BATTLE OF THE LONGEST DAY
By Compton Mackenzie
Authorized Press Representative at the Dardanelles.
Dardanelles, via Alexandria,
June 30, 1915.
THE battle of the Fourth of June ended with substantial progress on our centre, although on our left and on our right, notwithstanding the most violent charges and counter-charges, we were unable to consolidate some of our initial gains. The reason of this may be found in the natural strongholds of the Turkish flanks, natural strongholds that are helped by the most elaborate fortifications.
The British and French line from the Aegean to the Dardanelles is confronted by rising ground that culminates in the centre with the flat summit of Achi Baba, 800 ft. high. On either side the ground falls away to the sea in ravines and dry watercourses (deres), which the Turks have had time to make impregnable to any except those superb troops that are now fighting to pass over them.
There is no room upon the Gallipoli Peninsula to find weak points, and we are now in the position of having to storm an immensely strong fortress, the advanced works of which, by an amazing feat of arms, we already hold, and the glacis of which has to be crossed before we move forward to the assault upon the bastion of Achi Baba and beyond to the final assault upon the very walls of that fortress, the Kilid Bahr Plateau.
Farther up the coast the Australians and New Zealanders have made a lodgment upon one of the strongest advanced works of the Kilid Bahr Plateau. As seen from the northwest here they threaten the communications of the "fortress" and are drawing against them a large part of the garrison. This is composed of the flower of the Turkish Army, and, notwithstanding casualties that must already amount to 70,000, the troops are fighting with gallantry—with desperation, indeed, because they realize that when the bastion of Achi Baba falls the occupation of the Kilid Bahr Plateau becomes a mere question of time, and that when Kilid Bahr falls the doom of Constantinople is at hand. In view of the difficulties—were it not for the landing one would be tempted to say the impossibilities—which confront our men, the gain of a score of yards in the Gallipoli Peninsula may fairly represent for the purposes of comparison a gain of 500 yards in the Western theatre of war. Therefore, to find its importance the gain of 500 yards on June 4 must be measured with affairs like Neuve Chapelle; and the few quiet days that succeeded may be accepted as repose.
Map of Gallipoli Peninsula, showing the mountainous
nature of the terrain, and Achi Baba.
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After a violent effort on the night of June 11 to 12 there was a brilliant little action by the Border Regiment and the South Wales Borderers which resulted in the gain of two trenches. On the 16th the enemy, led by a Turkish and a German officer, made an assault on the trenches of the 88th Brigade, but were driven off with loss. However, that night the trenches gained by the two regiments on the 11th were heavily bombed, so heavily that our men were forced to retire about 30 yards and dig themselves in. At dawn we were able to enfilade with machine-guns the vacated trenches.
Then the Dublin Fusiliers charged with the bayonet, and once more gave us possession of our gains at heavy cost to the Turks, whose dead filled one trench.
On the evening of the 18th the enemy bombarded very heavily another portion of our trenches on this side of the line. They were evidently attempting in miniature our own methods of Neuve Chapelle and June 4, as immediately after the bombardment they were seen to be massing for an attack. However, the imitation ended rather abruptly at this point, and the affair petered out.
On the evening of the 19th the Turks by a fierce attack, managed to get into an awkward salient which had remained in our hands after June 4. For some time there was great difficulty in recovering this, but the 5th Royal Scots and a company of the Worcesters, led by Lieut.-Colonel Wilson of the former regiment, made a glorious attack, and drove out the Turks.
Of the Royal Scots, one can add nothing but that they are Edinburgh Territorials brought in by the fortune of war to make the twelfth regiment of the immortal 29th Division whose deeds since April 25 might have stirred the ghost of Homer to sing their valour.
Mention has been made already of the difficulties that oppose our advance upon the two flanks. On June 21 it was determined to straighten the line upon the extreme right, and at 1.30 A.M. the preliminary bombardment began. The dawn had been clear, but soon a curtain of silver, through which gleamed the ghost of the rising sun, hung over the Kereves Dere. This was the smoke of bursting shells. Slowly as the sun climbed up the curtain became more substantial. Then it seemed to droop and sweep along the hollows like a vanishing mist of dawn, and during a respite the thin blue smoke of the bivouac fires came tranquilly up into the still air. The respite was very brief, and the bombardment began again with greater fierceness than before. The 75's drummed unceasingly. The reverberation of the 125's and of the howitzers shook the observation post. Over the Kereves Dere, and beyond, upon the sloping shoulders of Achi Baba, the curtain became a pall. The sun climbed higher and higher. All that first mirage of beauty had disappeared, and there was nothing but the monstrous shapes of bursting shells, giants of smoke that appeared one after another along the Turkish lines. All through the morning the cannonade went on.
By noon the Second Division of the French had on the left stormed and captured all the Turkish trenches of the first two lines. Even the Haricot Redoubt, with its damnable entanglements and its maze of communicating trenches, was in French hands. On the right, however, the First Division, after reaching their objective, had been counter-attacked so effectively that they had fallen back. Again they advanced; again they took the trenches; again they were driven out. It began to look as if the victory upon the left would be fruitless, that the position would become an untenable salient and the Haricot Redoubt revert to the enemy.
At this moment a message was sent to say that the trenches must be recaptured, and, when recaptured, held. There were still five hours of daylight for this battle of the longest day. British guns and howitzers were asked for and were lent at once. The bombardment was resumed throughout that afternoon, and at half-past five it seemed as if every gun on earth were pouring shells on the Turkish lines.
At six o'clock the third assault was delivered. In one trench there was a temporary shortage of ammunition, but the enemy fought even with stones and sticks and fists. A battalion came hurrying up from the Turkish right to reinforce it, was caught on open ground by the drumming 75's, and it melted away. Six hundred yards of Turkish trenches were taken, and still the bombardment was continued in order to ward off the counter-attack that was anticipated.
The smoke of the shells, which at dawn had been ethereal, almost translucent, was now, in the sunset, turbid and sinister, yet the sunset was very splendid, flaming in crimson streamers over Imbros, tinting the east with rosy reflections and turning the peaks of Asia to sapphires. It had a peculiar significance on this longest day of the year, crowning as it did those precious five hours of daylight that, for the French, had been fraught with such achievement. Slowly the colour faded out, and now, minute by minute, the flashes of the guns became more distinct; the smoke was merged in the gathering dusk, and away over the more distant Turkish lines the bursts of shrapnel came out like stars against the brief twilight. One knew the anxiety there would be in the darkness that now was falling upon this 21st of June, but in the morning we heard gladly that the enemy's counter-attacks had failed, and that our Allies were indeed firmly established.
The Turkish casualties were at least 7,000. One trench, 200 yards long and 10 feet deep, was brimming over with the dead. They were valiant those dead men. French officers who have fought in the West say that, as a fighting unit, one Turk is worth two Germans; in fact, with his back to the wall, the Turk is magnificent. The French casualties were marvellously few considering what a day it had been, what an enemy was being attacked, and how much had been gained.
The right of the line now commands Kereves Dere, and the profile of Achi Baba seems to write itself less solidly against the sky.
ATTACK BY LAND AND SEA
The British Press Bureau on June 30, 1915, issued the following:
General Sir Ian Hamilton reports that the plan of operations on the 28th was to throw forward the left of his line southeast of Krithia, pivoting on a point about one mile from the sea, and after advancing on the extreme left for about half a mile to establish a new line facing east on ground thus gained. This plan entailed the capture in succession of two lines of the Turkish trenches east of the Saghir Dere, and five lines of trenches west of it. The Australian Corps was ordered to co-operate by making a vigorous demonstration.
