The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 27, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, March 29, 1918 Page: 2 of 10
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THE LEXINGTON LEADER
BRITISH HOLD LINE AT FIFTEEN MILES;
ALLIED TROOPS RETIRE IN
GOOD ORDER AS MACHINE
GUNS MOW DOWN SOLID
FORMATIONS OF HUNS
GERMAN EXTREME ADVANCE IS
BAUPAUME, NESLE, ..
British Have Lost About 45,000 PriS'
oners and 600 Guns According to
the German Statement.—Three
Companies of American
Engineers Missing.
London.—The great German offen-
sive, ao long advertised and which the
German newspapers have openly de-
telared is to be the last and greatest
German effort, opened last Thursday
Iniorning on a front of about 50 miles
Centering roughly on Cambrai and just
about covering the British front. The
apparent objective is to recover the
ground evacuated last year and to re-
store the Germans to the Hindenburg
line.
From Arras to Roye, which the Ger-
mans have taken, the British aro
standing in their accepted fortified
positions for the great test. The line
Uuplicates exactly the British and
French positions that endured from
October, 1914, to June, 1916. On the
front named the Germans aro face to
face with positions which were built
and strengthened In the first two
years of the war and which have been
renovated and greatly enlarged for
the present day purpose.
Already the Germans are at this
allied wall. North of the Somme
Hindenburg's legions are dog tired and
apparently there are no more fresh
divisions to keep up the attack. The
lighting paused north of the Somme.
South of the stream, however, a pow-
erful attack set in and rolled the Brit-
ish back three miles further to Roye.
Advance Twenty-Four Miles.
At Roye the Germans have ad-
vanced twenty-four miles from the old
front at St. Quentin. Virtually the
entire area of the country evacuated
by Hindenburg in his great "strat-
egic" retreat has been reclaimed.
Only a small acreage, in the southern
tip of buttle area around Noyon, re-
mains tu be passed to restore the
stalemate position that followed the
rsce to thd sea. At Roye the Germans
are fifteen miles from Amiens, their
great objective in the double drive.
London now forecasts a heavy coun-
ter blow, already in the making, in
which the allied mass af maneuver,
provided for at Versailles will bo
called upon to revise the situation.
In the Roye area, British, French
and American troops are fighting
shoulder to shoulder, the official an-
nouncement states. Fresh reinforce-
ments are rapidly coming up.
The German losses have been so
great that the enemy has been obliged
to bring up reinforcements from all
parts of the western front. The war
office has established the fact that
More than seventy German divisions
(In the neighborhood of 840,000 menL
litve been engaged. British estimates
ct German losses are 350,000, mostly
In killed.
The Germans have engaged over a
million men and having reverted to
their old mass formations, they have
been butchered by thousands and tens
Of thousands as they presented a potnt
flank target to the allied machine
guns and artillery.
* As in every other big offensive since
the war begun, the attack is more or
less successful—in its earlier stages.
Assaulting the British lines on the |
iouth, the Germans have forced their
|way forward over a front approximate-
ly twenty-one miles in length, have
penetrated to a depth of four or live
miles west of Cambrai and have
reached Ham, west of St. Quentin, a
distance of about nine miles west of
the British lines as they stood before
the inception of the Teutonic offen-
sive.
The German assertion that the
forces of the central empires are
fighting on a line northeast of Ba-
paume, Peronne and Ham has not
been substantiated by British official
dispatches, but the British reports
show that there has been a retire-
ment at various points, especially at
St. Quentin, where Field Marshal Haig
says his forces have taken up their
new positions and aro heavily en-
gaged with the enemy.
British officially admit loss of
Bapaume, Nesle and Guiscard, mark-
ing an extreme German advance of
fifteen miles.
Capture of more than 45,000 prison-
ers and 600 guns, and tremendous
ALLIED SHIPS IN COLLISION
Three Americans of Manley Crew Are
Killed and Several Injured.
Washington—One American officer
and three men were killed aboard the
American destroyer, Manley, March
19, when the vessel collided with a
British warship, the navy department
announced. A number of American
nailors were injured. A depth chargo
on the Manley exploded when the ves-
sels met. Both vessels were damaged
quantities of war material reported m
German official statement.
The British anj French, who co-
operate at the junction of the two
armies, are viewing the trend of the
German offensive with optimistic
eyes.
Hard fighting was in progress but
the latest reports show a slackening
in the advance, while on the other
hand the defenders have pushed the
attacking forces back after a bitter
struggle and are holding stronglv
along the whole new front to which
they had withdrawn.
