South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-10-22
MINES
GREAT PERIL TO
SHIPS IN BALTIC
Death-Dealing Explosives Still
Afloat in Trade Routes
Of Baltic.

WASHINGTON. D. O. oct. 21.-
Except Cor Tho taxes. The war is
over for most Of the people Of
America and Europe For the crews
Cf ships PLYING In the Baltic Sea.
however Fl might almost as well be
h. full blast
In some respects indeed these
sailors would &c. better of II the
allied armies were srll ~ rrips with
the Germans on the Western front,
for i1 those days they received fat
bonuses Tor Drawing the dangers OF
torpedoes and floating mines. Today
they drive their ships through fields
OF dr.ftns mines and are glad OF
the opportunity 20 get "a berth even
g ordinary wages.
Treaty Not Fulfilled.
The Treaty of Versailles con-
talned iengghy and complicated
provision for Kidding the seas Of
the thousands OF floating mines
planted during tne war and TO a
certain extent these provisions
have been carried out Reports just
received here from American con-
6ular repre- -rtatiEes in the great
ports Of Northern Europe indicate.
however. that iu some localities par
tcularly the smaller bodies OF water
20 the north. the danger from mines
s. practically as great as az any time
during the war i'm certain parts Of
the Baltic for example no attempt
whatever has been made 10 remove
them
Reporting from Hamburg, Consul
Maurice Walk quotes the Hansa
Germany best-knowu nautical pub
licatlon.
Even during the war 81 was re-
Coguized that long after it's cessation
the danger from mines would con-
tinue for many years says the per-
ideal. 'This has turned out TO be
the case. al least so far as concerns
the Baltic and 'he Bay OF Finland
IN these frequently uagisated waters
large fields OF mines are still lying
untouched. mines have been torn
loose from their anchors and are
constant menace to shipping,
Some Fields Cleared.
The work OF clearing up these
mines has been pursued industrious
~ along the coast Of Finland. but
only the northern part of the Bay
OF Finland mp 20 HIGHLAND may be
considered free OF mines. Mine
sweeping also has been undertaken
81 the Gulf OF Bothuia and the Fin
nish coast IS practically free. The
work viii be continued I'm the Gulf
O. Bothnia between the coasts OF
Finland and Sweden this fall"
Il Finland has done excellent
work iu eliminating the mine dan
ger. however. the states bordering
the southern part Of The Gulf of Fin
land and the eastern and northern
parts OF the Baltic have done prac-
tlcauy no mine-sweeping on a large
scale Just west OF the important
port Of RevaI in EsthOnia. for eX-
ample. lies a great mine field entire
~ untouched This field extends
northwest into the territorial waters
OF Finland and in a westerly direc-
ton 10 the Baltic AS the path two
or three miles wide along the coast
OF Esthonia. Is too dangerous It is
not used by Finnish ships, which
keen TO the. north and west. in the
v2ters Of Finland and Sweden. A
large German miue-sweepiug fleet
IS occupied in clearing this field at
the present time.
Soviet Disturbed.
The Soviet government. with its
dream OF de-elopinE "a great foreign
trade. 81 much disturbed over this
problem In the near future a con-
ference WIFI assemble i'm PetrOgrad
T. discuss ways and means OF clear
iUg the mines from the inner part of
the Gulf Of Finland The Bolshevist
foreign trade authorities are eager
e. establish an unimpeded route 20
PetroErad ms quickly as possible, so
that ships may come and go without
danger This action they believe.
vii do much 90 aid in the revival Of