WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1 9 1 8: price "Five cents l Hfl LB :-.A . ' LD T AFMThn I 1 SP tr IITV 111 1 Ll. I AU-i - I I J-rTL I I . I III. I I II JJ , 7, I : H Secretary Baker Makes Offi cial Announcement of the . Taking Over. ALLIES ARE SUPERIOR ON WESTERN FRONT Germans Outnumbered in Both Guns and Men -Must Not Let German Strikes Slow up Prepartions Washington, Feb. 4. Warning the nation not to let reports of strikes and other internal disturbances in Germany slacken its war prepara tions, Secretary Baker, in his week ly military review today, also makes the official announcement that American troops are at last holding a portion of the actual battlefront. For the first time also Secretary Baker declares that it Is fully be lieved the Allies have a preponder ance of men and guna on the ..West ern front, despite the fact that the German line has been strengthened by troops from the Russian field. Sec retary Baker declared the 'reports of numerical superiority have been spread by the enemy himself. Reviewing operations for the. week ending February 2, Secretary Baker says: , . v "American troops which have -now completed their training are occupy ing a portion of the actual battle front. The operations in which - our troops have so far been engaged were of a minor character. .. .7-W- " "On January 30," the ffrinans' at tempted a strongly pushed " raid against our line for purposes of iden tification. Under cover df a heavy.1 mist the enemy wasable to Teach- our advanced positions. A short -brush ensued and the raiders were com pelled to vdthdraw in haste, after in flicting slight casualties. "Two days later the enemy appar ently attempted another reconnoiter ing thrust, but was dispersed before iny headway could be made. "Our patrols have been active in No Man's Land, and our scouts have made themselves familiar with the details of the hostile positions oppo site them. "Another event of importance took Place in France. The Inter-Allied Supreme War Council met at Ver sailles, attended by General - Bliss, thief of staff of the armv. and Gen eral Pershing, as well as the repre- -"""'ca ui r ranee, threat rsniam -m Italy. Complete and close co--eration between the Allies and our es, and a harmonious understand between the supreme commands 0 all the forces engaged, promises to "0v positive results. Unity of 'pur pose on all fronts will thus be at tained. "Dunns the ,he world has been flooded with the SeW5 of verv serimis internal unroot in Germany. Widesnread strikes among munition workers are report-fl- While dissatisfaction is no doubt 'e m Germany, and strikes of in creasing seriousness have occurred, ti,must not alIow any reported dis to ff 6 Within the German empire affect the effectiveness "or speed of cur own preparations., During the week hostile concen ations the West continued. In jwtain quarters the reports spread JL enemy that he holds a pre- thp numerical superiority in nL J;.have ained come cred- , 16 Psitive proof has been tnJw. . at the enemy has removed rops from the Eastern theatre and s stnppmg other fronts for the com. struggle in the West, neverthe- hnM . 6 Allies are believed still to Perio?t T apPreciable numerical su "t J' oth in men and guns. raid i XJilLibU meatre numerous WheaTt .f16- SUth of Lens and south nf ? Langemarck, as well as sent I ScarPe, the Germans TV ti.reconnoiteringdetachments. enea forces were alo busily ifl. . ending the enemv line. ure of Hs new units, taking meas gent0 Jue.value of the new contin- Germ , . e arriving along the theatS Mne in the West from other -orth Epehv , -I- Havnncourt and" near 5risonersr patrols - brought in tS!.i,artillery kePt UP a heavy cS Ut the week in the Ypres ambrai salients lSfdteIe was the scene of 01 ArnVTS ing and the 'Sions hI tarPt ? ens were also Princi- fcjftgets for tTi n bpv. rTench were akn hnv rtA: ejiemy and kept a careful out mrm Mm TOE GERMAN REPLY TO es British Firsts Lord of Admiralty is Mere? ' ly Talking , Amsterdam, Feb. 4.