POSITION OF ARMIES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 4945, 19 September 1914, Page 5

POSITION OF ARMIES.

NO IMPORTANT CHANGE. GERMAN LOSS 3000 DAILY. London, Last Night. Official. —Paris reports no important change in the position of the armies, although the enemy is slightly giving way, but entrenching at Montfaucon. A battle is progressing along the whole line. The Allies repulsed night and day counter attacks. The estimate of the German loss is 3000 daily for the past fortnight. Rome reports that Germany is hastening troops to meet the advancing Russians, who are now nineteen miles from the fortress of Prezmysl. Russia’s East Prussion columns are also marching to Prezmysl.

FOUR DAYS’ FIGHTING

OPERATIONS DESCRIBED

London, Last Night. Official —Descriptive accounts of operations 'of the British from the 10th to the 13th: Since the 10th the army made -teady progress in the endeavour to drive the enemy back into a country undulating and covered with patches of thick wood. Within the area which faced the British before the advance commenced at Laon the chief feature was six rivers running across the direction of advance —the rivers Marne, Ourcq, Yesle, Visne, Ailette and Ouse. The enemy held the Marne, which was crossed by our forces on the 10th. Our passage of the Ourcq was not contested, and the \ esle was lightly held. The resistance along the Aisne was of a determined character on the 11th. Little opposition was met with along any part of the front, and the direction of the advance was turned slightly north-east. The day was spent in pushing forward and gathering hostile detachments. At nightfall our forces reached the line of the North Ourcq extending from Oulchyle Chateau to Long Pont. This day there was a general advance on'the part of the French along the whole line, which ended in substantial success, Wurtemberg’s fourth a-my being driven across the Saultu, and a whole cOTps of artillery and a German corps captured. On the 12th the enemy were found occupying a formidable po-ition opposite on north of the Aisne. At Soissons they held both sides of the river entrenched along the line of the hills to north. The road bridges and railway bridges over the Asne were demolished. Working from west to east our third army corps gained high ground -outh of the Aisne over looking the Aisne Valley and east of Soissons. A long range artillery duel continued during the greater part of the day, and did not cease till midnight. The enemy had a number of heavy howitzers well concealed. The movement of the army corps was effected with the co-operation of the French sixth army on our left, which gained the southern half of the town during the night. The second army corp did not cross the Aisne. The first army corps got over the river Vesle south |of the Aisne after the- crossing was secured by the first cavalry division. It then reached a line south of the Ainse without fighting. At Braine the First Cavalry Division met with considerable opposition from infantry and machine guns holding the town and guarding the bridges. With aid from some of our infantry it gained possession at midday driving the enemy north. A hundred prisoners were gained round Braine where the Germans had thrown their field gun ammunition into the river. On the r ight the French reached the line of. the river Vesle and this day began an action along the Aisne which was finished and may be the commencement of a battle of a more serious nature. It rained heavily on Saturday afternoon and severely handicapped transport. On the 13th extremely strong resistance was encountered along the whole front, 15 miles in length. The action consisted in long range gun fire by the Germans over a gjneat extent from howitzers in cleverly concealed positions. At nightfall portions of three corps went across the river, the cavalry returning to the south side. By night three pontoon bridges had been built and the troops managed to get across tho river. On the loft the French passed on hut were prevented by artillery fire from building a bridge. Soissons during tho last four days was isolated. Germans were discovered hiding in woods behind our lines. They seemed glad to surrender. At Senlis tho Germans assembled the Mayor of the town and five leading citizens and forced them to kneel before their graves. Requisition was made for supplies, and the six citizens were then shot. Twentylour people, including women and children were shot. The town was pillaged and fired before it was evacuated. It is believed that the Cathedral was not damaged. There were similar proceedings and Creey. At Villers Gotterets, the Mayor behaved judiciously, though supplies far in excess of the cnpahiliI ties of the place were demanded, and the town was not seriously damaged. The German evacuated the place ,on the 11th in haste. Rheims was occupied by the enemy on the 3rd and reoccupied bv the French after considerable fighting on the 13th. TVio Germans had taken tho Mayor of Rheims and eighty inhabitants as hostages. NEW ARMY ENGAGED. BIG AREA OF BATTLE. London, Last Night. ’Hie Daily News’ special correspondent asserts that a new army of s(>cret composition, has arrived, and

is operating against the Germans’ right, which is retreating on the front of the Aisne. The battle covers an area of over a hundred miles. GERMAN REINFORCEMENTS 1 . Aim. ter dam, Last Night. Many German regiments have traversed the country between Liege and France. PLAYING THE WAITING GAME.

THE ALLIES’ GENERALS.