The action opened at nine o'clock with a bombardment by heavy artillery. The assistance rendered by the French in this bombardment was most valuable.
At 10.20 the Field Artillery opened fire to cut wire in front of Turkish trenches, and this was effectively done. The effect on the enemy's trench near the sea was great. The very accurate fire of his Majesty's ships Talbot, Scorpion and Wolverine succeeded in keeping down his artillery fire from that quarter.
At 10.45 a small Turkish advanced work in the Saghir Dere known as the Boomerang Redoubt was assaulted. This little fort, which was very strongly sited and protected by extra strong wire entanglements, has long been a source of trouble. After special bombardment by trench mortar, and while bombardment of surrounding trenches was at its height, part of the Border Regiment at the exact moment prescribed leapt from their trenches as one man like a pack of hounds, and pouring out of cover raced across, and took the work most brilliantly.
The artillery bombardment increased in intensity till 11 A.M., when the range was lengthened, and infantry advanced. The infantry attack was carried out with great dash along the whole line.
West of Saghir Dere three lines of trenches were captured with little opposition. The trenches were full of dead Turks, many buried by the bombardment, and one hundred prisoners were taken in them.
East of the Ravine the Royal Scots made a fine attack, capturing the two lines of trenches assigned to their objective, but the remainder of the Brigade on their right met with severe opposition and were unable to get forward.
At 11.30 the Royal Fusiliers led its Brigade in the second phase of the attack west of the Ravine. The Brigade advanced with great steadiness and resolution through the trenches already captured, and on across the open, and taking two more lines of trenches reached the objective allotted to them, the Lancashire Fusiliers inclining half-right and forming line to connect with our new position east of the Ravine.
The northernmost objective had now been attained, but the Gurkhas pressing on under the cliffs captured an important knoll still further forward, actually due west of Krithia. This they fortified and held during the night, making our total gain on the left precisely one thousand yards.
During the afternoon the trenches, a small portion of which remained uncaptured on the right, were attacked, but the enemy held on stubbornly supported by machine-guns and artillery, and the attacks did not succeed.
During the night the enemy counter-attacked the furthest trenches gained, but was repulsed with heavy loss. A party of Turks, who penetrated from the flank between two lines of captured trenches, was subjected to machine-gun fire at daybreak, suffered very heavily, and the survivors surrendered.
Except for a small portion of trench already mentioned, which is still held by the enemy, all and more than was hoped for from operations has been gained. On the extreme left the line has been pushed forward to a specially strong point well beyond the limit of the advance originally contemplated.
All engaged did well, but certainly the chief factor in the success was the splendid attack carried out by the 29th Division, whose conduct on this, as on previous occasions, was beyond praise.
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION
The British Press Bureau states on July 1 that, in continuation of his last message respecting the British advance in the Gallipoli Peninsula, Sir Ian Hamilton had reported as follows:
Further details have now been received with regard to the part played by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in the operations of the 29th. As previously stated, the General Officer Commanding the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was instructed to undertake operations with a view to preventing the enemy in his front from detaching troops to the southern area.
Between 11.30 A.M. and 12 noon the action was opened, His Majesty's ships Humber, Pincher, and Chelmer engaging enemy's heavy guns. At 1 P.M. part of the Second Light Horse Brigade and the Third Infantry Brigade moved out on the right of the position, advancing some 700 yards, when the enemy was encountered in strength. Meanwhile the artillery engaged the enemy's reserves, which were collecting in the ravine opposite right centre, by shelling them effectively with guns and howitzers.
About 2.30 P.M. the enemy appeared to be preparing a counter-attack against the left of our advanced troops, but on howitzer and machine-gun fire being turned on the enemy's attacks were easily repulsed. The retirement of the advanced troops was begun at 3 P.M., well covered by rifle, machine-gun, and artillery fire, and the troops were all back in the trenches between 4.30 and 5.30 P.M.
Our machine-guns and artillery did considerable execution. Naval gun fire also gave valuable assistance. Demonstrations made after dark at 8.45 and 11.30 P.M. with flares, star shell, and destroyer bombardment were successfully carried out.
The Eighth Corps report 180 prisoners taken since the morning of the 28th, namely, 38 of the Sixteenth Regiment, 139 of the Thirty-third Regiment, and three of the Thirteenth Regiment. A Circassian prisoner carried a wounded private of Royal Scots into our lines under fire.
ATTACKED BY THE TURKS
Sir Ian Hamilton reported, as published by the British Press Bureau on July 6, the following details of the attack made by the Turks on the night of 29th-30th June:
About 2 A.M. searchlights of His Majesty's ship Scorpion discovered half a Turkish battalion advancing near the sea northwest of Krithia. Scorpion opened fire, and few of the enemy got away. Simultaneously the enemy attacked the knoll we captured due west of Krithia, advancing from a nullah in close formation in several lines. The attack came under artillery and enfilade rifle fire, and the enemy lost heavily. The foremost Turks got within forty yards of the parapet, but only a few returned.
The Turks made several heavy bomb attacks during the night, our troops being twice driven back a short distance. Early in the morning we regained these trenches by bayonet attack, and they have since been strengthened.
At 5.30 A.M. 2,000 Turks, moving from Krithia into the ravine, were scattered by machine-gun fire. The operations reflect great credit on the vigilance and accurate shooting of His Majesty's ship Scorpion. The Turkish losses in the nullah and ravine are estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 dead.
About 10 P.M. on the 30th of June the Turks again attacked with bombs a portion of the most northerly trench captured by us on 28th. An officer of the Gurkhas being wounded, not dangerously as it turned out, the men became infuriated, flung all their bombs at the enemy, and then charging down out of the trench used their kukris for the first time and with excellent effect. About dawn the Turks once more attempted an attack over the open, but nearly the whole of these attacking forces, about half a battalion, were shot down, and a final bomb attack, though commenced, failed utterly.
Further reports from Australia and New Zealand Corps, as to the enemy's attack on 29th-30th on our right flank, state that the action commenced by very heavy fire from midnight till 1.30 A.M., to which our men only replied by a series of cheers. The Turks then launched their attack, and came right on with bayonet and bombs. Those who succeeded in getting into our saps were instantly killed; the remainder were dealt with by bomb and rifle fire from the 7th and 8th Light Horse. By 2 A.M. the enemy broke, and many were killed while withdrawing. The enemy's attack was strongest on his right. They were completely taken aback by a concealed sap constructed well ahead of our main line, and the dead are lying thickly in front of this. Some got into the sap and several across it; all these were wiped out by fire from the main parapet farther back.
Following the defeat of this attack, the enemy attacked at 3 A.M. on our left, and 30 men came over the parapets in front of the right of Quinn's Post. These were duly polished off. Prisoners brought in state that three fresh battalions were employed in the main attack, which was made by the personal order of Enver Pasha, who, as they definitely assert, was present in the trenches on June 29. This is confirmed by the statement of an intelligent Armenian prisoner captured on that date. According to him, stringent orders were recently issued that no further attacks were to be made, because if the Turks remained on the defensive the British would be forced to attack, and would suffer as severely as the Turks had hitherto suffered. But Enver Pasha, when he arrived in the northern section, overrode this instruction, and orders were received by the prisoner's regiment that the Australians were to be driven into the sea.
