Newspapers / The Asheville Times (Asheville, … / Dec. 31, 1917, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Asheville Times (Asheville, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
r I f II it F 0 - THE WEATHER Probably snow; not quite so Cold tonight and Tuesday VOL. XXII. NO. 327. BRITISH WIN IN COUNTERATTACKS ON CAMBRAI FRONT Regained Important Terri tory From the Germans On Welsh Ridge TOOK PRISONERS : AND MACHINE GUNS Artillery Activity On Italian ; Front Peace Parades , In Petrograd "London, Dec. 31. The British in successful counter attacks on the Cambral front have regained the more important territory on Welsh ridge taken by the Germans in yesterday's attack, the war office reports. Official Announcement. - ' The announcement follows: "On the i Cambral front as a result of sue- r cnssfnl counter attacks In which we ' captured prisoners and machine guns ! . we regained tne more important pari ! of the positions on Welch ridge into which the enemy penetrated yester day. The enemy still retains a por tion of our front trench in the yl- clnlty of La Vacqulerie and south of Maicolng. "On the Tpres front by a minor , operation last night our line was ad vanced a short distance on both sides of the Ypres-Staden railway." Germany Strikes First Blow. Germany has struck her first strong Mow on the western front since the heralding of a great offensive and the British have held it in check. -The : attack which resulted in heavy fight- ing was made on a short front on the southern end of the salient before Cambral. The fighting continues. The attackers gained a foothold in British trenches but later were eject ed in part by counter attacks. The German thrust was on a front of more than two miles between Marcoing and La Vacqulerie and against positions which the British have held since the retirement after General Byng's suc cessful blow. . . British Counter Attacks.: :, "n the center the Germans were held for no gain, but on either end of the assaulting front they entered the front line. The British counter attacks drove the Germans from part of these positions and resulted also In the cap ture of some prisoners. Berlin claims that front line positions and a few hundred prisoners were catured. The Germans also have been active at other points along the front, but their local attack in the Ypres sector and their raids northeast of Verdun brought no successes. These efforts follow upon heavy German fire in these three sectors Cambral, Ypres and Verdun and may be forerunners of determined attacks. Oh (ho Italian Front. In the Italian theater there has been only artillery activity along the north ern front. German airplanes again have raided Padua, much damage be ing done to monuments and buildings by incendiary bombs. Three persons were killed and three wounded. Another advance along the Nab , luse road, north of Jerusalem, has . been' made by the Briti i forces In ; Palestine. Against stubborn Turkish resistance the British progressed three I miles and captured Bireh, ancient t Beeroth and three other towns, prog ress also was made Between tne isao lus road and the Mediterranean const. Peace Celebrations In Petrofrrad. In Petrograd Sunday thed ay was given over to peace celebrations mark ed by parades of Bolsheviki followers. Members of the German and Austrian peace delegations were spectators of the parades. The heads of German and Austrian delegations to the Brest Lltovsk conference. Dr. von Kuehl mann and Cbunt Czernln, are return Ins; to their respective capitals. De layed dispatches from Brest-Lltovsk indicate that while the representatives of Russia and the central powers agree on most of the peace terms there Is difficulty in preliminary settlement of the question of German retirement from oocupied Russian territory in or der to give the Inhabitants opporutnlty to decide their future for themselves. One of the forts at Kronstadt, the naval base near Petrograd, has been l.l-wH ... h.r an .nlndnn n mnrri f n it in 'a dispatch received in London. ! Declare Independence. Bessarabia and Turkestan are re , ported to have declared their inde pendence, while fighting between the ; Bolsheviki and their opponents Is re . ported to be going on in Harbin and Irkutsk, Siberia. General Kaledines has been re elected hetman of the Don Cossacks by an overwhelming majority. Five Airplanes Downed. London, Deo. 81. Five German air planes were destroyed or put out of action Saturday by the British, who lost none of theirs. "Two hostile machines were brought down In our lines on Saturday," says an official statement given out here tonight. "A third was brought down in ths enemy's lines. Two