Fighting of a most desperate nature
has been continuous since the initial
attack but so far the British have
used few troopB other than those
which were holding the front lines.
These shock troops have been mak-
ing as gallant a defense as was ever
recorded in the annals of the British
army, and as a result they have en-
abled the main body of the forces to
fall back deliberately and without
confusion and occupy positions which
had been prepared long before the
German offensive begun.
The Canadians on the other hand,
operating under the eyes of the em-
peror and the crown prince, have been
hurling vast hordes into the fray with
utter disregard for lives and have fol-
lowed Into the abandoned positions
getting farther away from their sup-
plies and finding their communications
increasingly difficult.
More than fifty German divisions
already have been Identified by actual
contact, and many of these men were
simply given two days' iron rations
and sent over the top into the fright-
ful maelstrom made by the allied ar-
tillery, machine guns and rifles. The
slaughter of the enemy infantry as it
advanced In close formation over the
open has been appalling.
The British losses have kept within
the bounds expected flue to the tactics
of the commanders. The allies have
lost a considerable number of men In
prisoners and a considerable number
of guns.
But very few pieces of artillery
have been taken by the Germans since
the first day. In fact, the whole with-
drawal has been executed in a mas-
terly manner, showing how thorough-
ly the British had planned for the
very events which have occurred.
Victory In the battle which has been
raging near Monchy, Cambria, St.
Quentin and La Fere is claimed by
the Germans. The British third and
fourth armies and part of Franco-
American reserves are declared to
have been beaten with the heaviest
losses on the line from Bapaume to
Bouchavesnes and behind the Somme
between Peronne and Ham, as well as
at Chauny.
All the roads in the rear of the
German advance, a dispatch says, are
blocked by columns of troops, guns
and transport vehicles furnishing tar-
gets upon which the British artillery
Is making deadly play. Rough esti-
mates of the casualties inflicted vary
between SO to per sent of all the
divisions 'identified.
LEADING GERMAN ASSAULT
American Activities.
With the American Army In France,
—The American artillery c6ntinues to
shell heavily towns held by the Ger-
mans and German batteries opposite
the Toul sector with gas.
The Germans themselves have re-
sasop eqj }nq 'pain tij pajBooadp
of gas sent against them by the Amer-
icans have been twice as large as they
have received.
The town of Richecourt, north of
Xlvray, one of the targets of the
Americans, has been abandoned, so j
far as American patrols which recon- Senate Military Committee Told Foe
roitered near tho town were able to
determine.
The American artillery also Is keep-
ing up a stream of other shells on
enemy positions In this region. St.
Paussant, northeast of Richecourt, has
been heavily shelled with high explo-
Blvo projectiles wihle German first
line trenches repeatedly have been hit
and leveled and enemy dugouts and
snipers' posts completely silenced.
MAJ. GEN. LEONARD WOOD
SAYS 2,500,000 NEEDED
AT THE FRONT
AVIATORS ARE WITHOUT WINGS
Outnumbers Allies In Drive.-
Favors Universal Military
T raining.
Washington.—Back from a visit to
the western battle front, Major Gen-
oral Leonard Wood, in a confidential
statement before the senate military
committee, declared that allied mili-
tary opinion is unanimous that the
German offensive will fail, and urged
a great Increase—to 4,000,000 to 5,000,.
000 men—in America's army.
Aviators, But No Aeroplanes.
In urging that the American war
program of men, ships and munitions
___ ., be speeded up and increased, General
V ashington. The financial plans 'Wood said no American artillery or
of the U. S. government for the next j aj, pianes are yet available to Gen-
eight months, disclosed by Secretary crnl Pershing's lnen and that> al.
McAdoo, provide for a long period of ,hough 1 000 Araerlcan avlat0rs ar9
rest from bond issues after the third
lean of $3,000,000,000 next month and i
REST AFTER NEXT LOAN
Fourth, Late Next Fall, Will Be For
Larger Figure.
for floating of the fourth Liberty loan j
next October or November.
The amount of the fourth loan
probably will be greater thany any of
those that have gone before and to j
prepare for it the treasury next sum- {
mer probably will start the issuance j
of certificates of indebtedness in con j
siderable amounts.
To clear the way for these certill- j
cates the house ways and means com-!
mittee tentatively approved raising
the authorized limit of outstanding
certificates from $4,000,000,000 as at
present to $8,000,000,000.
