St. John's Daily Star, 1918-04-20

              the st john's daily star newfoundland probs : w to n w winds fair and cold 3.00 per annum saturday april 20 1918 volume iv no 89 lull along whole battlefront germans are everywhere field ta positions by anglo=french forces canada begins to call out men under full conscription turks get cutting up australian troops inflict very severe i^ossc on the moslem forces in the kegion of the jordan big turk losses result of fight iondon april 19 via reuter's " ottawa agency.)—telegraphing from british headquarters in palestine under date of april 14th reuter's correspondent says australian troops inflicted most se vere iosses on the enemy in the jor dan area in a recent raid into gilead they destroyed five miles of the hedjaz railway line and took over a thousand prisoners we withdrew to the right bank of the jordan bringing several thousand refugees desiring british protection we maintained however a bridge head on-the other side of the ghor aniyeh ford oft april 11 th the enemy assaulted the bridgehead at ghoraniyeh and ad vanced posts ten miles up the west b'ank of the jordan the attack was preceded by violent shelling as many as i v shells a minute from field and ammunition guns spraying our positions all attempts to advance were completely held up another attack was seriously push ed opposite ghoraniyeh the anzacs utilising the excellent cover of the bank of the jordan awaited the two thousand turks debouchir in open rder from tne hills against the bridgehead the guns mowed down the assailants who persevered until three hundred yards distant when j the melted away under the pitiless rifle and machine gun fire the following morning 367 corpses were counted before the lines despite the nig ng burial of dead by the turks the actual number of enemy ! killed was almost a thousand when the turks fell back the aus tralian cavalry charged to cut off the retreat taking a hundred prisoners besides inflicting numerous casualties on the enemy our losses were in significant for all we have and are n by rudyard kipling *» *: .•« ■ " i * for all we have and are / . for all our children's fate stand up and meet the wir ** the hun is at the gate " our world has passed a^'ay ■ i ** in wantonness o'erthrown — j "" there is nothing left today 8 but steel and fire and itone though all we knew depart the old commancpnents stand " in courage keegf your heart in strength lift up your hand " once more we hear/the word j u ' that sickened eartft of old f * no law except the sword * unsheathed and uncontrolled "" once more it'knits mankind " , once more the nations go "* to meet and break and bind a crazed and driven foe * > to comfort content j delight the ages slow-bbught gain "*• they shrivelled in a night only ourselves rjemain ■"** to face the naked days in silent fortitudje • through perils ind dismays "" renewed and refrenewed /*" though all we made depart • k the old commandments stand < _ patience keep your heart i ' ■"" in strength/lift up your hand ' "" * no easy hopes fcr lies m shall bring us/to our goalj " v • but iron sacrjhce * ~ of body orm and soul there is but one task for all — fof each one life to give « . who stands if freedom fall w who'dies if england live m yi thi ipace donated to royal newfoundland ri^iamtot by bowwiof bros lta " .._ _._ ._ «. __^, «, m mm •* conscription is endorsed in ottawa house canadian manpower bill providing for general military service passes the legislature metfof 20 to 22 are called up all exemptions cancelled tho leave of absence may be granted in special cases ottawa april 19.—1n both houses of parliament tonight the resolutions passed authoriz ing the government to make further call on the man'power of the country for service.in the army the senate adopted it without division in the house it was passed after a debate lasting throughout die after noon and well into the evening and after the defeat of two opposition amendments they were the first divisions of the session qttawa ont april 20.—the passing of the military man power resolution by both houses of parliament yesterday will be followed by the calling to the colors of ua married men and widowers from 20 to 22 years of age both inclusive and who have been granted exemp tion all exemptions in the classes indicated will be cancelled although the minister of militia may grant leave of absence without pay to any man by the resolution on the death disablement or service of other mem bers of the same family while on active service in any theatre of ac tual war as uie men to be called up were included in class one and will report for service or claim exemption by the proclamation issued last octo ber it is stated that no further proc lamation will be necessary in their case the course followed will probably be the same as was adopted when the category u egan to be called up some time ago each man will be notified by the district registrar when and where he is t report for duty should men of 19 be subsequently called out however a further proclamation will be necessary s v were not covered by the 0 proclama tion it is expected however that the procedure to be adopted will be officially announced today has sacrificed 1,500,000 men frightful losses of france in war to make democracy safe new york april 19.