Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Aug. 4, 1916, edition 1 / Page 8
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SECOND YEAR OF THE IMBED Germany Holds More Territory in Europe Than It Did Twelve Months Ago. LOSER IN OTHER RESPECTS Entente Allies Now Hammering Teutons Hard on All Sides. AUSTRIA SEEMS WEAKENING British Naval Blockade Still Effective After Great Battle of Jutland Chief Developments of Year In Terrific .World Conflict. PRESENT MILITARY AND NA VAL FORCES OF THE WAR RING POWERS. Great Britain (Asqulth's statement less losses) 4,500,000 France 2,500,000 Russia (little definite known)7,000,000 Italy 1,500.000 Belgium 150,000 Serbia 200,000, Montenegro Practic illy none Portugal (little definite known) 75,000 Japan (only officers at front) 300,000 Total, entente allies 15,225,000 Germany 5,000,000 Austria-Hungary 2,500,000 Turkey 1,600,000 Bulgaria 700,000 .Total, central powers.... 8, 700.000 ..TOTAL KILLED, WOUNDED AND PRISONERS. (In considering the losses It must be remembered that many listed as wounded are only slightly hurt and return to the front. Some are wounded several successive times and each time appear In the casu alties.) Russia 1 5.500.000 France (about 900,000 killed). 2,300, 000 Great Britain 800,000 Italy 400,000 Belgium '. 1S0.O0O Serbia 230,000 Total, entente 9,410,000 Germany, (estimated 700,000 killed) 4,000,000 Austria-Hungary 2,750,000 Turkey 500,000 Bulgaria 50,000 Total. Teutonic allies 7,300,000 Grand total, killed, wound ed, prisoners 16,710,000 In the Napoleonic wars, 1793-1S15, 1,900.000 men were killed: In tha American Civil war 4H,400; in the Russo-Japanese war 555,900. " What the War Is Costing. The war is now costing in direct governmental expenditure $110,000, 000 a day; $4,580,000 an hour; $76,000 a minute; and $1,270 a second. The end of the second year of the great war finds the Germans In posses sion of more of Europe than they held on August 1, 1915, the first anniversary of the start of the great conflict. This Is practically the only respect In which the situation is more favor able to them. Russia, her vast man power at last organized and furnished with implements of destruction in plenty, is battering Jhe Teuton lines on the east and has already won back 4,500 square miles. Great Britain boasts five million men in her army and navy. France fights as strongly as ever. Italy is increasing her formi dableness. Austria appears to be losing heart and efficiency. Bulgaria refuses to send re-enforcements to the west or Russian fronts. Turkey shows slight offensive power. The British navy, following the much-disputed naval battle of Jutland, still shuts off Germany from use of the seas. One German merchant sub marine has reached America, but the supplies which can be carried over to the besieged nations in U-boats will be of little account. Germany and Austria both feel the pinch of hunger. Their armies are sufficiently fed, but their Industrial workers complain of lack of nourish ment. The present harvest is watched with anxiety, and if it fails or is only of fair size, famine will stalk Into the situation next spring, or earlier. Germany Seeks "Reasonable Peace:" The German chancellor three times In the relchstag has offered peace to the entente. On account of this, for midable opposition has arisen to him at home', although he Is the kaiser's "other self." His friends are rallying to bis defense, and on August 1 of the - present year begins the curious country-wide lecture campaign to prepare the minds of the hitherto docile Ger man people for a "reasonable peace." Meanwhile, with the sky brightening, the entente allies reaffirm their resolu tion, taken in the dark hours of last winter, never to cease their efforts till Germany is crushed. The Teutons not only must be beaten in war, according to the allied formula, but must be re pressed economically for many years after the signing of a treaty of peace. On August 1, 1915, the. Germans and Austrlans were in the midst of their brilliant campaign against Russia. The "pincers" were closing In irresistibly. That day Lublin, an important city in iBouthern Poland, fell. Von Mackensen, with Galicla con quered, was pressing northward, while on the north fide of the Polish salient Von Illndenburg bore with his host of field-gray warriors. Without guns, without ammunition. with nothing except myriads of Slar giants, some of whom resisted charges with sharpened sticks In their hands, Russia was forced to fall back rapidly. Twice it seemed the flower of the czar's army would be surrounded, once in the vicinity of Warsaw, and again in