Loans to allies will be continued
during the next fiscal year which
starts July 1 and although more than
$2,000,000,000 authorized for this pur-
pose still remains, congress at thg
secretary's request is expected to ap-
prove extension of further credits to
the sum of $1,500,000,000. Mr. McAdoo
estimates that this will be sufficient
to fill allied needs until October and
another authorization will he asked of
congress before the amount is used
up. Actual credits and payments are
made at the secretary's discretion sub-
ject only to the limitations imposed
by the act of congress.
The secretary explained that he
plans to issue third Liberty bonds In
denominations of $50, $100, $500~and
$1,000 as in the first and second loans
and that terms of payment In install-
ments will be substantially the same
as In the past. For the second loan 2
per cent of the subscription was due
at the time the subscription was made,
18 per cent two weeks after the loan
campaign closed; 40 per cent one
month later, and the final 40 per cent
one month after that.
The third loan will be for three bil-
lions, drawing 4% per cent.
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ihyKmwyfr
WHERE GERMANS OPENED GREAT ATTACK
Saudemont
Saudiy
MARQWOM
Railltncoun
Pt FWtjine
CAMBRAI
Will
fXy?
NoytJItt
oGrancou/t
karcoihg
S«rinviller
Masvem
Rutwcourt
*<w
Wdlincourf
GOUZCAUCOURT
twzeilf
L^vacQutrie
Gowen
slincowt
Horwecourt
Vi/leri
CXtreaux
Terrier*
Aubtnchrtl
TELET
60
Wmihui
MILES
Major General Leonard Wood.
ready, they are without planes. Use
of Liberty motors in bombing instead
of fighting machines also was recom-
mended by General Wood.
It was Geenral Wood's opinion, ao
cording to his auditors, that the Ger
mans on the western front now are
numerically superior, both on the
ground and in the air, but that tho
allies are in a better position. While
confident that the German offensive
will be halted before the enemy has
gained any material objectives, Gen-
eral Wood suggested that the offen-
sive may change the warfare into a
more open contest. For that reason
he recommended the training of
American forces for open warfare as
well as for trench fighting.
The general was before the commit-
tee for three hours and frankly dis-
cussed the situation in Europe and fit
home. Stating that the French are
difappointed In the size of the Ameri-
can army thus far sent to Europe, ac-
cording to committee members, ho
recommended immediate steps to in-
crease both the American expedition-
ary forces and the army in training
In this country. Chairman Chamber-
lain said General Wood recommended
that an army of 2,500,000 men be
maintained in France at the earliest
possible moment, and 2,500,000 more
In training at home. Another com-
mittee member placed General Wood'.-*
recommendations at 4,000,000, ono-
half in France as soon as they can be
sent there.
This map shows that part of the British lines In the region of Cambrai,
(vhere the Germans made their fiercest attacks in opening their new offensive. |
Their apparent Intention was to drive wedges on both sides of the Cambrnl
tallant.
CANUKS OPEN SIDE SHOW
Make Serious Inroads On German Per-
sonnel Opposite Their Sector.
Canadian Headquarters—While Ger-
man and British troops were strug-
gling, far to the south, in the opening
clash of the spring campaign, the
greatest projector gas bombardment
of the war was carried out by the Can-
adians against enemy positions be-
tween Lens and Hill 70, just north
of the scene of the German offensive.
At 11 o'clock a signal rocket was
sent up. A moment later more than
5,000 drums of lethal gas, simultane-
ously released from projectors, were
hurled into enemy territory from the
outskirts of Lens
Boise de Dix Huit.
to St. Auste and
Allies Buy Through Grain Corporation
Washington.—Curtailment of wheat
consumption to 50 per cent of norma!
which the food administration has de-
termined upon, will be effected
through the administration's control
of licensed mills and distributors. In-
stead of 30 per cent of the country's
output of flour being taken for export,
practically 50 per cent is being pur-
chased by the food administration
grain corporation, which In turn sells
to the allies, according to their actual
needs.
4 GERMAN RAIDERS SUNK
! Attack Off Dunkirk Ends Disastrously
For the Hun.
London.—Two enemy destroyers
and two enemy torpedo boats have
ben sunk by force of five British anl
French destroyers, the admiralty an-
nounces. One Britliih destroyer wai
damaged.
The engagement occurred off Dun-
kirk early In the morning. The Brit
ish casualties were slight. There wen
no French casualties.
Explosion and Fire at Jersey City.