On July 2, after a heavy bombardment of our advanced positions by high explosives and shrapnel, lasting half an hour, the enemy infantry advanced, but were driven back to the main nullah about a mile to our front by the accurate shooting of His Majesty's ship Scorpion and by our rifle and machine-gun fire. About 7 P.M. the Turkish artillery recommenced their bombardment, under cover of which two battalions emerged from the nullah to the northeast of our most advanced trench and commenced an attack across the open, advancing in two regular lines. At the outset very effective shrapnel fire from the 10th Battery Royal Field Artillery caused great execution among the attackers. Gurkha supports then advanced, and there being insufficient room in trenches took up a position on some excavated earth in rear, whence deadly rifle fire was poured into the advancing lines. Turkish officers could be seen endeavouring to get their men forward, but they would not face the fire and retreated in disorder after suffering heavy casualties.
The ground in front of our trenches in every direction can be seen covered with Turkish dead, and patrols sent out at night report that the valleys and ravine are also full of them. There can be no possible doubt that the enemy's losses have been very heavy. After checking and counter-checking reports from all sources, I put down their total casualties between June 28 and July 2 at 5,150 killed and 15,000 wounded. The number of killed is, therefore, approximately correct, while the wounded is an estimate based partly on the knowledge of the number already reported arrived at Constantinople, and on experience of proportion of wounded to killed in previous engagements. Since June 29 the total amount of Turkish arms and ammunition collected is 516 rifles, 51 bayonets, 200 sets of equipment, 126,400 rounds of ammunition, 100 bombs.
The following is an extract from captured divisional orders: "There is nothing that causes us more sorrow, increases the courage of the enemy, and encourages him to attack more freely, causing us great losses, than the losing of these trenches. Henceforth commanders who surrender these trenches, from whatever side the attack may come, before the last man is killed will be punished in the same way as if they had run away. Especially will the commanders of units told off to guard a certain front be punished if, instead of thinking about their work, supporting their units and giving information to the higher command, they only take action after a regrettable incident has taken place.
"I hope that this will not occur again. I give notice that if it does I shall carry out the punishment. I do not desire to see a blot made on the courage of our men by those who escape from the trenches to avoid the rifle and machine-gun fire of the enemy. Henceforth I shall hold responsible all officers who do not shoot with their revolvers all the privates who try to escape from the trenches on any pretext. Commander of the 11th Div., Colonel Rifaat."
To the copy from which this extract was taken the following note is appended: "To Commander of the 1st Battalion. The contents will be communicated to the officers, and I promise to carry out the orders till the last drop of our blood has been shed. Sign and return. Signed. Hassan, Commander, 127th Regiment. Then follow signatures company commanders."
HEAVY TURKISH LOSSES
The British Press Bureau on July 7 issued this report by General Ian Hamilton:
The night of July 3-4 was quiet in the northern section, but at 4 A.M. the enemy started a heavy bombardment of the trenches. All the guns previously used against us, and some new ones, were in action, but the bombardment died away about 6 A.M. without doing much damage. During the bombardment about twenty 11.2-inch shells were dropped from a Turkish battleship in the strait.
In the southern section the Turks kept up a heavy musketry fire along the whole line during the night and did not leave their trenches. At 4 A.M. their batteries started the most violent bombardment that has yet been experienced. At least 5,000 rounds of artillery ammunition were expended by them.
Meanwhile this shelling of our lines on the peninsula proved the preliminary to a general attack on our front with special efforts at certain points. The principal effort was made at the junction of the Royal Naval Division section with that of the French.
Here, at 7.30 A.M., the Turks drove back our advanced troops and assaulted a portion of the line held by the Royal Naval Division. Some fifty Turks gained a footing in our trench, where, nevertheless, some men of the Royal Naval Division held on to our supports, and the men who had retired counter-attacked immediately and hurled the Turks out of the trench again.
Another attack on the right of the Twenty-ninth Division section, was practically wiped out by rifle and machine-gun fire. On our left the Turks massed in a nullah, to the northeast of our newly-captured trenches, and attempted several attacks. None of these was able to get home owing to the steadiness of our troops and our effective artillery support. The bombardment died down toward 11 A.M., though it was resumed at intervals.
Not only was the result a complete failure, but while our losses were negligible and no impression was made on our line, the enemy added a large number to his recent very heavy casualties. It seems plain from the disjointed nature of his attack that he is finding it difficult to drive his infantry forward to face our fire.
SLAUGHTER BY CANNON LIGHT
In a dispatch by George Renwick to The London Daily Chronicle, dated at Lemnos, July 11, the following description of fighting, followed by heavy Turco-German casualties, appeared:
The heaviest fighting which has taken place on Gallipoli Peninsula since the allied forces landed there began late on Tuesday and lasted well into Wednesday. It resulted in a swing forward of the southern line of the allied armies for five furlongs and in the infliction of staggering losses on the enemy. Those who were in the battle place the Turco-German casualties at 7,000 killed and from 14,000 to 15,000 wounded. Many prisoners were taken.
The whole army in the southern part of the peninsula was engaged, and the Australians and New Zealanders further north also played a part. The victory marks a definite stage in the initial work of throwing forces around Achi Baba, which may now be described as one of the strongest fortresses in the world.
The Allies had been resting in comparative tranquillity and the Turks had evidently become persuaded the enemy was experiencing a shortage of ammunition. This belief convinced them of the excellent opportunity of driving the invaders into the sea. Late Tuesday night the first signs of the enemy's movement were detected. No time was lost in flashing a warning message to headquarters. The French were soon alert and the artillery at that portion of the line against which the attack was being prepared was quickly and strongly reinforced.
French and British machine guns were rushed to the front until a perfect wall of heavy and light guns was in position. Then there came a short interval of silence and waiting, almost oppressive. Suddenly the stillness was broken by a tremendous burst of shells from the Turkish guns, and for a time shrapnel poured down on the French front. But the men were safely positioned in dugouts and little loss resulted. From the strait loud booming began. The battered Goeben was at work again, and during the bombardment she pounded our right with some forty 11-inch shells. Many did not burst—they were apparently of Turkish manufacture.
This hail of shells lasted just an hour and a half and was the severest bombardment to which our lines have been subjected during the weeks of struggle on the peninsula. No sooner had the heavy fire ceased than great solid masses of Turks leaped forward to the attack. On they came, the silence unbroken save for their shouts, until they reached a point within sixty or seventy yards of the French position. Then from 200 well placed machine guns a devastating answering fire burst from our Allies' trenches, and the rifles joined in, 20,000 of them. The big guns flared and cast a lurid light over the scene.
Italy’s War on Austria
Second Month Closes with Offensive Operations in Swing
Against Gorizia
On July 23, after two months of her war against Austria, an appraisement may be taken of Italy's extensive and business-like preparation for the conflict. Rapidly the passes leading to the Trentino, Carinthia, Friuli, and the valley of the Isonzo were secured, almost over night; and then, with the regularity of a railway time-table, the Italians began their hard, patient work, in hitherto impassable regions, of neutralizing the Trentino, so as to make impossible an invasion from that territory, and of linking up their columns along the Isonzo, so that now, at the beginning of August, a battle-front of seventy-five miles extending from Tarvis to the Adriatic, is ready to move eastward in the direction of Klagenfurt, beyond which there are no Austrian fortifications until Vienna is reached, 170 miles away—about as far as Cape Cod is from New York City. The right flank of this battle-front has been developed along the Carso plateau so as to neutralize, as the Trentino was neutralized, the Peninsula of Istria with the great commercial port of Trieste, the naval base of Pola, and the Hungarian Free City of Fiume.
THE Italian field of activity saw during the week ended July 24 the blazing out of the Italian offensive. Italy apparently was then satisfied that all the passages by means of which Austria could pour troops to attack her rear are effectively stopped and has therefore begun a determined advance along the Isonzo front from Tarvis to the Adriatic, with the object of breaking down completely Austria's first defensive screen. The battle is, as is natural, centring around Gorizia.
