St. John's Daily Star, 1918-07-05

              The St. John's Daily Star Newfoundland VOLUME IV- ($3.00 per Annum) FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1918. (PROBS: Easterly Winds; Showery.) No. 144 Allied Troops on the Western Front Celebrate U. S. Independence Day With Victory Over German Forces ALLIES WIN VICTORX ON INDEPENDENCE DAY Australians Spring Great Surprise Attack  -and Capture 1500 Penetrating- Mile and-Half Into of Enemy. the mouth of the Piave. Scattered chine gun emplacements have been cleaned out, while light boats from ' ihe Italians had entered the lagoons on the left flanks of the Austrian j army and lent valuable aid to' the land forces. The Italians also won ground in the San Lorenzol valley, cast of the Brenta river. Announcement is madea that Mohammed V., Sultan of Turkey died on Wednesday night. The heir to the throne is Yusseff Izzeduna, cousin of the deceased Sultan and a son of the late Sultan Abdu] Aziz. Fighting between the Germans and Soviet and the peasantry is reported from Yokster in Berg, the city in east Russia, where the main line of trans-Siberian railway line is joined by the road running to the north and south of Russia. It was reported recently that the Czech Slovak troops were in control of Ekaterinburg, and it4s stated that an army of 200,000 peasants well armed has been formed there. German attempts to drive American forces from their positions at Vaux west of Chateau Thierry seem to have failed utterly. In all allied countries and their colonies the American independence day was observed in an unprecedented manner. In London and the large cities of England there were special exercises, even the small towns joined in honouring the United States. J ONDON, July 4.—By a *reat surprise attack on the German lines, planned especially as a celebption of American Independence Austral* ian troops have wrested frciji the enemy the village of Hame., \ east of; Amiens, occupied Vaire Ha\#fel woods south of the village, captured more than 1500 prisoners. ', The Australians advanced under cover of a smoke barrage and were led by tanks in the breaking of the enemy lines on a front of more than four miles. The attack penetrated 'a mile and a half into the German linrs. The British war office announces that American troops participated in the attack. This is the first timjs they have appeared in "this part pf the batrle area. The French have also struck savagely against the German lines, this time cutting through the enemy's ranks near ithe town of Anjhenes, south of Moulin sous Toutveht, where on Tuesday night they won a local success and captured prisoners. Here the Germanslost 1,085 prisoners. Improved Positions In both operations the allies have improved thpir positions by gaining rather high-ground which can be read ily defended when the Germans launch their expected offensive. At the time the. British, French and Americans were attacking the ftalians •continued to advance in the area near TURKS TREAD ON UNCLE SAM'S CORNS TANKS AIDED WIN VICTORY Land Battleships Take Leading Part in Surprise Attack On Germans at Villers Bretonneux. HAUL OF CAPTIVES SURPRISINGLY BIG BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN D FRANCE, July 4—(via Reuters Ottav/a Agency.)— This morning's operations at Villers Bretonneux was one of the most successful of the kind in this war. It followed exactly the lines laid down in advance. The ground offered considerable odds to the defenders, yet in less than two hours the whole four lines were in our hymds. Our entire casualties are hardly a third of the number of prisoners and we reduced three German divisions to mere wraiths of what they had been this morning. The features of the attack were the forethought and completeness in its preparation and the use of tanks, which, manoeuvring admirably, sprang a great surprise upon the enemy. Considering the large number of dead the haul of fifteen pris oners ''exceeds expectation, even tho it includes a battalion commander and a large part of his command. A preparatory raid of bombs on Hanu contributed largely towards keepihg down our casualties. The enemy's attention was distracted by three'distinct attacks launched north of the river which kept his guns busy. Nearly, a hundred men and some ground was captured in these attacks which completely deceived the enemy regarding what w*as happening across the river. German divisions engaged, whiclv suffered heavily, were fortythird, and one hundred and thirtieth. The latter is a new divisio.,l on this front, having recently moved from Lens. Tienlown the German madman. Buy Victory Bonds. f- . • ■»— •  During the week at Curling salmon were soW at a very cheap figure fetching from 6 to 8 cents p«r pound. The st that can bt quoted for St. JchnVfolk is 15 cent*. TURKISH SULTAN MOHAMMED DEAD ; Late Monarch Left Prison to Ascend Moslem Throne. Amsterdam, July 4.—Mohammed Vj, sultan of Turkey, died at seven o'clock last night, says a Constantinople press despatch received here today by way of Vienna. Mohammed V., 35th sovereign,of Turkey in direct descent of the house of Osman, founder pf the empire, came to the throne by a coup d' etat on April 27, 1909, after having been held for thirty-three years a prisoner by his brother, Sultan Abdul 11., in the royal, palace and gardens in Constantinople. - The scheming Abdul 11. intended that his jpwn son, Prince Burhan Edine, described as the most brilliant and giftefjTof the princes of the house of Osman should succeed him, but this plan was thwarted when parliament deposed Abdul and placed his prisoner brother, Mohammed Nesobad Effendi, on the throne as Mohammed Fifth. Mohammed V. was born in Constantinople on Nov. 3, 1845. His long imprisonment with lack of exercise and rich living undermined his health and several times he was reported dead or seriously ill. He was characterized as goodnatured, weak and ingenious, with an almost infantile curiosity and of a religious nature. His hand in the government was never strong. The Turkish empire paid dearly for its entry into the great war. Under him Turkey has become a German vassal in the autocratic scheme of the German powers for Teutonic cTcendancy in central Europe. The next heir to the throne, Yussoff Izzedune, is jhe SOn of the late Sultan Abdul Aziz, and was, therefore, first cousin of Mohammed IV. Mohammed's eldest son, Zia Eldine, a man now over thirty, is ninth in the line of succession. Grateful to Dominions London, July 4—(via Reuters Ottawa Agency.)