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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 173, 27 August 1914, Page 4

A cable message received during the night confirms the evacuation of Alsace by the French. The immediate reason i.-j that every available'man is required for the Franco-Belgian frontier. So far as can be gleaned, the French operations in Alsace were in the nature of small offensive movements, carried out with a view to ascertaining the strength of the enemy in that quarter, and as to whether there was*a chance of forcing the Rhine bridge-heads. The French frontier in this quarter is amply protected by the Belgian group of fortresses, and the fortified town of Epinal, to the S.W. of which is the southern French concentration area. Probably there is nothing more formidable in Alsace than a German and an Austrian Army Corps; the Germans, too, require every man available for their operations in Belgium, The message that reported the evacuation of Alsace contained the significant advices that the general situation on the

Meuse was excellent, despite the troops' f,".tigue and losses. It is here clearly suggested that, the Germans have taxed the resources of the Allies to keep them in check over a widely converging front. The half has never been told of the set engagement on and about the Meuse, but it is evident that the Allies have been thoroughly tried out by the enormous mass of the attackers flung against their front. The fact, as cabled this morning, that the French are in as far as Charleroi- indicates that up to the time that message was transmitted, the German forces were experiencing considerable difficulty in keeping their f;ont in regular alignment. Prussian patrols have made an appearance as far as Lille and Tournai—the latter place has been occupied —but where the German extreme right is there should the French extreme left be also. It is i'ot unlikely that divisions of Britisfi cavalry are operating in conjunction v.ith the French on the border about Lille, but the British main force will be concentrated immediately opposite the centre of the opposing right wing. They are in the line of direct attack, and the carnage about Charleroi bears witness to the anxifety of the Germans to reach the French "hole in the wall," and the determination of the Allies to prevent this entrance.