GENERAL CARLO CANEVA
One of the Most Conspicuous of Italian Military Commanders
(Photo from Central News.)
Once Gorizia falls, the Italian problem in so far as Trieste is concerned, will be near solution. The Italians have made notable advances in Cadore and along the Isonzo, on the plateau of Carso. But Gorizia must be taken before a decided local victory can be recorded. The fighting has not progressed as yet to the point where definite information is available, but in late July it seemed to have reached the culminating stage. The surroundings of Gorizia, which is the key to the Isonzo district and the junction of five main roads and four main railway lines, are protected with all manner of fortifications. The official report from Rome on June 25 recorded the Italian occupation of Globna, north of Plava, and of the edge of the plateau between Sagrado and Monfalcone. From that date reports from Vienna recorded continuous and heavy Italian attacks from the bridgehead at Goritz to the sea. The correspondent of the Berliner Tageblatt at the Isonzo front reported on July 7 that the second great Italian offensive had forced its way into the Austrian line at Podzora—a height covering the bridgehead at Goritz—and at Vermegliano, between Doberdo and Monfalcone. A Geneva dispatch, dated July 14, reported the capture by the Italians of two miles of trenches in the Carnic Alps, the Alpine troops dragging their artillery to an altitude of 6,600 feet near Roskopel, and capturing to the south of Gorizia two important forts. On July 16 a dispatch from Rome told of a war council at the front held by King Victor Emmanuel and Premier Salandra, with Count Cadorna, Chief of the General Staff, and General Porro, his chief assistant. A Vienna official dispatch of that date reported increased artillery activity in the coast district and in Carinthia. Two passes at a height of over 10,000 feet were taken by the Italians at Venerodolol and Brizio, as reported July 17, and on July 18 they began an advance in Cadore, attacking a ring of powerful forts at a great height at Paneveggio, San Pelegrino, Monet, Livinallongo, and Tresassi, while Goritz was shelled from land and air.
The Austro-Italian frontier, the scene of the fighting.
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Then began, on July 20, a great general Italian assault on a 75-mile line from Tarvis to the Adriatic shore. A dispatch from Turin from the correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle announced a victorious advance by the Italians on the Carso plateau, east of Sagrado, with the capture of 2,000 Austrian prisoners. The War Office in Rome reported on July 21 that while the Italian defense continued to develop energetically in Cadore, and the artillery was effectively working in Carnia, the struggle in the Isonzo zone continued with increasing intensity. Toward Goritz the Italians gained part of the line of the heights which form the right bank of the river commanding the town and the Isonzo bridges. On the Carso Plateau the Austrians were reported driven from some trenches, and 3,500 prisoners and much material captured. On July 22 the fall of Goritz and Tolmino was reported to be near, the War Office in Rome announcing a development of the offensive "along the whole front from Monte Nero to the Carso Plateau. Vienna reported that the heavy attacks were being repulsed. But on July 23 the official report from Rome for the first time declared that the Italian armies in the battle along the whole Isonzo front were achieving success," which was "constantly becoming more clearly apparent." On July 24 a dispatch from Udine said that General Cadorna was personally directing the battle in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel and the Duke of Aosta. A Milan dispatch to The London Daily News on July 25 reported the evacuation of Goritz by the Austrian General Staff in view of the imminence of its fall. Below appears a prospective account of Italy's formidable task, written on July 1 by an Italian correspondent of The London Morning Post.
The Task of Italy
[By a Special Correspondent of The London Morning Post]
Cormons, July 1.
The Italian battle for the conquest of the fortified lines on the Isonzo and the entrenched camps of Gorizia is one of the most important in the European conflict. The battle of the Isonzo is not to be regarded as a mere episode, but a prolonged siege over a front of more than a hundred miles of a natural fortress, consisting of a chain of precipitous mountains. Perhaps never before in a European war has the value of individual qualities been shown so conclusively as by the Italian troops in this war. The very steep cliffs, which are almost perpendicular, along the course of the river are almost impossible to scale. The mountain passes which open along the river are very few and also narrow. In addition the geological nature of that district, composed of strong walls of granite towers, which dominate the River Isonzo, is favorable to its defence.
To this natural defense have been added strong fortifications built by the Austrians during past years in anticipation of being used for the subjugation of Italians at some time or other. Finally, during the last nine months of Italy's neutrality the Austrians have employed the latest technical improvements in defensive warfare, and I have never seen their equal during my excursions to the front in France and Belgium, not even at Antwerp. This remark applies especially to Carso and Gorizia.
The artillery officers of the Italian Military Staff whom I met at the front have explained to me the nature of the Austrian defensive works. Upon the Carso and around Gorizia the Austrians have placed innumerable batteries of powerful guns mounted on rails and protected by armor plates. Numerous other artillery advantages are possessed by the Austrians in the form of medium and smaller guns, though the efficiency of their action is modified by the long distances separating the armies.
In view of these advantages possessed by the Austrians, the Italians have accomplished marvels and are worthy of great admiration. The infantry is much exposed while crossing large and deep rivers. With the exception of the two positions of Podgora and Sabotino, all the Austrian line on the Isonzo has been taken by the Italians.
To the conquest of Gorizia are directed the efforts of the Eastern Italian Army. The Italian infantry which crossed the Isonzo ran against a net of trenches which the Austrians had excavated and constructed in cement all along the edge of the hills which dominate the course of the river. These trenches, already occupying a position nearly impregnable because so mountainous, are defended by every modern protective device. They are armed with numerous machine-guns surrounded by wire entanglements, through which runs a strong electric current. These lines of trenches follow without interruption from the banks of the Isonzo to the summit of the mountains which dominate it. They form a kind of formidable staircase, which must be conquered step by step with enormous sacrifice. The Italian troops have accomplished this marvel.
The crossing of the Isonzo and the conquest of the first mountainous positions were accomplished by the Italians in four strategic places: At Caporetto, at Tolurino, at Plava, and at Sagrado. These four places, situated in the strong line of Austrian defense, are about twenty miles distant from one another. The chain of fortifications of which Gorizia is a center was broken in these four essential points. The immediate effect has been the disorganization of the defensive plans of the enemy. The crossing of the river was accomplished generally at night, and was conducted with a rapidity which took the enemy by surprise. Complete regiments crossed in the night upon light bridges constructed in a short time by the engineers, whose technical skill was equal to their audacity. These "bridge-heads," which were constructed with incredible courage, made possible an attack by the reinforcements which followed them. When these came in contact with the lower lines of the Austrian trenches they attacked the defenders in such a way that the latter were unable to impede seriously the more important work of the construction of strong bridges.
Two Devoted Nations
By MAURICE MAETERLINCK
The subjoined letter, dedicated by the Belgian writer to stricken Poland, was received on July 12, 1915, by the Polish Relief Committee of New York, of which Mme. Marcella Sembrich is President.
In the Name of Belgium I Bring the Homage of a Martyred Nation to the Nation Crucified:
Of all the people engaged in this frightful war, Poland and Belgium will have suffered most, and we must add (though all the horrors of war are most revolting) they will have suffered most innocently. They are two victims of their innocence and grandeur of soul.
In misfortune and in glory their fates are the same. One, in sacrificing herself wholly to a cult, to an unparalleled passion for honor, has by breaking the first blow of barbarous invasion probably saved Europe, just as the other, the older sister, in grief and heroism several centuries ago saved Europe many times.