the great battle near Vllna. The tale of the, taking of great towns grew almost tedious. It seemed the Germans would .never stop. Whether they " did. stop of their own accord or were finally checked by the Russians is not yet clear. They settled down for the winter on a long line stretch ing from the Baltic just west of Riga southeast along the Dvlna river, and then almost due south through Polles sle, the Pinsk marsh district, to the Roumanian frontier. Reawakening of Russia. On September 8 Czar Nicholas took command of all his armies In the field, sending his cousin, the Grand Duke Nicholas, to the less important com' mand of the Caucasus operations. With their "Little Father" at their head, the Russians forgot their long, discouraging retreat. Millions of new young soldiers Joined them, drawn from Russia's great reservoir of hu man beings, which produces three and a half million men of military age ev ery year. On September 10 the Russians won a success rfear Tarnopol and Trembowla, and two days later they drove the Teu tons back 14 miles in Galicla. In other parts of the front the Germans were still seizing large slices of territory, but their enemies were regaining their energy. On September 20 the Rus sians recaptured Lutsk, but were driv en out in a short time. On October 20 they recaptured Czartorysk, but they were not able to prevent the Germans storming Illuxt five days later. Czar torysk was lost and again taken by the czar January 8. Meanwhile the conquest of Serbia, the greatest tragedy of the war, ex cepting only the massacre of 800,000 Armenians, was being enacted. Invasion of Serbia. The real Invasion of Serbia started In the first days of October. A great diplomatic battle had been fought in Sofia, and the allies had lost. On Oc tober 7 Bulgaria in an ultimatum to King Peter of Serbia, peremptorily de manded the immediate cession of the Macedonian lends in dispute between the two countries and then In the pos session of the Serbs. After a general bombardment the Teutons crossed the river boundaries of Serbia in many places on October 8. Two days later they occupied Bel grade. On the thirteenth Bulgaria in vaded her neighbor at three points. The successes of the Teutons and the Bulgarians were almost unbroken. The Invading forces consisted of a vast amount of heavy artillery, with small infantry supporting forces. They shelled the Serbians out of position after position in an avalanche of steel to which the Serbians could make no reply. Small forces of French and English landed at Salonlkl, a Greek port to which Serbia had certain entry privi leges, and did something to cover the retreat of the Serbians by engaging the Bulgarians In the South. At the beginning of winter, Novem ber 22, the Serbian soldiers crossed their western border and struck the trails of the dreary, snow-covered mountains of the coast. Great num bers perished of cold and hunger on the way. On November 29 Germany proudly announced that the Serbian campaign had ended, having met with complete success. Two Blows to the British. The winter also saw the humilia tion of the British in Mesopotamia. The Indian government recklessly pushed a small, poorly supplied expe dition up the Tigris valley and actu ally penetrated to within seven miles of Bagdad. Here the Turks, with Ger man officers directing them, adminis tered a defeat and the invaders fell back with the enemy harassing them to the town of Kut-el-Amara, where they were besieged December 10. Another expedition, also insufficient, was sent to relieve the first. It was beaten off with large losses a few miles below Kut, a flood of the river and swamps assisting the Turks, and on April 30 the 12,000 defenders of Kut capitulated by order of the Brit ish higher command. A further British humiliation was the evacuation of Gallipoll peninsula, where the British held on doggedly month after month, losing perhaps 200,000 men, until they were finally withdrawn in confession of failure the first week of January. These two British fiascos were what was needed to arouse the sluggish fighting blood of John Bull. They finally brought England into the war fully and uncompromisingly, to the same extent as the other great pow ers. On August 10 Great Britain started her national register, or census of all men of fighting age. The result showed a vast reserve of man power. Certain sections demanded immediate con scription, but they were not success ful. Instead the earl of Derby was commissioned to start a vast recruit ing campaign. This produced a num ber of classes of "attested men," who bound 'themselves to come Into the ranks