PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1914, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

ALLIED LINES TOUCH THE SEA FRENCH REINFORCED IN THE NORTH.

At time of writing little fighting news has come to hand from the French line of battle, But the messages approximately locate the position 'the FrancoBritish Allies occupied at the time they were sent. As a. result of successive orderly retreats, the Allies have fallen back (says a"h official cablegram) from the valley of the Sambre (which is a tributary of Ihe Mouse, and therefore enters the North Sea through Belgium and Holland), and have crossed the water-shed into the valley, of tho Somnie, which is purely a- Frenclnriver, a-nd enters the English Channel Jicar Abbeville. Starting from the coast and proceeding up the valley of the Somme, the direction is generally east by south until close to La Fere, and here the line is continued, still south-easterly, by the three fortresses La. Fere, Laon, and Reims. From Reims there is an unfortified gap until Verdun (due cast of Reims) is reached, and Verdun is the beginning of the purposely gapped line of forts (Verdun to Toul, and Epinal to ! Belfort), which have been so much described. The fighting lately reported concerns the country from Abbeville (practically on the sea coast) to Reims, j a distance of about 115 miles as the ■crow flies. BRITISH ADVANCED POSITION. It should be explained that though the Allies are stated to have been forced v back upon the Somme, that does not necessarily mean that the rest of their forces lying to the cast have retired already to the La Fere-Laon-Reims line Of forts. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary ; the Allies appear to have temporarily forced the enemy back along this section, and to be holding a i line from Guise to Signy-l'Abbaye, which is a short distance south-west of the Fi'ench fortress (2nd class) Mezieres. The British Army is reported to be "on or south of " the Guise to Signy-l'Abbaye position. If so, they are a long way in advance of the Laon and Reims fortresses, Signy-i'Abbaye being about 35 | miles north by east of Reims. A retiring movement here (if necessary) should be possible with more safety than | that from Mons on the busy days, 23rd26th August. THE CENTRAL "GAP." Going eastward from Reims, the apparent opening between Reims and Verdun is about sixty miles long.- At the beginning of the war it was forecasted that the German force massed iti and ground Luxembourg would pierce this gap by marching on Stenay and Vouzicrs, and would then, turning south, get behind the Verdun-Toul line of forts. To prevent such a movement is the responsibility of the French centre armies. If the Germans have advanced via Stenay and Vouziers and have engaged the French centre, we have no news of it. At this 'point the decisive action may yet ha fought, but for the last week or two the picture has been filled by the aggressive enveloping movement made by the Germans against the Allies' left. As the latter now rests upon the sea at" Abbeville, the limit of the envelopment would appear to have been reached. If the Allied forces in and about Abbeville can now hold their ground, the Germans must seek to penetrate at some other point. THE CHANNEL PORTS. One of the objects of the German movement round the Allies' left was no doubt to cut communications between the British Army and the English Channel ports. The Abbeville liner protects Dieppe and the ports westward, but it doe.3 not cover Boulogne (where most of the British landed), Calais, or Dunkirk, and apparently it is within the power of the Germans to cut communications with these important places. To that extent the" Germans will no doubt claim a success. On the other hand, they have now drawn to their front the . concentrated strength of the French armies. General Pan, a popular French fighting General, who was hammering at the Ger-' mans in Alsace (on the extreme right), is now reported to be engaged with the enemy at Bapaume, on the extreme left, in advance of the Somme. A supreme effort will now be needed if the Germans are to force the position either along the Somme or between La Fere ajid Reims. And it is not to be supposed that the ReimsVerdun gap is left unguarded. The Times emphasises the great service done to the Allies by the British Army in enabling/ French reinforcements to reach the northern battlefield. ARSENALS AND RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH. To attempt to gauge the success of the Germans by measuring tho number of mi left by which, from -time to time, they shorten the map-distances to Paris is. of course, futile. France has taken care not to put all her eggs in one basket. Her arsenals and military stores are mainly in the south and west. Germany will not win by investing Paris. She must smash the French armies before she retires, or her campaign will be a failure. The Germans have not made a success of their somewhat old type of field )gun, but they showed their wisdom in equipping their forces with a considerably heavier proportion of machine guns than is found in the British arm}-. Hythe experts long ago asked for more machine guns, butthe War Office hesitated, and now British soldiers are paying the price. ' ! RUSSIAN "SLOWNESS." The military correspondent of The ! Times remarks with significance that "the slowness of the Russian advance has not occasioned any dire necessity for German reinforcements in the eastern theatre." He therefore doubts the reported transfer, on a large scale, of German troops from the French to the Russian frontier. "Russian slowness" may be due to various causes. Experts have forecasted that the Russian attack on East Prussia (of which we have heard so much) would be accompanied by a Russian advance in force, through Russian Poland, upon Poscn and the valley of the Warthe. But of tins latter movement we havo heard nothing. It may be that the Russian Poles arc giving trouble. A message published today states that the Grand Duke Nicholas, Oommander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, has threatened to subject certain Polish disloyalists to, the criminal law. Apparently the Tsar's proclamation promising autonomy has not converted all the disaffected Poles. An autocrat's eloventh-hour repentance is naturally 1 not so convincing as it would have been had -his antecedent policy towards the Poles been Ipss oppressive. The full meaning of the British landing at Ostend is still not clear. If the intention were to land a big force in order to outflank the Germans, Antwerp would be much the better place, bat it may be that a landing at Antwerp is prevented by the neutrality of tho Scheldt' waters. In t lie circumstances, the landing of an expeditionary force at Ostend must bo considered within ttho bounds of possibility, . The cablegram published yesterday,

