THE ITALIAN RECOVERY

Evening Star, Issue 16778, 5 July 1918, Page 2

THE ITALIAN RECOVERY

FROr»i ALPS FOOTHILLS TO SEA. KOFIE CAPTURES MADE. Au«-'ftUiQ and li.Z. Cable Association and Eeutor. LONDON, July 2. \ P Italian official message states : Our artiilerv tire crushed new enemy attacks on the* Asiago Plateau, inflicting heavy lusses. Our operations m the _ northwestern region of Grappa yielded important positions, 563 prisoners, and many machine guns. We captured Monte Valbella, Col del Rosso, and Col do Chele, with' four guns, 15 trench mortars, 57 machine guns, and 1,000 rifles. An Italian semi-official report states: Thu recapture of Valhalla, Col do Rosso, and Col dc Chele 'wrested from the Austrians the last of their gains on the Asiago Piatcau in tic first day of the offensive, end completely restored the situation. Prior to the g'rcat attack these positions wore constantly contested throughout the v;nr, because they constitute the advanced flank of the Italians and a jumping-otf I'rourd for Austrians wishing to scale Italian positions. The victory was due to the perfect co-operation of the artillery and infantry reducing the Italian losses to a rn in hr, uni, whereas the four enemj divisions engaged suffered exceptionally heavy losses. LONDON, July 4. Italian official : On the 2nd iiist. _we conducted a thrust on the Lower Piave against an obstinate resistance over partially flooded country. We gained ground, and took 1,900 prisoners and many machine guns and trench mortars. We repulsed a counter-attack north-west of v. ,

Grappa, where wo captured 25 officers, 596 men, many machine guns, ami much material. French parties made a successful coup do main in the Zocchr region, on the Asiago Plateau. Australian and N.’/ fable Association aud Reuter. LONDON, July 4. Austrian official: Bitter all-day lighting occurred at the mouth of the Piave. The enemy were nowhere successful except for a slight gain ox territory near Cliresan-. uoita. The enemy made an attempt to_ land near Revedolin, supported by naval forces. ‘The Times.’ LONDON, July 2. Mr Ward Price states _: The Italians are steadily plucking back isolated fragments of the mountain lino remaining in Austrian hands. The ferocity of tho Monto Valbella tight showed that the enemy were aware of "the value of the positions they were relinquishing, and threw in heavy masses of their best regiments in the attempt to retain them. The men taken prisoner belong to four divisions. The gaps made in the Italian ranks since tho Piave counter-attack are now refilled. There is a general feeling that only one act of the new drama has been played. The course of tho next act is uncertain ; it depends partly upon tho enemy’s [dans in France. Tho continued delay in the offensive there may mean that Gormans are coming to Italy. The Italian losses were small beyond all expectations. All the crack Austrian divisions badly need repairs. July 3. Mr Jeffries states that in tho capture of Col del Rosso and Monto Valbella great operations were carried out with brilliant dash. The defeated divisions included the Emperor Charles’s favorite Eidelweiss troops, under General Scheuchenstwel, tho most trusted Austrian commander, Tho Austrian losses greatly exceeded 1.50 i), as - was reported on the Ist inst. Two fresh regiments entered the fight in the morning, but by evening neither existed, all the men being killed or captured. The Czechs fought with fine courage, charging the desperately-fleeing enemy with guns down the mountain side. Tho Austrian defeat was largely duo to the failure of tho mountain communications, resulting in confusion.

VENICE BEYOND SHELL RANGE. LONDON, July 5. The Italian operations on tho Lower j Piave aimed at clearing out tho enemy by : a concentric advance from the west, south. : and east. Already they have advanced between 2,000 and 3,500 yards, and have cleared two-thirds of tho whole area. By Tuesday morning heavy fighting was going on. One of the objects of tho push is to shorten and straighten their line and have a considerable number of troops —possibly a whole division—for reserve. Incidentally it removes Venice a further three miles out of effective gun range. AUSTRIA’S EXCUSES AND CHANGES. ZURICH, July 3. Telegrams from military circles in Vienna attribute tho chief blame of the Piave defeat to the Hungarian strike, which crippled the output of munitions. When the attack began it was found that there were only seven days’ ammunition on hand. The offensive, also, was hurried because politicians hoped for a success to relieve the political situation.

