1939-12-16 — Page 8

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THE CHINA MAIL, DECEMBER 16, 1939

MIRROR OF WORLD OPINION

ANOTHER ‘PEACE'

GESTURE.

Since a German peace move failed several weeks ago no progress what

has

been

made toward establishing the basis

sound peace.

In fact is found the explanation of why little or no confidence is placed in the current so-called peace move.

of

.

Herr Hitler's temper or his methods, we prepared for a war over England of more immediate and greater fero- city than he has yet found it feasible to conduct. Some precautionary mea- this sures have therefore been relaxed. In other ways, too, the war has not de- veloped on lines that were expected, and there is every reason for the The fundamentals which brought on adaptability to changed circumstan- the war-referring to the one between ces which the Lord Privy Seal sald Germany on one side and Britain and that it was the firm Intention of the France on the other-are precisely Government to achieve. There is where they were and what they were plenty of room for experiment. People when the democratic allies flatly re- are still puzzled why it should be fused to buy peace at the price of possible for Paris to be more freely surrender of the principles for which lighted than London or Manchester, they entered the fight.

and though the black-out is obviously static a most important element in defence one would like to hear more of about such experiments as those Liverpool in the way of specially con- trolled lighting arrangements.---“Man- chester Gudrdian.”

The only factors which could give Berlin hope that the London-Paris attitude might have changed are the factors of the record of ship sinkings and the factor of a new war.

are

**

*

GERMANY AND

FINLAND

German sea raiders and mines have taken a rather heavy toll in ships destroyed, but there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the allies are anywhere near admission of defeat in this connection. On the contrary they quite evidently feel that they making real progress in the sea war, that they are gaining ground in the The manifest surrender of German drive against submarines, that their influence, and policy in eastern Europe, blockade against German shipping is which Herr von Ribbentrop succeeded having telling effects and that the in making in August last, has given balance sheet is in their favour. They Russia a free hand in spheres which do not deny that they have taken the Reich claimed to be exclusively losses, that they are continuing to do its own. It is credibly reported from so, but they consider that their win- Amsterdam that the Reich made strong nings outweigh their losses.

secret representations to Moscow be-

It is beginning to look very much fore the Red Army marched against as if the Nazi plan

is to turn the start of а new war, Russia's war on Finland, into an argument for stop- ping the war that already was in progress. This pro- gramme calls for the assumption that the new war gives the allies cause for serious worry, so much that they would be willing to listen to terms which they consid- ered unacceptable before this newest war started.

IN DEFENCE OF “STUPIDITY”

Stupidity is not such a bad thing as is generally supposed. Stupid people at least save us from the dangers of being ruled by clever people; and England has been happler, I am sure, under a series of comparatively atupid cabinets than the would

have been under rulers as clever 08 Napoleon. English stupidity haa ito own solid virtues. Perhaps it was of it that a great German writer was thinking when he sald: "Against-stupidity the gods themselves fight In vain." If the gods cannot prevail against it, we may be sure the German cannot prevall against it. Bear this in mind the next

time you hear that the authorities have sia's war-making done Bomething rantipole gives Germany ful-insulee. ~ Y. Y. In The Now ly as much worry Statesman and Nation, London.

The chief weak- ness about this as- sumption is the in- dication that Rus-

as

it

does

or

Finland. M. Stalin

chose contemp-

tuously to ignore them, and it is re- ported that a wave of consternation has swept through Nazi government circles at the growing rea- lisation of the price which Germany is having to pay for Soviet support. M. Stalin's action clearly shows that he regards Berlin now merely as the bankrupt who went cap in hand to Mos- cow for accommo- dation at a price which he alone would decide. Up to the present that price has been the sharing of the Pol- ish spoils, the sur- render of German predominance in

the allies, Germany has quite as Europe, and, it is now becoming ap- much reason as anybody else to do parent, the complete deprivation of waiting."Manila whatever advantages there were in

watchful

Bome Bulletin."

*

*

#

ADAPTATION FOR WAR

German domination over the Baltic. What will happen to Norway and Sweden, what designs Berlin and Mos- cow have upon those two countries, have not yet been made entirely clear, but if it should prove to be a fact It is a good thing that Ministers that ultimately Soviet influence will prevail then Herr Hitler will have should continue to address their con- paid heavily for a bargain, which stituents from time to time and, gives him no certainty of winning the war with the Allies, and which may through reports of such addresses, the be found by history to have contribut- wider audience of the country. Speak- ed, to his defeat. That likelihood he ing at Chelsea, Sir Samuel Hoare was foresaw in a prophetic moment when writing "Mein Kampf." There he wrote largely concerned with points of dom- that a German alliance with Russia estic policy that count for much with would be the signal for another war individual citizens and was at some This is rendered all the more probable and the cause of defeat for Germany.

pains to give assurances that regula- by the dissension which is reported to tions devised in the first days. for exist amongst Herr Hitler's lieutenants. The military see a betrayal of what national safety were not as the laws

they fought for when they assisted of the Medes and Persians and im- Finland twenty years ago; the Navy amendment. That, of fears the loss of its freedom in a course, has already been illustrated Bolshevized Baltic. There can now be no going back; the writing is being in several ways; for instance, the com- inscribed on the wall, and it is bitter plete suppression of public entertain- reading for those men who believed in Herr Hitler's hatred of Communism, ments was speedily waived. Having and who fancied themselves a bulwark little enough reason to trust either against ft.-"N, C. Daily News.”

