Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
5 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
A LOOK ROUND.
A LOOK ROUND. What Kind of World ? [BY SENTINEL."] WEare told that if the present struggle goes on much longer civilisation is in danger of perishing. The loss of young, strong lives by the hundred thousand is, indeed, grievous, and so, in a lesser degree, is the waste of wealth which might have been wisely used-we do not say it would have been—to make J the world a better world for man's brief earthly dwelling." But is it not true to say that, if the war ended in a peace which left Prussian militarism unbeaten and all the nations of the world armed to the teeth, planning new ways of turn- ing to account the devilish lessons of this war, civilisation has perished already ? Think of the submarine war- fare and the attacks on hospital ships, of the bombardment of open towns from the air, of the use of poison gas, and all the hundred and one abominations the Germans have introduced. Think of the spying and underhand trick methods which they have pursued. If these things are to be renewed after the war, is not civilisation a hollow mockery? Had we not better return to the state of the simple savage? For what is "civilisation"? To most of us it is represented by the Christian teaching, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them." The world we look for after the war is a world in which the Golden Rule shall pre- vail. We look for a world in which men shall eat the labour of their hands," as the Psalmist says, and shall have security and leisure to think the thoughts of peace and goodwill. We do not want to see the fruits of their toil taken to provide guns and ammuni- tion and ships and aeroplanes against the attack of some jealous neighbour; we do not want to see their bodies subjected to the drill-sergeant and their minds absorbed by thoughts of violence. We want to see the best which each country can produce, both of spiritual and material things, placed freely at the disposal of the world, and all mankind dwelling together in unity as—taking it by and large—the individuals of the different nations now dwell. But this is impossible while Prussia exists as a foremost military Power. We have learned nothing from the war if we have not learned that the teaching '7' which has turned the thoughts of the Germanic peoples to conquest and plunder is the very reverse of all that we hope for. There are two kinds of world possible in the future that which President Wilson has sketched—a world safe for democracy "—and the world as the Kaiser would have it, and Hindenburg and Tirpitz-a world in which every man's hand is against his fellow, in which Might is Right, and the children of the people are food for powder," whose duty is merely to manure the field of militarism with their flesh and blood. There can be no hesitation in saying which kind of world we mean to have. But if the world of the future is to be of our kind, we must hold fast until the victory is ours. Prussia will not lightly give up the high hopes of world-dominion on which her people have been brought up, nor the gains which she has made. The pendulum of the war is swinging our way, and it will swing our way more and more as the fresh American armies join our war- worn men. But the Germans will make a desperate attempt to hold some part of their gains, and, if we are weak, they will succeed. If we are strong and refuse all the efforts which will be made to throw dust in our eyes, the end is sure. We shall have the victory to make what use of we will, and if we make a right use of it no people will have more cause to bless us in the future than the Germans themselves. <
IWAYSOFTHEHUN
IWAYSOFTHEHUN More Examples of His Inhumanity in War. I.-Spurlos Versenkt. A steamer left a South American port for New York. Her cargo consist-ed of hides, and a species of bark, fifteen cases of imenrals, and one case of of "cinematograph films." Three days out at sea there was an explosion in the hold. Three men were burned to death, but the captain and the remainder of the crew brought the steamer into port. By a chain of circumstantial evidence it is now established that the explosion was arranged by a German agent, whose design was to send the ship to the bottom without leaving' a trace-the hideous policy of spurlos versenkt. The infernal machine was unquestionably stowed away with the "minerals" or the "cinematograph films." About a week before the ship arrived at the port to take in her cargo, applica- tion for space in her for sixteen cases was made by a licensed Custom-house despatcher. Asked whom he represented, he said thecases belonged to some Ameri- can engineers who had been exploring the country. They had left, and had asked him to see the cases shipped to New York. It was evidently the intention to sink the steamer and all on