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WEATHER.
North and South Cars
(j a- Fair tonight and
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PAG;.
TODAY
-1
FULL. LEASED WIRE SERVICE.
VOL. XXIV. No. 79
WILMINGTON. NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY AFTERNOON. MARCH 28. 1918
PRICE FIVE CENTS
HE WIUyMMiOr
OF GREAT BATTLE OPEKll
SECOND
atfak mmis
Eighth Day of the German
Drive Marks Intense
Fighting
BRITISH MAKING
COUNTER ATTACKS
Enemy Checked at All Except
Two Points Submarines
Took a Heavy Toll Last
Week. Americans Vigilant
Striking with almost unexampled
fury against the Allied front near the
point where the French and British
lines connect, the. Germans yesterday
and last night drove in a deep wedgs
to the west and forced the French
out of Tont Didier.
This, town, which lies 19 miles
southeast of Amiens, one of the Ger
man 'objectives, is 10 miles west of
Roye. which the Germans took on
Tuesday.
The threat againsT7Amiens in rh
north seems to be well held by the
British along their front north of the
Somme, where-they have maintained
their line firmly at all poins and even,
as indicated by today's official re
port, have advanced it in places.
In the Noyon and Lassigny regions
and along the Oise to the east the
French, are likewise preventing " the
Gernmns towueiUng .ajv . opening.
The force of -their drive was thus dir
verted to the' west , of theJRoye re
gion and: the forward push there de
Teloped probably the fiercest fighting
of the present battle.
Paris characterizes the engagement
as of "unheard of ferocity. Ths
French regiments, however, fought
with their accustomed bravery and
made the Germans pay dearly for ev
ery bit of ground they covered in
their desperate push for an outlet,
the French finally retiring in good
order to the heights to the west of
Mont Didier. News dispatches from
the front this morning reported the
line in this sector to be holding well.
While this effort to drive in be
tween the British and French armies
was being carried out in the south,
the Germans, apparently worried by
the salient they were creating and
wishing to protect their - rignt wing
from a flanking attack, have develop
ed a threat in the extreme north of
the present front in th region east of
Arras. London reports the beginning
this morning of a heavy bombard
ment of the British lines in this sec
tor followed by the development of
an attack.
The possibility is not lost sight of
that this attack so far on the north
front, may herald the extension of
the active fighting frontal along the
lines to the north in the development
a German push for the channel
Ports. Seemingly, however, the en
emy has all he can take care of in
the ay of opposition in the pres
ent field of the offensive and the piob
ability points to the Arras threat
proving a protective rather than a
flew offensive measure. Meanwhile,
the German line is being extended to
?n apparently dangerous extent on
the Southern front, where a flanking
operation has been pointed to as most
&ply to prove effective. -
Checked all along the front of- more
than SO miles, except at two points,
ftp German drive is fast slowing up.
T!'2 beginning of the second week of
ft? sreat battle was opened with
Probably the most colossal attack In
jnstory and continues with the most
intense fighting, finds the British and
French holding tenaciously to the
Western edge of the old Somme bat
tlefield, while inflicting further loss
es upon the enemy. - ,
, British counter attacks have begun
'n the region of Albert, which the
(jermans hold, but from which they
ave been unable to advance because
of the resistance of the British who
doggedly repulsed enemy attacks all
Jjly Wednesday. South of- Albert,
F'eld Marshal Haig lias carried out
several counter attacks and has ad
vanced his line eastward between the
Somme and Ancre about one mile.
suth of the Somme the British have
regained Proyart and ' have repulsed
strong attacks at Rosieres.
Along the Ancre, north of Albert,'
tfle British threw the Germans back
a"oss the river and drove them,froro
towns between Albert and: Mon-
. O-n fhis frnT "which haff. held
I fast for more than two days, the Brit-
f: 'sh also have repulsed strong rienemy
On the Southern flant the French
"ate held the German advance , west
f Koyon. At Lassigny;- northwest of
oyon, after heavy ChUteS, Vjttwjj
FRENCH DRIVE GERMANS
BACK.