They are now joined forever in the memory of men. Across the combats and the sorrows which they are now enduring their hands meet in the same sacrifice, in the same invincible hope. Today these countries are but ruins. Nothing remains of them. They appear to be dead. But we, who are their sons and who know them as we know our mother, we know, we feel in our hearts, that they were never more alive, never purer, never more beautiful.
After having offered to the world a great example of pride, of abnegation, of heroism, they are again giving to it a deeper lesson, a more valuable, a more efficacious one. They are proving that no misfortune counts, that nothing is lost while the soul does not abdicate. The powers of darkness will never prevail against the forces of light and love that are leading humanity towards the heights which victory is already making clear to us on the horizon.
Rumania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece
Comment About Continued Neutrality from the
Balkan and Russian Capitals
AN elaborate argument that Italy is about to co-operate with the Allies at the Dardanelles in order to influence Greece and the Balkan States generally to intervene against the Germanic Powers appeared in The Frankfurter Zeitung near the close of June. A dispatch from Bucharest on July 12 announced that Austria had made concessions to Rumania in the hope of averting intervention by that Power, accompanying the offer with an ultimatum setting a month for Rumania's reply. The German Social-Democratic paper Vorwaerts published on July 17 a statement that Rumania had definitely refused to permit German arms and ammunition to traverse her territory to Turkey. This shows a distinct turning away from the German propaganda in that kingdom, which on May 26 spoke through the editorial columns of Moldova, a daily of Bucharest, as follows:
We must tread in the path opened to us by the late King Carol and the great Rumanian statesmen. We must always be attached to the Central European Powers, from which we shall secure the fulfillment of our aspirations, on that day when we shall move against Russia.
TAKE JONESCO
A Former Cabinet Minister, and Leader of Pro-Ally Party in Rumania
(Photo from Central News.)
From Lupte, a Nationalist daily of Bucharest, a definite declaration of the kingdom's policy was demanded on June 4:
The smaller a nation is the more dangerous to her existence are diplomatic intrigues. Mr. Bratiano's Government has for the past eight months been coquetting with Petrograd as well as with Berlin and Vienna. With which side are we in this war? The two belligerent groups are asking this and the same question is asked of Bulgaria and Greece. We must have a sound national policy, for in this most modern war there is no profit in the old Machiavellian tactics.
That a crisis is approaching in Balkan affairs is clearly indicated in an editorial warning headed "Beware, ye Balkan Peoples!" appearing on May 29 in Dnevnik, an independent Bulgarian daily of Sofia. It says:
The lust of Europe for territorial aggrandizement becomes every day more pronounced. From a struggle for self-defense this has become a war of conquest. Germany has appropriated Belgium, Russia fights for the Bosporus and Constantinople, Italy has almost taken Albania—with the approval of Austria, as we have discovered. The westernmost edge of the Balkan Peninsula has fallen; tomorrow the easternmost extremity will fall, together with Constantinople. Will the European Powers then spare us?... What the United States of America did for the preservation of their independence against foreign conquest we Balkan peoples must do unless we would see our doom sealed.
"The Dangers of a Neutral Policy" is the theme of Mir, the organ of the Bulgarian Nationalist Party of Sofia, which on May 29 said: "If Bulgaria remains neutral to the end of the war, she runs the risk of being condemned to live forever within the narrow limits she has today, hemmed in on every side. The duty of the Balkan States is to act in a war which will solve all pending political and national problems."
Serbia's jealousy of Italy, despite that nation's late adhesion to the Allies, was voiced on May 25 by Politika, a Nationalist daily of Belgrade, which accuses Italy of trying to profit at Serbia's expense. The Entente Powers must pay for Italian aid, this paper says; and Italy may be "satisfied with Savoy, Corsica, Malta, Tunis, Algiers, Asia Minor, or Egypt."
Balkan Newspapers
In the left upper corner, the Bulgarian daily Narodai Prava (National Rights) of Sofia, semi-official organ of the Bulgarian Government of Dr. B. Radoslavoff; upper right, the Athenian daily Athinæ (Athens), representing the extreme anti-Venizelists; at lower right, the daily Politika (Politics), an independent paper of Belgrade, Serbia; lower left, the Bucharest (Rumania) daily Dimineata (Morning), an Interventionist paper, and, at center, the Constantinople Khavar (Star), a Pro-Islamist daily.
The Ottoman Empire being under martial law, comment by the Turkish papers regarding military and political events is restricted by the Government. But Enver Pasha, the all-powerful young Turk leader, and his colleague for the Interior, Talaat Bey, early in May gave an interview printed in the Vienna Neue Freie Presse. Enver Pasha predicts the collapse of the Allied campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula, where the French and British hold a small corner against overwhelming odds. "The bringing thither of provisions is extremely difficult," he says, and "even the drinking water for the troops must be brought from the ships." Both he and Talaat Bey report the morale of the Turkish troops to be excellent, "as many of the older officers have been replaced by energetic young men."
H.R.H. PRINCE GEORGE
Duke of Sparta and Crown Prince of Greece
(Photo from P.S. Rogers.)
DEMETRIOS GOUNARIS
Leader of the Neutralist Party, who Succeeded
Venizelos as Premier of Greece
Greece is in suspense. The Kairoi, an independent daily of Athens, said on June 22 that, while Greece does not forget her debt to the three protective powers, France, England, and Russia, she must nevertheless weigh the promise of Germany to give full protection to Greek interests in the event of her continued neutrality. "Just how Germany keeps her promises," this paper says, is "shown by Cavalla, the Macedonian city allotted to Greece after the second Balkan war at the express instance of the Kaiser;" and it notes that the Entente Powers are now eager to cede this territory to Bulgaria. The Embros, an independent daily of Athens, prophesied on June 22:
We can afford to follow events with growing solicitude and remain neutral as long as we may. Whether or not we maintain this neutrality to the end our action can change neither the fortunes of Greece nor the position of other Powers. It is to be presumed that the power driving this giant conflict to the conclusion has more remote motives and that to all appearance, the war will end without any of the participants suffering a crushing defeat.
While Russian aspirations are generally considered to be in harmony with those of the Balkan kingdoms, the following extracts from Russian papers representing varying shades of Muscovite opinion show now an unfavorable or critical attitude. Thus the foremost organ of the Panslavist Party, the Russian weekly Slavianski Izvestija, April No. 8, disapproved the Bulgarian plea to give Thrace and Adrianople through Russian influence. Of the Macedonian question this paper said:
Bulgarians expect that Russia will get for them Macedonia Thrace, and Dobrudja, to reward their honest labors. Alas, they must learn that not every day, but every hour, Macedonia is receding from their grasp. For Russia the Macedonian question hardly exists. If Macedonia finds it hard to be under heroic and benevolent Serbia, what would become of her on the day when she should fall into the hands of Bulgaria? And should we Russians, in order to assure Macedonia such a future, grieve now our dear ally Serbia?
The semi-official Novoye Vremya of Petrograd commented on May 27, on the statement of the Bulgarian Premier Radoslavoff published in Vienna, that Bulgaria cannot engage to intervene without a formal treaty, a policy, it believes, that says but one thing, namely: "You Russians tricked us Bulgarians once; you shall not trick us again." This attitude of Bulgaria shows, the Novoye Vremya thinks, "how thick-headed and insensate its people are." The Birjevaja Viedomosti, a standpat Russian daily of Petrograd, on May 23 warned Serbia that, whereas the war began in her behalf and on her account rivers of blood are flowing, her complaints of the allotment of Dalmatia to Italy should not "assert principles which have nothing to do with actualities." The same newspaper says of the whole Balkan situation:
The German policy of von Buelow, having failed in Rome, is courting failure in Bucharest. In fact, all the German promises to Rumania seem to go no further than sharpening the Rumanian appetite for Russian Bessarabia, while holding out as a last bait the cession of a small parcel of Bukowina—supposing the Hungarians never consent to yielding Transylvania to Rumania.
