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100 Years Ago | 4 Aug 1918

On this day a century ago, these were some of the news items The Statesman readers got to read about India and the world.

100 Years Ago | 4 Aug 1918

OCCASIONAL NOTE

One is apt to grumble at the restrictions imposed by the press censorship in India and at Home, but in America they are inclined to go to the other extreme in the freedom allowed to the press, and an instance in point is noted by one American exchange, together with some biting comments upon the heedlessness with which the majority of newspapers in the United States permit themselves to be made use of by enemy propaganda.

About two months ago a carrier pigeon alighted on a steamer close to New York. It bore no message except the figures “41,” and the fact and place of its capture, as well as this mystic number, were published in thousands of American newspapers, together with speculations as to whether it were an enemy message or not.

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One of the few judicious papers which refrained from giving publicity to the incident at the time, afterwards took occasion to read its contemporaries a severe lecture upon their folly.

It pointed out that it was quite probable that the message was an enemy message, and, if this were so, the object of despatching the bird had undoubtedly been attained by the universal publicity given to the capture.

Here obviously is a case in which a general censorship such as that under which newspapers work all over the British dominions would have been extremely useful.

INDIA’S HELP IN THE WAR

At the annual meeting of the National Indian Association, held at Cromwell-road, South Kensington, Sir James Meston in the chair, Mr. Basu (member of the Council of India) discussed the education of Indian women.

It had not been the custom, he said, to send young girls to school, but when schools were started for boys they immediately became crowded.

Girls had not attended schools, because of early marriage; but that custom was being gradually relaxed. Other difficulties were being overcome, and with a united effort on the part of the Government and the people it was hoped that before long provision would be made for the education of all girls.

The Chairman spoke of the work done by the National Association both in India and in this country, the result of which had been to foster cordial relations between the centre of the Empire and its greatest dependency.

The enemy, he said, had tried to sow disunion between India and England, but by the energy of such associations those efforts had been brought to naught.

INDIAN WOMEN IN FIJI

Private intimation has been received that various women’s organisations in Australia, representing the most powerful interests in that country, who have been deeply stirred by the condition of Indian women in Fiji, have combined together and sent at their own expense and as their representative Miss Granham, who is on furlough from India, to Fiji.

She will spend some months in seeing what practical steps can be taken to ameliorate the situation which has arisen owing to the disproportion of women to men under the indenture system. The Fiji Government has given orders that facilities are to be given her while carrying on her work.

RAID ON AN AERODROME

A British communiqué regarding aviation says: We dropped over 24 tons of bombs yesterday. A large number of these were directed at an aerodrome from a very low height during a raid by two of our air squadrons.

We greatly damaged the hangars and living quarters. Six hangars and sixteen machines were set on fire, and one machine was blown to pieces on the ground. We brought down twelve aeroplanes and drove down three out of control.

Our night fliers also shot down two enemy night bombers over their own aerodrome. Two British machines are missing. During the night we dropped ten tons of bombs on railway lines, stations, and aerodromes, and again heavily bombed the above-mentioned aerodrome. All our machines returned.

INDIANS WHO FELL IN FRANCE

A meeting of the Imperial War Graves Commission, at which Lord Islington, Sir William Garstin, Mr. Rudyard Kipling and others were present, adopted the recommendations of the committee consisting of Lord Islington, Mr. W.P. Schreiner, Mr. Sahibzada Ahmed Aftab Khan and Sir P. Pattani, which had been appointed to consider special questions arising with regard to the graves of Indian soldiers.

One of the recommendations was that Sir E. Lutyens and Mr. Herbert Baker should prepare designs for a mosque and temple to be erected in France as memorials to all the Indians who fell in France and Belgium in the war, and instructions given that designs for the memorial buildings should be prepared for approval by the Commission.

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