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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance, 1918-03-28, Page 7a 11100., '4Weeeevei 1W-44,-..4041.-^ee Wave et.; BRITISH FRONT PIERCED, NEW POSITIONS TAKEN London Oable--Powerful enemy attacks, delivered with TO weight of infantry and artillery, have broken through the British defensive system west of $t., Quentin, the War Office au- notinces. The British troops on the northern portion of the battlefield are holding their positions. •The British west of St Quentin are falling back in good order to positions further west, Very heavy fighting with fresh enemy forces is in progress. The War Office states that there are'prepared positionsbehind, the British, to which they are falling back, The statelmt follows: "Heavy fighting continued until late hours last night on the whole battlefront. • During the afternoon powerful hostile attacks, delivered with great weight of infantry and artillery, broke through our defensive system west of St. Quentin. "Our troops on this part of the battlefront are falling back in good order across the devastated area to prepared positions . far- ther west. • "Our troops on the northern portion ef the battlefront are hold - their positions. "Very heavy fighting with .fresh hostile forces is in pro,gress." JN EXCELLE.NT ORDER. been preeared. If that is the case. the Lonodn (able says: The. Germans Germans have done littio more than forced their waY into lliorY, hut a repeat what the Britain did in the dashing eounter-attask arove them out, battle of the Somme, when they Were- Iteuter'e cerreepoudeut at Britesh fed the Hindenburg 'line and captured headquerters telegraphe. A rarge long stretches of it, forcing* the Ger- mans to retreat to prepared positions party was surrounded and timbal/le eapturen. in the rear. reason o (j. Tho experiences of the attacking U diradens araowininto th There ie tbelieve alit. forme; in other eompaigns show that mae g e , the Germans. as they Progreso, are strugele, the eorreepondent riates, ane likely to find their moveMents more Probaoly We as many more ere in difficult, and tho resistance of the close reeerve, Wider the tremendone . . ritish op are faille areesn more enective. The more fleets- onslaught the Btre , ,• :y they strilla iuto the British lines, back eery tamely tmd in mecellent further they must move from thew order. In mauy places y are with- `"` , limes, entailing increaeing difficulties drawing voluntarily so as to mainaien in providing suppiiem for their troops. unbroken from, They must move forward over a de- vastated area, while the British will 'Inc poail at whites the British line have the great advantage of good has been broken is near the isouthern roads and railroads. Perbaps the end at the German attaelsing -eront, greatest problem of the Germans Win which sxtends from Arras to La Fere, be to bring up their heavy artillery. In flfteen iiiess below St. Quentin. Below every previoue campaign of this ea - this tenter is the great arc in the front, tare, it has been necesaary for the ad- here the line, approaching nea.reet -Le vancing forces " to halt frequently Pars, turns sherply to the east. while bringing up the heavy pieces. , The German offeneive has developed The extent of the British defence' with abnost unparalleled ratedity. One has been a subject of muen specula - reason for this is indicated in Field tion, but it is known that they have elarshal liaig's reports'showing that been vastly improved during the the Germans are cons•tantly bringing last winter. Earlier in the war. when up fresh bodice of trooPe. the offensive rested with the French The statement of the British War and British, less attention was paid Office that the tr001)8 W0St of St, to positions of the rear. The British Quentin are falling back to prepareel In partieular were said to scorn eta - Positions indicate; that tbc Germane, borate defensive zcans, steel as the fdthoughsthey have broken through Germans constructed. After the de - the British defeneive eystem, have not fences of Russia aud consequent in - pierced the entire British eone of de- fcece. The allusion in the British statement to the defensive as•stein may crease of German strength in the west, however, it became necessary for the Alies to consider defensive measures; be only to the main battlefront sys- which were carried out during the tem, behind which other eines have winter. 0114.444444464....... GROUND IN ENEMY'S 'REAR DOTTED BY GREY CORPSES British4leadquarters in .4r Mee a able -(Via Reuter's ,Ot- tawa Ageney).