A little reflection will show how necessary is a long patience in a matter of this kind. We all want to hear that the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau, the Leipsig and the Nurnberg, not to mention the Emden which has done considerable mischief in the Indian Ocean, have been finally accounted for, but it must be recognised that if these cruisers are still at large there is sufficient explanation of the circumstance.
It is easy to say they should be relentlessly pursued and destroyed. It is quite another matter to carry that procedure into practice, as experience has shown. The ocean is vast and wide, and a search for a cruiser in the Pacific might well present in modified version a parallel with the familiar illustration of the quest for a needle in a haystack.
These German cruisers are speedy craft. They do not advertise their movements, and if their presence in a particular locality should be reported by wireless or otherwise the chances are that by the time a pursuing warship or squadron came upon the scene the quarry would be far way.
The fact that the Pacific abounds in hiding places makes the task of the Admiral in charge of the Australian cruiser squadron in ridding the sea of the Scharnhorst and other German cruisers the more difficult.
Should these hostile ocean prowlers experience serious trouble in replenishing their coal bunkers their capacity for inflicting damage will be diminished, while the prospects of their being speedily captured will be correspondingly improved. But though the search for them may be systematic, its success may in the end be due to quite unforeseen circumstances.
Chance may deliver the marauders into the hands of their pursuers at some quite unexpected moment.
• One of the most imperative needs of the borough of Mosgiel, apart from some safeguard at the level crossing in Gordon road, is undoubtedly the provision of a water cart.
The recent long absence of rain has made the condition of the streets somewhat dusty, and the width of the principal thoroughfares gives the wind full play, with the result that the dust is raised in blinding clouds, and sweeps the streets from end to end.
However, it appears that the long suffering residents of the borough are to be subjected to this inconvenience for some time yet, for at the meeting of the local Borough Council, held last evening, the Works Committee reported that it could not recommend the purchase of a water cart in the meantime.
- ODT, 6.10.1914.
