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4-.; ?.v.a WEATHER. North and South Caro lina: Fair tonight and Saturday. - ISPA HOME i i EDITION VOL XXiV. NO. 142. SIXTEEN PAGES WILMINGTON. NORTH CAROpNA. FRIDAY EVENING, MAY 31, 1918. FWE CENTS TIDE OF HUN THRUST IN CENTER FLOWS ON GERMANY AND cRUSSIA -. .11; lOvTrtxtit; 1918: BrJsfebX. t TOWARD THE MARNE it Hanotaux Compares Situation With Great Battle of 19 1 4 1 ME W-IL TC ADVANCE OF HUNS BORDERS ON MARNE Explosives Hurled On . AB " 1 Sides of Big Hospital '. . MANY BABIES KILLED 1 1 "ell Execu I'd Strokes Link Up Their Tavo Battlefields ALLIES DRIVEN BACK Present Thrust .Has Brought Huns in Two Miles of the Marne WEDGE VERY NARROW Artillery of Enemy Has Been Active on British Front East of Amiens and in Albert Region Keeping the tide of their advance in the center flowing strongly, al though seemingly , less swiftly toward the Marne, the Germans simultaneous ly have executed a stroke on the al lied left flank that has extended the batle line westward and; virtually linked up the- present battlefield with that of the Somme. The attack was delivered along the . Ailette river, northwest of Soisosns; Sweeping forward in the salient be tween the Somme and the Aisne bat tlefields; the Germans" drove the "allied line back so that it now runs north westward from the vicinity of Sois sons, through Epagny and Blerancourt to the Oise river, apparently at its point of junction with the Oise canal about'eight miles east of Noyon. The Noyon -area "was included within the field of the German offensive in March when the irench established new lines along the Oise, and the Oise canal to the east and southwest of that town after being driven back below St. Quentin. The German drive down the Oise valley toward Paris "was then checked, The present offensive movement here suggests the possibility of its resump tion. The advance in the center has brought the Germans within two miles of the . Marne, Paris, , dispatches , Re port. The wedge here appears in creasingly narrow, however ami .on. its flanks below Soissbns and Rheims the enemy is reported firmly, held. The -French war office announces the breaking down of enemy attacks in the Soissons' area and to the south iile on the allied right the' line ex trading northeastward tOWard-Rheims from the neighborhood of Veiilly, ap pears virtually unhanged, the Ger mans failing in all their efforts to win ground. The energetic defense on the right wing is exemplified by the fiyhting at Thillois, three miles east of Rheims, where the Germans entered the town only to be, driven out by a French counter attack. By such re sistance the safety of Rheims is mo mentarily. safeguarded, but observers of the operation view its ultimate fall as apparently inevitable:' The probability of German penetra tion rightup to the banks of the Marne in the center of the advance is likewise indicated in the news dis patches which mention the near ap proach of the Germans to Chateau Thierry andTDormans, both of which towns are on the Marne rivr. The civilian population has left Chateau Thierry and some of the refugees from it have" already passed through Paris for the interior. On the British front the Germans are active with their artillery east of Amiens and in the Albert region to the north, as well as on portions of the Flanders front, but no infantry movements of note are reported. In the Toul sector on the French front the Americans have carried out a successful raid. Paris and London view the situation more favorably and in' neither capital is there fear that the German offen sive will become as serious a menace to the allied defense as . the original onslaught in March. Although the German salient is about 18 miles deep, in the center, Paris is not much nearer, nor has the enemy advance yet affected the allied lines eastward from Montdidier. In fact, the Germans would be in a dan gerous position should General Foch strike eastward along the Aisne from Soissons. This may be the purpose f the allied strategy in holding strongly on the flanks as the Germans Set deeper and deeper into the pocket toward the M irne. The aerial activity over the territory of the German advance is most in tense and French airmen .have dropped many tons of bombs on ene my targets in addition "to bringing down 19 German machines. Berlin claims the capture of much war material, including a number of the larger French guns." ; The number f prisoners now is said to be more than 35,000. Elsewhere on the western . . front there has been little activity. The ar Jillery has increased in Picardy, but 'n antry actions there and in Flanders nave been limited to raidi. West of Montdidier the American troops still maintain their, hold bn antigny despite German counter at tacks. The Americans in their suc cessful attack captured 242 prisoners, 'atest reports say. Fighting continues ground Cantigny, but neither the ene my artillery nor infantry has been GERMAN MACHINES WTO GROUND Much 4ial Activity on the Amefcjj V Front Near Toul .