-Last evening the great German offensive was 00---'- ceeding. The weather is glorious. Definite details are still unob- tainable. •. Despite our giving ground under the unprecedented weight of Men a,nd guns, the enemy gains are newhere of strategic importance. The withdrawal everywhere was carried out in orderly manner, af- ter exacting' a painful price on the enemy. Our airmen report the ground to the enemy's rear is strewn with grey corpses. It has been noted that all ths attacking troops are clad ill new unifornis, and it will be remembered in thi connection that von Hindenburg: boasted he would be in Paris by April 1. Anyway, he• is certainly essa,ying to break through in record time, and as the divisions melt away under the torrents of shells and bullets fresh ones are flung in. • Forty enem.y divisions, including four of the Guards, had been identified in the front line of attack by Thursday night, and already some of the enemy troops have been, relieved. . Responsible quarters are gratified at the magnificent manner in Which our troops are 'withstanding the ordeal. Not a single di- visica has failed or faltered. Against one sector of ten thousand yards it has been estimated that 'the Germans employed one gun for every 15 yards, not count- ing trench mortars. it is noteworthy that wine actual ruined villages, and the Germane pro. retirements ancurfront bave been bahly will make much of their cap - made only epee. adele, -after the ture, but the defenders have held on troops had heel the trenches !slant amazingly well, and worked terrible throtigh the whole of the first rlay•e slaughter among the attackers. violent assaults. The fighting to -day was greatest in The f:ret &nee nes oil Thureday's intensaty on two sectors -one north- w west of Carnival and the .other south - attacks were, frequently held up by our weet, The fighting on the northern sslie, The Germans halted and hacked front was about Bullecourt, their way through. whilet our riflemen whllea Hargicourt is the southern eentre. A and gst unnels eta melcieg veeitable bright •sun came out at midday, and eliambles of lite gronnti. The (mettle airmen were most active, the British fought with sturdy valor, frne _It MS aviators fis•ing at very iew altitudes: p:akee eiejeieue -% Ir'• iseetieitra es and using their machine guns ageinst the opposing infantry, Our airmen ta•e Mang valiant service, Before they' attaeeea to -day an the Beteg low and atteteking eneme seiner between the Caual Du. Nord ma 1)11.1 \, 10 aro ettaelting our • said Croleillee, On the northern battle- itellellet4 With 1111tellitto etUPA, •front, the Germans for four hours At one place eight tlesildte divbrions smothered the British with (mere' crate attaeked on front held by eight battelvable form of hate whieh a gun tureen 1, Oar front leo, here Inis been could throw. 'The •Ienetny depended destroyed by-we:41u of moat, big the largely upon large umbers of trench eapporle acillevEd a great .defenete and mortars to cut 1110 111re entangle - not mile head the enemy, ent eons- moles. The iirlteeli had bad Warninga roma his wiihdrawol. 011 Teneeney that the Germans Would use great evening three dis:e.ene el' Germans quantitiee of gas shells. This proved •ioet ct certain moldier of gane through to be trLl alai -000 there wee noth. 41001•1110: oxtr Ciet simile have Ing new the type of gas, and the been largely. ftefla, wa have been' Relliert gas •Illaeks appear to have ben employlne prEleMtere. mattralizine the most effective. mime „t tl„, 1,tut1te, thm.e. , The British Tommies'Ana their of- eeeffet t;-' bnhIr4 witit their ga.4 111i1S10 on, hut even thie draw- baelc rout(' not dampen their juhill- Ilrithia Ariny ileadetiarttis in Mien at the havoe they (Mined as the flan„,, came ?eye; my the ; infantry preecnted itecif in the form Associated inress.)----ieritisli theme tee • of point-Inauk targets. Nine• German tween the Sthrilil 'anti the Oh'0 11111/0 MVisions 14;01141(4 11i0 11,%ttlUi1 In fallen leiter in ;darks, inn MP British 003 HcAbn, but they met with gra- gcneeete; had fore.teen Ode eventuality I none reeletanec. Britieh machine eon - and ma, promeetione tiveortlirigIy.In nerA did terrible .execution ae the -Gentians moved foreard. the 'flee oft'a great flue& it ie not As on Titureday, the Germane to. (ally innmeeible hot mete uneeend tha teeet , day depended on tremendoue artillery to attempt to it•eld trent:eve eeteeewler,„ (Imo 41, bombardments1 and nuntal ettaelie eteties, ustealy eita at. orgatileing 1.0, with great ]1t!lnbp1 ivtroope, to , walleye- reeulte. eet ietee forty Ci -advances so eaat the further the 'seems: I man divielows base' been Identified -advances the Iroti7,! t bu uppo 110 vraki144 1ilt• situathei 0.4 a V.1.110 010 ltrilieh are ivell t,t4 141i d with t•he results t.e t1t ltlt el the liebt. !fie 1eit4iried that in 0110 ricction tho • 114.17 inelentmelie eeceral matte eePte eereat laff Wane, "lewd and the Clertunn .artillery eoneentra. that 10 the gl't-atIfit that In!en bn the n ti1t remit. la re lar formation, aud taint In the rank were quickly filled in to present 501 front. The tlerroane are said to It ve stopped viten thev reached tbe barbed wire, end to have cut it by band under e, heavy fire froM rifle% ,niaehirie guns and artillerY. llowet er, the report is not verified, but It Is certain that the Germuns advanced in more dense formatiens than ever he - fore, and naturally suffered grievoua casualtiee. Six German divisions Thursday de. livered a very heavy attack against the British south of St. Quentin. De- epite the fact that the enemy beet a superiority in numbers, the British hung dogged's' to their posts throtigh- out the day, and it was only after the Germans had itopped the aseault that the British withdrew their lines some- what in order to give them protect - tion bY means of the Woe River and the flooded crouna around it, A fur- ther attack here Will be eXtremely costly to the enemy. 