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THE CHINA MAIL, DECEMBER 16, 1939

MINESWEEPERS AT

WORK: DANGEROUS TASK IN LITTLE CRAFT

London, Nov. 30.

nearly severing the chain which pulls When the Great War ended theout the detonator and make a mine.. Navy had 740 ships manned by 60,000 harmless when it breaks adrift. The officers and men employed in mine- result of this tempering with the chain sweeping. Now it has already hun- is that the links, break. The chain dreds of ships engaged in this work does not pull out the detonator and the and the number increases daily. The mine floats away with its destructive craft range from units of the Mine-capacity unimpaired. sweeping Service proper, which was a pre-war branch of the Navy, to trawlers, drifters, yachts, and paddle- boats brought in since war began. The crews of minesweeping craft are large- ly drawn from men of our fishing fleets who were trained to the work peace-time by serving instructional periods in the naval minesweeping flotillas. Consequently, these fine sea- men-and there is none better for this particular job--have a specialized Knowledge of the task upon which they are engaged.

WELL TRAINED

in

Because of the steady expansion of minesweeping flotillas, additional per- sonnel has to be provided for them. Men are being recruited from the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and from other who have "joined up for the duration." All crews for mine- sweeping craft are trained at a school which teaches everything about sea mines and sea mining, and no officer or man is sent to a mincsweeper until he is fully competent to do duty in her. And he has quite a lot to learn, for sweeping up and destroying enemy munes is a dangerous job and not one for the uninstructed.

It was at the suggestion of the late Admiral Lord Charles Beresford that the Navy's Minesweeping Service was founded. At the beginning the or- dinary trawl of the flsherman was used; now, the apparatus which the sweeping craft employ to locate and destroy mines is an

elaborate affair, and has to be skilfully handled.

GERMAN PRACTICE

During their course of schooling of- ficers and men learn all about depth charges and minelaying as well as minesweeping. Mines can be laid at à predetermined height above the sea bed and made to rise to their floating distance at a predetermined time.

The Hague Convention all mines are sup- .posed automatically to become safe when they break adrift. Ours are so arranged that they do. But the Ger- mans have adopted the practice of

Under

SIX MILLION POUNDS A DAY

Sir John Simon has reveal- ed that the war is costing Britain £6,000,000 a day. What can be done with such a sum? Here are some of the ways in which this money could be used in peacetime:

Every wholly unemployed man and woman in the country could re- ceive £5 a day, or £1826 a year. Alternatively, every old age pensioner could be paid £2 a day.

The net debt of the London County Council could be paid off in a fort- night.

Given unlimited labour and dock yard facilities three cruisers could be built and paid for every day.

The annual loss by fire in Great Britain could be defrayed in one day. |

One day's expenditure would pay for the new Waterloo Bridge and ap- proach. And there would be enough money left over to rebuild the Forth Bridge...

In one day a woman could buy jewellery as valuable as the entire collection of Crown Jewels.

Minesweeping is done in two days. Either two ships haul a "sweep" (or trawl) between them, or a single ship throws out a "sweep" which is kept in such a position by kites that the swee- per can go round a minefield in much the same way as a reaping machine goes round a field of corn. When two ships are working together it is im- portant that they should maintain sta- tion accurately. If one gets ahead of the other there is a danger that a mine picked up in the trawl may slide in upon the rearmost ship and destroy it.

DAWN PATROL

the

Daily from nearly all our seaports a number of minesweepers put to sea at dawn. Once they are clear of the harbour a signal flutters from mast-head of the leading vessel. In response to it odd numbered ships veer a barricoe astern on a grass line. The ship next astern of them noses up alongside, picks up this barricoe, and, grass line, brings hauling away the the sweep wire aboard where it is put on a slip, Each pair of vessels opens out to "sweeping distance" apart, tak- ing care to maintain perfect station. When the vessels are in position an- other signal is made by the senlor officer's ship, and the kites, which keep the sweep wire at the right depth beneath the surface of the water, are lowered astern of every vessel. Each pair then turns off to sweep the area allotted to it for patrol; well knowing that the day's work will be long and rough and risky, for there is always the possibility of a sweeping craft bumpnig a mine and being blown up.

BOY SAYS HE

DID SUMS

IN HEAVEN

-

old

Willie Dysart, sixteen - year "adding machine" prodigy, of Omega, Georgia, U.S., who can look at bun- ches of figures and give the total with- out flickering an eyelid, asserts that he learnt his mathematics in heaven. In fact, so clever is Willie that when a man in his home town asked him how many bricks he would need to build a house, Willie told him immedi- ately. When he finished the man had half a brick over,

Willie explains it like this. "When I was four," he says, "my mother tried to teach me to add up,

but I couldn't add up to a hundred,

"Then mother died. Right after I went up to she died, I dreamed heaven to see her.. She told me I

could do anything with figures. She I worked gave me some problems. them all out right there in heaven."

HE JUST "KNOWS"

He said he woke up still working out figures, and had no trouble with them ever since.

Tell Willie the day, month and year you were born, and, without a pencil, he will look you' straight in the eye and tell you how many years, months. weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds you have lived, not forgetting the leap years.

Willie insists that he never tries to work out mathematical answers in his mind, he just knows the answer.

Yet he was backward at school in everything except figures. He left school this year still in the third grade, whereas under the American scholas- tic system, boys should leave at the age of sixteen in the twelfth grade.

He is now looking for a job.-As- sociated Press,

LOOK

AT

THIS

VALUE