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DANISH-SWEDISH TUNNEL TO BE BUILT.-It is announced that the construction of the proposed tunnel between Denmark and Sweden is soon to be commenced. Its starting point is on the island of Amagar. When completed it will have a length of nearly 18 kilometers.-Nautical Gazette, 6/28.

MOVIE FILMS MAY DECIDE FATE OF U-BOAT COMMANDERS.-Nine thousand feet of motion-picture film may decide the fate of three German submarine commanders, if they are brought to trial before a British courtmartial.

This remarkable piece of evidence shows vividly the sinking of 30 Allied ships by U-boats. It was photographed for propaganda purposes in the Fatherland" by the crews of submarines, who thus unwittingly provided evidence against themselves.

The set of original films is in the hands of American intelligence officers. It will be turned over to the British Admiralty in the event the latter wishes it. The films were captured in Coblenz when the Americans entered that city in December. They were taken into a local movie theater and projected before officials of the Third Army. So perfectly was every detail of the sinkings shown that American officers said the pictures could not have been better, even if made by the Allies, for the purpose for which it is now proposed they be used.

Pictures of Commanders.-One of the films showed good photographs of the commanders, with the names and numbers of their U-boats. But the finest bit of "art" is believed to be the reproduction of the original of a report sent to Berlin by the skipper of the U-33, in which the names of ships sunk and the dates are clearly shown.

The series starts with the U-boats leaving their bases and threading their way through the mine fields, then are shown interior views depicting the excitement when the first Allied ship is sighted. Then the launching of the torpedo is shown. Following this there is a close-up" of the ship heeling over and the crew scrambling into small boats.

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Another graphic picture shows a U-boat officer ordering the captain of a sinking ship to turn over his log book. The angry captain stands in a boat alongside the half-submerged submarine, shaking his fist at the German officer, who laughs and orders him to come aboard, where he is made a prisoner. The remainder of the ship's personnel are left behind to shift for themselves.

Shows Shelling of Ships.-Other scenes depict the Germans shelling ships to hasten their destruction. The boilers of one ship blow up, tearing the craft to pieces.

Altogether the death throes of 30 ships are pictured. In one or two films U-boats are shown towing small boats with survivors aboard, with the caption: "Our men show humanity to the enemy."

These pictures were shown throughout Germany during the war to stimulate U-boat recruiting and "patriotism" generally.-Baltimore Sun, 7/11.

U. S. TROOPS TRANSPORTED OVERSEAS.-The War Department has just published a statistical summary of the war with Germany. It states that the number of soldiers sent to the other side was 2,086,000. The greatest number of men sent overseas in a single month was 306,000 and the largest number who have been returned home from Europe in a single month, at the time the report was compiled, was 333,000. The supplies shipped from the United States to France amounted to 7,500,000 tons in the 19 months that the American forces were in action.

Most of the troops sent overseas sailed from New York, half of them landing in France and the other half in England. Of every 100 Americans sent overseas, 49 went in British, 45 in American, 3 in Italian, 2 in French, and one in Russian ships, the Russian ships being under British control. The ports from which our troops were shipped and those at which they were landed in Europe are shown in the following table:

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American cargo ships averaged one round trip every 70 days, and the troopships one round trip every 35 days. The cargo fleet was almost exclusively American, and reached the size of 2,600,000 deadweight tons. The greatest of the troop carriers was the Leviathan, formerly the HamburgAmerican liner Vaterland, which landed 12,000 men, or the equivalent of a German division, in France every month while the troop movements were approaching their maximum. The fastest of the troopships were the Pacific liners Great Northern and Northern Pacific, which have made complete turn-arounds, taken on new troops and started back to Europe again in 19 days. In France American engineers built 83 new ship berths.Nautical Gazette, 7/5.

RELATIVE STANDING OF THE WORLD'S NAVIES, 1919.-The following table, compiled by the United States Navy Department, Washington, has been presented to Congress:

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2 The Financial Secretary to the Admiralty stated in the house of Commons on May 9 that four ships of the Hood class-battle cruisers-had been laid down, and of these the Hood was being carried to completion. The construction of the other three ships, which were laid down in the autumn of 1916, was stopped in March, 1917, when the vessels were in very early stages of building, at a saving of expenditure of from 18 to 20 millions. It is also known, that the construction of most of the light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines has also been abandoned.

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One laid down. Not laid down. Including nine not laid down.