444••••-•44444.14114 HUN ARTILLERY ftGAINST BRITISH MOST IERRIEIC 4.44 or eve And British Stood It Nobly ---,Gunners Had to Work in Gas Masks. London cable says: The artillerY preparation of the Germans ie the drive against the British lines which Is now in progress is deeeribed by those who, took part in it as the most violent they .ever endured, eccording to the Daily Mall's correspondent on the Dritish trout. • -The thing that stande out as char- acteristic et the fighting up to the present,' says the correspondent, "is that we 'did so well under the terri- fic impact." Continuing,. the correspondent says: "Upon one corps front there was it gee every fifteen yards. The strength Of the mortars, wheel the enemy brought up • in such great numbers, sent over such an overwhelming weight of iron- and high explosives that in most parts of the front wire ceased to be an obstacle, and trenches were obliterated. At the same time at or our knowu battery positions were drenched with gas, but their gau shells failed to reach all of our bat- teriese nor did they succeed any - \Otero in breaking down Our wire. At one point where the Germans found 'our wire unbroken they set to work with scissors until they had mede a way througn, an incident teminiseent of the raethods of fighting incaleated by Predeeiek the Great. • All of this was done under our machine gun fire. " A curious fact reported by our airthen was that the Germans cowl - posing the special assault divisions wore new uniforms. 'Got on their best clothee for a Visit to Parise com- mented one of our generals. "Our relayhig corps did valuable work despite adverse weather condi- tions. One of our men in the early morning reconnaissance • spotted sev- eral thousand Germans moving west- ward south of Bullecourt. and another reported three thousand of the enemy in a sunken road in this area waiting to advance. Few enemy amehinea were seen and they mostly flew low, peppering our trenches with their ma- chine gene. "This is the first battle where Brit- ish Nutters had to serve their guns in gas masks, apd it was a difficult task. Fortunately practices with gas masks have been taking place frequently for an hour daily. I found everyone I saw pretty confident. At first they did have a hard joh to meet the masses of Germans, who came on in denser formation than ever before, yet all reports show that they fought magni- ficently. For example, south of St. Quentin one of our divisions had to bear up against the repeated assaults of no fewer than six German divisions, possibly 90,000 men, and only when the assaults ceased 'with darkness did our troops withdraw to strong positions behind the canal system between St. Quentin and the Oise. "It is estimated that altogether near- ly 6,00,000 Germans participated in tho offensive. The enemy fought well, and his gunners did good service. The quickness with which the guns were brought forward into No Man's Land after the infantry had advanced was marked, He had in many Mines the advantage over us in positions, and he wee at all points largely superior in numbers." IN THE MAIN FOE IS HELD •••••••.1.1MM••••=1.411.••••• London, Monday, afarch 25. -Com- menting on the great hattIe in France, the Daily Graphic says: "In the main, the enemy is held, Nevertheless, We are bound to recog- nize that the situation viewed as a whole, is critical." Pointing Out that the Germans have been able to beer at certain pointe of the line an attacking fortes which Vast- ly outnumbers the defenders, the elrisphie concludes: "But, providiug the breakieg of the line involves no panic, but. only a re- tirement to previously prepnred posi- tions, the loss is reparable." • • ------ PRANGE'S WEEKLY SHIP LOSS. wasitington, nenert.--Suentarinee or niece earn( only tittee loreneli merchants :nen derail; the week ending Isiarell 10, en over 1,e10 tons and two emeller trate Tee 'meetly tepee reeelved hem to. eight reeords ono reseal of over 1,000 t nes, whim' one :funk Miring the prevent, 'week ent Wa3 not incielea In 'met eveckso amioeneement. 0, P. R.'S HONOR ROLL. London Cable says--Semieofficial *Pacific Railway Company has issued its thirty-first roll of honor, contain- ing aver 100 names of killed and wounded. Nearly 7,000 men have gone from the. C.P.It. to the front since the beginning of the war. ^*•••••40.* LABOR t HORTAOE. (ratret,i() Lx.pro.) -The ether ehmtage ls aciate," "Yon eft. 1 Itnew eltera five! borEeh Wm. tc• Ittv';;Le their OWL:a ity n e ming pf lailY J. by e." WHAT THEY'RE FOR. tthatimort• Atneriatia "lame it ever strike you time the 1,lene- ures ef' tee table netuee rave% eeiteurne. "a1;41,11r.,t, 11a y Title :s what they 'ate tett Vele zees', Wigte-Ife's „tta lazy lo wind Me waten. Waage -Yee lio eaes he has to wind a unfelt every flay. so a leek beate it Itt the long run. .4; 1444.00.4WWW.44.444404.4.441100.4.44040WWW" 4444.4.4 ONE*HALF GERMAN FORM I itig thai,t positione inaefirtitely against 1 the whole Oarman ary m. Even Wlerre our front line was wiped out by the . hernbarament or tiveruitelmed in the etibeequent flood of alt4eiii 110 Writ USED AGAINST iii LIN ,-(1',11(iiigitlioigi:41.1,1,.!1.);,,t;e4,„s.!:,Lii.1,.),LL.1(x31%Iti'l 11 a G 1 S frf otir tittli ww.1 ttiv mala.k. Mier. ..