GRAVES PILLAGED-REMAINS SCATTERED

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9622, 30 March 1917, Page 5

GRAVES PILLAGED-REMAINS SCATTERED

High Commissioner’s Cable. % . LONDON, March 28, noon. French official; On several occasions German attacks were stopped dead by our fire. , f South of tho Oise we continued our success. All the lower forest ot Coney with the villages of Petit Barsisi, Vorncail, and Coney la Villo have fallen into our hands. ' Our advanced elements have reached tho boundaries west of the loies of Saint Gobain and the high forest at Coney. Our losses were light. lu the district north of Soissons, wo made considerable progress north of Neuvillo-sUr-Margival and northeast of Le-villy. ’ lu.oo p.m. Following the success of yesterday, our cavalry captured during the af- , tomooni the villages of Villers-Faucon and Sanlcourt. Further north we established ourselves at two points on tho DoigmesLagnicourt road, and after a short fight to-day we gained ground south and west Of the Oroiselles after meeting strong opposition. French official;—ln the Champagne, following on a violent bombardment of our positions westwards of Maisons do Champagne, the Germans launched this morning a strong attack, and gained a looting in same elements of our first line. Ail attempts on .Matsons do Champagne were broken by our fire, which inflicted sanguinary losses uponi tho enemy. FURTHER PROGRESS WORTH OF THE AILETTE By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. Australian and New Zealand Gable Association and Ranter. I LONDON, March 28. A French communique states: Wa have made fresh progress north of Ailotto and in tho sector east of Lomilly and Neuvillo-sur-Margival, where wa carried several important points-d’appui. Violent artillery actions are in progress elsewhere. A GERMAN REPORT THOUSAND DEAD ENG LISHMJEN COUNTED. Australiar/and New Zealand Cable Association and Reuter. " (Received March 29, 5.5 p.m.) i LONDON, March 28. A wireless Gorman official message states ; We counted 1000 dead Englishmen on tho. battlefield between Lngnicourt and Morehies since March 26th, which is evidence of tho success of our plans. A trench advance on tho west bank of the Oise, near La Fere, collapsed with sanguinary losses. We captured trenches south of Riport, and drove off French detachments Which had ponefura-ted our position north of Reims. “UTTER BLACKNESS OF THE GERMAN SOUL” STORY BY AN AMERICAN CIVILIAN. 300 SQUARE MILES OF DEVASTATED TERRITORY SCANNED. i Australian and New Zealand Cable Association. , _ NEW YORK, March 28. Mr Wytha Williams, tho “New Yorfk Times” correspondent at Paris, tho first civilian to survey the whole 300 square miles of reconquered territory, cables:—“We looked into the utter blackness of the German sotil. Past atrocities are trifling compared with this orgy of hatred and IVightfulness. The wilful destruction is indescribable. ,

“I was impressed by the enormous strength- of the evacuated positions. The main concrete line seemed impregnable. It was practically a ten-miles barrier with barbed wire in solid formation. “I am convinced that the inhabitants lived in bondage worse than that of a galley slave. American food was received, but much was taken by tho Gormans lor themselves. Old men, women, children, and cripples were left near tho charred remains of their hom-ias; the young women and girls were herded with the retreating army for a slavery one does not dare, to contemplate. A woman- told mo that her husband was shot, her two sons sent into bondage, and her three daughters carried off forcibly. This is a typical experience.” HINDEHBURG GIVES ORDERS FOR FRIGHTFULNESS Australian and New Zealand Cable Association. LONDON, March 28. Mr Philip Gibbs mentions that yon. Hindenbnrg visited Boisel on the 10th, and personally directed tho retirement, and ordered the devastation of the abandoned -country. VERITABLE HUriIAN GHOULS CEMETERIES DESECRATED; REMAINS OF DEAD SCATTERED. Reuter’s Telegrams. (Received March 29, 5.3 p.m.) • LONDON, March 28. Reuter’s correspondent at French Headquarters writes:—“The full atrociousness of the conduct of the Germans is now appearing. They not only broke open vaults in churchyards and need them as machinc-gnn shields, but systematically pillaged the graves for the zinc and lead linings of the coffins, and possibly for ornaments and jewels. Cemeteries were torn up, coffins broken open and the remains of tho dead scattered. Rubbish and filth were thrown on the graves.” Tho Germans show almost an exaggerated respect for their own dead. Their trim and gaudy cemeteries abound in pompous epitaphs to fallen “German heroes” characteristically inscribed upon tombstones stolen from neighbouring French cemeteries.

GERMAN PLOTS ALLIED SHIPPING AIMED AT. By Telegraph—Press Association—Courrizb* Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. TvEW YORK, March 28. Prisoners taken from the crew of the Kronprinz Wilhelm have admitted that bombs wore made on tho interned ship Friedreich de Grosso. One witness said that these bombs had caused fires on Allied ships on tho high seas.

STOCK EXCHANGE SECURITIES STRIKING INCREASE REPORTED. Uy Telegraph—Press Association —Cbprrlcb l Australian and N.Z. Cable Association (Received March 29, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 28. The “Bankers’ Magazine” shows that Stock Exchange securities valued at £2,609,000,000 have risen in value during the last four weeks by £17,000,000 —the first increase since November, 1915,