with their age' groups. But there were still hundreds of thousands unreached, and the public began to see that it was discriminating in favor of the "slackers" and the cowards. On December 21 David Lloyd George, the minister of munitions and greatest man the war has produced In Great Britain, declared the country faced defeat unless greater efforts were made. A week later he threat ened t' resign from the cabinet un less censcription was adopted. Conscription was fiercely fought, but on January 6 a bill Introducing It passed Its first reading In the house of commons by a large majority. The bill was finally signed by King George May 26. Allies Get Together. Their defeats finally taught the al lies that their efforts must be co-or dinated, like their enemies',' if they were to be effective. A new war council, with all the allies represented, met in Paris December 7 and a kind of International general staff was or ganized. It is known that General Jo seph Joffre, French commander in chief since the beginning of the war, and the hero of the battle of the Marne, was the presiding genius. The effects of the council were not to be seen for several months, but now they are being realized in full measure. To check a simultaneous allied of fensive, which they clearly saw com ing, the Teutons decided on two at tacks of their own. This follows the well-known axiom of German mill tary strategy, that the best defense Is an energetic attack. The first of these offensive defen sives was the attack on the French fortress of Verdun, where the works were subjected to a whirlwind of fire beginning February 21. The gains of the first week were great, and German critics foretold the collapse of the French. Two of the defending forts, Vaux and Douaumont, fell, and Impor tant positions were taken west of the Meuse river as well. But Joffre rallied Ms men in splen did fashion and sold each yard of ground at an awful cost In German blood. Step by step the crown prince's men pushed forward, but today they are still more than two miles from the ruined fortress town and the resist ance of the French is as strong as ever. Austrian Drive Checked. The second Teutonic offensive was organized by the Austrians in the Trentino, and they struck in the di rection of Vlornza with the object of cutting off the northern end of Italy from the main portion. On May 2G, as the result of several days' vio- nt artillery fire followed by infantry rushes, they were able to announce the capture of 24,000 Italians. General Count Cadorna hurried about a hundred thousand men in mo tor cars to the scene, while many more arrived on foot or trains. Just when It seemed the Austrians must reach the lowlands the counter-attacks were delivered. On June 30 Rome announced a splen did victory. Ifl bloody fighting the Austrians, perhaps weakened by drafts to bolster up their Russian front, were driven from peak to peak almost to where their lines had stood throughout the winter. In March the Russians delivered vast but futile attacks on the Ger man front at many points, probably to distract attention from Verdun. The Germans seemed to have been lulled into security by these efforts, which they probably considered the best the czar could do. But the tens of thou sands of Muscovite bodies lining the Germans' barbed wire -were but a pat ter of rain compared with the storm that was brewing behind the Russian lines. At the beginning of June this storm broke with full force and, following the principle of attacking the weakest point, the Austrians holding the line from the marsh district southward were forced to bear the brunt of it. - Russia's Big Push. Millions of shells, manufactured largely in British, Japanese and American factories, blasted away wire, trenches, dugouts and observation points. Then the hordes of Sibe rians, Cossacks and others swept over the field. The Austrians could not withstand the impact and tljey gave way steadily. June 6, General Brusiloff announced the capture of 13,000 Austrians; June 8, the number for the three succeed ing days alone was 43,000, and the numbers kept mounting until on July 20 General Shoovaieff, Russian min ister of war, estimated the number of Austro-IIungarlun prisoners at 270, 000. The killed and wounded are un told, but the number must be large enough to bring the total loss well over half a million. German support was rushed to the Austrians, but the foe captured Lutsk and Dubno, and reached the Stokhod and Lipa rivers in Volhynia; overran all Bukowlna to the Carpathians and sent patrols of Cossacks into Hungary to ravage the country. That the czar is anticipating