other hos tile machines were driven down out of control. None of our airplanes is missing." French Statement. Parts, Dec. 81. "Artillery actions - occurred last night northwest of Rhelms," the war office reported. "There were patrol encounters north of the Chemln-Des-Dames (Alsns , front) and near Bezonvaux (Verdun front;. "Everywhere else the night was calm." Do0en Arrests. Petrograd, Dee. tl. The commis sion sppolnted to prevent a counter rovnlnt'nn Rundsy rnldsd the premises ef the Union for Defense of the Con- tltuunt oauombiy. About a dosen ar rest were made. lii S II F People Obey Them With Alacrity-Government Ef- ficient, Energetic and Ac-tive-Can't Be Turned Out London, Dec. 81. The Bolsheviki government is extremely efficient, en ergetic and decisive, though faced In noisy opposition from the privileged classes who are doing all they can to check it by sabotage and libel, accord ing to the Petrograd correspondent of the Dally News. The correspond ent says Petrograd is more orderly than for some months before the Bol shevik! took control. The people may not like the Bolsheviki, he declares but they obey them with startling alacrity and the government is based on real force. The constituent assembly, tle cor respondent hears, will meet as soon as delegates from the Ukraine arrive, perhaps in 10 days. He asserts that whatever is the decision of th" as sembly as constituted at premit. it will not alter the essential (hreciiun of Russian policy, although it might by weakening the government at home, weaken it In its dealings with the Germans. Any attempt to turn out the Bol sheviki government by force would result only in anarchy favorable to the Germans, says the correspond ent. He writes enthusiastically about Leon Trotzky, the Bolsheviki foreign minister, who told him that the war would be decided by social- rather than military pressure. Trotzky is quoted as saying: "The German democracy looks to the Russian revolution. It is the rec ognition of this fact that compels the German government to accept Rus sian principles as the 'basis for nego tiations." - -.; Trotzky said the German offer was a victory for the democratic move ment generally. Austria-Hungary, he said. Is on the point of revolt and every country In Europe is feeling the pressure of democracy from be low. The German attitude, Trotzky add ed, means that the German govern ment is wiser than most governments, because It recognlzus real factors. Democratic pressure,- Trotzky is quoted as adding, forced the Germans to reject thefr grandiose plans r conquest and to accept the peiice in which there are neither conqueror nor conquered. He admitted, how ever, that such a peace could hardly be achieved unless the entente allies join the negotiations. Pro-ally Russians, the correspond ent of the Daily News says, feel that Germany s terms offered at Brest- Lltovsk were for the purpose of con founding the allies and winning sym pathy. These Russians oppose a sep arate peace, but say the next word belongs to the allies. Revolt Maimrd by Germany. London, Dec. 81. The Times prints a long letter from its Petrograd cor. respondent, dated Saturday, which purports to substantiate the view that; tne Bolshevik revolt was manaired by Germany and that the movement Is, essentially anti-national and anti Russian. The letter says: 'It Is a notorious fact, and has been proved by documents In posses- on of the Kerensky government that Germany commissioned Lenine and gave him money to sow disaffection in the Russian army. IEBT INREPLYTO CQL.LEWIS Washington. Dec. 31 The senate war Inquiry again was turned to the ordnance situation when Major-General Crozier was permitted to take the stand to reply to recent statements made by Col. Isaae Lewis, Inventor of the Lewis machine gun, rejected by the war department in favor of the Browning type. Colonel Lewis de nied that he first offered his Invention to the British government and assert ed he had repeatedly tendered his patents without profits to the Ameri can government. He said General Crozier prevented acceptance of the Lewis gun in 1911 and 1912 when it had been favored by General Wood, then chief of staff. He also told the committee that more recent attempts to present the government with ohecks for his royalties on orders for guns had been blocked for a time by General Crozier, E Washlngton. Dec. 81. America's BASED 0 E exports were estimated today at thel"" n0- observation aviators. Al department of commerce to have I though the wind was blowing violently passed the $80,000,000 mark In 1917. 