- A dispatch re ceived here today from Berlin gives the German reply to the' statement last week of Sir Eric Geddes, . First Lord of the British Admiralty, who in reviewing the first year of 'unre stricted submarine warfare, said the submarine menace was . being, held, that the sinking of merchant meiCwas decreasing , and; the destruction of U boats Increasing and that the morale of the submarine I crews was -deteriorating on . account of the British policy of secrecy In regard to the fate of the men on submarines' which failed to return . to their; bases. The German, reply Jn the form of a semi official statement" follows: "What SirTEric Geddes said is not new. . It is merely, repetition of fa miliar assertions which are disproved by the facts and appear periodically in. the speeches of -talkative wire pul lers in England. If that , brav . optimist Geddes ex pects by such means to lower the -morale , and the power of resistance of our ; U-boat crews, hf will - hare as little success, as has been mit with in the attempts ,to .bluff the German people wno .iong tgo reaiizeq .-xnat Englisfi secrecy was: nothing but' an expression of consciousness of weak- - v HHJD IN BERLIN Asterdam, Feb l.br." 'vbn Kuehl- jnan, Foreign Minister; jCount Czer- nin, the Austro-Hunganan Foreign Minister, and General von1 Ludendorff, the Germaii chief quartermaster gen eral, a semi-official announcement from Berlin says, will, arrive in Ber lin Monday to participate in deliber ation of political and economic-ques tions affecting the common interests and territories of Germany and Aus- tro-Hungary. Count Botho von We- del, the German Ambasador to Vien- look along their entire front. Oppo site the French, the Germans con fined operations to minor raids north of the Aisne -and Upper Alsace, "Profiting by the favorable atmos pheric conditions which prevailed, air raids on a large scale were under taken. The -British - successfully bombed railway centers in Flanders and air squadrons undertook attacks upon munition plants and other mili tary objectives in the Rhine area. London and Paris, , as well as Dun kirk, Calais and Boulogne, were vis ited by hostile aircraft. "In Italy a further improvement in the combat situation is noted. The Italians were very successful in fol lowing up their plans to regain points of particular strategic importance along their battlefront. As a coun terpart of the French assault in the Region of the Monte Tomba, the tlal ians early in the week launched a powerful offensive thrust against the Austrian positions along the Asiago plateau. " This attack was directed against the . strongly entrenched en emy positions in the, region between the Frenzela and the Brenta. "The Italians succeeded in captur ing the hostile strongholds of the im portant peaks of the: Col Del Rosso and the Monte Di Val Bella, which resulted in an appreciable advance of the Italian line in this area, the capture of 100 officers, -2,600 men and a large quantity of munitions.. By this very fortunate- operation the Italians were able to regai nthe im portant ground lost in this area in December, and their hold on their po sitions is rendered more secure. "Austrian reaction was prompt. An assault against the new Italian po sitions on the Monte Di Val Bella was undertaken. The attacking forces were stopped and the Italians immediately drove a fierce counter attack and inflicted further serious casualties on the enemy. Patrol en counters took place in. the Val d'As .tico and in the Val Guidicaria, a hos tile raiding ' party was driven off by hand grenades. "Along fche Balkan front a renewed activity is recorded. Patrol encoun ters took , place west of Lake Doirou. British and Serb detachments raided Bulgarian? positions and enemy con- centration . In the vicinity of Seres and in the, valley of the Vardar were bombarded by , aircraft. - "In Palestine Jthe British are push ing slowly but steadily forward, en larging their-sphere of- operations and consolidating Jbe ground won." FRONT LONDON NEWSPAPERS THE WAR COUNCIL Few Discordant Notes on the Report Are Heard From the Press London, Feb. 4. -The only discord ant notes heard in -the editorial judg ment of the morning newspapers On the results of the meeting at Ver sailles of the Supreme War Council Commission are from the Dailr News and the Daily - Chronicle, which de clare that the report of the confer ence will be received with very tem pered satisfaction. Several other important newspapers announce that the report was not received in time for comment. Additional information regarding! tne development and the nature of the enlargement of the Council's functions is wanted by the Daily News, and it hopes that Premier Lloyd-George, when he .speaks in . the House of Commons on Tuesday, will let the country know if this means the overruling of the high commands of the individual powers. The Daily Chronicle appears to be afraid that the Council is assuming executive functions ana it expects enlightenment through Parliament. The Times calls