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. 111 ' T 1 I
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JO m Ymr In Advance -FOR QOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH." tlngl OoplM, Cent,
VOL. XXVHI. PLYMOUTH, H. 0., FBIDAY, APRIL 5, 1918 HO. 35.
. ' ' ' i.
WILL H. HAYS
100.000 Ainu '
GENERAL FOCH
GENERAL
SUPREME
YOUR LOW TO
COUNTRY'S CAUSE
FIXED AT 300.000
SOLDIERS TO FRONT
FOCH
AS
GOIili
OFFICIAL FRENCH STATEMENT
SAYS GERMANS ARE SENDING
WOUNDED TO BELGIUM.
TO OECIEVE THEIR PEOPLE
Kaiser Would Not Have His People
Know Awful Slaughter of His Men
at the Western Front.
Washington. A French official esti
mate of the German losses in the
great battle on the western front puts
their casualties at between 275,000 and
300,000 men. The Germans are send
ing most of their wounded tT Belgium,
it is declared, to conceal from the Ger
man people their heavy losses.
It has been possible to identify, the
dispatch says, nearly 100 German di
visions, more than 10 of which were
twice engaged. Some of the divisions,
it is declared, had to be relieved at
the end of the 'first day after losing
more than half their men.
The dispatch follows:
"After an 11 days' offensive, during
which the Germans have recklessly
pushed forward their attacking waves,
one, may gather a fairly accurate es
timate of their losses.
"In the first place, it has been pos
sible to identiy nearly 100 of their
divisions since the beginning of the
offensive, more than 10 of which were
twice engaged. Some divisions had
to be relieved at the end of the first
day, having lost more than half of
their men; such was the, case of the
45th and the 88th. The latter has
been nearly entirely wipe out. Among
those that have suffered the most are
the 5th. 12th. 28th and 107th divisions,
at well as the 2nd (Prussian guard),
the 16th, the 21st and 26th divisions
of reserves.
"In the second place, an enormous
number of corpses were found on the
battleground, and the prisoners on be
ing questioned acknowledge the extent
of the losses of their respective units.
"To conceal from the German peo
ple the heavy sacrifices that their of
fensive methods required, the Ger
mans are sending most of their wound
ed to Belgium.
"It is not an exaggeration to esti
mate the total of their losses at be
tween 275,000 and 200,000. men."
GERMAN ARMIES' ADVANCE
ALMOST AT A STANDSTILL
wmle the advance of the German
armies in Picardy has come almost to
a halt, there has been severe fighting
on the extreme edge of the battle
Bone. Encounters in which large
forces have been engaged have , oc
curred north of Moreuil, but there
seems to be no decided advantage
gained by the Teutonic invaders. They
claim to have taken heights and to
have carried a wood in advance of
their line near Moreuil, but the Brit
ish say that they have driven back
the enemy from positions they have
occupied elsewhere in this sector.
The French lines further south have
stood firm against savage assaults, es
pecially in the region of Montdidier
and eastward of that place along part
of the line which was,-subjected to a
terrific strain for two days late last
week. In a number of sectors the
French have surged forward and
taken hard-earned ground from the
Germans and have established their
lines solidly along the Oise river. The
f. expected allied counter-offensive ha3
not yet come, but the Germans, who
are reported to be entrenching along
the French front, evidently expect it
there.
The elements have been at work
in delaying the German advance.
Rains are reported along the French
and British fronts. -Wet weather, if
continued, would handicap further ad
vance of the Germans and be of in
finite value to the allies, who are mov
ing their forces and supplies over
gofid ground instead of ground which
has been churned into a condition
where every step is beset by difficul
ties. EVERYTHING ON DUTCH
SHIPS TO BE SEIZED
Washington. Formal orders for the
taking over of all tackle, apparel, fur
niture and equipment, including bunk
er coal and stores belonging to the
Dutch ships in American ports which
have been seized by the United
States were issued by President Wil
son. Some of the masters of the ves
sels removed, or attempted to remove,
navigating instruments, glasses and
other equipment when they surrender
ed possession of their ships.
j '
Will H. Hays, the new chairman of
the Republican National committee,
though only thirty-eight years old, has
developed the natural Indiana gift of
politics from the precinct organiza
tion through the state chairmanship
and right into his present position
without a hitch in his record for. suc
cess as a political organizer. In the
last general election as chairman of
the Indiana organization he turned
what looked like defeat into a big Re
publican victory. He is a lawyer with
a large practice.
