Late News.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 41, 29 May 1917, Page 5

Late News.

j ITALIAN SUCCESSES. FURTHER GAINS ON THE CARSO ANOTHER 3500 PRISONERS TAKEE LONDON, May 27. An Italian official report says:— Heavy fighting continues on th< Carso. Wc carried another stronglj fortified position, and took 3500 pris oners. We also captured a network of trenches from the' mouth of the Tirnova river to eastward of Jamia.no, and gained possession of heights between ( piondar and Medeazza. I The enemy defences eastward of Bos(eomalo Were broken, and trenches around Castagnaviazza were taken. Wc extended our positions on the hill north of Tivoli, and drove back the enemy in the Yodice area with heavy loss. The number of enemy taken prisoner bn the Julian front since May 14th is i 22,419, including 487 officers. I AUSTRIANS COMPLETELY SURI PRISED. ' GOOD ITALIAN AIR WORK. LONDON, May 27. Reuter learns officially that no less than ten Austrian divisions, comprising a hundred battalions, were concentrated between the sea and Boscomalo, the scene of the great offensive. The success of the attack is attributed to the surprise of the Austrians, who had expected a long artillery preparation, but the Italians advanced after only a ten hours’ bombardment. The heaviest attacks were made on a front of eight kilometres. The greatest advance was two kilometres. The part played by the air arr.-ic*. constitutes a record. The Ilaban air fleet engaged consisted of 140 units. Reuter’s Rome correspondent says a semi-official report states that the Italians have mastered the whole zone between Castagnavizza and the sea. Thus only the Henna da stronghold stands between the const road £-n-! the Comen plateau, and Italian acwou towards Trieste and Laibach is now possible. SUBMARINE WARFARE. GREAT DESTRUCTION OF shipping. PARIS, May 26. Admiral Laeaze, Minister of Marine, speaking in the Chamber, said that two and a half million tons of Allied shipping had been sunk in four months. Taking account of new construction, if the submarine warfare continued at the same intensity four and a half million tons might bo sunk in 1917 out of a total tonnage of forty million. This decrease of tonnage was not going to result in the starvation of the Allies. By October all French merchantmen would be armed with two 7-inch guns. THE AMERICAN SQUADRON. PORT OF ARRIVAL MINED. - WASHINGTON, May 27. Rear-Admiral Sims reported that Germany knew of the departure of the United States fleet of destroyers to cooperate with the British weeks ahead. Consequently the British port of arrival was mined by German submarines. RUSSIAN SITUATION. A NEW LEADER. LONDON, May 27. The “Daily Chronicle’s” Petrograd correspondent says M. Kerensky has gone to the front. His influence and power will now be put to a supreme test. Russia has unbounded confidence in M. Kerensky, believing that he alone ertti rescue the country from ruin and shame. He has completely won over the Workmen’s and Soldiers’ Council to the necessity for defeating the enemy, but it is unwise to base over-sanguine hopes on that fact. The improvement at the capital is not reflected in the army at the front. The pacifists are not leaving a stone unturned to persuade the troops that they are fighting merely to extend the Allies’ wealth and possessions. One thing would defeat these intrigues, namely a decisive reply from England and Franco thereon. The Russian soldiers are ready to shed their last drop of blod for their ideals, but they must bo convinced that the Allies’ aims are equally idealistic.

DISASTROUS AIR RAID. ENGLAND ATTACKED BY AEROPLANES. 76 PEOPLE KILLED. THREE RAIDERS BROUGHT DOWN. LONDON, May 27. Official; A large squadron of enemy aircraft, numbering about sixteen, at-

tacked the south-east of England between 515 and 6.30 yesterday evening- , , Bombs were dropped at a number or places, but nearly ail the damage occurred in one town, where bombs fell in the streets, causin; content table casualties among civilians. Shops and houses v?ero seriously damaged.

Sevonvy-six persons were killed, of whom 27 were women and 23 children. The injured number 174, of whom 43 are women and 19 children. Our aeroplanes from Dunkirk engaged the returning raiders. The Admiralty reports that three enemy aeroplanes were brought down. FURTHER PARTICULARS. HEARTRENDING SCENES. WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILLED. LONDON, May 28. The raiders attacked in two lines, with scouting machines ahead. The explosions were at first isolated, The bombs were not incendiary, and the din was terrific.

The raiders turned and flew seaward and dropped down bombs in an area of ‘2OO yards, with a final burst over one street, as if a whole cargo of bombs had been released. Here the sight was heartrending. Women and children lay dead, others were screaming in agony. A number of shops crowded with cus : tomers were struck,' and the casualties amongst the customers and people in the adjoining street were very heavy. A torpedo pierced several floors of a large hotel before exploding without kiling anyone. A fireman who took the fire alarm subsequently learned that his wife, mother and children had been burned in the wreckage. In a coastal town 60 people were killed and 83 injured. People flocked into the streets to watch the arrival of the raiders,.which were 15,000 feet overhead, and suspected nothing till a shower of bombs fell in their midst, turning the street into a shambles. The scene of the greatest death roll was a butcher’s shop, which collapsed, burying a heap of struggling and shrieking victims. In some places whole rows of houses collapsed like packs of cards. GERMAN DEMANDS IN BELGIUM. LONDON j May 28. The Germans are increasing the contribution payable by Belgian provinces from 50 to 60 million francs a month, owing to the increased expense of maintaining the army of occupation. THE LIBERTY LOAN. PETROGRAD, May 28, It is estimated that the first month’s subscriptions to the Liberty Loan will be considerably exceed a thousand million roubles (about £100,000,000). Over 3000 gramaphone records of speeches Try eminent statesmen appealing for support for the loan are being distributed throughout the country. SINKING OF HOSPITAL SHIPS. GERMANY’S INTENTIONS. LONDON, May 28. Germany will in future immediately attack all hospital ships throughout the barred zone and the Mediterranean, "but will allow the transport of sick and wounded from Salonika by Greek railways at Kalamaki thence by hospital ships to Gibraltar under specified conditions. THE EIGHTH BALLOT.

WELLINGTON, Last Night. The eighth ballot from the First Di vision commences to-morrow.