- . RICKEl GHER DARING . Saved KL-oner After Latter Had' Torn Wing of His Airplane THRILLING AIR FIGHTS One American; Aviator -Cap- tured and Was . Last - been Entering-Trenches Un der Enemy Guns ' With" the American Army in France, Thursday, May 30. There was much aerial activity on the front northwest of Toul today and. two, if not three, German machines were shot down. Lieutenant Edward Rickenbacher, the former automobile racer, not only brought down one machine, but res- f cued Lieutenant James " A. Meissner, of . Brooklyn, after his machine- had been damaged. Single-handed, Rick enbacher attacked two Albatross bi planes and three monoplanes. A hun attacked another, which sought safety dred rounds sent one of the biplanes crashing to the ground , The lieuten ant attacked another, which sought safety in flight. Meanwhile, the re maining German macine had descend ed too low for Rickenbacher to attack. As "he was returning "borne he saw four German airplanes coming toward him lie -turned :and saw Lieutenant Meissner, who. was nyfn& "high, attack oh? etteat? machine Just; a .secoM tltft-p'fl Slacked MeisaBr4; Meissners machine collided with One of the. enemy and a wing of the Amer ican's' airplane was torn. .. Meissner immediately ' turned toward home when a third enemy machine, seeing that he was crippled, took hastily af-1 ter him. Rickenbacher made a long dive and drove off the German with his machine gun, undoubtedly saving Meissner. ' The contest took place east of Thiacourt. , In another fight two American pilots were forced to withdraw because their Runs became Jammed just- as they attacked the nemy. Another uilot encountered five hostile ma chines and had fired six bursts with out apparent damage and the enemy machines retired. Later five Americans saw two ene my machines over Apremont. They attempted to get away as the Ameri cans came up, but two Americans got On the tail of one of the enemy ma- rhines. Hundreds of . bullets were fired into the fuselage of the German airnlane and it crashed into a wood The other enemy machine was chased down by an American and it was seen tn overturn as it reached tne ground The results of several other combats hMfl not vet been reported. An American aviator was captured by the Germans in No Man's Land m J Jl after his macmne naa Deen aamagea in a fieht between five American ma r.hinAs and a German squadron. The American aviator was last seen going into the enemy trenches under cover of German rifles. 40 GERMAN DIVISIONS ENGAGED IN BATTLE London, May 31. Forty German di visions are engaged in the Aisne bat tle and- 40 more divisions are m re serve, says a dispatch from Reuters correspondent at French headquar ters. It is possible, the dispatch adds, that the enemy may strike another blow for Amiens or Dunkirk, but for the moment he appears to be throw ing his entire strength into the con flict on the ' Aisne. Fierce street fighting, it is added, attended the cap ture of Soissons by the Germans. Th9 city- is reported to have been in flames Wednesday evening. Revolt In Kiev Province. Moscow, Wednesday, May 29. Strong revolutionary detachments of demobilized Russian soldiers and peas ants equipped with" machine guns and artillerv have risen in the district of Tschigerhie in the province of Kiev, in an attempt to seize governmental power. The Bolshevik! government has . been asked to send troops to sub due the revolutionaries. able to makei any impression on the Ameican' defense. Lively fighting also has taken place on the Luneville and Toul sectors. In aerial fighting northwest of Toul an American aviator fell prisoner to the enemy. .Two German machines were destroyed and another sent down out of control. In northern Italy there has been no infantry activity of moment. The ar tillery duel there is less violent. Consolidating His Eastei'n Conquests. i m The German P. 5. Terms Are Tribute Paid French For Their Aid During Revolution EYES TEAR-DIMMED Lincoln's Speech at Gettys burg Read During Memo rial Day Services HEROISM IS GLORIFIED French Civilians Placed Their Floral Tributes on Graves and Cemetery Was Cov ered With Flowers . "With. the American Army in France, Thursday,, May 30. In the memorial day exercises in the rear of the Amer ican sector in Picardy a small Ameri can flag and flowers were placed on each graveof an American soldier. The ceremony was in charge of four American chnlainsJ and one French chaplain, assisted by the Salvation Army representatives. Lincoln's Get tysburg speecn was read, arter wnmh the band played religious and patriot ic anthems. Prayers were said in English