SUBSTITUTED INFERIOR METAL
RESPONSIBLE FOR PART OF DE
LAY IN PROGRAM SAYS NORTH
CAROLINA SENATOR.
Investigation Into Delay Started By
Senate Military Committee in Sec
ret. 90 Days Behind Schedule.
Washington. Investigation into de
lay in the airplane program was be
gun by the senate military committee
behind closed doors after several days
of discussion in the senate which cul
minated in the assertion by Senator
Overman, of Ncrth Carolina, that part
of the trouble was due to German
spies in the Curtiss plant which as
extensive government contracts.
Members of the committee were
pledged to secrecy and Chairman
Chamberlain announced that no state
ment would be issued until the inquiry
had been completed.
Maj. Gen. George O. Squires, chief
signal officer, and Colonel Deeds, of
the aviation branch, were the first
witnesses called. They remained
with the committee nearly four hours.
The committee plans to hear Maj.
Gen. J. Franklin Bell, who has just
returned from a visit to the Ameri
can front in France. Later Com
mander Briigs, of the British flying
corps; Colonel Waldon, of the Ameri
can signal corps, and Howard Coffin,
chairman of the aircraft board, will
be called.
Senator Overman furnished Chair
man Chamberlain with the names of
his informants, so that they can be
called. His speech followed charges
that instead of having by July 1. 12,
000 airplanes in France or ready for
shipment as provided in the original
program, that number would total
only 37 and that the American air
plane program was 90 days behind
scehdule.
Senator Overman said although he
would make no charge against any
one employe of the Curtiss concern,
there were spies there and were he
secretary of war he would comman
deer the plant and put in new em
ployes. A metallic brace used in the
construction of airplane frames from
which a piece of metal had been re
moved and lead inserted so as to
weaken it, was exhibited by the sena
tor a3 a sample of spies' work.
The first machine tested at the
plant fell, he said, and on investiga
tion showed that this tampering had
been the cause. A delay of two
months followed, while government
inspectors went over every airplane
part in order to replace parts which
spies had weakened.
DEATHS AMONG TROOPS
IN AMERICA INCREASED.
Washington. Although health con
ditions in general among the troops
trianing in thi3 country are describ
ed in this week's imports of the divis
ion of field wanitaiion as "very good,"
deaths among the soldiers increased
from 1?() the week before to 22,1.
F'neuroonla increased in the national
ffvnr.y nnd regulars, but In the national
man! all epMemic diseases are 4
mains.
PERSHING'S ENTIRE FORCE HAS
BEEN GIVEN INTO HANDS
OF GENERAL FOCH.
ON THIER WAY TO FRONT
Germans Lose Great Numbers In Kill
ed and Wounded French and
British Make Gains.
The American army in France ia to
fight shoulder to shoulder with the
British and French troops who now
are engaged in the titanic struggle
with the Germans in Picardy. Gen
eral Pershing's entire force has been
given into the hands of General Foch,
the new generalissimo, who is to use
the men where he desires.
More than 100,00 Americans, inten
sively trained and fully accoutered,
are available or immediate use in aid
ing to stem the tide of the German
hordes, and large numbers of them,
on railroad trains and in motor trucks,
and even afoot, already are on their
way to the battle front, eager to do
their part in defeating the invaders.
The miserable weather which has
broken over the country is proving no
deterrent to the Americans as they
push forward from all directions to
ward the battle zone.