__, _.. _e Much of the nue eteW fightlug as , - -.-- heroic ahd as costly to the enexay at Lille, Won:Al.:3 fighting last year at Bone ant 100 emy Divilons Erployed Since En li • DIVISION EVERY HALF MILE. the brive Opened Situation For the Allies Cnshire t Satisfactory hy Lxrts London cable saps: The situation on the battle trout in Femme toeuight 14 that one-half of the territory wrested from or given up by the Germans since July, 1910, ib now again in teeir halide as a resuit of the lour clays' fighting. in the terrific str4gie tor Bapaume, on we Tranaloyaeobibles-elaurePas. line, they are at the iast-named town, within tiler miles of the battle front In 19.iG. The British, in tailing back now, are, traversing the old battlefield. London cable suys: Describing the great struggle in France, the Havas correspondent says: "The British retired in good order, ceding ground foot by foot to strong positions prepare,d months ago - "In the later stages of the battle, 97 German divieiops were engaged. Thus the German command eoncentrated against the British front half of the forces at their disposal on the \thole western front." . Based on 12,0T-0 men to a German division the, number of Germans en- gaged, according to the Hams ecrre. spondent, was approximately 1,104,000. Iteutes"s correspondent wires: "Among the captured machine gene are, some identified as having been need in the Balkans hist year, "Every attethpt to cross the Somme by means of four bridges thrown over the river during Friday night, were detected and frustrated with loss by our artillery fire, All roads in the rear of the German advance are blocked by columns of troops, guns and trans- port vehicles, furntshing a target upon whieh WO are making deadly play. Rough estimates of the casualties in- flicted vnry between 30 and 50 Per cent. of all enemv division's so,far identified. but I give 1 hese figures for what they are worth. Tbey probably ern based mainlv upon statements made bv orisoncre." leXPese'resli ADVANCE. Brieasa teemtemarters in France, special cable via London caoie: The eat, uo.t.vAt tictS eeeteu. 41.0.tr a win- ter ca intamse inepucation Raft long ouspense, tile teermaue yeseeruay munenee a bow WO1C11 they nope WILI Vein tnem tee Mai victory in the west n.inca is to give them the tra los:pliant peace, promised to the people. eshe weasel ot tin blow that is being delivered may be judged from the faet that already nearly forty German divisions, including four divisions of the Guards, have been identified as in action on the British front. On one section of the front no fewer than 17 German diviaions were in the course of the, day thrown aagainst five British tlivisions, almost, indeed, against four, for one of our divisious here wee only slightly engaged. From a little below the Scarpe, behind Areas to the One, a distance of something like 50 miles, the area of attaele stretches, 'Mt the weight of it te concentrated on speci- fic sectors, Below the sector south of Croiseelemand eastward, where 17 divi- sions were used on a front of about 20,000 yards, the attack was much less heavy. Below the main Cambria front enormous numbers of troops were again eaed. In all, something :ike one-third of all the 'tormatione in the Clerthan artny haee been engaged ou the 50 On considerable sections of the front the enemy penetrated our front liva at the first attack. At some others, where we held him completely throughout the day, we drew back last night to a reserve line to con- form to the retirement elsewhere. ADVANCE EXPECTED: - In general, the fighting to -day is going on along that reserve line, and let me say at once, that it has been generally recognized that if the Ger- mans attacked with tbeir extreme weight of guns and mon-they would probably succeed in breaking some sectors of our front line. It is true that the Germans have made wane advance on a large part of the front attacked, but tiles was anticipated,. and nowhere, I believe, is there any feeling that their initial success has been greater than nes the foregone conclusion. SITUATION SATISFACTORY. So far we are satisfied with the situation, and we know that the enemy losses, as atwaya when he at- tacks in such strength, have been very heavy. In 801110 places our machine guns got on to his masses as they advanced and did terrible siesseasseatiossousoisausemar execution. At other points our field guns fired into hie solid ranks at close range with open eighte, ao far Os it Is yet reported, the German tanks, of which E muca has been heard, have nct yet ap- peared. Yesterday was a day of thick, white mist, which made it impos- sible to see more than • 40e yarde. Later in the dae- the