and French. Chaplain Thomas Dickson, of the American army, paid tribute to France for her aid during the American revolution; and drew lessons from the lives of Washington, LaFayette and Rocham beau. It was most touching to see old women, old men and children from the nearby villages standing near the American graves with flowers in their hands. Tears were in many eyes as Chaplain Dickson spoke. "The living would speak to the dead, and by placing flowers on their graves tell them that their sacrifice has not been in vain," he said. The Rev. Father A. Cadoux, the French chaplain, paid tribute to the dead American soldiers and to the val or and heroism of France. He said that the mothers, fathers, sisters wives and sweethearts of the Ameri can - dead may rest assured that the French will always care for the graves of their heroes. The French civilians then placed their floral tributes on the graves. The little cemetery was literally covered with flowers. The touch of the war was not miss ins: and just at the close of the serv ice American anti-aircraft guns began to fire on German airmen hidden be hind the clouds. A touching picture was added to the ceremony when a horse belong ing to one of the American officers killed at Cantigny was led to the grave of his dead master, where he re mained until the ceremony was over.- TOUCHING SCENES ftt IJKAVtS UtvuhAU the Worst. Teaching . FALL OF R UINS OF rtriJOiiiYi MJF IS NOW London, May 31 . The abandon ment of Rheims seems inevitable. The Germans are( nearing the Marne andV the Paris-Chalons railway, which Is the main communication between Paris and Verdun. Although the pace of the German advance has . slackened owing to the arrival of the allied reserves, it is rec ognized that the allies have a difficult task .to prevent further development of the menacing enemy success. Cor respondents ; say the retreat over the Aisne was a most difficult feat of war fare both as regards calm generalship and the courage of the troops. The ground was repeatedly defended to the last man. Officers were seen holding the bridges to the last moment and were then killed when they blew them up. f The Germans continued to push for ward south of Fere-En-Tardenois, ac cording to the latest advices reaching Paris, .but neither .Chateau Thierry nor Dormans have yet fallen into their hands. There is reason to hope , that Chateau Thierry, the population of which has fled, will be eaved. Chateau Thmierry is 10 miles, south of Fere-En-Tardenois, while Dormaa is six miles south of Zezlly. Both towns are on the river Marne. ORDER IS CONFERRED ON FREDERICK WILLIAM Amsterdam, May 31. Emperor Wil liam has conferred upon Crown Prince Frederick William the star of grand commander of the royal order of tho house of Hohenaollern, with swords, a Berlin dispatch today announces. In bestowing the decoration the emperor sent" the following telegram: "In view of the great sucoess which the brave, battle-proved troops of your army group have gained in these days under your command, I confer upon you the star of grand command of the royal order of the house of Hohenzollern with swords, and con vey to you my heartiest congratula tions on this high and well merited distinction." STEVENS MANAGER OF CHESAPEAKE & OHIO Roanoke, Va., May 31. George W. Stevens, former president of the Ches apeake "and Ohio, has been appointed federal manager of that road, it was announced today. He has accepted. T. S. Davant, of Roanoke, has been chosen traffic assistant and D. E. Shansjler, of Roanoke, transportation assistant to N. D. Maher, federal di recor of the Pocahontas district. At the same time it is announced that the Virginia-Carolina and the New River, Holston and Western rail roads, short lines in Southwest Vir ginia, have been put under manage ment "of A. C. Needles, federal "man ager of the Norfolk and Western. Them to Take a Yoke, GERMANS INEVITABLE SOLDIERS GAVE STEAKS AND ROASTS TO FAMILY Negro Woman Tells of Geil fuss Getting Supplies From Camp Anderson, S. C, May 31. When adjournment was taken for dinner this afternoon three witnesses had been examined by the government in the case against A. Geilfuss, the Spartan burg baker, accused of receiving goods stolen from the government. Gussie Hames, a negro women em ployed up until the time of Geilfuss' arrest, as a cook in the Geilfuss home, testified that soldiers from ' Camp Wadsworth had come to the eilfus home on several occasions and had brought steaks and roast for the fam ily and bones for Mr. Geilfuss' dogs. Former Governor John Gary Evans, chief counsel for Mr. eilfuss, subjected the witness to a gruelling cross-examination' of over an hour, but failed to shake her story substantially. W. L. Johnson, a white driver of one of eilfuss' trucks used inj deliver ing bread, testified that on one occa