the Versailles statement eminently satisfactory, and says: " - !V : ' . "It tends to dispel vthe" deceptive fog of -peace whih -has been gather ing and has been axtificiaUy thicken ed, fc ,many allied capitals t during the y iaj3Emonttts sof winter it re affirms 'iha determihtaion and: objects of the Allies in unmistakable terms with -a welcome note of fidelity." The Morning Post says: "We find it reassuring to have this unaltered conviction that the only way to peace is through an unflinch ing prosecution of war to victory. The surest way to peace is to dismiss thought of it. As President; Wilson has said, in effect, the greatest foes of peace are the pacifists, for they do not know how to get what they want." y WANUN INCREASE IN WATER RAM COTTON Clyde and Mallory Lines Join in Movement for Higher Rate Washington, Feb. 4. The Clyde and Mallory steamship companies to day joined in the movement to in crease water rates on cotton from Southern ports to New York and Bos ton. They ask icreases of six cents per hundred pounds to Boston and SQyen cents to New York on upland cotton and cotton linters.from Bruns wick, Charleston and Jacksonville, in applications filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Clyde Steamship Company also applied for increased rates on . trans ferring turpentine, rosin and other na val stores by lighters from its North river pier, in the New York harbor to the National Transportation and Terminal Company's yards, Union Na val Stores Company's piers and the South Brooklyn Naval Stores yards, eighteen cents a barrel being asked. CARMEN'S STRIKE TIES UP ST. LOUIS St. Louis, Feb. ' 4. Long before dawn today thousands of people left theif homes on the tramp to work, on account of the demoralization of the street car service, caused by a strike of conductors and motormen begun late Saturday night. Although the United Railway an nounced last night that service would be resumed at daybreak today under police protection, at 8 o'clock no cars had left the barns. "Early today no violence had been reported aC police headquarters. EXPLOSION IN BIG MUNITIONS PLANT London, Feb. 4. The explosion of a munitions, depot near, Prague, cap ital, of Bohemia, involving the loss of many lives, is reported in dispatches from that city to Zurich, as forwarded by the Exchange Telegraph. Company. According toAsome accounts the "de- jpot was blown up intentionally. ON LAST lr4CftEMTji Washington, tost General Crowded tMayVahniaunced that the morement Of last incre ments of inen , selected iif the .'first draft wnil begiieuH ?ry 23 and continue tor ta pga of five days. This -wiUcoi.ae 4 the operation of the .first as all States ,will hayefurn their full quotas. y-l&r:; ' ' The. movemdntivwill tfjf .the strength of the ' hationfelfehy ' up to 685,600 men faniiSg&A in the'.firit":draft; ;? f . .. ' V; -c The:.niim1Mfwmen; ,t;2li will De start ea tot? ioe v ou7i can tonments on February 2 Camp Lee yirglliia, 3,000; Jack son,? 3,303 t (negroe8); "Gor don, Gal, 2,800 tnegrb.0s) Travis, Texas, 758; itodOPike, Ark., 2,000 . (hegroes) . . vV?et Virginia :will send 1,520 meH arnp Meade, Md., insteadT df Oamp ; Lee- a McAdoo Assures Congress man North Carolina Port Will Get Its Snare THIS CITY TO RECEIVE FULL CONSIDERATION As the Plan for Relieving New York's Congestion is Work Out, Wilmington WiU ' Be Used '-(By : George H. Manning.) Washington, D. C, Ffeh. 4. The in terests bf the Port of .Wilmington as a .pointer expoftatierJiupplies, to Eurone are beine well taken care of. MdL Nirtjlinm Bor is w receive tne iunest conBiaer ation from the ' Shipping Board and Director of railroads. Congressman Godwin said today "I have talked with Director of Railroads McAdoo about Wlmington and urged the port's greater utilization as a point of em barkation," said Mr. Godwin, "Senj ators Simmons and Overman have also done what they could in this connection. "Mr. McAdoo told me there was ho intention of overlooking Wilmington when he directed that- large ship? ments of cotton be exported through Savannah and Charleston. He said he had thought Georgia and South Carolina better cotton States than North Carolina. That was the way he expressed it "He assured me that officials of his bureau and the Shipping Board have Wilmington in mind, and when it is possible ot ge along further with the plan of further utilizing the Southern ports to relieve congestion at New York and Philadelphia Wilmington will receive the fullest consideration." ALL ACCOUNTANTS TO BE MOBILIZED