London, March 28. French
troops this morning counter attack
ed with great dash and drove back
the enemy on a front of 10 kilome
tres to a depth of three kilometres
southward of Noyon.
MONT DIDIER CAPTURED.
Berlin, March 28. (British Ad
miralty per Wireless Press) Troops
of the German Crown Prince hav
ing penetrated to a depth of 60 kil
ometres (37) miles) from St. Quen
tin, across the Somme, have cap
tured Mont Didier, says today's of
ficial report. The German losses
have been kept within normal lim
its, says the communication, al
though they have been heavier at
the vital points on th front. The
slightly wounded are estimated at
60 o 70 per cent.
But One Gain.
London, March 28. In the last
24 hours, the Germans have made
but one comparatively trifling gain
as the resuJt of numerous massed
attacks Jalong the whole front,
says Reuter's correspondent at
British headquarters For the
British there may be claimed sev
eral distinct local successes, either
in completely . repelling enemy
blows or in wresting back ground
won by counter attacks.
TU
ARMY CAPTURED.
Londonr "Marcfi '"287 TJVe entire
Turkish force in the Hitarea in
Mesopotamia has been captured or
destroyed by the British, the war
office announces. Three thousand
prisoners were taken.
MORE AMERICANS
RECEIVE HONORS
Paris, March 28. Three officers and
11 men of the United States Army
Ambulance Corps have been decora
ed with the War Cross by the French
government. The men to receive the
honor are Lieutenant Joseph Green
wood, of section 633; Lieutenant Alan
D. Kinsley, Lieutenant Otka F. Dober,
Privates Louis E. Timson, Arthur U.
Crosby, John F. " Fitzpatrick, Robert
E. Gar, C. V. Tompkins, J. T. Jones,
John S. Wood, Richard Baker, Peter
U. Muir, of section 516 and Privates
Richard Y. Buel and George Repley
Butler of Section 642.
French have retired slightly toward
Mont, Didier, being overwhelmed by
superior numbers.
The notes of pessimism in the pub
lished sfatements of German leaders
since they failed to break through and
roll up one side of the - British lino
are added to by the recent German
official statement, the latest one of
which says that the German attack
is "slowly progressing."
The German casualties are estimat
ed to be between 300,000 and 500,000
and it is reported that long hospital
trains are pouring into Belgium and
Germany over all available railroad
lines.
with thp Allied lines holdin
siminAt the enemv onslaughts, a j
counter blow may be in preparation.
Premier Clemencoau -has declared
that the moment is near when the
Germans would not be able to hold
the gains they have made at such
great loss.
On the seas as well as on the land,
the German offensive last week was
very strong. Enemy submarines and
mines accounted for 28 British ships,
16 of more than 1,600 tons. .The to
tal is greater than that for any week
since last September 16. In the pre
vious week 17 steamers, including 11
Of the larger tonnage, were sunk .
French and Italian losses also increas
ed somewhat and the aggregate for
these three mrchant marines was 37.
Heavy artillery fighting continues
on the American sector northwest of
Toul but.no infantry actions have de
veloped. What was believed to be
German preparation for an attack
was checked by a heavy American
bombardment, the German troops not
leaving their trenches. There is
much activity behind the . German
lines, but so far the enemy has not
shown what this portends. There
has been no change on the Lunevllle
x In Palestine, north of the Dead Sea,
British troops occuped EsSalt, south
of MtjQilead, and are approaching
the Hedjaz railway past of Jericho.
The railway has been, the Turki sh
base in the operation ast pf J eru-
taleau.