London, Last Night. It is a curious fact that Generals Joffre, GiilieniT"” Pau and Castellau are all southerners. This is considered proof that the Latins can play the waiting game, besides one requiring courage and dash. General Joffre and General French are both remarkable for their humanitaranism. Both systematically saved their men and declined to fight when victory was only purchaseable at terrific loss of life. The good results of this policy are visible, as General Joffre has now an immense reserve on which he can call. The resources of France are by no means exhausted. BRIDGE BLOWN UP. PLUCKY ENGINEERS. Paris,' Last Night. A wounded private in the Cuirassiers relates that the Cuirassiers and British Royal Engineers retreated across the Aisne at Soissons. Germans endeavoured to rush their troops across a bridge. Several of the Royal Engineers dashed at tho bridge and laid the charge, hoping to blow it up. All of them were killed before the fuse was lighted. Another party of Engineers crept up to “the bridge, despite the machine guns and German sharpshooters hidden in a clump of trees. The whole place was an inferno. First one Engineer made a rush at this gate of liell and attempted to light the fuse. A volley from the sharpshooters shot him down. A second, third, and fourth ran the gauntlet, but all u'ere killed. Altogether eleven were shot down. Then the German rifle fire slackened. The twelfth man then raced across and lit the fuse, but the German riflemen killed him as the bridge was blown up.

A LONG STRUGGLE. London, Last Night. Official.—Earl Kitchener, speaking in the House of Lords, said: —“We have good ground for quiet confidence, but the struggle is bound to be long. We have in the field rather more than six divisions. These are being maintained at full strength by a steady flow of reinforcements.” GERMAN COWARDICE. SHOT COMRADE IN THE BACK. Geneva, Last Night. After a fierce fight in the Vosges, a German found a French soldier unconscious. He shouldered him, and was conveying him to the ambulance when another German soldier, i shouting, “You are carrying a dirty FVemohman,” shot the German in the back. The bearer and his burden fell and lay side by side for long hours. They were rescued on the arrival of French troops and sent to the hospital at Savoy, where they are now lying in adjoining beds. TROPHIES EXHIBITED. London, Last Night. Parisians are greatly interested in the exhibition of war trophies, especially eleven cannon. Over twenty trains of German war material have been sent to Paris since tho opening of hostilities. During tho last week, sixty cannon, thirty machine-guns, and forty motor vans have been captured. 1 SHOOTING THE lit OWN MEN. SOME GERMAN MISTAKES. Paris, Last Night. A Saxon officer admits that the German artillery, near Malines, annihilated a P russian regiment, mistaking it for French infantry. If. is also admitted that, near a frontier village, two battalions of twenty■eiigb German infantry mistook ono another for the French and shot down every man. RIDICULOUS FICTIONS. London, Last Night. Among the fictions circulated by Germany are thio following:—The situation before Paris is wholly favourable for our army. A Bofolina correspondent re-asxprts the truth of John Burns’ speech, in which he remains at home from many public meetings. Tbc same authority adds: Tire Lord Mayor of London opposes the war. NEWS OF THE DEFEAT. DISORDERS ARE FEARED. London, Last Night. Romo report* that German public opinion is deeply impressed with the news of the defeat. Tho crowds outside tho newspaper offices in Berlin awaiting tidings are such that disorders are feared. The Be rlin Bureau is issuing bulletins obvion Iv "oneocted to prepare the people for bed news, declaring: “We did not export a promenade for our troops.”

DEAD BODIES UPRIGHT. A CHEMIST’S THEORY. London, Last Night. Referring to the report that German dead were found standing upright in the trenches, a chemist declares that the Fiehieii are using turpmite, an explosive requiring a special gun, and producing complete paralysis of certain organs of the body, causing absolutely painless death to everybody within reach, . Other authorities consider the stories unbelievable, as dead bodies are incapable of remaining in the position described. (There are two Harrison Companies with steamers trading to England. J. and C. Harriscon, Ltd., of London, have eighteen vessels, and T. and J. Harrison, Liverpool, fifty-six vessels. None of the vessels have a speed of over thirteen knots. The Kmden is a cruiser of 24i knots.) TRANEERRING TROOPS. BACK TO FRANCE. Petrograd, This Day. It is reported that the Germans are sending back their first line of troops from East Prussia to France. Apparently tho reason for the first transfer was tlie stampeding of practically half the population of Northeast Prussian before General Rennenkampf, causing a panic in Berlin. POLES WITH PITCHFORKS. EXTERMINATE GERMAN PATROL London, Last Night. Poles at Przemysl, armed with pitchforks, axes and scythes, exterminated a German patrol. ■ IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA. GERMAN LOSSES HEAVY. London, Last Night. Official. —The Governor of Nyassaland reports that a reoonnaisance beyond the frontier was made on September 13th without contact being established with the enemy. Of nineteen German officers engaged in the fight on the northern shore of Lake Nyassa last week, eleven have been accounted for. Three others escaped wounded. The German losses, rank and file, were heavy. AGITATION IN ITALY. London, Last Night. Reliable.—The anti-neutrality agitation is spreading in Italy. Resolutions have been passed, urging the Government to take action lest they lose their chance of extending the national boundaries. The Nationalists, Republicans, and Socialists have joined in the patriotic demonstration. The public feeling is decidedly favourable to England. CANADIAN CONTINGENTS. 26,000 FOR THE FRONT.

London, Last Night. Owing to.the enthusiasm which prevails, Canada is sending 25,000 instead of 20,000 men to the front. It is also sending 10,000 to maintain on the Contingent the full strength, and 5000 in another month. CEYLON VOLUNTEERS. Colombo, Last Night. Earl Kitchener, has accepted Ceylon’s contingent. Ceylon will pay the cost of transport.