Wshington, Feb. 4. Mobilization of all certified accountants who come withi nthe draft law, has been Order ed so as to supply vacancies in the army business organization. Henry E. Wise, attorney for paper manufacturers, appearing at. a hearing today before the Federal commission, told the commission he had received as chairman of a draft board in New York, orders from the adjutant gen eral to call in at once all registered accountants, put them through a phys ical examination and mobilize them. They were to be sent this week to army dpots. Mr. Wise said inability to get accountants had delayed the assembling of information he desired to present to the commission. CHICAGO IS FACING SERIOUS SITUATION To Take Over Oil Control. Washington, Feb. 4. The presiden tial proclamation placing tne oil in dustry under the Fuel Administration is expected to be issued today. BRITISH CASUALTIES DE CREASE. London, Feb. 4. The British casualties reported during the week ended today totalled 6,354, divided as follows : Killed: or died of wounds: Offi cers, 51;, men, 1,325. Wounded or missing: Officers, 173; men, 4,805. - . The lowest mark for many months past is reached by last week's casualties They compare with 8,588, the previous week, with 17,043! the week immediately pre ceding that and-with 3,951 for the week ending December 31,. the pre vious low figure for any week in recent months. . '- - SRrt HALIFAX DISASTER Pilot Mackay and Captain of ':' French Munitions Ship -Are Arrested RESPONSIBILITY FOR COLLISION PLACED The Investigating Commission Makes Reports That Cap tain and Pilot Violated Rules of the Road Halifax, N. S., Feb. 4. Blame for the . collision between the French mu nitions .ship, Mont Blanc, and the Bel gian relief ship, Imo, resulting in the explosion of the former vessel which destroyed a large part of Halifax, on December 6, was placed upon' Pilot Mackay, of Halifax, and Captain La- modec, of the French ship, in a judg ment announced today by the governr ment commisison, which investigated the collision. With the announcement of '. the comsission's judgment, Pilot Mackay was : arrested, charged with man-1 slaughter, the commission having recommended that he be criminally. prosecuted and his license cancelled. ; The commission also recommends to the French authorities the cancel lation of the license of Captain Le- modec, and "that he be dealt with ac cording .to the laws of his country." Captain Lamodec was also arrest ed, charged with manslaughter. The. commisison held that Captain Lamodec and the pilot violated the rules of the road. 1 Captain aLmodec and Pilot Mac key are in audition found guilty by the commission of neglect of public Safety;; oh the ground they did hot 4.:$fQpef itants of the city of f probably ex plosion. The commisl&bn ' further "considers the "pilotage1 autho , ? .,Tl7 - 2rTka Senator insisted that centralized Mackay to pilot ships since the disas ter. -- vCaptain Wyatt, chief , examination officer of the port, is found guilty of neglect in "performance of duties re quiring him to keep himself inform ed of the movements, , actual and in tended, o! ships in the harbor, and .ifl not taking adequate steps to enforce various -regulations. Fifteen hundred persons were kill ed, several thousand injured and an area of two and a half square miles adjacent to the narrows was laid bare by the explosion aboard the Mont Blanc. Pilot Mackay was bring ing the Mont Blanc into port when the vessel was rammed amidships by the Imo, outward bound. . The weath er was clear and as the ships passed in the narrow channel signals were, confused, it was said,- and the crash came before the pilot of the Imo, now dead, was able to have her swung about into free waters. The accident set to tanks of benzol on the deck of the Mont Blanc and in stantly great volumes of smoke shot skyward. Realizing the danger, Mackay, Captain Lamodec and the chip's crew took to the boats and pro ceeded . at top speed toward shore. As they landed they continued to run. They were more than a mile from the water wb,en the ship blew up. Every man in the party was knocked down and two were injured by flying bits of steel, one fatally. Smoke from the burning ship was observed 50 miles at'sea;.half an hour before the explosion. The spectacle attracted thousands "of persons to the water front and none dreamed -of the impending danger: ; As the flames from the deck reached down to the cargo there came a mighty blast that sent big structures tumbling to the ground and ripped out