DOSSAL
PROGRESS
GENERAL MAURICE
DISCOUNTS CLAIMS
BY GERMAN OFFICE
Says Probably 600 Guns Have
Been Lost and 100
Tanks
DOUBTS CLAIMS OF
PRISONERS CAPTURED
Says Germany's Powers of
Exaggeration Are Too
Well Known to Believe
Her Statements -
London, March 2. England, is con
sidering her losses in the fighting in
France must take into consideration
the "usual German exaggeration,"
Majer Gen. Frederick B. Maurice,
chief director of military operations
at the war office, said today. "In the
pa,st," he. declared, "thaGermans haye,
tfsu&lly'giveh "We "Captures- of prison
ers and guns in round numbers, not
as actually counted, but as antici
pated from the general sitation. It is
reasonable to assume that the same
thing is being done now.v
"Our total loss of guns, either from
falling into the hands of the enemy
or by being knocked out, is about 600,
according to our best information.
This compares with the German claim
of 950.
"Probably the same ratio holds good
regarding German claims Of prison
ers, and it must be remembered that
the German count of prisoners include
many of piir wounded whom we were
unable to take with us.
"We have lost probably about 100
tanks, which we used extensively in
the counter-attacks."
General Maurice said, the war office
was giving out the news as quickly
and as fully as it was received and
he urged the public to be patient.
"In these critical times," he said, "I
want to emphasize that it is every
one's duty to avoid making them more
critical and to avoid being mournful.
During the last few days some news
papers have raised the old cry that
we are concealing part of the news
because it is too serious for it to be
made public. This charge not only is
untrue but has had a bad effect be
cause it has tended to create panic.
It has tended ta make the people be
lieve that things were worse than1
they reail"' are.
"In our communications and state
ments to the puL-ie Ave are telling
ire whole tiuth as wt know it. I have
iold you on previous occasions that
.wten w aie fighting a great battle on
Tl e defensive we cannot get infor
mation or ?en:se the exact situation
as quickly as the enemy. Last year
in our offensive operations we saw
the same principle at work. In fact
the British communications were ear-
lier and nearer complete than those
of the Germans. In defensive battles
dyif onal and corps headquarters are
shifted, wires are down and the men
on the scene are occupied with build
ing up communications.
"We at the war office are just as
impatient as you are for the news
and as soon as the situation steadies
we will again be receiving the hourly
developments and promptly. Mean
while let us be. patient."
ATLANTA MAN GETS
A GOLD CROSS
Washington, March 28. Dr. St. J. B.
Graham, of Atlanta, Ga., today was
awarded the gold cross of honor by
the American Cross of Honor for res
cuing in 1894 the crew of the British
bark Mary E. Chapman, stranded on
Stone Hore reef, Tybee Island, Geor-J
gia. Congress previously had awarded
Dr. Graham the gold medal of hoj&or
of the United States government and
he had received a gold medal from
the Canadian government In recogni
tion of his heroism.
Forty-Fifth Death
Fort Worth, Texas, March 28. A
cadet of the Royal Filying Corps was
killed at noon today at Benbrook, a
British aviation field. He- is the forty
fifth aviator to meet death since the
'.fields were opened here in October
THE
RENEWS H
0MSLA
Paris, March 28. Blocked on the Lassigny and Noyon
fronts and on the left bank of the Oise, the Germans last
night threw forward important forces in the region of Mont
Didier, the war office announced today. Here the fighting
rapidly took on extraordinary ferocity.
French regiments fought hand-to-hand with the enemy and
inflicted heavy losses.
Finally the French fell back to the heights immediately to
the west of Mont Didier.
The text reads:
"The battle was fought with sustained violence yesterday
evening and last night. The Germans, blocked by the valiant
French troops and cruelly punished before the Lassingy and
Noyon fronts and the left bank of the river Oise, concentrated
all their efforts on the French left, and threw forward impor
tant forces in the region of Mont Didier.
"At this point the engagements soon developed an unheard
of ferocity. French regiments, fighting hand-to-hand, in
flicted heavy losses upon the assailants and did not falter.
Finally they withdrew in order to the heights immediately to
the west of Mont Didier.
"There has'been intermittent cannonading on the remainder
of the front."