further great gains of territory is seen from Russia's action in mobilizing the males of the island of Saghallen, Tur kestan, and one other district to build roads, dig trenches and do other work of organizing the ground won. Allies' Djrive in Somme Region. Almost a month to a day following the beginning of the great Russian of fensive French and British opened their drive in the vicinity of the Somme river. They have gained grad ually but steadily, and the official re ports assert the losses of the attack ers are comparatively small. It is also the claim of the allies that the Franco-British offensive can be kept up at Its present rate indefinite ly, and will not have to be slackened for lack of shells, guns or men. The rate of progress is much greater than the Germans' at Verdun, but the coun try traversed is less difficult. On the other' hand, the Verdun assailants have the advantage of attacking from the outside of a curve, while the French and British now attack from inside the salient they have made In the line. Meanwhile the Verdun offen sive of the Germans continues. .. Outside of Europe the Germans have lost their Cameroon colony on the west coast of Africa, the rem,n ,defen ers having crossed into Danish ter- rltory and been interned. ing columns of Belgians, French British but, shut off from re-enforce meats, .'Its doom would seem to be sealed.-.1.4 On pril 25 Sir Roger-Casement, Irish kj&ight, tried to land from a Ger man yhrshlp on the coast of Ire land, but was captured. The next day a revolt in Dublin and other Irish cities broke out and the center of the Irish capital was burned. The revolt waa easily quelled, the British announcing resistance had ceased on May 1. More successful was the revolt of the Arabs, led by the grand shereff, against their Turkish overlords. Mec ca, Medinaand others towns have been captured a?hd are held still, probably with British assistance. DoTrt3 In the Air. Recent months have seen a cessa tion of Zeppelin raids on undefended British and French towns. The cause of this is somewhat of a mystery, as the Germans have claimed Important military results from their attacks. On September 7-8 there were two raids on London, thirty persons being killed and a proportionate number wounded. Fifty-five were killed by Zeppelins in a raid on London October 13. On January 20 the German dirigibles bombarded Tarls, killing 23 and on February 1 Liverpool and other Eng lish centers were visited and 59 slain. On April 2 a Zeppelin killed 28 in England and was destroyed on the British coast as it returned. On March 6 13 were killed. On April 6 it was announced thnt the fifth Zeppelin raid in six days on the British coast had been made. The Germans declared that war munition factories and supply depots had been destroyed. Since then England apparently has been Immune from the Zeppelins. This may be due to the large number of dirigibles lost, or to outcry against the inhumanity of t' practices of the Germans which wH raised in neutral countries. j One other Important moral defeat was sustained by the Germans when thoy hurried Edith Cavell, a British nurse, to execution, as announced by Brand Whitlock, American, minister of Belgium, on October 22. The greatest naval engagement of history in number of men engaged and number slain was fought June 3 near the Skaggerrak, in the North sea. The result was inconclusive, each side claiming a great victory and the re ports varying widely in estimates of losses on the two sides. If the Germans, as they assert, seri ously crippled the British grand fleet, we will probably soon see them come out of Kiel again, to finish their task. At present, however, the British block ade is broken only by the merchant submarine Deutschlknd, which reached Baltimore July 9. Kaiser Yields to America. The year has also been the culmi nation of the submarine dispute be tween the United States and Germany, which terminated in the kaiser's capit ulating and promising to warn mer chantmen before attacking. A U-boat sank the liner Arabic Au gust' 20, two Americans being among the slain. Two more of our nationals died when the Hesperian was torpe doed September 6. On November 10 several - Americans died In the torpe doing of the Italian liner Ancona. It is thought two Americans were lost In the sinking of the Persia In the Medi terranean January 2. The crisis was precipitated March 28, when the Brit ish channel ferry steamer Sussex was torpedoed without warning. Two hun dred and thirty-five persons were killed and several Americans were in jured. This flagrant violation of the rules of war caused President Wilson to press Germany for sweeping assur ances, which were given in a note May 6 on condition that the United States force Great Britain to conduct her blockade legally. Mr. Wilson an swered he would accept the promise, but without the proviso.