board, so that no evidence should transpire as to their guilt. Had the cases which must have contained the bombs been placed. in the bottom of the hold, this object might have been achieved, for, with the other cargo on top of them, the force of the explosion would have been downwards, and would probably have blown out the bottom of the ship. As it was, the bark was shipped first, then several thousands of dry hides; the cases were next, then more hides. Murder will out. A clerk has confessed to complicity in the plot. The police have laid by the heels another of the Criminals, and papers have been discovered which show that these men received money from Germany for services rendered," and that they have been engaged in a long career of spurlos versenkt (" sink without a trace ") wickedness in South America. Since their operations in South America the ss. Salvador was completely destroyed by fire, the ss. V auban was barely saved from complete destruction by the same cause, the coaling station in Bahia was burned, the magnificent Pembrokeshire was destroyed in the Atlantic, the boilers of the liner Liger burst through dynamite being mixed with the coal, the ss. Tenny- son was dynamited, an illicit wireless station was built north of Pernambuco, four ships have left South American ports and have never again been heard of. The destruction of the ship had been cleverly planned, and there is little doubt she would have gone down had it not been for the way the cargo had been arranged. The timing of the bombs to go off three days after the ship had left port meant that she would be a considerable distance from land. This is not war, but cold murder. li.-Hospital Ship Infamy. The Warilda, an Australian hospital ship, was crossing the Channel early on Saturday morning, August 3rd, when, without the slightest warning, a torpedo clashed through her side as if it had been cardboard. Most of the wounded had composed themselves for the night. Sud- ¡ denly the whole ship shook with the shock of the explosion. Lifebelts were donned and preparations instantly made for lower- ing the boats. The escorting vessels, too, were promptly on the scene dropping depth charges. The night was almost pitch dark and the sea was calm. Had it not been so, the loss of life would have been much greater. About 100 walking cases, including some Australians, experienced the full force of the explosion, and were cut off by the in- rush of water and drowned. As the vessel remained afloat for such a long period, it was possible to remove practically all the cot cases. There were hundreds of wounded on board, a number of W.A.A.C.s, and a crew of 102. The total loss of life was 123. The story told by one of the sailors helps us to realise the horror of this dastardly crime. I had seen the poor fellows gently placed on the vessel," he said, and I had seen how bravely they bore the pain which came to them even with the gentlest motion. I had seen how bravely they had stuck it, forcing a smile and smoking a fag, and my heart ached at the thought of the fresh pain, and even death, which the disaster brought to them. Everybody who could lend a, hand—medical officers, R.A.M.C. men, ship's officers, and the rest of us—did whatever we could to help the wounded. I tell you it was an awful task, but our whole attention was given to the men. There were so many cot cases —cases of brave fellows who could not help themselves—that the task was a most diffi- cult one, and it was a stroke of fortune that the vessel remained afloat for about two hours, because that gave us plenty of time to get the soldiers off the damaged ship. I shall never forget that night's work in almost inky blackness And when the Germans, faced with defeat, want to arrange what they call a moderate peace we must never forget that night's work. I
,THE SEAMAN IN "CIVVIES."I
THE SEAMAN IN "CIVVIES." [British Official. There are many heroes of the sea to-day who do not wear uniform. The King is here shown conferring a decoration on the skipper of a small boat who, at great peril to himself, rendered valuable help to the Navy in a recent splendid adventure. 1- I. HOW TANKS ARE STABLED IN FRANCE. [British Official. The Allied Armies have been using tanks with great success to hasten the retreat of the Germans from the Marne. The enemy depended on nests of machine-guns for holding back our pursuing troops, and the Tanks just pushed their noses into the machine-gun nests and cleared them out.
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A PICTURESQUE AMBULANCE STATION. L Lit HIOIV JJ Our picture shows a model Field Ambulance Dressing Station constructed for the R.A.M.C. in Italy. Pine logs and sandbags are the only material used. The place is built in a pine wood quite near to the firing line, but cleverly hidden from the eyes of the German expert hospital bombers.
I_-f. -\ A SHEAF OF WAR STORIES.