Fighting Furiously.
London, March 28. Prisoners and machine guns have
been captured by the British the war office announces. The
fighting continues fiercely on both banks of the Somme.
This mornins the enemv ODened a heavy bombardment on
BtmilIas. - An attack is developing
. . . ' .
in mis sector.
Repeated attacks were made by the enemy along the val
ley ofthe Somme in the neighborhood of , Beaumont-Hamel,
Puisieux and Moyenneville. They were repulsed.
Reference in the official British statement to the attack east
of Arras evidently means that the Germans have widened
their battle front and are delivering a new stroke on the north.
The battle was begun last week on a front extending as far
north as the river Scarpe, the junction of which, with the bat
tle line is almost due east of Arras. The fighting north of the
river has been reported. The attacks which are developing
today may mark the beginning of a second phase of the bat
tle. German military writers in the last few days are hinting
that surprises were in store for the British and there has been
much discussion of the possibility of the German drive for the
coast with the channel ports of Calais and Dunkirk as the objectives.
FOOD PRICES MAKE
ANOTHER BIG JUMP
Increase of One Per Cent.
Recorded for Month End
ing February 1 5
Washington, March 28. Food prices
took another jump of 1 per cent of
January 15 to February 15, making a
total of 21 percent, for the year end
ing on the latter date, the bureau of
labor statistics announced today.
Only three of 16 standard articles
failed to advance while eight increas
ed and five did not change. Sugar
showed the greatest increase of 12
per cent; hens 10, round steak 3, sir
loin steak, chuch roast, and butter 2,
ham 1, lard less than one per cent.
Eggs took the sharpest decline of 9
per cent, pork chops 2, and bacon 1
per cent. Milk, bread flour, corn meal
and potatoes remained stationary.
In the year ending February 15 po
tatoes alone dropped in price, the de-j
crease being 35 per cent. Increases ;
were as follows: i
Corn meal 71; bacon 557; lard 51; J
ham 38; hens and milk 35; sugar 30 Tj
chops 48. j
Increases in other articles ranged!
from 17 per cent for sirloin .steak, rib
roast, bread and flour, to 24 per cent
for butter.
COUNTER ATTACK EXPECTED
Washington, March 28. Ameri
can staff officers, studyfng closely
the war maps and latest dispatch
es from the battlefront, are of the
opinion that developments of mo
ment in the Allied counter attack
will begin t? show themselves on
the battle field today or tomor
row. JL s
NEMY
TTOiTTrnn
Mi
RECAPTURE OF ODESSA
B
City Was First Bombarded by
Cruisers Coming From
' Sebastopol
Petrograd, Wednesday, March 27.
Official dispatches published here con
Firm the report that Odessa has been
recaptured by the Bolsheviki troops.
Odessa was first bombarded by
cruisers which came from Sebastopol.
There was desparate fighting for three
days in the vicinity of Sebastopol-, be
tween the Bolsheviki and Austro-Ger-man
detachments.
The latest war bulletins report Au-stro-Gefmans
to be within 40 miles
of Yekaterinoslav, a commercial and
industrial town about 250 miles north
east of Odessa.
WORKED LIKE VETERANS.
Paris, March 28. "Entirely new
in this warfare, the Americans
worked like the best veterans in
the Battle of the Somme," says a
wounded French captain who has
been brought back from the front,
according to LaLiberte.
Two of the Americans, officers
who were wounded, were brought
back with the French captain, a
member of the dragons. Each
American wore a French war cross
conferred on the battlefield.
The French captain refused to re
ceiv attention until the Americans
along side him had first been nurs
ed. "They are the ones who should
be congraiulaiftl," li- s:;id. calling
upon the women of the Red Cross
to look after the Americans.