announcing 6000 British casualties on 27th and 28th August, probably refers to the 6000 casualties reported by the Press Bureau as occurring on 23rd-26th August. The Press' Bureau stands by its statement. The other account probably erred in point of time. GENERAL CABLES — — >» SENTENCED TO DEATH. (By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright.) SYDNEY, 31st August. _ Samuel Freeman, who was arrested in connection with the Eveleigh hold-up, and also with shooting at a watchman, has been sentenced to death for the latter crime. [Early on the morning of 9th June, the watchman at the Oxford-street Post Office heard someone inside the building. He fastened the door and went to obtain assistance. He had only proceeded a few yards when a man who had evident,Jy been watching his movements fired a, revolver, the bullet passing through the watchman's cheek 1 and striking a second man who was standing on the footpath, knocking out three of his teeth. The watchman fired three shots at his assailant, who succeeded in escaping.] NEW HEBRIDES. (Received September 1. 9.5 a.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. Ihe Minister for External Affairs (Hon. P. M. Glynn) states that a copy of the agreement recently reached by Great Britain and France regarding the New Hebrides is en route to Australia, which is to be given an opportunity to review it before it is ratified. Mr. Glynn added that amendments made in the agreement were of a substantial character. OIL IN PAPUA. MELBOURNE, This Day. j The Imperial Oil Company expert reports that oil indications in Papua are favourable, and amply justify commercial development, which will be vigorously carried on. THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS. (Received, September 1, 9.50 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. Owing to the manifestoes of the Federal Prime Minister (Mr. Cook) and. the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Fisher) having been brought to the front, interest in the Federal elections on Saturday is reviving. STOCK & SHARE MARKET WELLINGTON BUSINESS Prices of investment and mining stocks to-day wero as follow: —

TRANSACTIONS ELSEWHERE (BY TELEGR\PH.i-PnES3 ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, This Day. Sales:— Waihi, 29s 9d; Talismans, 27s 6cl. DEATH OF REV. JOSHUA JONES The death occurred nl Marton yesterday of the Rev. Joshua Jones, who for about 28 years was vicar of St. James's Anglican Parish, Lower Hutfc. Tho rev. gentleman, who had not been in tho best of health for a. considerable timo, tendered his resignation of tho charge in February last, when he had reached tha age of 70. but did not sever his connection with tho parish until two montlus ago, being succeeded by the Roy. A. L. Hansell, of Karori. He decided to settle in Marton, "and a month ago he removed to that district. The lato Mr. Jones was born in England in 1844, and was educated at Liverpool Collegiate Institution, and at St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, England. Ho was ordained a deacon in 1867. and a priest in 1868, by the Bishop of Brisbane, in whoso diocese ho laboured for three or four years, first at Warwick, and later at Leyburn. In 1871 he removed to New Zealand" from Queensland, and was stationed at Clyde, in Olago, for four years, when he accepted a call to Quecnstovrn, where he was the incumbent and rural deacon until 1873. In that year he" accepted tho chargo of the Church of England at Feilding, and did valuable Anglican pioneering work in Kivvitea and the Manchester settlement. He was called to tho Lower Hutt in 1886, and remained there until recently. Tlie deceased gentleman was a. fino type of minister, and beloved by his Hutt parishioners, who gave tangible proof of (heir esteem by presenting him on. his retirement with a purse of sovereigns. He was married in. Otagro in 1877 to Miss Lucy Welham, of Brighton, England, who survives him, and there a-io two unmarried daughters. I Tho funeral will take place at the Hutfc on Thursday.

Investment. Buyers. Sailers. £ s. d. £ b. d. Union Bank . . — 52 10 0 Auckland Gas (paid) 15 0 — O'hch Gas (£5) ... 612 6 — Wn. Gas (£10) ... 15 5 0 — South British ... — 4 0 0 Lcyland O'Brien . . — 110 Sharlwid (prof.) ... 017 6 — Sale : Taupiri Coai, £1 0s 3d (r). Mmmg — Murray Creek "... 16 0 *— "Murray Creek ... 016 0 — Robs 0 0 10 — Grand Junction. ... 10 0 •»- *los paid. SaJes: — VVaihi, cum <liv,, £1 10s 6d (r); Talisman, £1 7s 6d (r).