The acceptance by France of Gen
eral Pershing's offer for all American
men and material for the present
emergency has in effect virtually re
sulted in a unified army command,
so far as the Frehteh' army and Ameri
can forces are concerned. This is
shown by the fact that the orders is
sued to the American troops are of
French origin.
Great activity continued throughout
the zone where the American troops
are quartered, etc., as sent.
Even mor activity was observed
behind the German lines opposite the
American front on the Toul sector. An
entire battalion was seen on the
march. Infantry at other points was
being shifted about, while the cav
alry also was seen again. Numerous
automobiles of members of the Ger
man staff made their appearance be
hind the lines.
Three American patrols penetrated
the enemy's lines. One patrol went
in until electrically charged barbed
wire was encountered. This was cut.
Enemy sniping posts took warning and
opened fire' on fhe Americans, who
were forced to retire No casualties
were suffered.
Another patrol inspected German
front line trenches, but did not en
counter a single German. The third
patrol penetrated th enemy's wire
field to a French airplane which fell
there last week. The engine of the
plane was found to have been re
moved. The enemy gas-shelled the Ameri
can batteries without effect.
On Way to Front Lines.
Washington. The announcement
that American soldiers actually are on
their way to the fighting lines to take
places beside their hard-pressed Brit
ish and French allies, sent a thrill
throughout the national capital. It
was the first positive statement that
General Pershing's forces actually are
on their way to the battle lines to help
stem the tide of the German drive.
The American soldiers previously
referred to in the official , dispatches
being in the fighting are believed to
have been the engineers or other aux
iliary troops, which probably were
caught at their work, as they were a
few months ago - at Cambrai when
the Germans suddenly enveloped par
ties of British forces behind their lines
in a swift turning movement.
The sending of General Pershing's
fighting troops to places in the British
French line has been expected by mil
itary experts to follow the creation of
a unified, command under the French
chief of staff. General Foch. and Gen
eral Pershing's formal offer of all the
available American resources.
KING GEORGE VISITS
HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE
London. Reuter's correspondent at
British headquarters in France, de
scribing King George's visit to the
fronC says:
"In the course of an inspection the
king visited an airdrome, where he in
spected an American section, the mem
bers of which he congratulated upon
their tine and smart appearance,
praise which was well justified, for a
likelier looking set of lads never yet
swore to drive Huns out of tie air.
ml
J
General Foch, the great French
strategist, has been placed in supreme
command of all the entente allied
armies.
GERMAN CASUALTIES 400.000
THE BRITISH REGAIN GROUND
ON BOTH SIDES OF THE
SOMME RIVER.
British Have Repulsed Heavy Attacks
and Driven Germans Back Across
the Ancre River.
The stretch of the great German
offensive in France apparently is fast
diminishing. ' On the seventh day of
the titanic battle there were strong
indications that the enemy was feel
ing materially the strain he had un
dergone and that his power had been
greatly impaired through hard usage.
While the town of Albert has been
captured from the British and we3t
of Roye the French have been com
pelled to give ground in the tp.ce of
greatly superior numbers, the British
have repulsed heavy attacks, both
north and south of the Somme and
also driven back across the Ancre
river the Germans who forded the
stream. The fighting still continues
of a sanguinary character on all these
sectors, but everywhere4 the British
and French are holding the enemy.
Especially severe has been the fight
ing west of Albert, where the Ger
mans, in an endeavor to debouch west
ward were repulsed by Field Marshal
Haig's men with the heaviest casual
ties. AH along the 50-mIlw front, from
the region of Arras to ' the south of
the Oise, near Noyon, the effects of
what was to have been the final stroke
to end the war in a victory lor the
Teutons are only too plainly evident
in the redevastation of the country
side and the wreck and ruin of the
towns, villages and hamlets through
which the armies have passed.
About 25 miles represents the great
est point of penetration made at any
place by the enemy in his advance,
and on the northern and southern ends
of the big salient he has left his
flanks dangerously open to counter
attacks, which, if successful, possibly
might result in a retreat greater than
the 1916 retrograde movement of von
Hindenburg and nullify in its entirety
the drive that has been accomplished.