HAS
EN
CONFIRMED
UCHN0WSKY LAYS
BLAME OF
DOORS
LICHNOWSKY TELLS
D
PRE-WAR DISPUTE
Former Ambassador's Person
al Memorandum Was Not
Intended for Public
LATEST REVELATION
SHOWS JEALOUSIES
Negotiations Concerning Berlin-Bagdad
Railway. Ger
many Was Jealous of
England's Power
Stockholm, , March 28. Anglo-German
negotiations concerning the Ber
lin-Bagdad railway and German naval
and commercial jealousy of Great
Britain are touched upon in further
sections of the personal memorandum
written by Prince Licknowsky, Ger
man ambassador at London at the
outbreak of the war. Excerpt from the
memorandum are being published by
Jhe feen af have 'brought
the Prince into disfavor in German
officialdom, because of his frank
statements on German diplomaccy,
which he did not intend to be made
public.
Prince Lichnowsky, after describing
efforts to secure a better understand
ing between Germany and England
and the negotiations over the Anglo
German treaty refers to the so-called
Bagdad railway treaty. This aimed in
fact at a division at Asia-Minor into
spheres of interest although the
Prince writes, this expression was
carefully avoided in consideration of
the rights of the Sultan of Turkey.
Referring to the difficult question
of German naval activity, Prince Lich
nowsky says it was never judged
quite correctly. The creation of a
mighty fleet on the other shore of the
North sea and the simultaneous de
velopment of the continent's most im
portant military Power into a most
important naval power, he declares,
had at least to be. recognized by Great
Britain as uncomfortable.
To maintain the necessary lead and
preserve the supremacy of the seas,
the Prince adds, Great Britain had to
undertake preparation and expenses
whi(Vh wp.ie-hp.fl hp.avllv nn thp. tax-
PaVfiffi. Thfi thrP.af against British
a
world position was that the German
policy permitted tne posibility of a
warlike development to appear. This
possibility the Prince asserts, was ob
viously near during the Moroccan
crisis and the Bosnian question.
The powers had become reconciled
to the German fleet in its definite
strength. Obviously it was not wel
come to Great Britain, and the .Prince
declares, constituted one of the mo
tives for England's joining hands with
Russia and France.
On account of the German fleet
atone .rnnce ucKnowsKy says ureai
Britain would have drawn the sword
as little as on account of German
ANGLO
GERMAN
: ldue wmuu it yieimeu caii tiiut Count Mensdorff that these 'per
S her Jealousy and finally brought about ! sonages. had agreed .there would hi
war." From the begining Prince Lick-jno harm if war wUfc Rugsl ;:
I nowsky says he adopted the stand-!tQ jj, -v
! point that in spite of the fleet, it H y n JagQW h v warnin;g
.would be possble to come to a friend-!abt th proable effects of tJ
ii tnp iiprm?Tis 1in Tint nronnsp tipw
votes of credit and above all, if the
Germans did carry out an indisputable
peace policy.
adds that he avoided
all mention of the German fleet and
that never a word was uttered con-jerf; jt . .
rpminr it wwaati himapif nnH sir1 Meanwhile the attitude of England
Edward Grey, then British foreign!8 auauimeiy yacinc ana me xag -j.
secretary.
Discussinc' the aueation of trade
jealousy. Prince Licknowsky says
rested on a faulty judgment of cir-
j cumstances. It is a fact, he says, that
! Germany's progress as a trading coun
try after the war of 1870 and during
the following decades threatened the
interests of British trade circles, but
the growing interchange of merchan
dise with Germany had allowed the
desire to mature to preserve good re
lations. Great Britain's best client and
business friend and this gradually
suppressed all other thoughts and mo
tives. In commercial circles, Prince Lick"
nowsky. says he found the greatest
good "will and the desire for further
econotnic Interests in common.
: rr . r 1
WAR. AT
OF BERL1M
Former Ambassador to Grea
Britain Reveals German
Diplomacy
-
HIS STORY AROUSES
A BITTER HATREpT
Fixed Gilt on Germany-
Revelation Comes at a?