nearly every window in Halifax. Several hundred persons standing along the . water - front were hurled into the harbor ; and it is believed by the authorities1 that many bodies are still xunder wa terf, frozen to the bottom. The greatest loss of life and dam age occurred in the north end of the city, largely populated by working people. - -I DR. JOHNSONS CASE CALLED BEFORE JURY Richmond, Va., Feb. 4. Dr. Lem uel J. Johnson, of Middlesex, N. C, was indicted by the grand jury today for the murder of his bride, Mrs. Alice Knight "Johnson, here last De cember. Tit is charged that poison taken by" Mrs"." Johnson in the belief that jt was ordinary medicinal prepa ration was administered by Dr. John son with criminal intent. - It was charged, that he gave her a number.' of -pills' and that she had taken other ymedicine e had given her. " The fatal dose was taken while the 'bride' was 'visitifijf the home of a friend. -1 Nebraska Senator Follows the Line of Argument Laid - by Chamberlain MAKES ATTACK ON WAR DEPARTMENT Says Preposterous to Talk of Million and A Half Men in France This Year. Sin- . " - . cere But Misled Washington, . Feb. 4. Secretary Bakers recent statement to the Sen ate Military. Committee that the Unit ed States would have half a million soldiers in France early his year and that prospects were not unpromising for ships to carry 1,000,000 more who would be ready during the year, were iciharacterized - by Senator Hitchock in an address to the Senate today, as "absolutely preposterous and so exaggerated as to convey an entire ly false impression as to, what we can do. and what we are doing." Supporting the committee's bills for a war cabinet and munitions director, Senator Hitchcok declared that Secre tary Baker .was no doubt sincere but was misled by lack of information re garding saercity of ships into making sanguine predictions. He said Pres ident nWilson himself "does not know the real situation," and; cited-this fea- ture as an illustration of the absence of government .co-ordination. Administration . leaders prepared . to reply to Senator Hitchcock, whose speech launched the. debate, which has been impending since Secretary Bak er made "his statement ''and. the Pres ident made known his opposition , toj khe Militarv Commirtie' ytfis forvre - tefWJSyu cbinery.? Coiieedirig that mtich Ot'a- big task through -a war cabinet and centralized purchasing through a munitions direc tor are imperative. He asserted that they President and Secretary Baker had tried but failed to attain the ob ject" and that the government's sys tem was obsolete. The committee's explanation, he argued, would not em barrass or interfere with the Presi dent's direction of the war. ' Sharp criticism of many government war activities but without - attacking individuals,- was made by the Senator in Illustrating his arguments. "Blun ders -that almost surpass belief -have occurred in the War Department,,' he said, and the shipbuilding situation he described as a "farce and almost a crime." He described the transporta tion system as; "broken down" and is a "gigantic, wreck'" with 2,000,000 tons of freight piled- up at New York, with out shipping facilities; that, the fuel administrations orders- have paralyz ed war &nd other industries and that food distribution also has been inef ficient. In flatly denying Secretary Baker's statement that tne government has a plan for the war, the Senator said the Military ' Committee was thunder struck, by. the war secretary's optimis tic assertions. "I anr afraid to go too deeplyjuto shipping figures," he added, "for one might be. charged with giving infor mation to the enemy. All who are in formed as to the present supply of our shipping were thunder-struck at the statements of 'Secretary Baker. His sanguine predictions as to our ability to ship men" to Europe and supply them when there are exaggerations of the wildest sort "To supply 1,000,000 men in France, supposing- we could get. them over there, it will require five million tons of shipping in constant Use. Where ,"' V Tv . 