In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 2, 4 January 1915, Page 5

In the West.

UNGONQUERED BELGIUM. lUt Electric Telegraph—Copyright, United Press Association. (Received 9.5 a.m.) Amsterdam, January 3. Cardinal Mercier, in a pastoral letter, says the occupied provinces are still unconquered, and that the Belgians owe allegiance to King Albert only, but appeals to the citizens not to commit hostile acts.

THE SHOOTING OF CIVILIANS

Lonbn, January 2

The Belgian Commission reports that the Germans shot a thousand civilians in Belgium and Luxemburg in August and September, including 300 at Ethes, 157 at Tmtiquy, 106 a', Rossiqul, 52 at Au'oy, ai;U 30 at E«talle. ZEE BRUCCE SHELLED FROM THE SEA. Rotteria-n, January 2. British warships to land shelled Zeebrugge on Tl ur?day. The coast batteries replied unsuccessfully. The British f!eet bora bar Jfed the coast on Friday. FOOD SUPPLIES FROIV; HOLLAND. (Received 9.0 a.m.) Amsterlim, January 3. The export of hread and poultiv has l>een prohibited. The military authorities reserve ij'c iiowei to permit the export • f Ignited quantities of bread destined to supply the population in the vicinity of the frontier if they are unable to obtain supplies ONE OF THE HARDEST PROBLEMS FOR THE ALLIES.

(Received i. 30 am.) London, January 3

A Paris message says the taking cf La Bassee, where rwp Onnan a ••my corps were quartered and surrounded by exceptionally strong earthworks, is regarded as essential to any concrete forward move, in order to protect the /conn inundations'*. The Allied forces look upon it as one of the hardest problems they have to solve. FRENCH PROGRESS REPORT. OFFENSIVE HAMPERED BY HEAVY RAINS. (Received 9.28 a.m.) Paris, January 3. A communique states : We maintained all the new positions between the sea and Lys. The enemy's sole activity was the violent bombardment of Zonnebeki. We progressed five hundred metres at Laboiselle. Artillery demolished the German works at Touvent plateaux. We progressed three hundred metres at Perthe les Hurlus and inflicted heavy losses on the Germans at Beausejoir. We progressed at Lebouchet wood, near Troyon, and also at Lepetre wood. We captured a' trench at Celles sur Plains, near St. Die. We bombarded a German train at Altkirch and did damage to the railway south-west of Altkirch. The relaxation of our offensive is attributable to heavy rains soaking into the soil, making operations everywhere lalmost impossible for heavy artillery engagement in many parts of the front.

"AT HELL'S GATES." GERMAN STORY OF THE YSER. Times and Sydney Sun Services. (Received 8.0 a.m..) London, January 3. A German on the Yser says: "We have done all that men could do. We attacked day and night, and hurled ourselves at Hell's gates, sometimes making progress], but often being defied by the hidden English who are well-armed, fed, and clothed. Sometimes we thought we had had beaten them. The silent voices of our dead tell the truth. They fought and died in vain."

A LABYRINTH OF CROSSINCS. PRISONERS' GLOOMY VIEW. * ______ London, January 2. "Eye-witness" says of the fighting now proceeding that the ground on both sides has been evacuated in all directions for weeks, until it has become a perfect labyrinth of crossings and re-crossings. Some of the prisoners take a gloomy view of the situation, being conscious that the war will last much longer than at first expected, but as it is being waged tntirely in the enemy's ''country, the people of 1 Germany do not realise that they are fighting what must eventually be a losing cause. They believe that Russia suffered a decisive defeat, that France is exhausted and ready to make peace, and England is decadent, her people being engrossed with football. The Germans have not felt yet the pinch of want or lack of men 'or material. The newspapers are doing their best to inspire a fanatical hatred of the British.