On the other hand, Germany promises Bulgaria the Turkish province of Thrace and Serbian and Greek Macedonia; but these compensations have as much value as the cessions of Corsica and Nice and Tunis in the early days of the war.
But Germany cannot give to Bulgaria Serbian Macedonia so long as the Austrian armies are not masters of the whole of Serbia; she cannot give her Thrace because Turkey objects to such cession, and Turkey is her ally; and, finally, she cannot urge Greece too closely to cede Cavalla to Bulgaria, because such a pressure may bring a contrary result, i.e. make Greece to declare herself openly an ally of the Entente. Therefore both Bulgaria and Rumania must perforce side with the great European Alliance. Had Italy remained neutral matters would be different, but as it is now Bulgars and Rumanians, and the Balkan peoples in general, have to fight with us, unless they want the diplomacy of the Entente to disappoint utterly the ever-growing appetite of these small nationalities....
It will be noted that all the opinions quoted concerning the Balkans relate to the division of territory as the price of neutrality or intervention.
Dr. Conybeare’s Recantation
By SIR WALTER RALEIGH
To the Editor of the [London] Times:
Sir,—During a recent visit to America I saw Dr. Conybeare's letter in a paper called the Vital Issue. All who know Dr. Conybeare know him to be honest and frank, and to be very deeply distressed by the sufferings and cruelties of the war. After my return, I wrote to him, pointing out that his letter is being widely circulated in America, and that the material points in his accusation of Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Asquith have been answered. I enclose Dr. Conybeare's reply, for which he desires the fullest publicity.
Yours faithfully,
WALTER RALEIGH.
The Hangings, Ferry Hinksey, near Oxford, July 1, 1915.
Banbury-road, Oxford, June 30.
Dear Sir Walter Raleigh,—During the past week I have been studying afresh the published records of the diplomatic transactions of last July, and on my return to Oxford I find your kind letter, and therefore take the liberty of addressing this to yourself. My new study has forced upon me the conviction that in my letter to a friend residing in America, which, against my wishes and injunctions, was published there, apart from the deplorable tone of my allusions to Sir E. Grey and Mr. Asquith, I was quite wrong in imputing the motives which I did, especially to the former. It does appear to me, as I read these dispatches over again, that Sir Edward throughout had in view the peace of Europe, and that I ought to have set down to the awful contingencies with which he was faced many passages which I was guilty of grossly misinterpreting. I was too ready to forget that in the years of the Balkan wars it was after all he alone who, by his patient and conciliatory treatment of the situation, held in check the antagonistic forces which last July he was ultimately unable to control. I was too ready to ascribe to want of good will on his part results which harsh necessity entailed on him; and I deeply regret that I mistook his aims and, in my endeavour to be fair to the enemy, was grossly unjust to him. I am only anxious to undo, if it be still possible, some of the harm which my hasty judgment and intemperate language has caused.
If you think it would do any good to print this, I beg you to send it to The Times and Morning Post, whose remarks led me to go back once more to the documentary sources. Second thoughts are best, and if I had only kept my American letter till the morning for revision, I should first have struck out all the vituperation and all the imputation of motives, and have ended by never sending it at all.
I remain yours very sincerely,
FRED. C. CONYBEARE.
The Case of Muenter
Attack on Mr. Morgan’s Life and the Setting of
Fire-Bombs on Ships
THAT a group of bankers in New York City, headed by J.P. Morgan & Company, was negotiating with the British Treasury authorities for the flotation in the United States of $100,000,000 of the new British war loan was announced in the newspapers on July 3, 1915. Mr. Morgan's firm had handled contracts to furnish war munitions to the Allies, amounting to $500,000,000, and this had been widely published. On the morning of July 3 J.P. Morgan was attacked and wounded with a revolver at his country estate on East Island, near Glen Cove, Long Island, by Erich Muenter, alias Frank Holt. Holt was an Instructor in German at Cornell University; Muenter was a Harvard instructor for whom the police had been seeking since the spring of 1906 on a charge of murdering his wife. After his suicide in jail on July 6, Professor C.N. Gould, of the University of Chicago, and Professor Hugo Muensterberg, of Harvard, among others, identified Holt and Muenter as the same person.
J.P. MORGAN
Whose Life was Recently Attempted, because of his relations with the
Allied Governments in the Supply of War Munitions.
The lower picture is of Erich Muenter, Alias Frank Holt, His Assailant.
Photograph taken Immediately after his Arrest.
Muenter's insane attack on Mr. Morgan, because he had failed to "use his influence to prevent the exportation of arms and ammunition," followed the wrecking of the United States Senate reception room in the Capitol at Washington on July 2 by the explosion of an infernal machine set by Muenter. On July 6 a trunk owned by Muenter containing twenty pounds of explosives was found in New York. During his stay in jail Muenter wrote to his wife that two ships were to sink at sea on July 7, if his calculations went right, naming the Philadelphia and the Saxonia. The ships were duly warned by wireless, but no bombs were found aboard them, nor were any confederates of Muenter discovered. On July 7 the steamship Minnehaha reported by wireless a "fire caused by explosion" under control.
Incendiary bombs had been discovered aboard four freight steamships sailing from New York for Havre in April and May. On July 12 Secretary of the Navy Daniels, acting on advices received from The New Orleans Picayune, directed the naval radio station at Arlington, Virginia, to flash a warning to all ships at sea to be on the lookout for bombs supposed to have been placed on board certain vessels, and warning particularly the steamers Howth Head and Baron Napier that information had come to the Navy Department that explosive bombs might have been placed on those two vessels. All ships were requested to try to communicate with the Howth Head and the Baron Napier. On July 11 a written threat to assassinate J.P. Morgan, Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador, and destroy by bombs British ships clearing from American ports, thus carrying out some of the plans of Erich Muenter, was reported in a letter signed "Pearce," who styled himself a partner and intimate associate of Muenter. This letter was received by The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
SIR CECIL ARTHUR SPRING-RICE
British Ambassador to Washington. Present When J.P. Morgan was
Assaulted by Erich Muenter, Alias Holt
Two more "Pearce" letters were received on July 13 by an afternoon newspaper of New Orleans and by its Chief of Police, saying that Erich Muenter had taught the writer the use of explosives. On the same day the Samland of the Atlantic Transport Line and the Strathlay, chartered by the Fabre Line, survived attempts to destroy them by fire bombs, and on July 15 "Pearce" threatened in another letter to destroy the Rochambeau. A bomb thought to be intended for the Orduna in a car loaded with coal consigned to the Cunard Line was discovered at Morrisville, N.J., on July 18. The Washington Times, the Philadelphia Public-Ledger and the Brooklyn Eagle received on July 16, 19 and 20, respectively, letters from "Pearce" declaring that henceforth persons leaving America on British ships would do so at their peril, and harking back to the German Embassy's warning before the Lusitania was torpedoed. On July 26 an SOS call was received at the Fire Island station, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and by the coast guard ship Mohawk, but the distressed ship's appeal for help was broken off before her name or position could be given. "Pearce's" letter to The Brooklyn Eagle reads as follows:
"Sir: You people of Brooklyn have already had one experience with the work of our men, and so, perhaps, it will be unnecessary to say more than a few words of warning. The Kirkoswald affair is still fresh in your memory; therefore, we will not waste words discussing this matter. The purpose of this communication is to warn the American citizens living in your vicinity to keep clear of British vessels sailing from Brooklyn, New York, New Orleans, Savannah, Newport News, and Montreal. Our men are now operating from each of these ports, and Americans will do well to heed this warning ere it is too late.