meet partly lifted, but always it remained eddy dense. It made work (ram eirplapes cry difficult. This lytk.: SO 11111C11 to our disadvantage. None the lees our airmen worked throughout the dey in spite of theemist, and, considering their ctrcumstances, did valuable work. The Gentian airplanes were hardier in evidence except at some points, where a few enemy machines at- tempted flying very low to use ma- chine guns on the Men in our front- line trenchea. UNPRECEDIINTED BOMBARD- MENT. The bombardment, which c,pened at 5.30 along the whole frcnt, was extremely heavy on a largo part or the front. The Germans had an aver- age of one gun eveny 12 or 15 yards, besides great numbers of trench mortars, which were used to cut on elm forward positions. Tho bombaramant of the front lines was probably as heavy as may be seen in this war, and certainly the depth over which the shelling extended was quite unprecedented. Vat cnly were the forward trenches, supeeert and reverse lines put under a heavy fire, but the whole area, be- hind was shelled back even to re- mote towns and villages and open country, which could only be reached by high velocity guns of' large cali- bre. In all it was probably the ercateet artillery concentration ever known. It is a trick which we and the French taught the Germans, this smothering of the whole front to be attacked with obliterating fire, and we knew of course that it would come. GAS SHELLS USED. During the first haur of the bem- bardment great numbers of gas shells were used on most parts of the line both on the trenches and especially where the enema• supposes our battery positions or other important 'objects . to be. Some of our gunners worked their guns for four hours in gas Masks, and the intantry at places had their masks on for eight hours,. From 5.30 till nearly 10 o'clock or practically four houra, the terrific shelling continued without cessation except that on on small 'mart of the front, where was a sheet lull soon after seven. On the front as a whole the attack was not delivered till 9,40 or 9.50 teaite of the terrific hammering they had received and the fact that almost everywhere they had been compelled to wear gas masks all the morning, our troops in the front line, few as they were against overwhelm- ing numbers, fought magnificently. At places they could dono more than wipe out part of the first advancing line of tin Germans, only to be eta gulled in later waves. On a large part of the front, however, the at- tack was completely held and the Enemy loses were beasy. PAID PENALTY OF FAILURE. This Was particularly true about the Louvrval chateau and the wood near Boursies, where our maehine ,guns broke um and obliterated masses of Germans. Eastward from here by Plesquieres, the en'emy attack wae a total failure, :and the penalty he paid was very •great. At one point by Flesquieres the Germane penetreted our trenches at.the first rush, but were tarawn out agahi by a counter-attack, and eXecat fer one trench north-tvest of Ribecourt, the whole or Our line on a wide area wasintact when last night fell. - However, we withdrew during the aerie:en and without attack to con- form t� the Iine on the left, where 1111 enermous 'weight of the attack had braken _the front line. OlITSUMBERED SIX TO ONE. At atwitter part of the line agaiu, namelyeeouth of St. Quentin, no Sewer than pix German die,isions were flung against one single British di- vision and absolutely -beaten Off, So again our finefell back during ethe night, reluctantly, beentiee, after the experiences of the day, worn out though the melt were with mere slaughtering: they fel: equal so hold - Where The Germans Broke Through . 44/44'i "Ve oro ,,eVders • lotAel 4cYtflA -474 .11(0/0 letit 0 .16repr • ei440:044r.t 11;741.4 (II We Buy I C411/ Eftnc04.* t'• :gorlialVicdadeitoufSit Irrlibilf.rt.tliff _ dirr4e"). 4 AV 44,44, joy 06•ngt • ' 094y6LcounLy,**4 6.1,041wor''P entity) 1244 Meer* ..11-7tVeMitt.;64.. Ishor11447:464:41°.: • . • p,„ti • t? eye4. &Lana:wee 1 g ' Oraign (fdef *VI si 1.1vg.5 '01 Let'qui.211•3 Wier 111:04Timl• tiriP,4;0144„ GUI'S 17°m/ft al HOW • 44* Atuuyaia folAinflat Vernot Sres1 isel•Wly uel Ser 31.Art.".0714 9:1611;114.614.1111'.ff1 VIM* e1451:11 144 git:Neity: Ned uicar ,e.,„nee•e'reee,e, Atekteutt ee, ilevr - -Telt? 11043 I Ati,• avoly im.41,04.Apapi wele ,allicodkvey11 - " gegnYi , time.oure4 tb•ni Chatflio mtverkfro Seem /hot 443,0, Goal • ftt OriS.Uty 4' I 004111 eityattarliA441 ft, C (aPerg awn On the left of the attack from near Cherley to Moreull the Germans threw lit nine divielons on a front of 1CSS than 12,000 yards, They tupelo an inn vane° here averaging roughly 3,000 yards, but they suffered enormouety. On the left part of this ceetion, when the attack began, the Germans came swarming froin their trenches out lulu No Mait's Land, autl were Mine' oat. More than once they tried and euen 1111111 No Matta 1411111 WAS SW1.