The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-31
By "Hop"

intense interest. On June Field Mar shal Earl Kitchener, Great Britain's famous minister of war. was drowned
 with his staff off the Orkneys when the cruiser Hampshire went down. It
 was at first thought the cruiser had been the victim of a submarine, but this theory was generally discarded when it was learned that the warship
 had struck a mine and gone down in
 the midst of terrific storm.
 PASSING OF U. S. CRISIS The second year of the war was a memorable one as far as the United States was concerned. It marked the ap- parent final passing of the crisis be- tween this country and Germany over the submarine warfare which threatened more than once rupture of relations, and even war.
 | The sinking by submarine without warning the White Star liner Arabic, with the loss of two American lives, ere ated a profound impression in the United | States. Germany sent a note to Wash l ington in September pleading self-de- | fense and offering to refer the question | of compensation to The Hague but this was regarded with disappointment by the Washington government, and the situa-
 ton became very tense. In October
 
 sinking of the Arabic.
 Five months later the French steam-
 ship Sussex was torpedoed without warn | ing while carrying more than 300 passen- | gers, including number of Americans across the English channel. About 50 per- sons were killed and this incident brought l the submarine situation to an acute | stage. Germany at first disclaimed re- l sponsbility for the attack on the Sussex l but the evidence accumulated by the 1 United States appeared so overwhelm- 1 ing that President Wilson, on April IS.
 dispatched to Germany a note which was virtually an ultimatum, and on the fol- lowing day personally appeared before | Congress and laid the entire problem be- | fore that body.
 1 On May Germany promised that no
 more liners or merchantmen would be sunk without warning, and without ann
 pie opportunity for the escape of crews
 and passengers. These promises were
 considered satisfactory by the President.
 ana the war cloud lifted Since that time Ia large number of ships have been sunk ] by German and Austrian submarines, but
 the rules of international law have been generally observed.
 l Another cause of friction between the United States and the central powers was also removed during the year. Since the 1 O tbreak of the war certain propagan-
 dists had been busy instigating strikes 1 in munition factories which had con 1 tracts with the allies and in endeavor- 1 ing in other ways to interfere with the
 trade. For his activity in this respect the recall of Dr. Constantin Dumba, Austrian l amba ssador, was requested by President Wilson in September. The following De- cember, for similar reasons, the President 1 requested the recall of Captain Boy-Ed and Captain Won Papen. naval and mili. 1 tary attaches, respectively to the Ger
 man embassy A number of conviction1
 were obtained in the criminal courts in
 other cases and the propaganda ceased. | UPRISING IN IRELAND
 Apart from events in the actual war
 threatres the most striking event of the year in connection with the conflict was an uprising in Ireland in April. The out break was organized by a society known
 as the Sim Fem committed to the prin- | cile of an independent Ireland. Bloody l fighting took place in Dublin in which I hundreds of lives were lost and the heart | of the business section destroyed, at a
 cost of many millions of dollars. The 1 fighting was sporadic elsewhere in the islands and of minor importance. The
 revolt was finally crushed and the ring
 leaders executed. It led, however, to m | agitation which resulted in the govern-
 ment rreparing a temporary home rule | bill which it expects to pass through
 Ta rliarleut this fall.
 1 Just before the outbreak of the rebel l lion Sir Roger Easement, formerly in the | British consular service, was arrested on l the west coast of Ireland where he had l attempted to land cargo of arms sent
 nom uermany. He was tried 'ater for | high treason and sentenced to death. | No definite figures can be given of tho cost of the great war in blood and gold. but the most reliable estimates present figures so vast that they become prac- la &IA United States general army staff est- mated that the total losses in men to all the bellingerents since the war began were 13,023.000. The exact figures for any country are unavailable.
 As to the money question figures are
 more reliable, but still vague. They pre- sent sums which are so beyond anything previously known to international finance. SC impossible of any human comparison that they become little more than 8 tumble of figures. In March Dr. Karl Helferrich secretary of the imperial treasury of Germany, estimated that tho war was costing all the combatants $375,- O00.0O0 a week or eleven and a half billion dollars a year. William Michaelis. an- other German financial expert, put the yearly cost at the vaster sum of fifteen
 billions and other financial authorities gave even higher figures.
 On July II Reginald McKenna, British chancellor of the exechequer, stated in the House of Commons that the expendi- lures for Great Britain alone were s30.- 900 900 daily. He did not say, however. how much of this incredible sum repre-
 sented war expenses.
 Within the last few months there has
 been some talk of peace in Germany and considerable peace activity by unofficial bodies in various countries. but there has
 been little indication that the chancel- leries of Europe are at present seriously considering close of hostilities.
 few days ago Harry Metcalf of Vest minister. Vt. found on opening a bale cf hay two black snakes, one four feet. the other three feet in length. MT. Metcalf thought the snakes dead. but the freah