—At the annual meeting of King George's fund for sailors, the Duke of Connaught voiced congratulations to the dominions and crown colonies for their splendid response to his personal appeal for subscriptions. ■ » ' The express with mails and passen gers arrived here early this afternoon. - - -J - - THE FRENCH French Penetrated German Lines to a Depth of 1200 Metres Over a Front of Over Three Miles. 1066 UNWOUNDED PRISONERS TAKEN pARIS, July 4.—The French delivered an attack between Autreches and Moulin-Sous-Toutvent giving them further gains of territory. The entire operation netted the French a gain of ground on a front of more than three miles to a maximum depth of approximately three-fifths of a mile. The French took 1066 prisoners.North of Mont Didier between Mont Didier and the Oise and on the rght bank of the. Meuse, the French carried out several raids bringing back prisoners. Between the Oise and the Aisne at 7.30 o'clock last night French troops attacked the German lines west of Autrechs on a front of two kilometres (IY4 miles) and made an advance of 800 metres. Later in the evening a new attack was made. In the same region between Autrechs and Moulin-Sous-Toutvent at the moment when the Germans were preparing a counter-attack the French made a further gain of ground. The entire advance which extended on a front of five kilometres reached a depth of 1200 metres at certain points. The number of unwounded prisoners taken in the course of these actions is 1066, including 18 officers. One of our battalions alone took more than three hundred prisoners. » » »-  Lend for liberty. Buy Victory Bonds. ■ ♦ • STAR ATHLETES MEET Last evening the Star Athletic Club met and elected the following officers for the year:— Chairman—F. J. Woods. Vice-Chairman—E. J. Fitzgerald. Secretary Treas.—H. M. Wall. Football Capt.—J. Evans. Yice-Capt—B. Hart. Delegate—W. Duggan. CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY IN LONDON AND WASHING TON Pres. Wilson Addresses Gathering at Mt. Vernon, Washington's Old Home, On Allies, Ideals. WAR FOR VICTORY NOT PHONEY PEACE WASHINGTON, July 4.—At an Independence gathering at Mount Vernon, home and tomb of George Washington, President Wilson today addressed a small gathering of officials and of diplomats of the allied nations. But he spoke to the world, and he spoke the logical sequel to his "force without stint or limit" declaration of several weeks ago. Unreservedly, l!ie president declared that there could be no thought of a peace which did not mean the: destruction of military autocracy or its reduction to virtual impotence. "A reign of law, based on the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of rnankMid," was the way he summarized in a single senience the objects o: humanity in the world war. Whether the president was addressing his remarks direcily to ihe recent j rpeech of the German foreign scere| t.iry, Yon ICuehlmann, or to the foreshadow of a renewed German peace offensive, or whether he merely took J the occasion of the celebration of American independence to emphasize to the world the aims ol the nntio'i. can only be divined. Ditlnt- Deal With War Progress. He did "hot deal with the progress cf the war or any particular phaseof it, but he spoke eloquently of America's attitude towards Germany's so-called pcr.ee trealics in the cast by grouping the people of Russia, "for the moment unorganized and helpless," among the peoples of the world standing against the enemies of liberty. The president's address in parl was: "This is surely a fitting plrice (Mount Vernon), from which calmly to look out upon our task that we may fortiiy our spirits for its accomplishment. And this is the appropriate place from which to avow, alike to the friends who look and to the friends with whom we have the happiness to be associated in action, the faith and purpose with which we act. "This, then, is oiir conception of the great struggle in which we are engaged. The plot is written plainly upon every scene and every act of the supreme tragedy. On the one hand stand the people of the world, not only the peoples actually engaged, but many others also who suffer under mastery, but cannot act, —peoples of many races and in every part of the wprld. Russia Included. "The people of stricken Russia are si ill among the rest, though they are for the moment unorganized and j helpless. Opposed to them, masters of many armies, are an isolated, friendless group of governments who speak no common purpose but only selfish ambitions of their own, by which none can profit but themselves, and whose peoples are fully in their hands. "Governments which fear their people and yet are for the time their sovereign lords, making every choica for them and disposing of their lives and fortunes as they will, as well as of the lives and fortunes of every people who fall under their power. "Governments clothed with the strange trappings and the primitive authority of an. age that is altogether aKen and hostile to our own. The past and the present are in deadly grapple, and the peoples of the world are being done to death between them. "There can be but one issue, the settlement must be final, there can be no compromise. No half way decision would be tolerated. No half way decision is