1 he made a loop successfully but on a new high record. Imports were less attempting to repeat the feat he fell, than $3,000,000,000 and the trade bal-1 He was dying when picked up but ance ln the favor of the United Btatea Insisted upon reporting to his Amer probably will be 'more than $3,150,- lean comrades with his last breath 000,000. the observations which be had made. ASHEVILLE, N. First Photo This picture of American prisoners taken by the GermanB on the Freucn front was published In a German newspaper, and came to the United States as an official British picture. PROHIBITION RALLY HERE HEXT&UMDAY Former Governor Patterson, of Tennessee, to Speak at Mass Meeting at Auditor iumOther Speakers A big prohibition rally will be held In Ashevllle next Sunday, which will include addresses In many of the churches of the city during the morn ing and evening and a big mnss meet ing at the city Auditorium at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, to be addressed by former Governor Malcolm R. Patter son of Tennessee. The meetings will be helo. under the auspices of the National Anti-Saloon league and in the interests of national prohibition. Several well known speakers will be here and t Is expect ed that a capacity house will greet the former chipf executive of Tennessee. Governor Patterson has been here be fore, addressing a large meeting at ithe Auditorium about two years ao. He is devoting his entire time to the cause of nation-wide prohibition and Is heard by large audiences wherever he appears. The Sunday afternoon meeting for men at the Young Men's Christian as sociation has been cut out for next 'Sunday owlnff to the prohibition rallv ian(1 ln many of the ,oca, churcheg the lmn..ninl, -, RVpnlno. .Brvi-. vin h !mtirelv devotd tn nrirtrnsse. on thl I cause. A representative of the Na-I jtional Anti-Saloon league was in the ! city a lew weeks ago ana arranged ! with the Ashevllle Ministers' associa tion for these meetings, the associa tion giving its nearly approval. BE AS LIVELY AS USUAL New Tork, Dec. 81. The new year will be welcomed ln New York after the fashion of former years except that tonight the war promises to place Its stamp of moderations on the con viviality of the celebrants. Hotels and restaurants will entertain just as many guests as in times of peace, but the menu cards ln most Intances offer nothing that does not bear the stamp of the food administrator's approval, and the high prices prevailing for wines and the 1 o'clock closing order Indicates that the new year's toasts will be drunk ln less generous pro portions. "Watch parties and entertainments for soldiers and sailors have been ar ranged in greater number than before America entered the war. AMERICAN AVIATOR WAS KILLED IN PARIS Paris, Dec. 81. An American avi ator was killed yesterday while mak ing a test flight at an aviation cen- r before reneh and American p - wpjB BPBiai.ulJWM m.f,..nr- jmmamkmujju.m.tm nun i 1 i j,jh,, rnwii C, MONDAY AFTERNOON, of Amerian PHers in German Hands In the larger photograph there are elx American prisoners teach indi cated by a cross) being questioned by German officers,-some of whom seem amused at the, discomfiture of. the London, Dec. 81. The Manches. ter Guardian says It is the Inten tion of the British government, when the Austro-Oerman terms of peace are presented officially to re turn a serious and reasoned reply. Premier Lloyd-George as arranged to visit France, according to the newspaper, to confer with Premier Clemenceau on this subject. The Austro-German peace terms referred to are those presented by the representatives of the central powprs at the negotiations with the Russians at Brest-Lltovsk. These negotiations were interrupted for ten days to give the entente allien opportunity to state whether they would Join them. The principal point in the Austro-German outline of peace terms was the acceptance of the Russian formula of no an nexations or indemnities. Another Clause Included. London, Dec. 31. In addition to the points set forth in yesterday's advices from Brest-LltovBk regard ing the provision agreement be tween the representatives of Russia and the central powers,, another clause . is included, the precise meaning of which is not clear. A Reuter dispatch from Amsterdam gives the clause thus: "It was agreed that both legally and economically one country should not be treated less favorably by another than any third country which cannot appeal to treaty rights." The German wireless version of this clause reads: "It was agreed that respecting all rights of intercourse and economic relations, none of the countries, which Is a party to the peace ar rangement, shall be treated less favorably than any outside country In respect to which treaty