ENEMY. OK DOWN GRADE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14192, 9 January 1917, Page 3

ENEMY. OK DOWN GRADE.

LACK OF MEN AND GUNS. BRITISH ADVANCE ON ANCRE. Two important, developments have taken place Jn the war zones this week, ?ne on thfi Western front, and the otheion the East, the London correspondent of the New, York Herald wrote on 18th November. Results have been favorable to the Allies in both cases. These Event's are the victory of the British on the Ancre and that of the Franco-SerVs on the Tserna. 'Die ease with which each ..was achieved- is a striking proof, that the war has passed its culmination and that the Central Powers are or the down grade: On both fronts ' lade of men and Jack of guns were displayed. Miliary observers in London look for a continuation of the war for at least a year longer, but all agree that the 'lower. -of Prussian militarism is surely declining, however slowly. No longer do We hear of Prussian victories anywhere except in small actions ■li the* Transylvanian frontier. The counter-attacks of the. Kaiser's armie? ire visiibly lessening, in vigor. Such was the. case during the brilliant" dash of the British on Monday between Thiepval and Hebuterne, west of Bapaume. The attack was begun °arly in th« ; morning, . By 4 o'clock in the afternoon the British' north of the Ancjre had 1 captured Beaximont-Hamel and those south of the brook, had reach-. * r l its banks, cutting off the Prussians who wefl'e still in their dug-outs and underground holes at St. Pierre Divibn. IMPRJEGN ABLE POSITIONS. These positions were among, the itrcngest points in the elaborate Prus-v-an system of fortifications in the west. Two years .had been devoted to perfectin. EC their defences, and the Prussians called thorn impregnable. Yfet their capture was effected' in a few hours with a comparatively small lois of men, far ex. ceeded by the number of prison t^ taken. The only interpretation of this is that the Prussians are unable to defend morn 1 than i\ feV miles of their line nt a time. -Pressure last week was caused by- tfre French in v the south iround Ablaincourt, and the' Prussians evidently had sent reinforcements from the north to strengthen the trenches in that vicinity, thus dangerously weakeniiiEr those around the Ancre. Yot their reserves are so reduced that tlrta is ftie onlv means they ; have of repelling atTbe ; alternative is the^shortening^ of their line by a general retreat. IMPORTANT MTLWAY. The troops sent from the Ancre to the Chaalneß-Ablainconrt region] must have ?one by rail from ...MivanmonV to Bapaumo, to the junction near Velu, then to JEquancourf and to Roisel, on the Cologne, tind . along that brook to Perohne and the- scene 'of . action. This roundabout road is thirteen miles from the nearest point of tho lines of the Allies who hold both ends b*f ! the route; the British at Beaucourt, and tin French near Chaulnes. TTntil they sett this railroad, which roughly parallels their front, the advance of the Allies will bo necessarily slow. Chanlnes in the south, Peronne in tho centre, and Bapaume in the north are the chief points on this railroad route, and the immediate objectives of the Allies. The French are gradually Docketing Chaultifls. Peronne cannot be taken by direct assault from across the River Somme, so the French are oradually flankinc: it on the north from Bouehayesnes. Now the British are. anoroachrng Bapaiime by way of tbei railway already mentioned and the Ancre brook. This stream flows south-west through Albert where it descends to a lower level by a pretty little waterfall and empties into the Somme near Corbie. Tt rises about three ; miles east of Bapaume. near Warlenoourt. From Albert north Uip railroad follows the stream as far ns MHraumont, then to tlie junction nt Aehiet-le-Grand', where the line forltsj one branch running to Arras. '• Th* British are now, extending their lines r-ast from Beaucourt — along- the "north bank of the Ancre toward Miraumont, at the same time beginning the envelopment of Rpitp. close to their lines, about a mile and a-half to the north-west.

Applying for exemption at Islington, , a farrier said all ( "his men had gone to the war. Asked who heined him in his business, he replied, "My wife, She wields the ham.ro««\"