—france in four years of conflict to preserve her own liberty and that of the world according to m andre tardieu high commissioner to the united states has lost 1,300,000 men killed and al most as many wounded or prisoners the high toll exacted by the war was toade public today in an address at a meeting of the fatherless children of france association general sir henry home who is in command of the first british army now meeting the german attacks in the lys valley speedy gain for french french infantry quickly attained all objectives in attack on german lines in avre region 800 prisoners were captured london april 19.—(via reuler's ottawa agency telegraphing from french headquarters reuters correspondent says the french at tack yesterday on the west bank of the avre was noteworthy for its com plete and speedy success showing that the superiority 6f the french infantry over the german has still been retained it also deprived the enemy of several useful points of departure towards amiens and to wards the luce valley starting about four o'clock all the objectives were obtained within two liours anchin farm crowning a hill 340 feet high with a lower height to the southward was cap tured the french line is establish ed on or immediately below the line of the crests dominating the douval hailles road over eight hundred prisoners were taken and therefore the total ger man casualties are equivalent to the entire attacking strength of the french the ground gained is about a mile m depth on a front of three miles that the operation is embarrassing to the germans seems certain the enemy has on a seven-mile ' front in this sector massed divisions waiting the opportunity to push on ' toward amiens the fronts of three german divisions were engaged in yesterday's engagement minor enemy attacks fail complete repulse of get man operations against allied positions on flan j ders battlefront i latest news says all front quiet | ondon april 19—(via reuters ottawa agency.)—telegraphing this evening from british headquart ers in france reuter's correspondent says jthis morning we successfully repulsed several minor attacks against our positions on the flanders battle field an attempt near mont kemttiei only developed on a small front and seems to have been completely re pulsed the germans brought up spec ial mountain troops in an endeavor to,capture a chain of hills ruining eastwards to cassel among them are the alpine corps an fncer of this corps in a letter which has fallen into oir sands says we have made up our aids to plunder again ruth lessly in the alpine corps we under stand the business prisoners are expressing disquiet and surprise at the appearance of french troops in flanders they un derstood the object of the present offensive was to separate the armies crush the british and force the french to make terms they are now realizing that the effect has jso far been to consolidate to joint action the two armies to a degree not wit nessed since the days of mons the latest news from our whole front is that all is quiet no news is the best news at the present when continued on page 2 sore allies can hold on secretary of american navy confident entente s can hold huns until u s forces are'ready u s is hustling war measures goston mass april 19.—speak ing at a liberty loan rally tonight secretary of the navy daniels said the allies would hold the line until the united states could send ten million men to france and this country would build ships until we had the greatest navy of the world there are now 4q,000 naval men in the foreign service he stated and there are thous 1 ands more waiting at home for ships upon which to get into action the only embarrassment we are having with the navy he said is that ninety per cent of the men are clamouring to go on destroyers so they lean see quick action and lots of it so long as the british french and i american fleets controlled the seas germany could not win he declared referring to the german drive on the west he said now thank god the allied armies on the west front are under one com mand that of.the great frenchman foch the acid test for us at home is whether we shall subscribe or over subscribe the liberty loan ■ mt * jap minister to resign tokio april 20.