A cablegram from Vienna reports that I sweeping changes have been made in the : Austrian commands, owing to the Italian . ilc.eat. Field Marshal Von Koowaho re- 1 placed Prince Conrad, and General Krauss, who was Prince Eugene’s Chief of Staff, becomes Chief of the General Staff, replacing General Yon Arz. The German General Von Below is given supreme command on the Italian front. NAVAL ENTERPRISE. ROME, July 2. The £rovernment are cutting a canal connecting Lake Avernns with the sea, and transforming the lake into a vast dry ] dock. CZECH PRISONERS SLAIN. Beater's Telegrams. LONDON, July 2. The ‘ Xieuo Freio Prcsse ’ (Vienna) boasts that 300 Czechs, including a captain, who were captured fighting with the Italians at Montello, were summarily hanged. RAID ON CATTARO. Australian and K.Z. Cable Association and Ksutec. LOXDOX, July 4. Admiralty official : British aeroplane heavily bombed the enemy bass at Cattaro. * A ship was set on fire and a submarine was struck. GREEK AFFAIRS. LONDOXh July 3. The ‘Daily Chronicle’s ’ Athens corns- | spondent reports that M. Venezelos has decided to ask the allied Governments to hand over Colonel Melanas, General Douenianis, and other deportees to the Greek army for court-martial and punishment. THE ARMENIANS’ APPEAL. Keuter’s Telegrams, LOXDOX, July 2. Renter’s Agency learns that a pathetic appeal on behalf of the Armenians has. been made to the British Labor Conteieute. The appeal reveals an appalling state of affairs. It gays: “Xone of the fearful horrors perpetrated in the various war zones compare with the tragic lot of the Armenians. The Turks since the beginning of the war have committed unprecedented atrocities in inrkish Armenia, where they have massacred about a million persons, while two million Armenians in Russian Armenia are now threatened with a similar late. Democracy is asked to assist to save this small ancient people from complete annihilation.” BRITISH SHIPBUILDING. XEARLY li MILLION TONS A YEAR. Australian and K.Z. Cable Association and Renter. LONDON, July 3. The Admiralty announces that 134,159 tens of merchantmen were completed in i the" United Kingdom during June, as com- ! pared with 197,274 for May. The total for the year ended June 30 is 1,431,150 tons. The Controller of Merchant Shipbuilding comment? : It is encouraging to note I that the tonnage of merchantmen com- | pleted in the United Kingdom for the 1 quarter ended -June oO snows au increase lof 78 per cent, over the corresponding | quarter of 1917.

LLANDOVERY CASTLE OUTRAGE. NO FURTHER SURVIVORS. U BOAT SAVAGERY. LONDON, July 2. Survivors of tSe Llandovery Castle believe that the German submarine charged amidst tho wreckage, trying to sink the boats in order that no trace of the outrage might remain. They only missed the

I surviving boat on two occasions by two foet. Tho survivors say it was evident that the German commander's aim was to ram tho boat and drown the lot. , The wireless operator did everything ho [could to send ‘‘S.O.S.” messages, but even • the emergency dynamo was useless. Tho operator stuck to his post to the end, and was drowned. VOWS OF VENGEANCE. LONDON, July 2. Tho Admiralty reports that the, area between the'’ spot where the Llandovery Castlo was sunk and the south-western coast of Ireland had been thoroughly I searched by two groups of warships, in j addition to the Tysander. Only a little j wreckage and one empty boat were found, • therefore it was assumed that there wu’c no more survivors. The outrage ~ causing a violent outburst of indignation, accompanied in some quiirteria by demands of most vigorous air reprisals on German towns and tho whole- ; salo internment of alien enemies. In re- : sponso to the latter demand, Mi Louai \ Law, in tho House of Commons, promised I that'an opportunity would be given for i discussing the Government control of I aliens next week. I Mr Bonar Law, addressing the InterI national Parliamentary Conference, wo • might have thought there was nothing | new in Germany’s horrible war methods, but tho sinking of the Llandovery Castlo j was contrary to tho principles the enemy •, professed, and constituted another unspeakable outrage. All tho evidence showed that the attempt to sink the vessel I was in accordance with the famous telei gram that ships must disappear without I leaving a trace. But nothing was gained 'by talking. “A wild beast"is at large. : It is no use arguing or attempting to rcai sou with it. We must destroy it. We ; must set our teeth until the end ia i reached.” rdr Havelock Wilson, in an interview, said that tho consequence of Germany’s latest crime was that the British seamen’s boycott of Germany after the war was extended to six years. The rising tide against the Germans is unparalleled since tile outbreak following the Lusitania outrage, when mobs wrecked the alien quarter. It has been suggested to recall Sir George Cave, Horae Secretary. In connection with far-reaching internment measures, a Government Committee of five members of the House of Commons is examining the subject, and will report in a