"The Imperial German Government derives no satisfaction or profit from the killing of neutral Americans, and we are instructed to go to great lengths in order to give timely warnings to all Americans who contemplate voyages to Europe within the next two months. The explosive operations will supplement the submarine operations, which have proved inadequate to prevent the enemy from importing munitions from America.
"We earnestly advise Americans who find it imperative to travel to Europe to sail only on vessels flying the American flag. Such steamers as those of the American Line, for instance, will be perfectly immune from either submarine or explosive operation. The Imperial German Government will, if requested, offer no objection to the American Government pressing into service the interned German vessels if the American vessels are found to be unable to accommodate the traffic to Europe. By publishing this warning American lives may be spared.
"The circumstances under which this communication is written make it impossible for us to affix our proper signatures; therefore, we trust that you will accept for a signature our pen name.
"PEARCE."
Devotion to the Kaiser
The annual general conference of the clergy of the North German Lutheran Churches met in Berlin during the week of June 24, 1915, and sent the following "telegram of devotion" to the Kaiser:
"Your Imperial and Royal Majesty will most graciously deign to accept this most humble blessing and the assurance of true German devotion from the preachers of the North German Evangelical Conference assembled in conference. We raise our eyes with respect and love to your Majesty, the powerful and purposeful leader of the German nation. We are filled with the consciousness that the sources of German power are unconquerable, not only because of the complete union of the German princes and peoples, but because of the unexampled spirit of sacrifice which animates rich and poor alike, and, before all else, because we are a praying nation.
"However great the pressure of our enemies may be on our victorious armies, the army of those who are praying at home will wrestle all the more earnestly in prayer, praying before God's throne for victory."
Scientists and the Military
Movement in Great Britain and the United States to Consult
Civilian Experts
EARLY in June, H.G. Wells, the "novelist of science," wrote to the London Times a letter urging the necessity of mobilizing Great Britain's scientific and inventive forces for the war. On June 22 The London Times printed a second letter from Mr. Wells proposing the establishment of a bureau for inventors—"a small department collateral rather than subordinate to the War Office and Admiralty." At the annual meeting in London of the British Science Guild on July 1, eminent scientists and chemists, Sir William Mather, Sir William Ramsay, Sir Boverton Redwood, Sir Philip Magnus, Professor Petry, Sir Ronald Ross, Sir Archibald Geikie and Sir Alexander Pedler, condemned the attitude adopted by the British Government toward science in connection with the war, and demanded that in future greater use should be made of the opportunities afforded by scientific knowledge in the prosecution of the struggle. A letter conveying this opinion was sent by these scientists to Prime Minister Asquith. On July 18 it was announced in London that a number of eminent scientists and inventors had been appointed to assist Admiral Lord Fisher, as Chairman of the Invention Board, to co-ordinate and encourage scientific work in relation to the requirements of the British navy. Lord Bryce was said to be instrumental in this undertaking.
THOMAS A. EDISON
The American Inventor, Now Associated With the Navy Department
as Chief of the Advisory Board of Civilian Inventors and Engineers
In the United States a similar movement was in progress. The New York Times published on May 30 an interview with Thomas A. Edison declaring that in its preparations for war the American Government should "maintain a great research laboratory, jointly under military and naval and civilian control." In this could be developed the "continually increasing possibilities of great guns, the minutiae of new explosives, all the technique of military and naval progression, without any vast expense." If any foreign power should seriously consider an attack upon this country "a hundred men of special training quickly would be at work here upon new means of repelling the invaders," Mr. Edison said; "I would be at it, myself."
Secretary of the Navy Daniels thereupon wrote to Mr. Edison a congratulatory letter, saying: "I think your ideas and mine coincide if an interview with you recently published in The New York Times was correct." He added:
One of the imperative needs of the navy, in my judgment, is machinery and facilities for utilizing the natural inventive genius of Americans to meet the new conditions of warfare as shown abroad, and it is my intention if a practical way can be worked out, as I think it can be, to establish at the earliest moment a department of invention and development, to which all ideas and suggestions, either from the service or from civilian inventors, can be referred for determination as to whether they contain practical suggestions for us to take up and perfect....
What I want to ask is if you would be willing, as a service to your country, to act as an adviser to this board, to take such things as seem to you to be of value, but which we are not, at present, equipped to investigate, and to use your own magnificent facilities in such investigation if you feel it worth while.
The consequence was Mr. Edison's appointment to head an advisory board of civilian inventors and engineers for a Bureau of Invention and Development created in the Navy Department. After a conference with Mr. Edison Secretary Daniels on July 19 wrote to eight leading scientific societies asking each of them to select two members to serve on the Naval Advisory Committee, and as a first fruit of the movement it was announced on July 23 that at the request of Mr. Edison, the American Society of Aeronautic Engineers had been formed with Henry A. Wise Wood as President and Orville Wright, Glenn H. Curtiss, W. Starling Burgess, Peter Cooper Hewitt, Elmer A. Sperry and John Hays Hammond, Jr., as Vice-presidents.
Hudson Maxim on Explosives
HUDSON MAXIM
American Inventor of High Explosives and Other Materials of War
(Photo by White.)
The New York Times on July 11 printed an interview with Hudson Maxim, the inventor of explosives, in which Mr. Maxim said:
Modern war is a warfare of explosives. The highly developed methods of defense, designed especially against explosives, are practically proof against everything but them.
Attacking forces must disemburrow the defending forces; they must be blasted out of the ground. This warfare amounts, literally, to that. It is as if boys hunted woodchucks with dynamite.
Each of the hard-won successes of the war has been a victory for well-placed high explosives. In the last fight around Przemysl the Germans fired in one hour, from field guns, 200,000 shells carrying high explosives.
Reports indicate that the result of this was literally unprecedented. It actually changed the topography of the country. Valleys were dug and hills razed.
Recently Lloyd George used an expressive phrase. "The trenches," he said, "were sprayed with exploding shells."
Such "spraying" only could be possible through the use of an incredible number of explosive projectiles.
America's plants for the production of explosives, cartridges, shrapnel, and rifles have so increased their capacity that we have today ten times the capacity which we had at the time of the war's outbreak, and, for certain things, the increase has been even greater. By the middle of next winter our capacity will be thirtyfold what it was at the beginning of the war.
Thus the fighting among other nations has done much toward preparing us for war, and, therefore, much toward insuring international peace for us, but even our tremendous contribution to the supplies of the Allies amounts to only about 2 per cent. of what they are consuming, and the war has not been running a year.
This indicates that if we should suddenly be involved in warfare with a great power we should be whipped unless we devised means for the increase of our productivity of war supplies, especially explosives and all ammunition materials, by a hundredfold.
The consumption of war material has been unprecedented, and this indicates what may be expected in future wars. In trench fighting, for example, it is estimated that four times as many rifles as men are required. The fighting man must have two because one quickly gets hot and becomes unusable; he must have a third so that he may still have two if one is hit by the return fire or otherwise rendered inefficient; he must have the fourth so that at least one of his weapons may be in the arms hospital undergoing repairs if necessary, and be ready for him in case one of his others is demolished. This development of modern warfare means that a million modern soldiers need four million modern rifles.