NOTE. Battleships, battle cruisers, cruisers, light cruisers, and coast-defence vessels over 20 years of age, and torpedo-boat destroyers, torpedo-boats and submarines over 15 years of age, are not included.

-The Fortnightly Review, June, 1919.

CURRENT NAVAL AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS

UNITED STATES

The League of Nations. W. G. McAdoo. Outlook, July 2, 1919. The Future of Permanent Fortifications. C. Beard. Prof. Memoirs, Corps of Engrs., U. S. Army & Eng. Dept., vol. 11, no. 55, Jan.-Feb., 1919, PP. 47-64.

The Berlin-Bagdad Line. John H. Finley. Scribner's Magazine.

Railway Artillery. E. D. Campbell. Jl. Engrs. Club of St. Louis, vol. 4, no. 2, Mar.-Apr., 1919, pp. 142-160, 9 figs. Historical sketch and forecast of future types.

Aeroplane Construction. F. G. Coburn. Jl. Engrs. Club, Philadelphia, vol. 36-4, no. 173, Apr., 1919, pp. 121-126, 6 figs. Brief account of construction and development of naval aircraft factory at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Some Experiences with Electric Welding in Warships. W. H. Gard. Shipbuilding & Shipping Rec., vol. 13, no. 16, Apr. 17, 1919, pp. 485-486.

Repairing cast-steel stern post of battleship and similar work carried out during the war. Paper read before Institution Naval Architects.

On the Determination of the Electrical and Acoustic Characteristics of Telephone Receivers. Louis V. King. Jl. Franklin Inst., vol. 187, no. 5, May, 1919, pp. 611-625, 5 figs. Theoretical aspect presented from viewpoint of possible improvements.

Research Work on Malleable Iron. Enrique Touceda. Mechanical Engineering, July, 1919.

GREAT BRITAIN

Peace and a Naval Holiday. Archibald Hurd. The Fortnightly Review, June, 1919.

The Ocean Convoys. A. R. Herbert. Land and Water, May 1, 1919.

ITALY

The Italian Navy in the Adriatic During the War. Captain Charles Di Villarey, C. B., M. V. O., Royal Navy. The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, May, 1919.

Fiume. Hilaire Belloc. Land and Water, May 29, 1919.

DIPLOMATIC NOTES

FROM JUNE 18 TO JULY 18
PREPARED BY

ALLAN WESTCOTT, Associate Professor, U. S. Naval Academy

GERMANY RATIFIES PEACE TREATY

GERMAN ASSEMBLY VOTES TO SIGN TREATY.-On Sunday, June 22, the German National Assembly voted 237 to 138 to sign the Peace Treaty, but without accepting the obligations contained in Articles 227-230 relating to the trial of the ex-Kaiser and extradition of other Germans accused of crimes, and Article 231, fixing upon Germany responsibility for the war. The Centrists and Democrats held out for this modification of the terms.

On the same date the Bauer Cabinet communicated with the Entente Powers requesting a delay of 48 hours before submitting the final decision of Germany, but received a brief negative reply with the further information that the Allied terms must be accepted without reservations. Accordingly on June 23 the Assembly voted for unconditional acceptance, and the decision was transmitted as follows by Dr. Haniel von Haimhausen, the German representative at Paris:

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has instructed me to communicate to your Excellency the following:

It appears to the government of the German Republic, in consternation at the last communication of the Allied and associated governments, that these governments have decided to wrest from Germany by force acceptance of the peace conditions, even those, which, without presenting any material significance, aim at divesting the German people of their honor.

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No act of violence can touch the honor of the German people. The German people, after frightful suffering in these last years, have no means of defending themselves by external action.

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Yielding to superior force, and without renouncing in the meantime its own view of the unheard of injustice of the peace conditions, the government of the German Republic declares that it is ready to accept and sign the peace conditions imposed."

Please accept, Mr. President, assurances of my high consideration. (Signed) VON HANIEL.

NEW GERMAN CABINET FOR TREATY ACCEPTANCE-Rather than face the responsibility for signing the Peace Treaty, the Scheidemann Cabinet resigned, seven voting for and seven against acceptance. After a week of effort a new Ministry was finally organized on June 21 with Gustav Adolf Bauer, a Conservative Socialist and labor leader, as Premier; Dr. Hermann Müller, Majority Socialist, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mathias Erzberger, Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor; and Dr. Edouard Daniel, Minis

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