_TOM THUMB AND THE GIANT_

"_Come and save me, you know I am fond of children_"

On February 1, 1916, the small fishing trawler _King Stephen_ from Grimsby found the German Zeppelin L 19 floating in the North Sea with her crew clinging to her. The captain of the trawler refused to take the crew of the Zeppelin on board his boat, fearing he would be overpowered and captured. His action caused a great outcry in Germany, notwithstanding the fact that the Zeppelin was doubtless responsible for the death of many women and children in England and had actually dropped a bomb on a steamer during the previous night and left the crew to perish.

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_ON THE WAY TO BAGDAD_

"_Halt_"

The a.s.sault on the forts (Erzerum) and the princ.i.p.al position lasted from February 11 till February 15 inclusive. After we had taken the forts on the left flank of the princ.i.p.al Turkish line of defense, extending about 27 miles, the fate of the forts in the centre and on the right flank, and, after them, of the second line forts and the princ.i.p.al defensive position, was decided on February 16 after short attacks.

These fortifications, which were full of Turkish dead, remained in our possession.

During the a.s.sault on the fortress several Turkish regiments were annihilated or made prisoners with all their officers. On the line of forts alone we took 197 pieces of artillery of various calibres in good condition. In the defence works of the central fortress we took another 126 pieces of artillery. In the fortified region of Erzerum we took a large number of depots of various kinds, which have already been mentioned by the Headquarter Staff. The exact number of Turkish prisoners is 235 officers and 12,753 men.

_Russian Official Report on the Capture of Erzerum._

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_THE HOLY WAR_

_The Turk_: "_But he is so great._"

_William_: "_No one is great save Allah and I am his Prophet._"

About the time Turkey became involved in the war a telegram was published as having been sent from Kaiser Wilhelm to the Crown Prince announcing with evident satisfaction that the supreme Moslem authorities at Constantinople had given their sanction to the declaration of a Holy War against Russia, England, and France "as oppressors of the Moslems."

At one time it looked as though the aspirations implied by this message might be carried out. There was a mutiny at Singapore in which Moslem troops were implicated; there were outbreaks in the Italian Tripolitana and among the Senoussi tribesmen on the western border of Egypt; there was at least a threat against the Suez Ca.n.a.l, from the direction of Beersheba, and there was, or seemed to be, the possibility of a pro-German uprising in Persia. The advance of the Russians from the Caspian has dissipated this last possibility; the Suez Ca.n.a.l is no longer even threatened; the Senoussi have given their submission.

Finally, from India, from Sultan Mohammed Aga Khan, who is the spiritual head of the many million Moslems in India, comes a declaration which shows that the hopes of a holy war, as it seems to have been expected in Germany, were never anything more than a myth.

"_Current History_," _New York._

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_The Kaiser_: "_Your ruthlessness has failed, Tirpitz; I must pin my faith to Count Zeppelin._"

The ruthless submarine policy introduced by von Tirpitz earlier in the war and which was guaranteed to "bring proud Albion to her knees" had completely failed in its object by Spring, 1916. After a bitter fight between von Tirpitz and his opponents of whom the chief was the Chancellor himself, the Admiral on March 16, 1916, resigned his office of Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy.

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_GOTT STRAFE ENGLAND_

_"Father says I must do the same with France"_

We have seen that corps were specially called back to the interior of Germany for reposing, training and even feeding calculated towards the end in view. Light railways were built upon every side. Heavy artillery was concentrated to the number of over one thousand pieces--all that could be spared--and slowly ma.s.sed in the woods by Spincourt, and an immense head of sh.e.l.l acc.u.mulated during the four winter months. The unfit were thoroughly combed out and every possible man taken to swell the German effectives. Cla.s.s 1916 after some four months' training was sent forward to the local depots behind the front with the object of throwing it into the fighting the moment the losses should become serious. Cla.s.s 1917 began to be called out (in the month of December).

On the 19th of February, 1916, the first shots of the intensive bombardment against the Verdun sector were fired, and on Monday the 21st of February the great German offensive was launched.

HILAIRE BELLOC.

_in Land and Water._

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_William_: "_You lead new Regiments upon Verdun, whilst I weep over the losses of the old ones._"

Of the German Corps known to have been engaged the 3rd and 18th Corps have been entirely used up, or "spent," as the military phrase goes. The 7th Reserve Corps has lost half, and the 15th Corps three-quarters, of its available strengths. The German forces had by the evening of March 3 "used up," in addition to those already mentioned, a part of the 113th Division, the 5th Reserve Corps, and the Bavarian Ersatz Division, without taking into account the losses of other reinforcements, whose presence on the battlefield has not yet been definitely ascertained.

None of the prisoners questioned estimated the losses suffered by their companies at less than one-third of the total effectives. Taking into account all available indications, it may safely be a.s.sumed that, during the fighting of the last 13 days, the Germans have lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners at least 100,000 men.

LORD NORTHCLIFFE'S _Despatch from Verdun, March 4, 1916_

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