This indicates the enormous necessities which would devolve upon this country in case we were forced into a war. During the past week I have received a cable from an old friend in England who has been selling war munitions to the Allies. He asked me how quickly I could get a million rifles made in the United States. The best bids I have been able to obtain have guaranteed a first delivery at the end of one year and final deliveries at the end of three years.
One of the chief developments in the matter of explosives has been the fact that the United States has found it possible to teach Europe much during this war in regard to smokeless powder. Several years ago the du Pont Powder Company developed a smokeless rifle powder which permits the firing of more than 20,000 rounds from an ordinary army rifle without destroying its accuracy.
When the du Ponts developed their new rifle powder the best European powder destroyed the rifling and accuracy of the gun at about 3,000 rounds. This American invention, therefore, has increased the life of military rifles by sevenfold. Say that an equipment of military rifles cost at the rate of, say, $20 each, and we will find that this means a saving of, roughly, $100,000,000 in the equipment of a million men with one rifle each, and, as they need four rifles each, it means a saving of $400,000,000.
American smokeless powder for cannon also has its advantages. It erodes the guns much less than any European powder except, possibly, that of the Germans. They have a pure nitro-cellulose powder somewhat similar in quality to that of the United States, but ours has an advantage in being multi-perforated, whereby a higher velocity is insured at a lower pressure with, in consequence, a lessened erosive effect upon the guns.
In the early nineties I made the discovery that tri-nitro-cellulose, when combined with pyro-nitro-cellulose, could be much more readily gelatinated and made an excellent smokeless powder, while powder made from pure nitro-cellulose would warp and crack all to pieces in drying. The present German powder is made from such a compound of tri-nitro-cellulose and soluble nitro-cellulose.
Nevertheless, this compound is a makeshift as compared with the nitro-cellulose used by this Government. Ours is a far better explosive, and is less erosive on the guns, because the gases which it generates are not so hot. We have the best smokeless powder in the world, and, after this war is over, our powder will be universally used.
Thor!
By BEATRICE BARRY
I am the God of War—yea, God of Battle am I,
And the evil men speak about me has moved me to fierce reply.
Does not the surgeon's knife
Torture—to save a life?
So, for the life of nations, men learn to fight and die—
Even die!
Craven through love or fear do the weak of the earth await me
Tensely, with bated breath—yea, teaching their sons to hate me.
Lured by my rolling drum,
Nevertheless they come
Proudly, their youth and manhood offering up to sate me!
You who would grudge me aught but harvest of woe and shame—
Answer me, you who hate me, cursing my very name—
When was a serf made free,
Save and alone through me?
When was a tyrant vanquished, save through my purging flame?
After an age of peace do your sons wax soft, their weakness
Shown in a love of ease, of sensuousness, and sleekness;
Then, lest a nation die,
Loud rings my battle-cry!
Lo, they forsake snug warmth for desolate cold and bleakness!
I am the God of War—yea, God of Battle am I,
And the bolts of my savage anger I hurl from a threatening sky.
Speak of me as you will,
Swift though I be to kill,
I have made men of weaklings—I teach men how to die—
Even I!
“I am the Gravest Danger”
By George Bernard Shaw
In a cablegram to The New York Times, dated July 17, 1915, it is reported that an article by George Bernard Shaw in The New Statesman begins with a review of Professor Gilbert Murray's book, "The Foreign Policy of Sir Edward Grey," and ends with the following characteristic reference to himself:
"Like other Socialists, I have been too much preoccupied with the atrocities of peace and the problems they raise to pay due attention to the atrocities of war, but I have not been unconscious of the European question and I have made a few shots at solutions from time to time. None of these have been received with the smallest approval, but at least I may be permitted to point out that they have all come out right.
"I steadily ridiculed anti-armament agitation, and urged that our armaments should be doubled, trebled, quadrupled, as they might have been without costing the country one farthing that we were not wasting in the most mischievous manner.
"I said that the only policy which would secure the peace of Europe was a policy of using powerful armament to guarantee France against Germany and Germany against Russia, aiming finally at a great peace insurance league of the whole northwest of Europe with the United States of America in defense of Western democratic civilization against the menace of the East and possible crusades from primitive black Christians in Africa.
"When the war broke out I said some more things which were frantically contradicted and which have all turned out to be precisely true. I set the example of sharp criticism of the Government and the War Office, which was denounced as treasonable and which now proves to be the only way of saving our army from annihilation, the Government having meanwhile collapsed and vanished, as every ordinarily self-possessed person foresaw that it must.
"One fact seems established by this beyond doubt; to wit, that I am the gravest public danger that confronts England, because I have the strange power of turning the nation passionately away from the truth by the simple act of uttering it. The necessity for contradicting me, for charging heroically in the opposite direction to that pointed out by me, is part of the delirium of war fever.
"Sir Edward Grey, on the other hand, is spoken well of by all men, but he, too, is the victim of a mysterious fate. He is, as Professor Murray has repeatedly testified, the most truthful of men, yet he never opens his mouth without deceiving us. He is the most loyal of simple, manly souls, yet he is accused of betraying every country and every diplomatist who trusted him. He is the kindest of men, and yet he has implicated us in the tortures of Denshawai and brought upon us the slaughters of Armageddon.
"Clearly, there are two men in England who must be sent into permanent retirement. Depend on it, there is something fundamentally wrong with them. It is a pity, for they are stuffed with the rarest of virtues—though I say it, who should not. One of them is Sir Edward Grey and the other is G.B.S."
THE EUROPEAN WAR AS
SEEN BY CARTOONISTS
[American Cartoon]
The Postscript
—From The Tribune, New York.
[German Cartoon]
The Paper Blockade
—From Lustige Blaetter, Berlin.
"Look out there, mate; don't puff so hard,
or you'll smash up Churchill's blockade!"
[American Cartoon]
Donnerwetter!
—From The World, New York.
Germany Dishonored: None Drowned.
[German Cartoon]
The Powder Chest
—From Lustige Blaetter, Berlin.
John Bull: "Don't be afraid, Mister Moneymaker. There's no
safer way to travel to Europe than on my peaceful vessel!"
[English Cartoon]
In the Eastern Arena
—From Punch, London.
It was the policy of the retiarius to retreat in order
to gather his net together for a fresh cast.
[French Cartoon]
Circumstances Alter Cases
—From La Revue Hebdomadaire, Paris.
When Wilson's daughter is aboard one of these days it won't be a laughing matter.
[German Cartoon]
A Risky Road
—From Jugend, Munich.
Destruction awaits them even though the wheels are made of dollars.
[American Cartoon]
Sherman Was Right!
—From The Sun, New York.
"Close up these factories! Be neutral!"
[Italian Cartoon]
On the Bosporus
—From Numero, Turin.
The last serenade.
The Belligerents’ Munitions
Growing Problems of Germany and Her Opponents in
Supplying Arms
The threatened strike in the Krupp works at Essen, Germany, simultaneously with the strike of the Welsh coal miners and the walkout in the Remington Arms Factory in the United States, would tend to show that labor in the belligerent and neutral countries is seeking advantages under the strain of the enormous output of munitions to feed the war. Only in France, whose people are making supreme sacrifices, and in Russia, whose factories are not yet organized for the nation, does industrial peace prevail. In England the Munitions bill, with its proposals for compulsory arbitration and for limiting profits unweakened, was passed on July 1st. The bill retained, also, the power for the Government to proclaim the extension of its strike-stopping authority to other trades than the munitions trades.
An account of the conditions relating to labor in the various countries, beginning with the speech, in part, of Lloyd George, introducing the Munitions bill in the House of Commons on June 20, appears below.