PUTTING ON THE PRESSURE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2264, 25 September 1914, Page 5

PUTTING ON THE PRESSURE

FRENCH ATTACK ON GERMAN RIGHT WING I _—— FLANK APPEARS TO BE TURNED NORTH SEA FIGHT SINKING OF THE BRITISH CRUISERS ' ACCOUNTS BY EYE-WITNESSES ) SOUTH AFRICA'S WAR GENERAL BOTHA IN COMMAND As day follows day the position of the Allied Armies which are operating against -the' Germans in France continues to improve. Today's news contains a stirring; account of a furious onslaught by the French on the German right at' St. Quentin and Peronne. The former position was hastily evacuated, and the latter was the-scene of a feat of desperate valour by the attackers, who stormed the position and finished up with a : fierce hand-to-hand conflict with the bayonets. The German right wing, we aro told, now. appears to have been turned. With the centre armies ,'of the opposing lin«s there is , very little ohango in the relative positions, but the indications are. ■ that the sbrength of the German resistance is being 6lowly sapped by the increasing attacks and'relentless pressure by the Allied line. .The Germans have evacuated Nomeny and Arracourt, on the frontier, northeast of Nanoy. A line drawn on the map from Peronne, . east of Amiens,. through St. Quentin to Reims, on to -Verdun, then south-east to Nomeny, and thence, skirting the frontier as far as Belfort, on the Swiss line, gives an approximate idea, of the 'excellent progress whioh ■'■ has■■■ boon .'. made by the Allies since the famous counter-stroke, was delivered at the Battle of the Marne, when tho tide of the 'invasion was definitely turned. .'< In Belgium'the Gorman preparations for defence: continue while troops are reported to be hurrying southward, presumably to * strengthen the severely-harassed. Gorman Right Wing in France. The Belgians' are again advancing from tho seourity, of. their, citadel at ... 'Antwerp, and their energetio sortios, coupled with the steady pressure of the Allies from l the south, should precipitate interesting developments before very long. In Galisia, the Russians, having taken the fortified position at Jaroslav,' 15 miles east of Przemysl, have now set- . , tied down to the serious bußiness of investing the latter important fortress, whioh, with Cracow, constitutes the two main strongholds of the Austrians in Galicia. An important change of plans is reported to have been made by the German War Staff for the campaign in East Prussia. Largo reinforcements are hurrying eastward, while in the west, it is stated, defensive tactics are to bo adopted. • The Montenegrins have mounted guns on a commanding position near the Austrian fort and naval base of Cattaro, from which point of vantage the fortified works and the warships in the harbour can be effectively, shelled. In Squth Africa, the Union Government has completed : ifcs plans for the invasion of German South-West Africa, and General Botha, the • Prime Minister, has, taken over the supreme command. MANY RESCUED FROM SUM CRUISERS HOW THE DISASTER OCCURRED CRESSY SINKS TWO SUBMARINES WHILE GOING UNDER BjUeleßmnli—Press Association—Copyright „_ _ London, September 23.' Ine Dutch steamer Flores, 8160 tons, landed 287 survivors from the three sunken British warships,' Aboukir, Cressy, and Hogue, including a few wounded, and one dead. .. The survivors state that the Aboukir was hit in several places about 6 o'clock, and disappeared in five minutes. The other warships, apparently thinking the Aboukir had struck a mine, rushed to her assistance. The Hogue, after lowering her boats, was hit, and won sank. The Cressy reported the presence of She two submarines, but was also torpedoed, and afterwards sank, at 8 o'clock. v Thirty uninjured officers were landed at Harwioh. It is believed that seven hundred men were saved. Captain Nicholson, of the Hogue, served as a midshipman on the Calliope during the Apia hurricane of 1889. ' : Reuter's Ijmuiden correspondent" states that the British survivors are clad jn all manner of clothes, some in Dutoh soldiers' khaki jackets. The cruisers' crews were made, up largely of Reservists from Chatham. . The captain of the Flores saw only the Cressy. He first knew nothing of what had happened, but saw her suddenly heel over and go down. He lowered 'his boats and the Flores picked up the survivorß, who were clinging to rafts and timber. Several English sailing boats are bringing more, survivors to Ijmuiden. All spectators agree that the Cressy,-firing as she sank, sent two submarines to the bottom. This is not officially confirmed. British destroyers appeared as the Flores was getting ready to steam away, ~_ : ~ v •',.".,'■''■ Amsterdam, September 22. 1 . A Dutch steamer landed eighteen founded and five dead from the sunken cruisers. She had originally 114 survivors; hut they were transferred with iethers to British torpedo boats. ' The disaster is said to have occurred at 7.30 this morning. (Rec. September.24, 10.50 p.m.) London, September S3. The sunken cruisers had twenty-eight cadets aboard who were called up . for midshipmen's duties on the outbreak of the war, FOUR HUNDRED SURVIVORS LANDED AT HARWIOH. (Reo. September 24, 7.35 p.m.)' ■■'„.' London, September 23. . Nearly four hundred survivors from the cruisers Aboukir, Cressy, and, pogue were landed at Harwich.; Only 48 cut of 843 on board the Aboukir Were saved. Twenty officers are among the rescued. The light cruiser Lowe- . (toft brought the majority o"f the survivors. She reports that she saw two German submarines dive. LOSSES THAT MUST BE EXPECTED. (Reo. September 24, 6.10 p.m.) London, September 23. "The Times," in a loading article on the North Sea Josses, says:—"M r e tnust expect more occurrences of this character, and we must therefore make up pur minds to accept them with equanimity. The wonder really is that we nave not lost more ships in this manner, for the avowed Gorman policy is to endeavour to weaken our naval strength by means of mines and submarines. ■Nevertheless, tho general outlook continues to inspire the utmost confidence," >—("Times" and Sydney "Sun" Servicos.)