conceivable. Ends For Which We Fight. "These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting, and which must be conceded them before there can be peace; the destruction of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately, secretly and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world, or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least its reduction to virtual impotence. "The settlement of every question j whether of territory, of sovereignty, j of economic relationship upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediate| ly concerned and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of its own exterior influence or mastery. "The consent of all nations to be governed in their conduct toward «ach other by the same principle of honor and of respect for the common laws of civilized society that govern the individual citizens of all modern slates in their relations with cne another to the end that all promises and covenants may be sacredly observed. Mast Be No- Selfishness. "No private plots o$ conspiracies hatched, no selfish injuries wrought with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon the handsome foundation of a mutual respect for right. "The establishment of an organization of peace which shall make it certain that the combined power oi free nations will check every invasion of right and serve to make peace and justice the more secure, by affording a definite tribune of opinion to which all must submit, and by which every international readustment that cannot be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be sanctioned. . "These great obects can be put into a single sentence. What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind. These great ends cannot be achieved by debating and seeking to reconcile and accommodate what statesmen may wish, witli their projects for balances of power and of national opportunity. "They can be realized only by the determination of what the thinking peoples of the world desire with their longing for hope, for justice, and for social freedom and opportunity. I can fancy that the air of this place carries the scent of such principles with a peculiar kindness. "He*? were started forces which the great nation which they were primarily directed at first regarded as a revolt against its rightful authority, but which it has long since seen to have been a step in* the liberation Qγ its own people, as well as of the people of the United States; and J stand here now to speak, speak proudly and with confident hope, of the spread of this revolt, this liberation, to the great stage of the. world itself. "The blinded ruleis of Prussia have routed forces they knew little oi, forces which, once aroused, can never be crushed to earth again, fofr they have at their heart an inspiration and purpose which are deathless and of the very staff of triumph." British Rival Americans Themselves in Enthusiasm and Elaborateness of Their Celebrations. ■% GREAT GATHERING IS HELD IN LONDON lONDON, July 4.—No country ever a celebrated' the national anniversary of another country as the people of Great Britain today are celebrating the "Fourth of July." Not alone in London but in cities and villages throughout the kingdom, in '. town halls and in churches, the American anniversary is being commemorated.Announcement from Washington that the United States has sent overseas her first million troops kindled immense enthusiasm and gave great impetus to the celebration. Wherever there are American soldiers and sailors they are entertained with great hospitality. King at Ball Game. Outdoor events which attracted most attention was the baseball game between American soldiers and sailors, which King George will attend with the Queen and Princess Mary, and the king throws out the first ball. The newspapers say that President Wilson must reciprocate after the war by coming over to  and kicking off at a football game. \ The formal celebration of the of jvriy began today with a fellowship meeting in Central Hall. Five hundred seats there were allotted to American soldiers and sailors. The meeting opened with ' of the Coldstream Guards playinlg the Star Spangled Banner. Viscount Bryce, former ambassador to tRe United States, spoke feelingly of the past and present relations between the two countries. Greeting to Wilson. Winston Spencer Churchill, minister of munitions, then proposed a greeting to the president and people of the, United States. This was seconded by Hon. N. W. Rowell, president of the privy council of Canada. Major George H. Putnam, of New York, proposed a resolution expressing profound satisfactoin that ths two great English-speaking races find themselves for the first time fighting side by side in the cause of justice and liberty. The res/Sfatio'i was seconded by Professor Canby, of \a\e University. Vice-Admiral Sims, commander of the United Stales naval forces in the war zone, and General Biddle, of the United States army, aJso spoke. 1 he meeting concluded with the singing of "God Save the King." All American organizations in London had representatives at the meeting and blocks of seats were set aside for wounded British, French, Belgians and Italians. Viscount Bryce said the bitterness of 1776 never could have risen had the will of the British people ruled them as it rules today. The severance came, he declared, because we had then * perverse court and a non-representative parliament. PRESIDENT WILSON HAVE CAPTURED HAMEL VILLAGE British Carry Out Successful Operations on die Somme London, July 4—This morning we carried out a successful operation between Villers Bretonneaux and the Somme. The village of Hamel has been captured and our line has been advanced to an average depth of two thousand yards. The hostile artillery has been active in the Robecq and St. Jens Cappell sectors. 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