sion, while he was delivering ' bread at Camp Wadsworth, Geilfuss' son haled him and had him drive to one of the mess shacks where two sacks were placed in the truck by soldiers. One the way to town young Geilfuss opened one of the sacks, which the witness said contained pineapple and other canned goods. W. L. Bryant, a Spartanburg po liceman, testified that he saw the mil itary police arrest two soldiers carry ing a sack containing canned goods to Geilfuss' home. Military police at Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, testified at the prelimi nary hearing before the tfnited States commissioner at Spartanburg, that they saw soldier cooks at the camp place sacks in Geilfuss' automobile, and that. they followed the automobile to Geilfuss' home, where they found in the sacks some canned goods. The goods were seized by" the police. Senator Tillman and Representative Nicholls both issued statements after the arrest, in which they strongly de fended Geilfuss from the charges and the case worked its way Into the Con. gressional Record when Representa tive Nicholls had read into it his rea sons for interceding with federal offi cials in Geilfuss behalf. Geilfuss declared in a statement that soldiers at the camp whom he had entertained in his home had been giving him bones for his dogs and he had supposed that the sacks which the police found contained only "bones. CHIEFS ARE CONFIDENT To Take Advantage of Success Germans Must Bend Wings Bact EFFORTS BEEN IN VAIN Reserves Are Coming Up Rap idly to Battle Line With Plenty of Artillery and Auxiliary Services Paris, May 31. The extreme point of the German advance, or Le Ghar- mei is about two miles north of the river Marne, according to an outline of the battle front, as marked out by a newspaper correspondent, the Ha vas agency says. . The fifchtiner front, it is declared. runs as follows: Fiom Chavieny north . of Soissons. It describes a circle west of that cltv nnd rejoins the river Ciise south at Soissons. .Then it goes to Berzy, fol lows tne Soissons-Chateau Thierry road, until near Hartennes, where it bends southeast to Graad Rozov. Then on southward, leavinr Mulchv-Le-Cha teau, it passes Nanteuil-Notre Dame and advances . toward th Mam tn Courcy, Brecy, Cournoil and Le Char. mei, wnicn marks, Its extreme south ern point. Through Vezilly, Broulllet, oevigny and Tnillols, it runs north eastward to the environs of Rfefiims The newspapers do not attemnt-to minimize tne importance of the Ger mau advance. Gabriel Hanotaux, in the Figaro, compares the stratee-ln situation with that on the eve of the Dattle of the Marne. All the r.ommn tators,. however, express confidence that the high command will so dis pose the allied -troops -as to. restore the situation, which L'Homme L"bre considers to have reached its maxi mum point of gravity yesterday. The Petit Parisfen says the government officials wbfr saw'the army chiefs yes terday returned in the evening still confident.' - v A- .. . ...... It isnUff Tesisfehce of the two' wings 01 tne ained rorces wnich Inspires the confidence of-all the m'lltary critics. To take victorious advantage of the success they have so far gained the Germans must succeed in bending these two hinges, and all their efforts to do this, up to this time, have been in vain. Another reason for tie confidence Is the arrival of allied reserves. Be I4es the mention in the official re port of the beinning of intervention by these reserves, the Echo De Paris, in a dispatch from the front, filed at 2 a. m. today, reorts the reserve ar riving on the battle ground with artil lery and auxiliary services. Their en trance into action, the mesiage re ports, is being effected methodically without any display of nervouwess. General Foch and General Petain are workin Intimately together, it adds. In commenting on the interveation of the fresh forces, L'Homme Libre ays it does not appear doubtful that the enemy has reached the extreme eoint of his advance, and that he will encounter the allied reserves, careful ly withheld until a favorable moment for a counter attack. NOTIFY RAILROAD MEN OF M'ADOOSTATFJENT Strike of Shop Forces Means Blow at Prosecution of the War Washington, May 31. Railroad shop men of the United States were today notified through their union heads of the statement Issued by Di rector General of Railroads McAdoo last night, reminding them that they are government employes in Ume of war and that a strike or any cessation of work at the present time would be a direct blow to the prosecution of the war. The statement issued in oon ago.of several hundred machinists nection with the walkout a few days and ghopmen at the Alexandria, Va., hops of the Southern railway and threats of a general strike of umion shop men next Monday unless addl tiomal pay advances are granted, de