It is not improbable that British and
French reserves, and possibly Ameri
can troops, known to be behind the
battle front soon will be thrown
against the weakened enemy.
Notwithstanding the sterngth of th
German drive, nowhere has the Brit
ish or French front, along the latter
of which American troops have given
a good account of their ability as fight
ers, been even dented. Ground has
been given, it is true, but so skillfully
nd with such precision of movement
that from north to south a surveyor
scarcely could have worked out a
more even line. Still Intact in the
hands of the allied forces are portions
of the old line from which IP'nden
burfr fell back if. os "strategic" re
tirement in 19 .'.
ALL FORCES OPPOSING GERMANY
IN FRANCE ARE FIGHTING UN
DER SINGLE COMANDER.
EABLV5TRIKE BACK' EXPECTED
Germany Claims 70,000 Prisoners and
1,100 Guns Captured Since Drive
Began American Forces Offered
Foch.
The entente forces opposing Ger
many in -France are, for the first time
during the war, fighting under the con
trol of a single commander. General
Foch, the great French strategist, to
whom has been accorded much of the
credit for the victory of the Marne
in September, 1914, is generalissimo
of the entente allied armies in France.
This report was received in the form
of an unofficial dispatch from London,
but in the evening it was officially con
firmed by advices to Washington 'rom
Paris.
Early in the day, President Wilson
sent a personal cable message of con
gratulation to General .Foch and Gen
eral Pershing placed at the disposal
of the French commander the Ameri
can forces now on French soil. Gen
eral Foch is given supreme command
over all the men on the battle lines,
and, in addition, has a strategic re
serve force, the size and location of
which is not known, but which, judg
ing from reports, is very large.
After eight days, during which it
has swept forward over the rolling
hills of Picardy, at times like a tidal
wave, the German offensive has slow
ed down. Instead of a sweeping ad
vance, its progress has been checked
at all but one sector of the front, and
there it has been merely creeping for
the last two days this fact even ad
mitted by the German war office,
which usually concedes nothing.
' From Arleux, north of Arras, to Al
bert, on the Somme, the British lines
have been holding stubbornly- and
have thrust back the Germans at a
number of points. From Albert south
to Montdidier, there has been a slow
movement to the west, but the hills
west of Montdidier are still being held
by the French. No ground has been
made against the French along the
southern side of the salient driven
into the allied lines, while it is as
serted that the French counter at
tack from Lassigny to Noyon is still
going on. The extreme depth of the
German wedge now is about 37 miles.
Soon, if Effective.
When this blow, if it comes, will
fall, or where, is as yet Bealed in the
minds of the men directing the prog
ress of military affairs for the alles.
but seemingly it must come soon, if
It is to be effective. The German ad
vance now is converging on Amiens,
the railroad center of northern France,
which is known to be the ganglion
from which run the main communi
cations of the British army in northern
France. The railroads from sT'aris to
Amiens was cut by the Germans at
Montdidier, but this would not be vital
if Amiens itself is held by the allies.
The German thrust in front of Ar
ras, while, according to Berlin, it
netted thousands of prisoners, has ap
parently come to a stop before Orange
Hill, Telegraph Hill and the labyrinth,
strongholds held by the British in
this sector. Repeated mass attacks by
the Germans on these points have re
sulted in terrible losses to them, with
out, however, breaking the line and
causing more than a straightening of
the front before Arras.
MANY WIPE WHEAT
OFF HOTEL MENUS
Washington. Wheat and wheat
products were wiped off the menus of
several hundred of the country's lead
ing hotels in response to a request of
the food administration that "every
independent, every, well-to-do person
in the United States" should pledge
complete abstinence from wheat until
the next harvest.
CLASS OF 1919 TO BE
CALLED TO THE COLORS
Paris, March 29. The soldiers ot
the class of 1919 are to be called to
the colors at an early date, which is
to be fixed by the. ministry of war.
This was decided on by a vote of the
chamber of deputies this afternoon.
