CLAIMS OF THE ENEMY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16020, 11 September 1915, Page 8

CLAIMS OF THE ENEMY.

FIGHTING IN ARGONNE. ADVANCE IN RUSSIA. London, September 9. A Berlin communique states that the Wurtemberg and Lorraine regiments, east of Vienne le Chateau, in the Argonne, yesterday stormed and occupied an area one and a-quarter miles in depth and over a-quarter of a mile long of the French positions, and also several vantage points of the Marie Therese fortifications. The Germans also captured 30 officers, 1999 men, 48 machine-guns, and 54 bomb mortars. General von Hindenburg's armies took prisoner 3500 Russians, who were offering an obstinate resistance between the Jeziori and the Niemen. Prince Leopold of Bavaria has reached the Zelwianka at several points, and has also forced the crossing of the Rozenka. General von Mackensen has reached the north bank of the Jasiolda, near Thonsk. The Russians south of the Ostrow, who advanced across the Sereth, were thrown back upon his right wing.

PRISONER IN TURKEY. LETTER FROM PRIVATE BURUfcSS'. WELL TREATED BY TUBJLS. Evidence of the welfare of Private T. H. .Burgess, 16th, VV aucato, Company, now a prisoner of war in Constantinople, has been received by uis aunt, Mrs. K. Leitch, Arney Koad, ltemuera, in the shape of a letter, evidently dictated by him, and written from Gulhane ■ Hospital, Stambotu, on July L A report that Private Burgess was a prisoner in this hospital was published on July 12, and subsequently advice was received, from the High Commissioner that, so far as could be ascertained, he was the only New Zealander captured by the Turks. The letter from Private Burgess suggests that there are other British prisoners in the same hospital. According to official advice, Private Burgess was wounded in the arm, back and shoulder, and as the letter is not in his own handwriting, it is feared he may have lost his arm. "No doubt you will be surprised, to hear from me after such a long period of silence," Private Burgess writes, " but you will understand" it when I tell you that I am a prisoner of war in Turkey. I was badly wounded by shell fire when we landed at the Dardanelles, and have been in hospital here for over two months. I have also had an operation for appendicitis, but am glad to say that my wounds have all healed up, and X am getting stronger every day. "Since being captured, I have been treated very well by both Turks and Germans, and the doctors at the hospital have patched md up splendidly. There are also two German nurses here, and they are very good. One of them speaks English quite well, and is always coming in with chocolate and other nice things. The Americans have also been very good to us. We often get visitors from their embassy, and they have fitted us up with all things we require in the way of toilet) necessities, etc.

"In future, when you write, please address all your letters to this hospital, I should also like you to send me a nice plum cake if you can manage this." ' .Mrs. Leitch has been assured by the postal officials that parcels will probably reach Constantinople through neutral channels, and the plum cake, for which the young soldier has asked, will go forward by the next mail. A younger brother, Private Ernest Burgess, 6th, Hauraki, Company, who also was wounded on April 25, has been a patient in a Malta hospital ever since.

OUR MEN AT THE FRONT. OFFICER'S HIGH PRAISE. FORTITUDE OF WOUNDED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION".] Wellington. Friday. In a letter received in Wellington, Major C. Guy Powles, brigade-major, New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade, pays a high tribute to the men composing the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Referring to the landing at Gaba Tepe, he says:—"Nothing yon have read is too good for what they did and how they behaved." Proceeding, he states— "We generally manage to get down to the beach for a swim about 4 p.m., often with shells going overhead, but one gets absolutely indifferent to them, as one soon learns their direction, etc" On July 1C Major Powles wrote:— " Here I am, out in bay for a 48 hours' spell. It is simply delightful out here; no flies, no heat, no shells, etc. One might almost be miles and miles away from any war except for the distant boom of great guns now and again. lam full of the greatest admiration for our men ; they have come up to the full expectations for pluck and endurance that belongs to British traditions. One can truly say that as a whole our men are pure gold. The patience and fortitude of the wounded is wonderful. One could never have believed it unless seen with one's own eyes." In regard to the food. Major Powles says : —" We are very well fed. Our rations consist of biscuit, bread about three times a week in lieu thereof, tinned meat, also a little bacon, rice, dr : d vegetables, and sometimes figs, and often onions.. All are of excellent quality, but of course men get awfully tired of the same diet every day, and a canteen where tinned fruit, lemons, etc., could be bought, would keep many a man healthy. All our water conies from Lemnos or Imbros in tanks, and is run off into milk cans and carried up the hills to the trenches. It is good water, but the ration is limited to half-a-gallon per man per day—not very much for a man working hard on a hot day."