‘111 clear of them. When, Vitally 0111' troope fell back with the troope eon their riglit, they went on ilshting and holding the advancing German \MVOS in cheek. Our Men fell back to the rezerve line or the third line of the front system and the enemy masses con- tinued to C011111 on. During the after- noon specially heavy attacks; were delivered front the direction of Foie ',eine Wood and along the Sensee alley before °horny. Some reserves of oure were brought in to strengthen the defensive line, and the enemy ad- vsnce was comeletely checked with great loss,' A THE BATTLE ZONE. Ou the sector next below here Um Germans had eight divisions on a front of about 10,000 yards. Our men were outnumbered at least 4 to 1 and our divisions had been holding the line here some time, while the Ger- man division were all brought in fresh for the attack. I had been up in that direction this morning, and it was geed to bear the tone in which the officers Of the units engaged talked or their men. The battle was then and still le raging fiercely in the area in front of I3eaumetz, Morchlez, Velez and Vrancourt, and it Is to be noted that this es still what is anown as "the battlea zone." The Germans had boasted that the 'keight of their initial attack woult1 carry them through the zone into open warfare beyond. As a matter at fact we leave taken on prisoners to -day maps showing the objectives of the various divisions, and compared with what these divisions have actually done these objectives are ludicrous. I saw some bunches of prisoners. It is said that the whole German 4ttack- ing forceshad been equipped with new uniforms for attack, • so that they would need no refitting with new uni- forms until they got to Paris or Lon- don, or somewhere, 'but you never would have supposed these prisonerie uniforms to have been new a few days ago, and one spoke in bitter de- jection of the prospect that had been held out, to him of an 'easy break through in the rear of a gas attack, before which the British divisions were to have melted away. BATTLE 'JUST BEGUN. Below here the whole line along the Gambrel front was held, but below that in the Epehy neighborhood the enemy again succeeded in overrun- ning, for on the front line here we had fallen back, as on the north. But on the same terms and inflicting sine Berly heavy punishment on the ene- my. The whole battle, of course, has yet hardly begun, though the Ger- mans have used siteh enormous num- bers of troops. We know theyeintend to go on using them. Of such opera- tion, fraukht with such grave issues' as depend on this, it is necessary to be very sane and temperate in at- tempting any Judgment on progress even, The Geamans have attacked in tre- mendous strength, as we know they were going to, and have made ground and taken prisoners and •some field :guns, The ground is certainly no /nom than what it had been assumed they must take at the first rush and of the prisoners and' guns I hope and believe the same is true. We on our part have taken prison- ers, also, and over tho whole front of attack our line, if withdrawn, holds firm. Of any break through into open warfare there is not the smallest sign as yet. --The Germans have loudly pro- claimed their expectatima of forcing it on the first day. The Morale of our men is magnificent, The forces which the enemy has so far encountered have been comparatively light and the' enemy's losses have been vastly in ex- cess of ours. The enemy shelline has been and is terrific, and the firrt stages he cer- tainie did succeed in pushing up his lirget mobile guns very quickly be- hind his infantry. He has left abso- lutely nothing undone, which could help prepare his way to victory. We have met it and aro completely nn shaken. . AIR RAID ON CAIRO. Big t gyptian City Warned of the Danger. London cable: The inhabitants of Cairo, Egypt, were informed offic- ially last Thursday, according to it Reuter despatch, that a hostile airship had been observed over the coast, The public was warned of the possibility of air raids, and ordered to ooserve the necessary lighting regulations, ..Att official statement itsued in Ath- ens on Sattirday says that on Thurs- day Zeppelins paseed over the Island of. Crete, travelling in a northerly th- reaten. Cairo, the capital and most populOus City, of Egypt, has been in no danger from air -raids since the Turks were driven -back from the Suez Canal. The Turkish lines itt Paleetine are the near- est eneine• pointe to Cairn and they are 320 tulles northeast, 'An enemy airship might also Come flerOSS the Mediterranean Sea from the southern coast of Asia Minor. The distaine by tat Mete Wettld be 460 miles one way. A Cerium% airship rectitly tacked Nantes, nay, after a trip of 300 , miles from the Austrian coast Along the Adriatic. v.; HUNS NEARLY 4APAN'S ALLY. . Anaterdem, 'meter:ate Mg revelation" the Berlin VOrii1i10110 tune dliLo: 0.11 nrticte in the Eiberflehl Getteralartelger, by Baton von Zeanite, under Neuktreb, tender of the free Coo. eervatives in trio Prussian Inca wbo says ,that beton- the ifecesaion of the Driltrlet ..Eliti)OrOr of JOroll o Germanoetapastese treety of friendship seas very twee toms pietion. The suddenieleeth of the Ems .nrer, however, brolte off the ingrate, none. „ Wrallitt rollfav ill11 Of het air ia fond of Mowing himself without uffering lintch of a treat. Me---Etoh hear t spend with 3,int is Rice a pearl to me. Sbe:-AN":„ etringing me.