It is known that the ministry of war
has decreed that the recruits shall re
port April 13. The chamber voted 43(
to T on a law providing that the ditfe
of the calling of the class be advanced.
ARE YOU MAKING SACRIFICES
EQUIVALENT TO THOSE OF
OUR SOLDIERS?
ALL CAN FIND WAY TO HELP
Make No Ridiculous Reservations;
Hold Back Nothing; Share Your
Money, Your Food and Your Clo'th
ing to Aid the Great War.
(By VIRGINIA TERHUNE VAN DE
WATER of the Vigilantes.)
A good woman was discussing tha
rules of the food administration.
"I am doing a lot for my country."
she said, "but there are certain trifles
that I do not intend to give up. Such
as white bread and bacon."
"No," she said in response to my
astonished look, "I mean to have white
bread when I want It. Why should I
eat corn bread and other substitutes!
I like white bread just as much as
the soldiers and sailors do. And, any
way, what difference can it make If I
use a little white flour and a few
slices of bacon every day? I am only
one person."
Only one of millions ! Suppose they
all took that nttlhidAf
"I am no slacker," she added. "I
work at the Red Cross four afternoons
of each week, and I have made dozens
of knitted things for the soldiers. But
I draw the line at bacon and white
bread and rolls."
Is this patriotism? I remembered
the text: "These things ought ye to
have done, and not to have left the
other undone."
Another good woman was talking of
the next Liberty Loan drive.
"Well," she declared, "they need not
come to me for help ! I am a business
woman, and I have lost money on
heatless Mondays, and since the gov
ernment has made me do that I do not
propose to help with their Liberty loan.
I love my country, and I am a Red
Cross worker, and all that but there
Is a limit."
Should Be No Limit.
A limit! Is there any limit to what
she would do if her nearest and dear
est were fighting for his life? Would
she stop to argue that she had given
the suffered expensive woolen under
wear, but that she drew the line at the
renunciation of certain comforts so
that he might have them? Would she
be considered a good wife or mother
or daughter if she held this attitude
towards husband, child or parent?
Let us stop all these ridiculous res
ervations, these talks of what we will
do and won't do. Let us hold back
nothing. Do the women who are send
ing their sons abroad hold back any
thing? Do these sons grudge risking
their beautiful youth, their lives, for
their country? Yet some people hesi
tate at white bread and bacon, and
refuse to buy Liberty bonds !
The last-named hesitation is not only
unpatriotic, but it is absurd. Later
we will know the meaning of the ex
pression, "What I give I have." The
money we invest in Liberty bonds will
be ours when other money that we
now have is gone.
All such talk as I have quoted is
wickedly unpatriotic' Let us give as
our sons give ungrudgingly, proudly,
because we are counted worthy to
make sacrifices for the greatest cru
sade against evil that the world has
ever known.
Make It An Honorable Service.
What would the Son of Rlghteou.
ness say to our hesitation about trifling
luxuries? He died for his cause. We
women are not called upon to do that.
(Some of us may wish that we were.)
But we are called to sacrifice our
selfishness for it.
I am not making light of the wonder
ful work done by those women who
toil at Red Cross stations; I am not
forgetting the noble and vast army of
wives, mothers, sisters and sweet
hearts who stop at nothing in their de
sire to help end the war honorably.
But I hope that such sentences as I
have quoted go no further than the tip
of the tongue. If they do, shame to
the speakers. And shame to us who
let such speech pass unreproved.
"His very living such was Christ's
giving."
We women "have not yet resisted
unto blood." But some of our men
have, and God help us I many more
may have to. Can we then endure the
Ignominy of remembering that even In
our inner hearts we have paused to
consider whnt delicacies we may use?
Shall we nft in the language of our
iear fighting boys "cut out" fill
doubtful articles? 'And let us mnke of
the trillin? duty an honorable service.
The cause ennobles all that It touches.
True Respectability.
Having the courage to .live within
ne'i? T3 enns is respectn"
S
tab-4y