7, I XT r A 1 3 T 1 "s- ""TV ,.77 Sfe now TgWe' :n0?mf hk tucLL cujuju 111, an njai ik wjii uui approximate- that a year from now. "Yet the Secretary of War is so out of touch with the shipping board and shipping authorities that he makes a statement that is absolutely- prepos terous. I have no doubt of his sin extent to which one department is out bf touch with another department." aqi uresis sereorptn o-b sm jnq 'jaao Turning to Secretary , Baker's- war plan, Senator' Hitchcock said: "Secretary Baker says we have plans. I am sorry to disagree with him. If there is one "thing more con spicuous byits absence than any oth er 4n the operation of the various de partments and bureaus in Washing ton it has been planning for the future7 I do not deny that the vari ous departments have planned 'as far as they could in advance but who has prepared the master-plan which will harmonize all the other plans? Np body. ' Nobody could." . Referring, to the President's oppo: sition to: the, two committee bills, , the (Continued on yPage Two). First Big Gun Duel Witn-. Ger mans Was ; Highly. Sus' cessrui . INFLICTED DAMAGE ON ENEMY WORKS American Gunners Reveal Their Effectiveness in Live- ly Exchange of Shots, ,Do t ing Much Injury " r o With the American ArmyvrmjL France, Sunday, ,Feb. 3. American jj officers arfev elated over the "results k! of the first artillery duel between i f American and German . gunners, i which . followed a preliminary shell ing ty the Germans Saturday even? ing. In official reports to- the hiauVi,, quarters of their organizaUonsths infantry commanders' today paid trib i j ute to the. promptness with which j the artillery responded to the callf or 3 fe Darrage ana tne enecuveness toLtinei artillery fire. " - . ' Aerial reconnaissances' today i show ed that the American ' gunfire had "had 1 1 a very destructive,effectVIt wllirre-;'; ; quire several nights of hard work un der artillery fire for the Germans: t'j repair the first line trenches caved: in . by the American 75s and to patch ;the gaps in the barbed wire. It , is "knovTi that at least three , enemy; -dugouts ! were demolished, probably with 'some casualties. On the other hand,theV?i damage done to the' American treneh- s es will be repaired before tomorrow1. morning. Tn a reirimental headquarters vil- lage.. sheUed1 by the ene&y7mAnyi ; . building were wrecked rflpifeteiy; or In-parrthe deons oemg pueq;-p E JJie streets, There were no- casual. among ttte mceffi&JwWst-? of thfe coming bombardment and f offi cers -and men sought shelter in the dugouts'. The bombardment of th4 headquarters village came at. the end of a period of shelling which had lex tended gradually along several kilo metres of the front. . - - rr;. The German artillery opened ... the ensaeement -with a desultory -bom.; bardment of the American trenches -j ' at a certain point, nnng many snrap nel shells. In the midst of this a red rocket calling for a barrage as cended from the German first iinesV Before the German artillery could respond the American 75s summoned into action by a signal form the first line laid a curtain of fire along vthe enemy first lines. Then b&ganHha battle of the gunners. The increased intensity of the. German firewas "met immediately by the Americans, ;wbo not only showered" shells on!vthe "orig inal sector, but quickly y extended i their activity, to a wide front. ?j7 Within 20 minutes the" 75s v.and larger pieces were booming all along the valley, the shelling finally spread ing to a town in which regimental headquarters was located." 1 ' As darkness settled down the guns grew quiet. ' ' . Heavy mists again overhung the ' American sector today. Consequent': ly there was little artillery work -nd no aerial activity. ' LIKELY TO ABANDON . HEATLESS MONDAYS Order Expected to Follow Conference of Adminstra-; tors in Washington 5 1:1 , , , 1 ' i I - . ' - -6". . " Washington, Feb. '4. Heatless, Monday, being observed ' forthe third time today, may be abandoned. by the 1 Fuel Administration as the result Of - K - a conference of State administrations being held here. ' , 7-777 The conference was called .by Fuel " Administrator. Garfield to ascertain,,':'. the saving of coal effected by thefivX" 7, day industrial closing, order "and 5 the 7? heatless Mondays already' observecL 0 Fuel officials have indicated that re ' ; ports of the closing showed satisfao ' y tory results, the. ; heatless? holidays 7; might be discontinued. - 7 T.7';., . Final decision in thematter , is. ex oected tomorrow H at a conferenca7be75J tweeh Administrator -Garfield 7V and " ' intjturv ut;u6rai Aica-aoo. , . ..- 4 : - German.- .'Trenelies'i Jtyto&fltf.:' 7 London, Feb., 4"Eafly.''last'nigtt":-r;t:.3 a party of . our troops raided the jen-; emys trenches 'east of HarglcourV'i says todays official 7 announcement. 7, ; "The hostile artillery:; was active dor r.' inJ gthenight in, the neighborhood cl , Lens and northeast .ef Gavorella," i- M ! . 1 1 1 7 -. . . t' --?-7 y f