Paris, Dec. 30. The end of 1939 finds France in an immeasurably stronger position than a year ago, according to observers here, From a military point of view, it is stated, the situation has greatly improved in the last four months, jand the Maginot Line is now said to be no longer a line but a vast fortified position. In front of the fortress line, there is now a great network of feld fortifications, belts of barbed wire, conerete blockhouses, tank traps, and guns. In fact, it is pointed out, another Siegfried Line has been imposed upon the Maginot Line, Nearly a million men, it is further pointed out, are working in factories, turning out the latest weapons, particularly aerial.
In dockyards, work is said to be London, Dec. 29.
is officially announced that the British battleship which was hit by U-Boat torpedo on Thursday afternoon has new reached harbour under her own steam. She is not seriously damaged but in addition to the three ratings already mentioned as missing and presumed killed, another member of her crew is reported to be missing and believed killed, and one man is said to be seriously injured. This makes a total of four missing and presumed dead, and one seriously injured. The attack on the battleship was announced earlier man Admiralty communique. It is learned that the same ship was referred to in a German communique.
The New York radio states that authoritative circles in Uruguay say that a decree ordering the internment of the crew of the German tanker Tacoma for the duration of the war will be signed by the President.
This decree is being taken, it is said, owing to the fact that the Tacoma was used as a supply ship for the German "pocket-battleship" Admiral Graf Spee.
Speculation has arisen, says Reuter's Naval correspondent, regarding the slight' damage apparently caused to the battleship struck by a torpedo. In the last War, he continues, larger warships were provided with torpedo nets of steel wire, which were rigged out round the vessel. They were discarded because they were found too cumbrous in action. Instead, he says, bulges were introduced. These were built onto the sides of ships so that a torpedo would explode outside the real hull and damage would reduce the speed of the vessel by only one knot.
It is therefore assumed, the correspondent adds, that the bulges of a battleship have proved their efficacy as protection against torpedoes, and that the fabric and vital parts of the ship were not damaged. Since the War, he continues, the development of bulges has advanced considerably, and it is claimed that a warship with bulges can endure repeated torpedo attacks.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.