—according to the nichi nichi viscount ichire japanese foreign minister has an nounced his intention to tender his resignation 11l health is given as the reason for his decision calamitous hun losses germans launch great at tack between givenchy and robecq but are completely repulsed many foe units are badly cut up dritish headquarters in u france april 19 via rent er's ottawa agency)—the bitterly cold wsather and sleet squalls are probably profoundly distressing to the germans for whom yesterday was another bad day the great at tack launched at half-past nine in the forenoon between givenchy and robecq after five hours of intense bombardment was a complete failure between avelette bridge and reez du vinage the enemy was repulsed with calamitous losses leaving some hundreds of prisoners in our hands this morning there were signs of enemy activity ' against the high ground to the north and northwest of givenchy but possibly this was only an aftermath of the main at tack which was repulsed the situat ion of any germans there is any thing but pleasant south of la bassee car.al the night was quiet ihere was some heavy shelling a st emilie and in the north west of arras but no infantry move ment followed by a dashing little operation our line m the neighborhood of reez du village has been restored british line restored indications are not lacking that the germans will continue their main effort to push northerly between mef ren and wytchaete they probably succeeded in getting across the ypres comipes canal some heavy artillery in the rcgin of mouthc'm doubtless in tending to enfilade the lines near rnont kemmel south of steenwerck few of the en emy heavies have hitherto been in action in the course of the fighting on april 1 1 th on the romarin-rossignol front four companies of a regiment of the german 214th division lost an average of 55 per cent in the first attack at meteren and three battal ions of the 81st german reserve di vision were reduced to less than a company strength each in the two days fighting east of strazeele six battalions of the 42nd german division representing two thirds of the toted divisional infantry strength suffered considerably mpre than fifty per cent casualties the 22nd regiment of the 11 th ba varian jaeger of alpine corps in the attack at mont delitle were so cut up that they are unlikely jto be heard of again in the present battle germans badly miscalculated allies strength cecil states british minister of block ade states foe officers bet on german victory within fortnight but we would be wick edly foolish if we be lieve battle has ended minister declared bombs dropped on enemy lines nine tons of explosives unloaded on positions held by foe london april 20.—the british of ficial communication dealing with aviation last night says the weath er made it impossible thursday for our airplanes to carry out more than low reconnaissances and to drop a few bombs in the battle area at night nine tons of bombs were dropped on bapaume armentieres and warneton and the railway junc tion at chaulnes all of our mach ines returned aim was division of allied forces ondon april 20.—before the present german offensive began german officers in neutral countries were prepared to bet that the ger mans would succeed in dividing the forces of the allies within a fort-r night lord robert cecil minister of blockade declared in a speech last night at hitchin he had been inform ed a month has passed and the germans have not succeeded he con tinued but we would be wickedly foolish if we believed the battle had ended we have an indefinite period of terrible and strenuous struggle be fore us we must not underrate our enemy who has had the great advantage of 50 years of preparation for the war a favorable geographical position and a united command but british citizens who have withstood the germans for four years on equal terms have proved that their valor is equal to german training while recently our forces in france were placed with the armies under the command of that great soldier gen eral foch lord robert did not think that the enemy's formidable advantage would decide the battle in his favor but the allies must not come under the way of a too easy optimism fight may go on a long time yet the minister of blockade referred to the revelations of prince lichnow sky former german ambassador to london and other proofs showing that germany was absolutely un changed since she strove to lull the world to sleep by talk of peace while planning this attack since the battle has begun there has been no talk of peace and noth ing has been heard but talk of ger man annexations and indemnities increased power of the german mili tary caste and the slavery of the rest of the world he concluded we are fighting indubitably for the freedom of the world anyone who says the ger mans desire to live in peace with their neighbors and are ready to make a just and righteous peace is indulging in self-deception must pass draft act conscription or an elec tion understood to be the alternatives facing government and con scription is pretty sure to be official notifications are being sent out to day from the coloni al secretary's office regard ing the opening of the house of assembly which takes place on tuesday at tenroon ■ there has been a great deal of surmise the last few days regarding the proba ble attitude of the govern ment toward the recruit ing problem and until'very recently-it was fairly defin itely known that the inten tion was to stick to the vol unteer system until the pres ent recruiting campaign was fully tried out now it is understood the government have no option except to pass a conscrip tion measure they can if they wish go to the coun try at an election or they can pass a military draft act and secure an extension of the life of the present ad ministration for one year so conscription appears the inevitable move as it is un derstood to be the unavoid able price for an extension of the government's official term coal production is falling off quantity mined in canada in 1918 likely to be 230 000 tons less than dur ing last year ftttawa april 20.