rights do or do not exist." This probably is in effect the familiar "most favored nation" clause which frequently is includ ed ln the treaties. AS l-LIKE' Cleveland O., Dec. 81. Denouncing Postmaster-General Burleson as "czar like" 'and charging that he Is using his office to make political capital, Edward J. Galnor, "president of the National Association of Letter Car riers, flayed the postal head In a speech here before the city club. Galnor said that Burleson is obsess ed with a desire to make the post office department show a surplus and that he instituted unwise economies which have lessened efficiency. New Year's Greeting. Washington, Deo. $1. New year's greetings to the American people from the heads of several nations allied with the United States will ap- Daner in the new year's edition of the official bulletin. Among those already received are Included greetings from iriH. D.t. Af ai.tiln TftmtAmn n,i.i. wm Wm LITTLE NEWS FROM ra, of Bolivia, and President Viera, pected to receive from him conflrma of Uruguay. I tlon of his appointment. DEC. 31, 1917 NV ' v A i ' v; Aim Vi if 1 v V Americans. The names of the three men whose heads are shown are not known. Perhaps some American fa ther or mother will here recognize her son, and know he is not dead though reported missing, - Earthquake Destroyed City; Hundreds of Lives Lost and Thousands Are Made Homeless Four Shocks Washington, Dee., 81. Still without detailed information of the earth quakes which destroyed Guatemala City, costing many Mves and leaving a hundred thousand homeless, Ameri can officials today prepared to send aid to the stricken sister republic. Further reports were awaited from American Minister Leavell and Consul Fee. Red Cross officials conferred with navy officials as to the supplies to be sent forward on American warships ordered to a Guatemalan seaport. While the American diplomats are safe archives of the legation and con sulate are believed to have been lost as the buildings are reported to have been shaken to the ground. Unoffi cial advices indicate that the foreign colony escaped without loss of life. The Guatemalan minister, Joaquin Mendez, was informed of the disaster by the state department and although he sent cablegrams of inquiry, he has received no advices. Four earthquakes apparently have shaken Guatemala City. Records of the Georgetown university seismolog lcal observatory Instruments here in dicate the first shocks were felt on Christmas night shortly after mid night. A Becond series of shocks came about 9 a. in. on()ecember 26. Further shocks were recorded on Fri day, December 28, at 4:23 p. m., but the heaviest shocks came nt D:57 p. m., Saturday, December 29. It ap pears that this lost disturbance was the one which caused the most dam age. A shipload of Red Cross relief sup plies, consisting of 600 barrels of flour, quantities of clothing, disinfec tants and general foodstuffs will leave New OrU-ans Thursday for Tuerto P.arrios. ' It will be followed by a shipment of tents on another vessel by the end of this week. Arrangements have been made ,by all available necessary supplies by the Guatemala chapter made up of Amer. leans throughout the republic and di rected by Alfred Clark, general man ager of the International railway at Guatemala City. SECEDE FROM MEXICO San Francisco, Doc. 31. Fielding 3. Ptllson, a Los Angeles capitalist, an nounced hern today he had been ad vised that he was to be appointed "diplomatic representative at Wash ington" of Governor EBtjiban Cantu, of Lower California. "I believe," he snid, "this foreshad ows the secession of Lower California from Mexico." Mr. Stilaon refused to discuss his announcement further than to say i that he was to meet here today a per lunal rnrMfntAtlvA nf Pnntll and ex. SOME MODERATION IN COLD WEATHER TO BEGIN TONIGHT The Intense Cold of Past Several Days Has Not Beeri. Equalled In 37 Years Already Some Moderation" In East Gulf States Seven Deaths In New York Much Suffering Because of Coal Shortage Cantony N.Y., 20 Below, Coldest Place In Country ' Washington, Deo. SI. Some mod eration, beginning tonight, of the cold wave was forecast today by the weath er bureau for the country from the Ohio vaUey eastward. The cold wavt Is now passing to sea. . -.