- The many times heralded Turco-Ger- man invasion of Egypt has not yet ma terialized and probably never will. On the other hand, the Russian grand duke has added to his laurels by cap turing the important inland . city of Erzerum February 17, Bitlis March 4 and the seaport of Trebizond April 19. The Turks in counter-attacks pressed back the Russians in Persia, but recently the czar's men have ad vanced rapidly In the northern part of Asia Minor and the resistance of the Turks seems to have been broken. -Exploits of the Moewe. Only one German commerce raider net a submarine distinguished itself, in the year. The fast Moewe sank many allied ships off the coast of Africa and reached a home port in safety March 6. On February 2 a Ger man prize crew brought the Appam, a British capture, into Hampton Roads, having come all the way across the At lantic with her. The ownership of this vessel Is still in the American courts. Two more nations have been drawn Into the war. The entrance of Bul garia has been described. On March 10 Germany declared war on Portugal. Portuguese and German troops had clashed In Africa some time before and Portugal had Just seized the Ger man ships In her harbors. The ac tions of the republic were induced by a treaty according to which she prom ises to come to Great Britain's assist ance whenever requested to do so. The British lost the equivalent of several army corps when Lord Kitch ener was drowned June 7 In the sink ing of the cruiser Hampshire by a mine while on his way to Russia. Mysterious "Cit" Helped Recruiting in Capital WASHINGTON. Hidden under an immaculate Palm Beach suit, and usually leaning against a tree in front of the Pennsylvania avenue recruiting sta tion, is what the recruiting officers of the District National Guard regard as the most dangerous f germ of preparedness to be round within a day's Journey in the District. Congressman Gardner of Massachusetts' and Col. Robert N. Thompson ofj the Navy league are rank amateuns compared to him ac cording to accounts. Everybody and everything that brushes up against him becomes inocu lated with pie fever to enlist or to make others; enlist. For several days the figure In the Palm Bench suit was noted by the officers of the recruiting station. 'He appeared to be taking things easy in a very calm and deliberate way. II looked like a prosperous business man. Evfry afternoon he would appear and remain standing against the tree or talkiZ? quietly to groups of men In hiro1!! nian usually walked into the iie afternoon an ex-volunteer officer passed the station, saw the "germ" andJshook it warmly by the hand. Then the volunteer came Into the station. J "What rank does Marshall hold?" he asked, pointing to the "germ." And tnen it came out! The man is Creighton E. Marshall, officially known in the records of his country as a sergeant in Troop K, First United States volunteer cavalry, from May, 1S98, to October, 1898. Unofficially he's "Crate" Marshall, ex-Rough Rider, comrade and friend of Cnpt. Allyn K. Capron, Capt. Bucky O'Neill, and Sergt. Hamilton Fish, among the first three men killed in the Spanish-American war. Privately, Marshall Is custodian of the presses at the bureau of engraving and printing. He is a preparedness expert, who believes in every man doing his bit and doing It up to the handle. Marshall wears glasses because of the bit he did in Cuba. He wasn't expected to survive the Cuban episode but he pulled through. Arlington Woods Very Popular With the Crows MR. KALMBACK of the biological survey has studied the crow for several years, has thoroughly familiarized himself with Its habits and is Interested Jn every newly discovered crow roost. He avers that the assembling of thou sands of crows for the purpose of HlNt THOUSAND 1 tit. i ing the winter of 1910-11 the Arlington roost was occupied by 270,000 birds and that at least 100 crows flew to roost each second during "the height of the influx." This would mean that 0,000 crows entered the roost In a minute's time, and a period of 45 minutes was generally consumed before all had returned from their day's forage. This estimate proves that approximately 270,000 actually made the Arlington roost a headquarters for the season. The Woodrldge roost, near Langdon, D. C, was used by crows for some time, but the birds found another roost more to their liking. The successor was the one on