INTERVAL OF AN HOUR BETWEEN DISASTERS. (Rec. September 25, 0.26 a.m.). London, September 23. Five hundred and five survivors rescued from tho sunken cruisers have reached port. Of these 38 are woundod, but not seriously. The chief pettyofficer of the Aboukir says he believes the torpedo struck the Aboukir amidships. Ho saw no periscope. Tho Cressy's and Hogue's boats wore searching for survivors, and an hour later he saw two German submarines fire torpedoes. The Hogue sank in half an hour, whilst an hour afterwards four torpedoes struck the Cressy. The submarines wore in strong force. , , PROMPT RESCUE WORK BY DUTCH SHIP. (Rcc. September 25, 1.40 a.m.) London, September 23. The master of a trawler says he, was quite close when the Aboukir was struck. She sank in four minutes, the Hogue went under in ten, and the Cressy in three minutes. He saved 350 men. Captain Nicholson, of the Hogue, was. ojnong the saved. The captain of the Dutch steamer Titan, now at Botterdam, states that he was thirty miles off the coast, and saw three English cruisers on the horizon. He noticed one disappear, and looked again and saw heavy smoke bursting from another oruiser, and heard a far-away explosion. Ho altered his coureo, and while going to their aid a third ship was struck. He saw a submarine dashing away at a great rate and two remaining. The cruisers rolled on their sides and disappeared. When the Titan arrived he found two cutters saving men, who were all naked. They had been in the water so long that they had discarded their olothes. There, was also a sloop absolutely full of men, and all around there wore other swimmers nearly exhausted' by the long immersion. Some were clinging to wreckage, while others were on a floating'table. , He got out two boats and rescued 114 men, including Commander Sells, who collapsed from sheer exhaustion, but soon Tevived. ' The midshipmen on the Aboukir jumped overboard, and the Hogue rescued' them. They again jumped overboard when the Hogue was struck, and the Cressy picked them up. Finally they woro flung into the -water and clung to wreckage till the Titan picked l them up. ,