The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-08-25
WILL BRITANNIA
OR GERNIANIA
RULE THE WAVES?
Question that Will Probably be De-
cided i'm the Impending Battle
i'm the North Sea

London. Aug. 25.-What has been
going on in the North Sea? That is
the greatest mystery of the war, the
problem most difficult to solve. 1t Is
now over three weeks since the an
nouncement was made that the Eng
Hsh fleet had left Portsmouth under
sealed orders to meet the German
feet The impenetrable veil OF the
censor, sitting here in London and
controlling the enemy's news as we'll
as his own, was lifted for the bare
statement. Then it dropped again
and nothing authentic has since been
heard of the men-o'-war in the Nortn
Sea. The outside world cannot
pierce the veil. There are no CORES
nondents aboard the warships or
either England or Germany in the
North Sea to send back even CEN
sored dispatches.
OF the fighting on land, the pub
lie hears something. At the start
there were correspondents in Bel
gium and every day news more or
less authentic, of the fighting in Bel
gium and Alsace and Lorraine has
been published. But of the naval
doings in the North Sea, not a word.
At first there were stories of a great
battle. Heavy firing was said to
have been heard at sea OF various
British coast towns. One story said
that a German Zeppelin with bombs
! had destroyed British warship ev-
cry night. But all of these reports
were effectively denied. 1T is fact
that the world has Learned nothing
from the North Sea since the Eng
lish and German fleets put to sea
there. Has there been a battle?
1t seems reasonable, if the Ger
mans had met with actual reverses
upon the sea, that the British censor
would be ready and willing to pub
lish them On the other hand, II
the Germans have had successes, the
London censor would hardly be ex-
pected to advertise them, but the
fact would surely have been giver
our in Berlin and have reached the
world by this time.
The two fleets now in the NORTH
Sea are, in their intricacy of con
struction and their death-dealins
facilities, the finest product of al
ages of maritime warfare, which Il
as old as the sea and as old as man
kind.
These fleets are to fight the mos
4 important battle of the war, for tn
supremacy of the sea is perhaps th
greatest prize of the great conflict
EN- gland has held the leadership o
! the ocean. Germany wants 1T, Ger
many is fighting to control the bal
ance of power of Europe and to con
troll the colonies of the world.
she would command the land, Ger
many must control the sea.
So it is that a vital, if not tn
Imost vital issue of the great wal
hangs on the outcome of affairs i
the North Sea and that is one thin
about which the public has not tn
lSHSnJeSL 1nkFInS- ENSISIHIHS 10 idl
in love and war, the old adage ha
it. Love is always with the world
There are daily reminders of its e.
existence, but the world is no.
learning again that all is fair in wal
also.
1t was three hundred years az
that Francis Bacon told the Englisl
'sHe that commands the sea is {
great liberty and may take as muc
or as little Of war as he will, where
as those that are strongest by lanC
are, nevertheless, often in difficu
ties"
Ask about those POLO ties /;