- - 1 The Intense cold has not been equal led in the territory south of New Tork along the coast and Inland since De cember 30, 1880. . There has already been a modera tion of temperatures west of . the. Ap palachian mountains and in tw.e east gulf states although over a greater part of that region It Is- still colder than the seasonal average. Canton, N. V., reported the lowest temperature fit S o'clock this morning of any point in the country. It was 20 degrees below sero there. During the previous 24 hours, the coldest was 40 degrees below eero at Northfleld, Vermont, according to weather bu reau reports. Official temperatures at 8 o'clock this morning, showed the below zero line to extend northward of Philadelphia and eastward of Buf falo. Philadelphia was at sero, New Tork and Boston eight below; Albany and Portland 1( below. Another very cold area was around Des Moines, Iowa, where it was zero. At Chica go, Detroit, Louisville and OmRha It was 10 above zero; Pittsburgh, Cleve land and Indianapolis, eight above; St. Louis 12 above, and Kansas City 14 above. Through the south the range wns from four above at Raleigh to 34 at Miami, Fla., and New Orleans, Jack sonville and Atlanta reported 18 and Mobile 28. RnfTerfnsr In New Tork. New Tork, Dee. 31. Not ln 80 years has this city suffered as it did Satur day and yesterday. At J o'clock this morning thermometers' registered seven degrees below Keror while re- lower temperatures by seve'-al degrees. Directly or Indirectly the cold yester day resulted ln seven deaths, while hundreds were treated at hospitals which report that there will have to be many amputations of frosted fin gers, toes and ears. Firemen in the metropolitan dis- Itrict experienced one of the hardest periods recorded by the fire depart ment. Every company in the city an swered at least one alarm and early today the total number of fires had reached the GOO mark. While the ma jority of the fires were caused by de fective gas and oil heaters and result ed in little damage, two were said to be of incendiary origin in an effort to hamper government work. Below zero weather has resulted in private houses and apartment houses consuming thousands of tons of coal above their normal requirements and has made such deep Inroads In the surplus supply that today a coal fam ine is impending in the city. Across the Hudson river are thousands of tons of coal, but the severe weather made Its transfer to distributors a matter of extreme difficulty. Railway officials at New Jersey terminals claimed todoy there were about 70, 000 tons of coal at tidewater awaiting transportation to the city. Coal merchants kept their places open as relief stations all day yester day and many of them all night, to accommodate applicants who were al lotted amounts from 60 pounds to a quarter of n ton. Hundreds of men and women waited hours in the long lines to obtain even this scant supply. Crowds became so large in front of two North River relief stations that police reserves had to be called to maintain order. There is practically no coal in the irds of wholesale and retail coal merchants, except the small supplies furnished to them dally by the fuel administrators. Just how much coal renched these yards yes terday could not be estimated al though It Is known to he Bmall, To further Increase the seriousness of the coal situation the coal team Bters have threatened to Btrlke for higher wages. Reeve Schley, county fuel administrator, will meet with the men today when he will seek to settle the difficulty by arbitration. Several large uptown apartment houses and many smaller ones throughout the city are said to be without coal and the tenants have been notified that they must rely upon gas grates and gas and oil heaters un- I111 a supply could be obtained. It was also reported today that unless a sup ply was forthcoming immediately sev eral downtown office buildings, Includ ing one of the largest in the city would be forced to shut down their heating plants. Coldest Devemlicr In RnlcUrh Raleigh, N. C, Dec. 31. With the ground covered with snow and the temperature registering nine de?rrees above zero at s a, m., Kaieign ana vicinity continued to shiver today from the coldest December weather ln the history of the local weather bur eau. Snow was falling In the pied mont section of North Carolina early today, according to reports to the local 1 wenther bureau. The cold Is causing much suffering throughout the state on account of the fuel shortage. Know FnlliiiK Over Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 81. The snow which began falling last night over Tennessee was resumed this morning with indications, however, of only flurries during the day. There lias been a decided rise ln temperature In the 24 hours, from three degrees 'above sero yesterday morning to 80 decrees above ths morning. There are now two Inches of soow 7OT REGULAR EDITION . EIGHT PAGES PRICE FIVE CENTS on the ground, making a total pre- clpltatlon for the month of ten and a half Inches, a record for the month. The