The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-14
WAR ECHOES

II
 Cleveland Plain Dealer: The capture O
 Antwerp is said to place Germany in z l favorable position for the invasion O England. Even superficial investigation of the facts seems to indicate the incor restness of such a statement
 l England cannot be invaded without
 ships to carry the invaders. Germany with her navy still in the Kiel bottle, l has no means of transporting troops across the channel. Even if she did have ships ready at Antwerp she could not 1 get them to the open sea without navi- gating the Scheldt through Dutch terri. tory, thereby violating the neutrality oi the Netherlands and adding another na- ton to her list of foes.
 But the German occupation of Antwerp l does place England face to face with a real danger Not an invasion by Ger man troops, but the long-dreaded in- vasion by zeppelns may follow Ger many's latest military success. The Kaiser's generals have shown themselves ruthless in their use of these airships to terrify civilians. The flight from Ant
 werp to London and return would be safe and comparatively easy. If the Brit ish metropolis is spared its immunity will be due not to the lack of ability and willingness on the part of the German
 aviators, but rather to the unanimous sen- timent of civilization which bitterly con demns these needless and inhuman opera tions.
 Al.xx +ole ~f h., cruel havoc wrought at Antwerp by bombs dropped from a safe altitude. Aeroplanes, darting over Paris, have done ! work similar to that of the dirigibles at Antwerp. In neither case has there been the slightest military gain or the faint est Justification from strategical stand point. The net result has been an inten- sifcation of the Belgian and French hatred toward the Germans.
 A similar result would follow the drop- ping of bombs on the worlds metropolis Till now the British have followed the war in as sane and forbearing a spirit as has ever been manifested by warning nation
 New York World: The estimate of Paul Leroy Beaulieu, the French political economist, that half the population of the world is affected by the war is not immoderate. Indeed if reference Is had to the indirect consequences of the war, 1t is within the bounds of truth to say that 1t affects practically every living human being.
 India might be supposed to be far enough away from the firing line not to feel the onset of armies in western Flu rope. Yet it is very directly affected by the dispatch of native troops to the front and by the withdrawal of an element of the population and a material part of the
 national wealth from industry and this over and above the interference with commerce. China and Japan are affected, all the colonial dependencies of the war ring powers are affected. The Persian carpet-maller, the Arab trader, the saw ages in the rubber forests and copra- gatherers in the South Sea Islands all suffer more or less from conflict the practically all the industries of civilized
 and uncivilized man the world over No part of the worlds population in these days of close international relations and commercial intercourse, lives wholly to itself and any breakdown of one part of the complex machinery inevitably in- terferes with the working of the other parts. Europes colossal waste of wealth will bring disastrous results not only to the nations immediately involved, and not alone to others in close trade relations with the halliporaptS ht1f to fofI CTS in the remotest regions of the globe.
 It will be staggering bill to pay and one which will levy an enforced tribute of some kind on all the human family. New York Tribune: Liquor has van ished from the fields of war, but tobacco has not. The various commssariats make no objection to a provision of smoking
 material, and in the current London Lam cet comes medical opinion loudly ap- plauding the role of tobacco in war and expressing the hope that the British sol-
 with it. Says The Lancet:
 "To the soldier and the sailor in the
 present war, with his nervous system in
 a ceaseless state of tension from the dan
 gers and excitement, tobacco must be a
 real solace and joy when he can find
 time for this well-earned indulgence
 Our Dr. Peases will doubtless oppose
 such a generous view. But the public will
 stand with The Lancet. It is precisely
 when man is under a nervous strain
 that smoking soothes and cheers most.
 And any greater strain on nerves than
 sitting in a ditch waiting for. bursting
 shells and shrapnel to find your exact
 location 1t is difficult to imagine. When
 the world is completely perfect habita-
 ton sans cares or worry tobacco may
 go. Until then, let us cling to every