clares "the government cannot be coerced or intimidated b yany of Its The shopmen are reminded by Di rector McAdoo that a board on rail road wages and working conditions has been created which will hear all cases in which a group of employes feel justioe has not been done. Re ferring to the Alexandria walkout, the director deolared it was "the first time in the history of our government that any of its employes have attempted a strike against their government." Will Discuss Mobilization. Washington, May 81. Mobilization of the nation's man power for war produotion will be considered at a conference of federal employment di rectors here June 13 to 16, the depart ment of labor announced today. Several Civilians Are Dead and Injured and Houses Are Wrecked A VILLAGE IS SHELLED Piece of Bomb Struck-Nurso While Ministering to Patient . in Hospital Southern Girls in Building ' With the American Army in France, -Thursday, ".May 30. German 'airme made a pretentious raid on the area behind the American lines in Picardy last night. Bombs were -dropped oa; all sides of one of the largest hos- pitals in a town many miles to the rear of the front American and French wounded soldiers were carried ' to cellars and caves by American nurses and members of the American. Red Cross. Only a few persons were injured by flying glass as most of the windows in the hospitals had been shattered by bci.ius dropped toe previous night. Several private houses were wrecked and a number of civilians, Including several babies, were killed and in jured. That the raid was planned on a much larger scale than recent one's over this territory is evidenced from leports made by many Americans p. villages over which the raiders pass ed. The Germans came in wave f or lnsticn and then scattered widely. One squadron dropped bombs a few hun-, dred feet from an American field ho$ pital and at the same time one of the' long range guns shelled a village a few hundred yards away. r . The first alar mwas sounded at 11 o'clock. The dropping of bombs and the firing of many anti-aircraft guns began "almost immediately. After a brief pause the raiders returned, to re main almost until, dawn. . - -. A new Americanevacuatlon hospi tal had been opened only yesterday in a certain village. A bomb fell in front of it last night and shattered windows, but none of the patients was injured. 5 In some instances the bombs fell within 30 and 40 feet of a hospital building, but fortunately there were no direct hits. , A French nurse, her mother and two little sitsers were k-lled in- 4 house a short distance from a hospi tal. Another nurse was standing on, the upper floor of the hospital, min istering to patients, when a piece of bomb struck her, pierc'ng her lung. Five American nurses were in the same hospital. They, were: Miss Maiy McCadlish, Atlanta; Miss Natalie Scott, of New Orleans; Miss Helen Spalding, of Brooklyn; Miss Blanche Gilbert, of Cleveland, and Miss Con-' stance Cook, of San Francisco. While the raid was in progress they went about cheering the patients. Although mny serious cases of sick and wound ed were aggravated because they had to be moved, the nurses had to carry them to the lower floors and the cel' lar. "It was an excitinf time," said Miss Scott, "but there was no panic. Some of our boys actually slept through it all, although their beds were shower ed with broken glass.' Is Georgia Women. Atlanta. Ga., May 31. Miss Mary, McCandlish, one of the American nurses under fire in a German air raid Wednesday night, was born at Ma rietta, Ga., near Atlanta. She is a daughter of Mrs. Charles McCandlish of Smith college, Northampton, Mass., and has a sister, also a trained nurse, ; at Detroit. Miss McCandlish received her training at St. Mary's hospital. New York, and for sevral years was , well known as a settlement worker at the Henry street mission, New York. ill' CALL 280.000 TO COLORS DURING JUNE Quotas Will Be Ordered to Report to Camp on June 24 Washington, May 31. Official an nouncement was made today that -280,000 men will be called to the col- I ors during June. They will be order ed to report June 24,- but it ttur not " yet been determined to what campa they can be assigned, so the list of apportionments is for the present be" Ing withheld. ... -The quota is based on estimates ot the space available for the men In ' camps and cantonments. If the rate, of shipment of troops across again Is , raised still more men may be called. , In any event the probabilities are that enough men will be called! for: special service to round the number-' out to 300,000. - " Ml tyr. St' ! IS T - i 'Mi r f i r 9 t -J-
The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.)
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May 31, 1918, edition 1
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