BELGIAN COAST SHELLED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2582, 2 October 1915, Page 5

BELGIAN COAST SHELLED

' .BRITISH FLEET BOMBARD GERMAN HEAVY' FIWIG I CHAMPAGNE ■ FRENCH TROOPS CONTINUE THE V ATTACK ' RUSSIANS'StUBBOEN RESISTANCE RECpIIM IN ENGLAND LORD 'KITCHENER FAVOURS ■ THE MILITIA BALLOT 'A very important announcement lias been made by Lord Kitchener on the subject of recruiting. .He personally prefers the voluntary "system, but the present rate of recruiting in Great Britain is unsatisfactory, and failing .an improvement he proposes a militia system under which districts would furnish drafts of recruits, voluntarily enlisted, if possible, but otherwise obtained by ballot.' An army of the required size, Lord Kitchener stated in announcing his proposal to the British Labour Conference, has already been raised, but the problem remains of filling the gaps. It was mentioned by War Minister that his proposal had not yet been submitted to the Imperial Cabinet. '&■ tremendous storm of battle continues in the Western theatre, and further important headway has been nla'de by the Allies. In particular the , French have gained a. footing at several points in the enemy's second' doferisiye lino in tlie Champagne. Heavy fighting is reported in areas . other than those in which the weight of the assault has thus far. been chiefly concentrated; notably Northern Flanders and Alsace. The Russians have again lost the fortress of Luzk, in Southern Russia, which •they lately recapturedj but German pressure in the northern area, between Dvinsk-and Yilna, is said to jiave been materially reduced by the withdrawal of the Guards' Corps to the Western front. A critical situation is reported in the Balkans, where Bulgaria is reported to be . concentrating troops in preparation for concerted action with the Aus-'tro-Germans, who are said to have massed half a million'men against the northern frontier of Serbia.