few days. Several municipal and other councils have passed resolutions calling upon the Government to strip honors from aliens born fix Germanv and intern them all. Meanwhile a round-up has been begun in Belfast and the north of Ireland. Alien enemies are forbidden to reside in prohibited areas or within 10 miles of the coast. ! Mx hundred members of the Liverpool ; Sailors’ Union have passed a resolution demanding that Mr Havelock Wilson should add a further five years to the boycott of Germany in consequence of the diabolical murders' in connection with tho Llandovery . Castle. SYDNEY, July 3. Seamen express the greatest indignation at Germany’s outrages, and maintain that every enemy alien, naturalised or not, shall be interned. The seamen’s latest motto in; ” Remember our torpedoed brothers.” MIDLANDS EXPLOSION. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Keuter. LONDON, July 2. Tho Press Bureau reports: A serious explosion occurred on tho night of the Ist ; inst. at a national sholl-liumg factory m i the Midlands, it is feared that between |6U and 70 persons have pensned. Xne I mum,or of injured is unknown. A con-

sidexablo part of the productive capacity of the factory was saved, and work will be resumed at a few days. The women workers behaved splendidly, urging that they be allowed to return to work. There will bo no appreciable diminution in the output. GERMANY AMD THE PAG IFIU. AMSTERDAM, July 3. The ‘Vossiche- 'Ae itung ’ says: Jso German politician doubts the restoration of the Pacific colonies, but should Germany I ultimately permit negotiations for tneir I sale or exchange she would ignore England and negotiate with Japan, recogaisj ing that the Pacific is its natural spnere. Tile insolent refusal of tho English im- ! p.rialista to allow the Allies to aval with I the enemy with reference to the colonies shows that they are opposed to Japanese interests. FRANCE ANO BOHEMIA. Reuter’s Telegrams. PARIS, July 2. M. Pichon, French Minister ol foreign Affairs, wrote to the secretary of tho I National Czech’s Council: “ Faithful to her principles of rerpect for nationalities ! and tho liberation ox oppressed peoples, ! the French Government consider tho I claims of tho Czechu-Rlav nation to be I well founded, and will apply themselves 1 when the- time comes to uphold tho aspiraI tiona of independence in the historic limits of their provinces liberated from the yoke of tiio Austro-Hungarian oppressor.'’ LGXDOE, July 2. M. Pichon wrote to Mr Balfour m simi lar terms to those of his letter to the secreretarv of the Czech Council. Mr Balfour leplied, luily associating the British Government with the sentiments of ‘ tho French Government regarding the I Czecho-Rlovaks. j bonnet rouge case. PARIS, July 2. M. Caillaux lias been interrogated for the fiftieth time. It is not exported tuat ha will be tried before the middle of August, as the .Malvy trial will begin on Julv 16, and will last at least a month. LORD RHONDDA’S DEATH. ‘ The Times.’ LONDON, July 3. It is understood that Air J. R. Glynn (Parliamentary Secretary to the Food Ministry) will succeed Lord Rhondda as Food Controller. Router's Telegrams. LONDON, July 4. I In tne House of Commons Mr Bonar Law and Air Asquith paid warm tributes to Lord Rhondda s services. Air Bonar Law mentioned that the disease from which he died originated from exposure on the occasion of tho sinking of tho Lusitania. The Prime Aiinister has telegraphed to Lady Rhondda saying that Lord Rhondda gave his life for his country. WAR FINANCE. LONDON, July 3. Lord Emmett, speaking on tho Finance Bill in the House of Lords, said that Germany relatively had made half our effort to meet tho financial burdens of the war. We were not only meeting the cost, but were providing money to pay off portion of the National Debt. If the war lasted very much longer he would view the position with apprehension, and he should view it in Germany’s case with absolute terror. It was now certain that Germany would get no indemnities, and that she was walking towards bankruptcy,_ which would possibly result in serious international trouble. When the people who made the war had to pay it might chasten tho German spirit.

[The cable news in this issue accredited to ‘ The Tim- p ’ has appeared in that journal, but lly where expressly stated is such news V p editorial opinion of ‘ The Times.’]

THE FOURTH YEAR. ! Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and ' Reuter. LONDON, July 2. Tho Press Bureau stales that the King 1 has expressed a desire that August 4, the. ; fourth anniversary of the war. shall be observed with special solemnity as a national day of prayer. Tho King and tjneon and members of both Houses of Parliament will attend special intercessory services ou behalf of the nation and tho Empire. HAGUE CONFERENCE. LONDON, July 2. The Hague correspondent of tho ‘ Daily Chronicle’ reports that the German delegates at the War Prisoners Conference mive not yet returned from Berlin, where they have gone to consult tho Government, particularly regarding the Germans from China.