—a conference was held this week of coal opera tors labor delegates and transporta tion representatives with m e neale representing the united states fuel administration and mr c a magrath canadian fuel controller a memorandum was submitted by the latter to the effect that the pub lic both east and west must be given distinctly to understand that conser vation of coal must be practiced to the utmost limit by all classes of consumers a memorandum of the nova sco tia operat/irs stated that the produc tion of nova scotia mines had been estimated at 5,950,000 tons but the production actually attained was 5,660,000 tons the operators re ported a considerable improvement in transportation facilities and point ed out that scarcity of labor has been the main factor in the shortage of out put they expressed the view that if the workmen should consent to work six full shifts every week an increase in production is possible the s'/jgestion was made that the government should ask j c watters president of the dominion trades and labor council to visit the mine cen tres of nova scotia and appeal to the workmen for greater possible pro j duction it is estimated that the prod/;tion in 1918 will be 230,000 tons less than the production of 191 7 battle lulls along nearly entire front none of official reports announces any renewal of battle and all say sit uation is unchanged no new reports of french drive foch understood toj bo massing troops in france for great coun ter-offensive v - j^ondon april 20.—over the field of france and flanders where terrific struggles have been waged almost without intermission since march 21st there has come what ap pears to be a lull official reports tell little of actual conditions they say that the situation is unchanged which may indicate that both sides are exhausted by their exertions in the engagements which have been fought or that they are busy bringing up artillery and fresh troops to re new the struggle correspondents at the front teh of miserable weather cold rain and sleet add to the already known con dition of the lowlands which are vir tually quagmires through which men and supplies can be moved with dif ficulty thearmies have been fight ing in flat marshy country since april 9th and this ground bad enough under normal conditions has been made more impassable by rain and the tempest of high explosives which have blasted roads and fields didn't repeat blow it appears however that the ger mans have not repeated their thrust along the line running north of bethune where they met with a san guinary repulse on wednesday and thursday they employed about 75,000 men along a line variously reported to be from six to tea miles in length but gained little or no ground the labassee canal front is still in british hands and bridges flung across it by the enemy have been swept away by the artillery fire the blow aimed by the french at the very apex of the german line in picardy has not been followed up apparently it is difficult to believe that the counter-offensive when it comes will be launched in this sector advices from france would seem to indicate that the blow will be struck at another part of the battleline the southern end of the front in france has shared the quiet that has j enveloped other sectors only raiding and artillery duels are reported there an interesting despatch tells of the moving of italian troops to france this would point to one of two developments either the italian front is in no danger at the present mo ment or else general foch is calling every available man to swell the army that he will hurl at the foe when the moment for battle arrives it is-pos sible however that the force of the italians en route to the french front is comparatively small hun warships busy the german torpedoboat flotilla has been active along the coast line sector and has shelled belgian posi tions there this may foreshadow a german attempt to drive west through nieuport the long-range bombardment of paris ceased for 48 hours and it was hoped the french had found the exact location of the heavy german gun and put it out of action this hope however failed when the bom bardment was resumed friday even ing the turks are continuing their at ' tacks in caucasia and are approach ing kars the leading city of.prie of the districts given to turkey under the brest-litovsk treaty they are already in control of batum where they captured 3,100 men of whom , 600 were officers ■ in italy macedonia palestine mesopotamia there has been no re | i nt fighting reported spain produces over three billion corks every year jb £\ \ j ' f ■' ' ' in i \ i > *