MINE WARFARE
THE CHINA MAIL, NOVEMBER 21, 1939
WEEK-END TOLL OF MERCHANT SHIPS: EIGHT VESSELS SUNK BY NAZIS IN THE NORTH SEA
London, To-day.
EIGHT MERCHANT SHIPS have now been sunk over the week-end by German mines or enemy action in the North Sea. They are:- The Dutch passenger liner Simon Bolivar, in which 126 people lost their lives, and whose 300 survi- vors are now being cared for in England.
Italian s.s. Gracia, 5 killed, 16 miss- The London "Daily Express" prints ing:
this and under it the German allega- Swedish s.s. Bojessen, 6 lost, 8 in- tion that the disasters were caused jured;
by British mines. The article headed: "The Lies Grow!"-Reuter,
British s.s. Blackhill, 2,500 tons, whose 22 survivors have been landed safely.
Yugoslav s.s. Carica Milica, the fate of whose crew is unknown.
four
British trawler Wigmore, several of whose crew of 16 are missing: British collier Torchbearer, badly injured, 9 missing; and the
British
5.5. Pensilva, 4,000
tons, whose crew are safe and have been landed.
PATHETIC PICTURES
All these ships, with the exception of the Pensilva, were victims of Ger- man mines; the Pensilva was sunk "by enemy action."
The Pensilva, 4,316 tons gross, was owned by the R. B. Chellew S. N. Co., Ltd. Registered at Falmouth, she was. 365 feet long, with a breadth of 51 feet and a depth of 28 feet. She was built at West Hartlepool in 1913 by W. Gray and Co., Ltd.
The British press is full of pathetic pictures of survivors of the Dutch lin-
er Simon Bolivar. One photo shows two 6-months old babies whose parents are missing. Another shows
a Dutch
dren; the other three are missing.
STOPPED BY
“BOY":
ing to Mr. E. D. Edwards residing at the Knutsford Hotel; and of a breach
Convicted of stealing clothes belong-
Ordinance, Ho
of the Deportation Sing, 38, was sentenced to six months'
Kowloon Magistracy this morning. hard labour by Mr. E. Himsworth at
employed in the Hotel whilst attempt- Accused was arrested by à boy ising to leave the premises. The clothes were found wrapped round his waist.
NAZI ADMIRAL CONDEMNED BY HIS OWN WORDS
London, To-day.
IN CONNECTION WITH the tragic loss of life in
GERMAN PILOT KILLED
Amsterdam, To-day.
The pilot of a German 'plane which crashed in Holland, near the German frontier, after be- ing attacked by Dutch aircraft, has been killed.
German 'planes have been in- fringing on Dutch neutrality dur. ing the past two days and it is now officially announced in Bar. lin that the pilot of a German 'plane was seriously wounded on Saturday, when two trespassing Nazi 'planes were attacked by a Dutch machine.-Reuter.
U-BOAT CAMPAIGN'S FAILURE
The
London, To-day.
ocean-going tonnage of the British Mercantile Marine at present consists of about 18,500,000 ships of over 500 tons.
tons in
Despite requisitioning by Govern- ment departments nearly 90 per cent. of this tonnage remains engaged in purely mercantile work.
The small results of the German U-boat campaign are demonstrated in
the fact that nearly 99 per cent. of British imports are arriving safely at tish mercantile tonnage from all
British ports, and total losses of Bri-
the sinking of the Dutch liner Simon Bolivar it is being recalled that in the second week of September the Berlin correspondent of the Am-causes during the war amount to less sterdam newspaper Handelsblad, in an inter-of the total ocean-going tonnage. view with the German Grand-Admiral Raeder, Reuter,
asked a number of questions relating to the con- duct of the war at sea.
than three-quarters of one per cent.
U.S. NAZI
woman with two of her chil-In reply to an enquiry about minefields Admiral LEADER'S
Raeder said the laying of minefields would be carried out according to the Hague convention of 1907.
MORE BRUTAL
There is no question, semi-official circles state, but that the Germans are laying their mines indiscriminately across the regular shipping lanes. They have resorted to this because of the fallure of their equally illegal U-boat campaign.