---efeeter. MONSTER GERMAW CANNON BOMBARDS FRENCH CAPITAL mow 9-1;:ch Si18113 Into ViriS From a istalce of /0 Mily MilitarT kitect is Prac:ically NIi, eing 011j a hi Taki Pot: W.44.1.4,1444. Paris mine us's: With it newly -in- vented gun, eapeole of hurting a e40. millimetre (9.4 -inch; shell thmearda of 70 emiles, the Germany Saturday and Sunday conducted a bombardment on Paris. On Saturday, from 8 o'clock ist tile wonting until auk, at later- als of from 15 minutes to half aa emir, these .shells landed itt the cant- ' tat. The ehelling was resumed Sue - day , at Cayligla and eoutinued until 2,30 p.m. OVER 70 MILES DISTANT. Tee .Clermau "monster cannon" has been located in the forest of St, (lo- bate, weet ef tem, and exactly 124 knoinetrea (alenaximately 76 utiles) from the Para, City Hall. The gun, saes the elatin, is established near Anizy, in at, toLain Forest. Tnis would place it ecznewhat further south in the wooded arca, and it estimtes the distance as about 70 miles from Paris. The newspaper Le Journals 111 1(5 article regarding the gun, says that the piece, of 240 millimetres calibee, is ot Austrian. manufacture. It is a very delicate piece ofmachinery- wetiele must be handlecl by expert mathema- ticians and, gunners, the newspaper - adds, as the loading and pointing is a - difficult task. It declares that each' shot costs about $4,000. "This is a new conception of our enemies," the newspaper comments. ILINGSTEN SHELLS. The ordnance experts were not ready to commit themselves as to whether the shell was a sort of aerial' torpedo driven by propellers; whether an inner projectile contained in the original shell is released by an explo- sive atter the shell has travelled a certain distance from the gun, or whe- ther the original projectile itself reaches its deetination, propelled, per - "mite, by an explosive ot a fame bith- erto- unknown. • Prof. Paul Painleve, former Premier and president ot: the Academy of ecience, * told the Excelsior that by using tungsten in the fabrieation of the projectile, the tungsten shells would be of about half the diameter of steel saells of fte even weight, find that, therefore, the atmospheric re- sistance would be less, this account- ing for the extremely long range. He also touched upon the possibuity of a Propeller being employed ou the pro- jectile. Alfred Capes, in the Figaro, alludes to the making of the gun as a great mechanical feat, but points that as a military rector the weapon is entirely inetticaeious. To -day the bombardment was re- sumed. Palm eletfitiley• 'was ushered in by the loud explosion of one of the ten -inch shells fired by the Germans from their new gun more than seventy miles distant at 6.55o'clock this morn- ing. The alarm was.eounded immed- iately. Many people took shelter, but larger numbers appeared in the streets on the way to the 'churches, whieh were aimed as crowded as usaal, tho women who sell palm leaves doing* their eustomary thriViug business. The ahelle arrived at regular inter- vals of twenty minutes et first. The detonations seemedlouder, amid the ordinary Sunday calm, than yesterday, bet they seetned to have lost their power to disturb the population, which, refused to he distracted from its Sunday habits to any great extent, 7s:44101ever m ,s: In the abeam() of 11101111S of trans- Pertation, a great malty personsavere seen on tbe streets leading to the cen- tres of the city, walking to keep their appointments • The rapidity of the fire increased after the first few shells landed, ex- plosions renewing each other every fifteen minutes . on the average. Some of. the shots came alter an interval of only twelve minutes. By 3.30, however, the bombardment was over. No shell explosion has been heardefor *more than an hour at the Associated Press office. The subways and tramways began running again before noon to -day and IvIsitut.hnes afternoon the fareete were in a still greater state of animation. A semi-official note issued to -day the public against pessimielie reports that the Germans have broken, through the trona and thus are able to bombard Paris from close by. "The Preuch front is intaet; any as- sertion to the contrary is aIle," the o reads. The Government has decided that the bombardment of Paris by. long- distance guns shall not interrupt the normal life of the population, but ththatthe population shall be warned of the bombaraineut by distinctive means, differing from the usual warning for an air raid. Drums will be beaten and the police will sound whistles. The public services, the trains in the sub- ways, the tramways and the automo- bile buses will continue to be operated normally. The new warning is to be known as warning No. 3. It will mean that any formation of crowds in the streets is prohibited, and that all shelters, except the subway stations, will be open. The end of any, kind of a raid will be announced. as before, by a special trumpet call and the ringi.ntr of the church bells. AIRSHIPS ALSO BUSY. M 'any positions and localities back of the -French lines were bombarded by, German aircraft Saturflas, accord- ing to an official statement, which aircraft crossed our lines at on'ecloyck to -night. Tbey bombard - al localitiee behled the front without causing- important damage, but dld not succeed in reaching the region of Paris. "An alarm was given in Paris at 8.40 o'clock and the ail -clear signal was sounded at 10.10 o'clock. A .Clerman Gotha airplane, damaged by artillery fire was forced to descend back of the Belgian linee Thursday evening. The three men in the crew, two officers and a corporal, were made prisoner. 