LAND AND ,W A T E B. 
juaicu V, 
NET DEFENCB. 
To the Editor of Land and Watkb. 
Srit -Permit ma to rec.r to the pressing, yet Derplexed, 
problem of defence against mi.e .ad torpedo attac-^c. Many 
l£2 of protcction'will suggest t.l^emsalves to your reader 
which m.v be classified into two mam categories oj ^cUv^jnd 
?««,. edefence. Neither .hould be neglected at the present 
^""'to deal with " Active "defence first ;7°[«''*™«'' '* 
forearmed " No owner, or sea-captain, should allow his ship 
omT without . ful! and sufficient equipment of guns, 
Lachneguns. rifle,, and. above all. gunners for dealing 
Taithfullv with submarines and other " vermin " of the high 
]^T Nor should anti-aircraft artillery-m these days o 
Zeppelins and Taubes-be forgotten; while a P^fl'"";,^;^^?;^ 
net. suspended awning-wise between the masts, should furnish 
s sitisfaclory protection against the impact of sky-dropped 
^ "with re<Tard to " Passive " defence, there Is, in my judg- 
ment, no protection comparable with that of steel-net^ crino- 
lines, only the old-fashioned system of torpedo net defence 
Las to be reconsidered, extended, and enlarged. The explosive 
encrev of mines and torpedoes is intensely local in its opera- 
tion, and if the explosion can l«> kept, say twenty feet, from 
the Bides of the vessel attacked, it will, in most cases prove to 
be comparatively innocuous; and every foot of increased 
distance rapidlv' reduces its percussive force I/ent"/«' 
therefore, to suggest that all sea-going vessels should for the 
present be supplied with a V-shaped framework forward, 
constructed out of stout pit<;h-pine baulks, steel Joists, or 
Birders. Upon these baulks would be suspended stee. nets 
composed of rings— sav six to eight inches in diameter, linked 
together in vertical, lateral, and horizontal planea, u iUu»- 
trated in the following diagram. 
Take a aliip of. say. 300 feet in length (different sizes of 
Tessels would, of course, vary proportionately In their equip- 
ments I calculate that the weight of nets for such a ship, 
running fore and aft its total length, and having the depth of 
the vessel's draught, together with cylindrical, cigar-shaped 
floaters, for carrying the weight of suspension, and linked in 
flexible connection with stout steel chains (vide accompanying 
the sinking of the ship Itself, and the even mor. Iri«parabto 
loss of gallant lives. 
Thus " actively " and " passively anned our mercaa. 
tile marine, no less than our naval fleets, might continue te 
plough the oceans with supreme indifference to the petty maUo* 
of piratical foes, and the terror of " the destruction whloh 
walketh in darkness " would swiftly ceaso to overshadow tbm 
spirits of those " who go down to the sea in slups and occupy 
their business in great waters."— Yours faithfully, 
Aakold F. Hiluu 
'' Hammerfield," Penahurst, Kent. 
'diagram), would not exceed, say, fifteen to twenty tons, 
the cost of which, according to the complexity of the fittings, 
might be estimated to be between £300 and £500. These nets 
.would, of course. Involve a certain reduction of speed, but the 
fittings could bo easily designed so that the nets and their 
floaters could be taken aboard at will, when the vessel was 
■teaming or sailing outside the zona of probable mine danger 
or of submarine attack. The loss of speed involved is a serious 
jmatter, but not to be taken into account u compare^ with 
TEUTONIC TRUTH. 
To the Editor of Laxd and Watib. 
g,R^_A3 Mr. Hilaire Belloc some time ago justly doubt^J 
In your paper the accuracy of the number of prisoners of w»f 
officially stated as having been captured by Germany, Hm folp 
lowing may interest you. 
The Frankfvrter Zeitung, which during this war revealed 
itself as the most Jingo paper in Germany, and is therefor* 
not to bo suspected of playing the German authorities un- 
pleasant tricks, stated on February 25 that Germany and 
Austria-Hungary held then together 805,000 prisonere of ww. 