average for this section of Ten-! nessee in December is one inch. Haiti the present month snow has covered! the ground. December, 1917i will rank, second as regards cold weather la' the records of the local weather sta- tlon. Snow Storm In South GaroUnsVi ' 3 Columbia, S. C. Dec. 31. rA snow: storm was raging throughout South, Carolina today, according to report to the local weather bureau, accents- ating the already acute conditions caused by the fuel shortage. A heavy snow began falling in Columbia this morning and covered the ground rap idly. The lowest temperature report ed this morning was ten degrees above sero, or four degrees higher than the. reading yesterday, which was the cold est December day here in 13 years. 11 Below Zero In Boston. . Boston; Deo, 31. New . England still suffering today from the most, severe cold wave ever officially rec orded In , this section. In this city the temperature remained below zero all night and to make matters worse the dawn brought a stiff northwest wind. The minimum was 8 below and at 8 a. m. It had risen only three de-.; gress. Later when the temperature: had climbed to 1 degree below zero at 9:30 o'clock the weather bureau announced that the crest of the. cold; wave had passed and that conditions) more nearly approaching the mid winter normal would prevail during the next few days. ; Three Inches of Snow la Athene. 5 a. m. today and at 10 o'clock It had reached a depth of three inches. Be cause of the fuel shortage city and county convicts have been employed cutting and hauling wood from the country to relieve the situation. Hun dreds of homes are without fuel. Much Damage In Florida. Tampa-, Fla,. Dec. 31. The tern- perature reached 27 dgerees here last night with heavy frost and much dam age to truck farms in this section of the state. The cold, however, did lit tle damage to citrus fruit and prob ably none to trees. Gainesville and Jacksonville, with 18 above zero, were the coldest places in the state today. Eustls reported 22 above, Bnrtod 26, Fort Myers 30 and Mami 34. Frost was predicted for tonight and truck farmers were warned to take precautions. Coal Shortage In Memphis. I Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 31. An Inch and a half of snow, which fell early today, coming on the heels of a week of unusually cold weather, added to the gravity of the coal shortage ln i this city and brought renewed warn ings from the local fuel administrator ! that the economical use of fuel was Imperative. Reports to the weather bureau Indicate that the snowfall was general throughout eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Ten nessee and extended as far south as Helena, Ark. Warm weather was pre dicted for tonight. The lowest tem perature last night was 18 degrees above zero. Snow at Dnytona, Fla. Daytona, Fla., Dec. 31. For the second time this winter, thermome ters today registered 25 degrees above zero. Vegetation and winter crops suffercV much damage. There was a slight snow fill here yesterday and a strong gale from the ocean caused much Inconvenience. 6now ln Mobile. Mobile, Ala., Dec. 81. The second December snow in the history of Mo bile fell this morning when slight flur ries of snow were seen during the morning hours. The streets were crowded with people witnessing the unusual scene. In the Golf States. i New Orleans, La., Dee. 81. Below ! freezing temperatures were reported In all the gulf states last night and early today, but none equalled the unusually low temporatures reported all over the district on Saturday night ! and Sunday morning. The thermom eter here registered 81 above during : last night, and 28 at Vlcksburg and ln the truck sections of Louisiana, east Texas and western Florida. The weather began moderating early to day and the forecast was for fair weather and continued cold tonight, but warmer tomorrow over the gulf , states. Coldest Day in Chattanooga. Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 81. The cold wave here Sunday when the ther mometer dropped to 6.3 above sero, recording the coldest day of the win ter, was folowed Monday by a feur inch snow. It continued to snow i throughout most of the afternoon.; 1 Property to Pulaski Boys, Nashville, Tenn., Deo. 31. A Pu- laskl, Tenn., special says: The will of Robert L. Johnson, pro bated here, leaves property estimated at $60,000, on the death of a sister, to be managed by the Southern Meth odist church to the end. of assisting boys to acquire an education at a ru- laekl boys' school. I ,'i y
The Asheville Times (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 31, 1917, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75