134 Gf RMAN PLANES LAST 11. E ----- Shot Down by British Fliers and Guns During Drive. HON TON 3 BOMBED Foe's Low -Flying Machines Also Did Good Work. :London cable: In the past three days the British airmen nave downed 1134 Geeman machines on the western. and Italian fronts, and have log 11, 'Ibis does not appear to bear out the uerman Claim ot alt' supremacy made itt to -day's uncial German report. A British °Metal statement follows: "A thick morning mist on Friday lerevented our aumianes trom leaving the ground during the early part of the clay. 'When the mist cleared there was much activity in the air on one bettiefront. The enemy's low-flying machines Were particularly emirate, engsglng our lorward groups With "The enemy's =seed troopa again offered good targets for our low-flying airplanes. The location and range of bodies of hostile troops and transport were eeported to our artillery and 800- cessfully engaged. 'Eight and a hall 'tone of bombs woo droppea on hostile railway 'sta- tions in the rear of the battlefront, and aleo on the enemy's billets, 'high velOeitY gene, troops and transport. The fighting in the air was very heavy, almost all the combat:I taking place between Arthe and St, Quentin. TWelitr-seveli euenty machines were brought down and '20 weve driven floilet ant of control. TWolametile nue- thines were eliot down la our lines by anti-aireteft guns, and another by the intitifsasniturgy., leight of our untehines are "Dming the night 'our equatirons dropped ever 14 tons of bombs on hos- tile Mete, ammunition dump01111 1110011 111 with% the enetnyee attacking trOOpe were -*Concentrated. All eur machine% retitritcd," Au andel • teitert on the aerial op- cletione. ieeued Sthelay, exteet that 54 enemy eirphinee lieva been brouelit "The enelny's low-flying airplanee etere mbet persistent in their attecke on our infantry in the forward areas. Many of these machines ware attacked and brought down by our ptbots._ A total of twenty-nine hostile machines were brought down and twenty -five - others were driven down out of con- trol. Two cnemy balloone also were deisstsrionyged. Nine of our =Melees are nl - MANNHEIM AGAIN BOMBED. "Our machines on Saturday - car- ried out another most successful raid on faCtories itt Mannhehn. Nearly one -and -a -half tons of bombs were dropped; and bursts were seen ori a soda factory, the railway and docks. "Several fires were searted, ono of which was of great -size, with flames reaching to a heitait of two hundred feet and smoke to five thousand feet. dlihe etane conflagration 3 lat gr5atiiiolizites.vlas visible for a "The weather Saturday again fav- ored operations, and our .airplanes were constantly employed in recon- noitrieg positions of troops, in photo- graphy and bombing and in reporting suitable targets for out Artillery. Many thousands of rounds were fired by our pilots from low altitudes, on hostile troops massed in villages and iu tbe °pee continuously throughout the day. "More than fourteen tons of bombs were dropped on enemy billets, on his high velocity guns, and oh rails. road stations; in the battle- area. "During the night ten heavy bombs were droned on works tat Nonz, ;Ina south of Treves, in Germany. Eight of these bombs were clearly ;nen to sbsGairis. bt11rsting among the railway PIERCE BATTLE IN AM. "Our bombing airplanes were at - 'Melted by thirty-two hostile .maettines and a fierce fight ensued. Ono of the enemy's airplane was brotight down in flames, and another was downed and fell in the eelltrO of letannheltn. Five °there were driven down Out of control. "Despite •thie ta•vere coutbat 0.nd the enemy's heavy anti-aireraft gitn- fity0.,all our maeltinee returned except o "Nearly two 101114 of bombs were dropped fr0111 low heights on a hoetilo airdrolue south of Metz, Six bombs were Peen to burst among the hangars :net:. set fire to 8011143 of the huts Of the -airdieme, All our machine% re - "From nightfall until early morn- ing our night flying squadron bomb- ed ttreas on the battlefront in which hostile troops were concentrated, an well let enema ammunition tinning and large guns. More than fourteen tone of bombe were 0511111 dropped by our machinea, two end a halt tons of which were loosed on the fleeke of trtigee. All our Machine -1 returned." .• - • • ee. A Wilkie dune may Wither nti, bit ttt ally rate it meets With tinge teepsriences than the amseil. *Ilse themes that We to if 1 to mend beetnitee ft religton with threel who lack prcpareduest.