Of the 462,000 Russians, 230,000 were in Austria-nungMT, 
Deducting also 50,000 Serbians held there, altogether 525,0^ 
prisoners wore, ac-cording to that German paper, in Oermaay. 
When seeing that report I happened to remember that ta« 
German Chief Headquarters issued December 31 en offioi»l 
statement, saying: "The total number of prisoners of wai 
interned in Germany, not including civilian prisoners, WM. 
at the end of 1914, 8,138 officers ajid 577,875 men (total 
586,013i." And that official statement added: " Thea« 
fit'ures ao not include a number of those taken in the course el 
the pursuit in Russian Poland, nor those at present on th«d« 
way to concentration camps." Yet, leaving those out, you will 
notice that the German Chief Headquarters mentioned oa 
December 31 not less than 61,000 more prisoners of war thaa 
the Frankfurter Ztitung reported to be in Germany oa 
February 25 I 
In order to make it clear to our readers in Holland whal 
reliance can be placed on the German official reports, I took 
further the trouble to calculate very carefully the number of 
Erlsoners of war which, according to the official reports sent 
y Wolfi's Bureau from Berlin to our paper, are supposed t« 
have been captured on both fronts by the Germans between 
January 1 and February 22. In that time there were reported 
118,426 prisoners of war captured by the Germans in EasI 
Prussia and Poland and 15,453 on the Western front. Addinf 
these to the number officially reported on December 31, we g«| 
a total of 719,892, or 194,892 more than tha FranJcJurUg 
Zeitung reported on February 25. 
One other proof of how the " nation of poets ant 
thinkers " is juggling with its numbers of prisoners. Accord- 
ing to the Berliner Tageblatt, the German Minister at Bern* 
issued to the Swiss newspapers the statement that the numbe* 
of German war prisoners up to the end of January were : In 
France, 49,350; in Russia, 2,030; and in England, 7,247| 
total, 58,627. Now, the official statement issued from th« 
German Chief Headquarters on December 31 contained tha 
following remark: " The Russian statement alleged to hava 
been issued by the Russian Minister of W^ar,that 1,140 German 
officers and 134,700 men have been captured by the Russians, 
is incorrect, as the Russian figures include all civilians arrested 
on and since the outbreak of war. The number of actual 
Prisoners of war is not more than 15 per cent, of those figures.'* 
'ery well, 15 per cent, of 135,840 gives 20,376 " actual 
ririsoners of war " which official Germany acknowledged to ba 
n Russia at the end of 1914. And the German Minister at 
Berne has the hardihood to say that four weeks later ba| 
2,030 German prisoners of war were in Rus.=iia. 
The Teutonic mind appears to ba a wonderful things-* 
J am. Sir, youra sincerely, 
Joan C. VAN DEE Veeb 
(London Editor of the Amsterdam Tdegraafjm 
49, Minster Road, N.W. 
MR. HILAIRE BELLOC'S LECTURES 
Llandudno Pier Pa vilion. . . Salardaj 
Colwyn Bay... Pier Pavilion... Baturday 
London Queen's Hail.. Tuesday 
Winchester Guildhall Wednesday 
Salisbury Victoria Hall... Wednesday- 
Bournemouth.... Pavilion Thursday 
Weymouth Burdon Rooms. Thursday 
Plymouth. Guildhall Friday 
Exeter^......^ Victod* HtlU RAinrAaj .,„ 
ON THB WAR, 
6 March, 8 p.m. 
5 March, 8 p.m. 
9 March, 8.30 p.m« 
10 March, 3 p.m. 
10 March, 8.30 p m, 
11 March, 3 p.m. 
U March, 8.30 p.m. 
12 March, 3 and 6.39^ 
13 M»r(\ Si.30 p.sfe 