which Mr. Kalmback made observations. He noted four lines of these birds coming to this roost and estimated that probably 1,800 or 1,900 flew in each line, which would total something in the neighborhood of 7,500 crows when strays and belated members were taken into consideration. A few months later the crows deserted this roost and returned to the Wood ridge roost, where other crows joined the original settlers, the whole popula tion amounting to 30,000. Counting these birds would be very confusing to a novice. Ornithologists are familiar with two methods by means of which they are able to count large numbers. By one method the birds are counted in the evening as they fly toward the roost in distinct lines, and, as a rule, there are anywhere from three to six air paths chosen. The other method is to wait until all tlm birds have congregated for the night and then to choose a limited area of the roost, counfc the birds gathered there and estimate from this the approximate total. How Army Medical School Fights a Silent Foe UNPRETENTIOUS and unheralded, yet one of the biggest tasks of the militia mobilization, has been going on at the Army Medical school, at 721 Thirteenth street northwest, where the vaccine for. the prevention of various diseases Is being prepared. A force of 20 men, members of the United States army medical corps, headed by Capt. M. A. Reasoner, has been work ing day And night on one floor of the building, preparing the enormous anyunt of vaccine which the 100,000 troops of the militia require since be ing mobilized. An idea of the tremendous work is" gained by the fact that in ordinary" times this same force makes the vac cine for the army and navy and the forest service, and furnishes it to numerous other organizations besides. Since the mobilization this force, in addition to the supplies for the services men tioned, has been furnishing the vaccines for the militia troops also. Each of the soldiers in this army must receive three inoculations of anti typhoid vaccine, and in other, cases, inoculations for other diseases are made. All the tremendous quantity of this vaccine has been furnished by this little army of 20 men, scarcely a sergeant's section in the terms of army organiza tion. While the big men get the troops ready for service and have their names carried in the papers daily with suitable praise for their efforts, this little force, working with silent efficiency, is safeguarding the lives of the soldiers whom the big men are organizing. Washington's Great Walnut Tree Is Victim of War WASHINGTON had a wpnderful walnut tree. It stood near th American university, and has been noted ever since this country was ki own to the whUes. About the time that William the Conqueror invaded Engla d, midway of the eleventh century, a splendid that Great Britain it so far antedated. England must have walnut wood of the finest to manufacture rifle stocks. Having ransacked her own possessions, she has turned to America for the only timber suited to such a manufacture. So the huge tree, a floral Methusaleh, that stood on the tract bounded by the Tunlay ridge and Loughborough roads, has been sold to a British agent for $120, lowered to earth, lopped of Its branches, and freighted to Baltimore for transportation aboard. The Tunlaw walnut was famed as the largest hardwood tree in this section of the country. It was 125 feet high, 21 feet In circumference, and had a bough spread of 150 feet. The word "Tunlaw" is walnut spelled backward, and It Is said that Gen erals Grunt and Sherman were fond of visiting the estate upon which the wr.lnnt tree stood, near what is now known as the American university, and; that they suggested the name. front of the station. After a talk with station and enlisted I roosting, usually close to some large city, presents one of the most curious and remarkable phenomena occurring in the bird kingdom. " Mr. Kalmback has ascertained that there are several fair-sized crow roosts in the vicinity of Washington,, A roost at Arlington held, during the most crowded period of its existence, fully 200,000 crows. In fact, A. H. Howell of the biological survey alleges that dur walnut sapling began to r in Its head toward heaven, near whav was later to become the city of Washington. In the times that followed Wlulam, while a disorderly group of islands were be ing welded into a Great Britain, this same tree developed with almost In finite slowness into a forest giant. A few weeks ago the Tunlaw walnut, after 900 years of life, was felled to help satisfy the war-time needs of
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