I_-f. A SHEAF OF WAR STORIES. Queer Devices Decoy U = Boats to Destruction. The First Lord of the Admiralty has lifted the veil on the work of the decoy ships that did good service for us at the beginning of the U-boat campaign in luring the pirates to their own destruction. We first heard of these mystery ships, as they were called, in August, 1915, when one of them, called the Baralong," caught and sank a U-boat a few hours after the Arabic had been sunk with the loss of 39 lives, and while the Germans were shelling another British steamer. T Q "-Boat's Quality. These mystery ships are known in the Navy as Q ships—Q for query, of course. Any old thing in the form of a ship made a Q-boat-a wind-jammer, a collier, or a tramp. Q 50," the boat whose story was told the other day by Sir Eric Geddes, had the appearance of a dingy old collier, and sailed away as such. Her crew on deck looked a fairly undis- ciplined lot, but beneath the guise of mer- chant seamen were the clothes of a captain, officers, and crew of a British man-of-war, and the ship also carried the White Ensign, and had a little gun mounted in her stern. She sailed under sealed orders, which informed the captain that German submarines were sinking British and Ameri can ships in such and such a position. So Q 50 sailed out into the Atlantic. Two hours later she sighted an enemy sub- marine, and immediately turned and ran away, firing her little gun intentionally short. A Fight to the Death. Then followed a fight to the death, a fight of craft in more senses than one. Soon the submarine began to overhaul the collier and began shelling her. Some of the shells dropped on the deck and men s. were wounded and killed. Still the decoy ship went steadily on. She made a signal in plain English, Submarine following me. Submarine shelling me. Am about to abandon ship. Help." The captain of the submarine began to think that he had an easy prey. Then a mock panic took place among "Q 50's" crew. Many began to leave the ship. One man even carried away with him a cage containing a parrot. The sub- marine sent one shell into Q 50's poop, and other shells also hit her. The poop was on fire, and the captain, who with other. members of the crew remained secreted on board, knew that the magazine would explode. The submarine came along very slowly, and the smoke from the burn- ing poop was interfering with the range of Q 50's real guns. There was an explo- sion, and the collier's aft gun and gun's crew were blown up. Shells from the sub- marine were falling all about the ship. Gradually the fire neared the magazine. A second explosion sent the second aft gun hurtling through the air. The U-Boat Suspected the Q-Boat. ro This was indeed a misfortune," the captain wrote in his report, "as the sub- marine had only to steam another 200 yards and I should have had three guns bearing on her at 400 yards range." The collier was blazing at the stern and was sinking. It was clear that the submarine knew she, was a Q ship. The U-boat submerged and torpedo after torpedo was fired at Q 50." Then the captain gave the order to abandon ship. This time bluejackets went over the side into the water and got on to a raft as best they could. The fire was raging and loud explo- sions were taking place, but the submarine, which had come up again, was still suspici- ous that there were men on board, so more of the crew of Q 50 jumped overboard. The submarine now came on, and when she got forward of the Q 50 in a flash the forward gun was unmuzzled and shell after shell discharged. One took away the enemy's conning-tower, another hit her broadside, and the submarine went down. The fight lasted from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m- Warships lying away behind the horizon- hurried up and picked up the crew of Q 50," which was left blazing. New Use for a Haystack. It is not surprising that innumerable n yarns have been related in hushed tones of the exploits of the Q-boats and their daring and resourceful commanders. There is, for instance, the case of a retired admiral, commanding one of the boats as a captain, R.N.R., who placed a haystack on board his vessel, an ancient-looking craft, and was in due course summoned to surrender by a U-boat, and ordered to pre- pare to sink his ship. This was complied with, to all appearance, and boats slung out, &c., when to the utter astonishment of the submarine commander he received a broadside from out of the haystack, and found he had, indeed, caught a Tartar. Then, again, there is the story of the Q-boat which, in the guise of a battered and sea-worn tramp under Dutch colours, was crossing the North Sea, limping along at an easy rate, when a submarine ordered the crew to abandon ship. So sure was the German of his prey that the bombs with which he intended to sink the stranger were brought on deck and placed around the base of the conning-tower. The com- mander of the tramp resorted to some skil- ful manoeuvring, which, while it seemed to denote the helpless movement of a panic- stricken skipper, brought the submarine within range of the concealed armament. So placed, it required only a shell or two, well directed, to touch off the bombs round the conning-tower, and blow the U-boat out of the water. A Woman and Her Baby." Yet another anecdote is still more typical of the smart and cunning devices with which the British seamen contrived to outwit the enemy, combining irgenuity and resourcefulness with their courage and daring. On this occasion, when the sum- mons came from the submarine to sur- render, enforced with a few shells—one of which carried away the ship's galley, the boats were lowered and pulled off, leaving on board only a woman, who, with a baby in her arms, ran shrieking up and down the deck. To the enquiries of the Germans the answer was given that the captain having been killed his wife had gone mad, and would not leave the ship, whereupon the U-boat drew alongside the stricken vessel. As she approached, the mad woman, rushing up to the side of the vessel, hurled her baby into the open hatch of the submarine's conning-tower, and threw herself overboard on the opposite side. Whether the Germans were more shocked than astonished does not matter, for before they had time to think the baby had blown out the bottom of their craft, and in due course the woman appeared at Buckingham Palace to receive the V.C. as a reward for his skilfully- planned and well-executed feat.