This, however, is more brutal. The submarine at least has a chance of distinguishing between belligerent and neutral ships, but the present paign has resulted in the loss of 5 neutral ships and only 3 British ves- sels.
cam-
re- the
Two of the Articles of the Conven- tion to which Admiral Raeder ferred, and which is known as "Convention relative to the laying of automatic submarine contact mines- No. VII" run as follows:
"It is forbidden to lay automatic' contact mines off the coasts and ports of an enemy with the sole object of intercepting commercial navigation.
"When anchored automatic contact mines are employed every possible precaution must be taken for the se- thecurity of peaceful navigation.
mines
All of them are merchantmen. The German press is telling German public that British have caused the disasters. But Bri- tish mines have not been laid any- where near where the Simon Bolivar, was sunk and in any event Britain has nothing to gain from mining the shipping routes used by her own and by neutral ships.
LOOSE MINES Furthermore, no British mines laid without full notification given to both British and shipping.
are
being
neutral
the
MOST EXPLICIT "Belligerents undertake to provide as far as possible for these mines be- coming harmless after a limited time has elapsed, and where mines cease to be under observation to notify the danger zones as soon as military exi- gencies permit by a notice to mariner's which must also be communicated to the governments through diplomatic channels,"
Nothing could be more exploit than the terms of the Convention, on the obligations of which Admiral Raeder chose to remind his neutral interlocu- tor only a few weeks ago.
A dozen mines have been washed up on the Belgian Coast. One exploded near Ostend and broke the windows of a miliary hospital three miles away.
Yet, in spite of his assurance, Ger- It is considered unlikely that
man U-boats are already-after seven Germans are using loose mines. Bri-laying minefields in channels used by weeks of war-making a practice of tish mines are equipped with a device merchantmen on the west side of the which makes them harmless should they break away. This is required by
North Sea. international law. Many German mines are not fitted with this device. .In this connection, а statement made to a Dutch. newspaper by Nazi Admiral Raeder, two weeks after the war began is recalled. "The Germans," he said, "intend to conform to the rules laid down in the Hague Con- vention concerning the laying mines."
of
Such minelaying directly contra- venes the laws of war. It also renders negatory the word of Grand-Admiral Raeder.-British Wireless.
SPECIAL MEASURES CALLED "FOR
Oslo, To-day. An Oslo paper says that special measures are called for if the ships. are to be made impossible. for neutral
seas
THE LIES GROW One also recalls Hitler's speech to the Reichstag on September 1. 14X will not war against women and chil- dren," he said.
i
active steps to clarify this problem- . It urges neutral countries to take Reuter.
CIVIL WAR VICTIM EXHUMED
(SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
Alicante, To-day. The remains of Jose Antonio Primo de Riveira, son of the former Spanish Dictator, were exhumed here yester- day and re-buried.
De Riveira was shot by the Re- publicans during the Civil War. Havas.
ECONOMIST'S SCHEME
TRIAL
New York, To-day. Judge Wallace, presiding at the trial of Fritz Kuhn, leader of the German-American Bund, who is charged with embezzlement, said yes- terday that the prosecution had So far failed to offer proof "beyond reasonable doubt" that the defendant was guilty.
Prosecuting counsel replied that although the prosecution had rested its case, it would bring irrefutable proof before finally ending.-Reuter.
Money and jewellery to the value of $715 were stolen between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. yesterday from No. 11, Tai Tam Village, occupied by Wong Yau-yu.
COMPULSORY SAVINGS
SYSTEM
(SPECIAL TO “CHINA MAIL")
London, To-day. THE FAMOUS ECONOMIST, Mr. J. M. Keynes, elaborated on a vast scheme providing for a com- pulsory savings system to enable British eco- nomy to survive the rigours of war and to avoid after-war depression.
He stated that such a scheme would prevent violent rise in prices thereby precluding the tragic usual descents after war,
Compulsory savings should be blocked for the duration of the war but would be released upon the return to peace.
:
the full amounts should not be paid in cash, the remainder being placed in postal savings accounts."
According to Mr. Keynes, the en- forcement of such a system would While salaries should be fully paid provide the British Treasury with, an according to the present high level, 'annual amount of 2400,000-Havas,