherwise, it is men like Mr. Charles Eden and his friends who am giving' of their money, time, and ability, brrrgiing practical C\1,ce to the homes, which action is rearer and. dearer to the public heart tuan tho delivery of addresses on irritating subjects..—("Frospero.")