New York.—Fire following a series
of unexplained explosions destroyed
the six-story building of the Jarvis
Warehouse Company, Inc., near the
Erie railroad terminal in Jorsey City,
and badly damaged the Erie repair
shops. No loss of life has been re-
ported. The material damage was es-
timated by Jersey City police and fire
officials at close to $1,500,000. The
goods stored ill the warehouse, includ-
nig a quantity of chemicals, were a
total loss. The cause of the explosions
has not yet been determined.
Field Marshal von Woyrsch, who
led the Teuton invasion of Poland in
1915, is the line commander of the
present German drive.
HUN HAS A MARVELOUS GUN
THAT WILL CARRY PROJECT-
ILE 76 MILES
Paris Bombarded Accurately From a
Point Behind the Western
Front.
Paris.—Announcement in the Ger-
man official report that Paris has been
bombarded by long-distance guns fol-
lowed the discovery by the French,
that the German "monster cannon"
has been located in the forest of St. •
Gobaln, west of Laon, 122 kilometers '
(76 miles) from the Paris city hall.
The bombardment begun on Satur-
day, March 23, and continued without j
cessation until 3:30 o'clock Sunday
afternoon. Two guns are believed to
have been used. Little damage was
done by the bombardment beyond the
killing of ten and wounding of 15 per-
sons.
The shells arrived at regular inter- |
vals of twenty minutes at first. The
detonations soon lost their power to
disturb the population, which refused
to be distracted from its Sunday hab-
its to any great extent.
The newspaper Le Journal, in Its
article regarding the gun, says the
p'ece of 240-millimeter caliber Is of
Austrian manufacture. It is a very
delicate piece of machinery, which
must be handled by expert mathemali-
c'ans and gunners, the newspaper
adds, as the loading and pointing is a
difficult task. It declares each shot
costs about $4,000.
The ordnance experts were not
ready to commit themselves as to
whether the shell was a sort of aerial
torpedo, driven by projectiles; wheth-
er an Inner projectile contained In the
original shell is released by an explo-
sive after the shell has traveled a
certain distance from the gun, or
whether the original projectile itself
rcaches its destination propelled, per-
haps, by an explosive of a force hith-
erto unknown.
THE GIANTS
Haig, British.
Von Hindenburg, German.
FOURTH OF SHIPS FINISHED
Chairman Hurley Reveals Progress of
Building.
New York. — America's effort to
meet German submarine war, whose
full menace has just been revealed in
British admiralty figures on sinkings
of ships was outlined here by Chair-
man Hurley of the shipping board, in
a frank statement setting forth the
shipbuilding situation in the United
States.
Mr. Hurley disclosed that despite
delays the country soon will have 730
steel and wooden ways turning out
ships and that the government's mam-
moth steel shipbuilding program of
8,000,000 tons on March 1 was 28 per 1
cent on its way to completion. This I
does not mean that 28 per cent are in j
mm I
Pershing, American.
1 ' ty "J
the water, but that construction as a
whole had advanced that far. Eight I
per cent of the vessels actually have |
been put into service, Mr. Hurley said.
The three government fabricating
yards near Philadelphia, when in full I
operation will be able to produce, Mr.
Hurley said, more ships in a year than
all the yards in England, heretofore
the greatest shipbuilding country in j
the world.
Dr Muck In Jail As Enemy Alien.
Boston.—Dr. Karl Muck, conductor
of the Boston symphony orchestra
arrested as an enemy alien, was
locked up in the East Cambridge jail J
after being examined by officials of j
the department of justice.
Chicago Arrests 200.
Chicago.—More than 200 men were
arrested in Chicago in t?ie govern-
ment's campaign against disloyalists,
enemy aliens, slackers and deserters.
Several of them will be interned.
Germans Reported Invading Finland.
Stockholm. -— The Germans have
landed considerable forces in Finland,
between Hango and Helsingfors on
the gulf of Finland, and nre now ad-
vancing toward Tanunerfors. An of-
fensive against Abo is expected anjr
minute.
m)
£sriiJ
Petain, French.
35 Liberty Trucks Completed.
Washington.—A fleet of thirty-three
liberty trucks, the first output of the
quantity production which has been
ordered to supply the army with motor
vehicles left Lima, Ohio, for an east-
ern port where they will be loaded for
France. The record of the trucks over f/
land will be watched carefully as they
are machine-made, for comparison
with the handmade sample trucks.
Assembling factories now have on
hand sufficient parts for five hundred!!
of the 3-ton trucks.
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Little, Ed F. The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 27, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, March 29, 1918, newspaper, March 29, 1918; Lexington, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc110822/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.