Time. Wrien Xrrl-1 J Hnr
. . :.!
rifled bv Greatest Battle ; V W
London, March 28. The personnel
memorandum of. Prince Licknowsky
revealing the inner workings of Ger-
man diplomacy which has caused
much feeling in Germany against Uh
former ambassador tb Great Britaint
leaked out last summer through thej
German general staff after the fall ot
Chancellor von Hollweg.
This statement is made by the - So
cialist Vorwaerts of Berlin and is puh-
lished by the Times which also re
prints from the Vorwaerts" the most
important points of the memorandum
In an editorial on the disclosure o
the Prince, the Times says :
"By a coincidence as strange as iQ
is opportune, passages in the memo
randum in which the former German
ambassador fixed the guilt for the
war upon his own government reach,
up as the fiercest and the bloodiest
conict of the lone struerzle is at.itA
height. At the moment , when mankind ' .
is filled with horror and anguish t -u
the carnage on the . great battlefields
all eyes will turn to this account of
the policy which brought this dread :
visitation upon the world. . .:. j!
"He has not a shadow of a doubt ,
about the responsibility f drr the war;
Without hesitation he" fastens it upon
Germany. The German militarists!
were inexorable. They would not, suf ';"
fer Count Berchtold to give way f
When-he flinched from plunging Eu 'j
rope into war, they forced his hand. jj
"They delivered an ultimatum. t4 ?
Russia an dthe next day declared
war upon her, although the Russianr !
Emperor had pledged his word that !
while the negotiations continued net?-;
a man should march. " -
" 'We deliberately destroyed thel . '
possibility of a peaceful settlement j
is the former ambassadorr's consid j
ered iudsrment. He cannot feel sur '
pnsea mat une wnoie civiiizea worm
outside Germany attributes to us sole)
guilt for the world war.' The whojer
story which he records corroborate
this judgment and cannot be recon
riloH with anv niTier
"The first hint of coming trouble Vf 1 '
been Von Bethman-Hollweg's refusal
to share his ODtimism when he visits-
I ed Wilhelmstrasse early in July, 1914
The Chancellor and the under-secre pi 5
tary for foreign affairs compladnel rjtji
LoloroH that Pnccia woa tTunrwhiM ' ;A,f
uvvmitu Uiitiu "UOvJiu no i,. n uvH . J'
I in Germanv's wav. At the samfi tlina ,'1 m
he learned that Von Tchirsky,
German ambassador at Vienna
tna f
i i i j i i i j
ueen reDUKea Decause ne naa coud-jj'i
selled mediation toward Serbia. Buti'K)
tmaoa ttt xt rrtara efronro ehnnrlnfr r r C j i
direction or tne current.
"It was not until later that h
heard of the decisive conversation ati
Potsdam, on July 5 and of the abso-, .
lute assent -which 'all personages "int.-.
authority there' gave to Austria's InV
quiry that he knew that General vonu
j Moltke) tnenc hief of the
general
staff, 'was pressing for war or that ha
was informed of the statement in'th
nmtnpnl nf tho Pntarla m maoHnv cant
r r .
! by assuring him Russia was not :
ready and Germany 'must simply risk
it.' This belief as to Russian read!
!ess'.casfd .us to stimulate Count
! Berchtold to the greatest possible en.
jllsn Pres8 protested against tne -poiiv H
!ical exploitations of the Sarajevo "
it!miirders, but it sternly reproved th
crime. It at one understood that tb
unprecedent ultimatum which 'under.
stimulation' from Berlin Count' Brch
told had launched at Serbia meant ' ,
war. Still Sir Edward Grey, as ; jj erv
then was, did not despair and the" for-?
mer German ambassador bears the
strongest testimony to the sincerity; -of
unwearying efforts to avert , this.,
war which the Germans calaminouslj v
assert he provoked. v-, 'y
"The Prince declares that it would:'1
have been easy to find an acceptable '
solution for the two relatively? small
points left in dispute between Vienna"
':
(Continued on Page Nin).--j
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