New Britain herald., 1915-12-20

from two to four feet under the nor mai water level Sc We are fairly safe"
 Tt would be interesting to know how the Russians hoped to get those
 mines out of the way in case they had to do the job,' continued the commander. 'The worst type ot them all, also of Russian manufacture, remains alive, ready to go off at the slightest touch, so long as you exert the slightest pull on the ring by which it is moored. At the same time the mine cannot be brought out of it's hor- izontal, or floating position, without its electric contact arrangement be- coming alive. Then, off she goes mines is to shoot them. Probably that is how the Russians intended to get rid of them afterwards. If they did they overlooked the fact that the mine has first to be found and that in dragging for it you are bound to up- set it sufficiently to cause the explo- sion.
 Lake of Fluid Mud.
 
 seemed a lake of fluid mud. The mon itor division commander came on deck "a very dignifed but affable man of about forty-five, and the very beau ideaP' of naval officer. From him the Associated Press correspondent learned what part the Austrian monitor fleet had played in the crossing of the Danube by the troops of the Central Powers. The heavier guns and mor- tars had been assigned to reducing several Serb artillery positions near Belgrade, while the machine guns had been trained upon some infantry posi- tions close to the banks. The mon- itors had succeeded in enfilading sev- eral Serb positions. The result was a rout, said the division chief. One of the roles of the monitors had been to draw the fire of the Serb and British artillery along the river, and, moni- tors being thoroughly detested by the Serbs, the ruse had worked although ordinary field artillery could do no more than blister the paint on the monitors armor, as an inspection of the ship showed.
 Sava Very Lucky.
 The Sava had been very lucky, explained the division commander, though her sister ship, the Temes, whose original namebearer still rusts l and rots in the Save river west of ] Gypsy Island, had not been so for l ;unate. A heavy shell struck her 1 1eck, penetrated hatch into the 1 ;rew's quarters, and killed and wound ] d six. But otherwise the Temes did 1 lot suffer and, as if to prove the re- marks of the commander, the mon- n the river, heading another large tor at just that moment made bend convoy of barges.
 With patrol boat in tow, the Sava losed her way through the liquid mud. 'ast low-lying banks, submerged marked only by tree-tops, mis- rable Serb and Rumanian villages. nd the houseboat watermills peculiar 0 the Danube. Scenical1y a trip on he Danube in the late fall is not un- Interesting. This is especially true in ne hill region close to the famous Iron Gates.' The yellow and gray ,liage of. the willow trees is effective contrasted by the blue of the hills
 the background. Where the hills ,me close to the river their sides ,rm crazy-quilt of all shades of the dds and tans of autumn foliage and le sombre green of the conifers.
 Austrian Lost Out. The correspondent talked to an l ustrian official who on the previous ! ay had been in Turn-Sevsrin (Ru- ,ania) for the purpose of inducing ne Serb population of Kladowa. who ad fled there, to return to their omes. Every guaranty was offered ut 1t seemed that the Austrian had ) compete with a Russian agent who lso made offers. The Austrian lost ut, despite the fact that Kladowa al- eady had a Serb burgomaster and a william administration.
 There has been little fighting in the -ladowa region. The fort or citadel n ancient Turkish structure, recent 7 reinforced by some modern re- oubts, was abandoned by the Serbs. attle an dsheep grazed on the glacis nd in the meats. Anciently, the ort commanded the western limits nd Kazan pass. Then it would have cen military achievement of the rst order to take Kladowa; today a ew shells from twelve-inch gun