A DISMAL FAILURE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 73, 25 March 1916, Page 5

A DISMAL FAILURE.

THE GERMAN WAR LOAN. a> ■• •" • : • . % in! W*i NEWSPAPERS APPEAL FRANTICALLY. THE MIDDLE CLASS ARE INDIFFERENT. THE GERMANS AT AVOCOURT. MOWN DOWN BY FRENCH GUNS. ONLY HEAPS OF DEAD. ; GREAT VICTORIES ON RUSSIAN FRONT.

ENERGETIC CANNONADE IN THE ARGONNE. INTERMITTENT BOMBARDMENT AT DOUAUMONT. - " ARTILLERY SQUALLS IN THE WOEVRE. f LONDON, March 24. The High Commissioner reports: — In the Argonne Allied batteries energetically cannonaded in the course .of the night,. the wood at Malancourt. We exploded a mine near Hill 2i5, occupying th e crater! The rest of the night was calm. East of the Meuse there was intermittent bombardment in the region of Douaumont and Damloup. ( ! in the Woevre there were several squalls of artillery from each side -'' in the sectors of Moulainville and Eparges. Nothing of importance occurrfed elsewhere. GERMAN MOVEMENT TO ENCIRCLE MORTHCXMME. jp SUCCESSFUL FRENCH LINE MUST"BE ADJUSTED; ' , V VERY DIFFICULT POSITIONS YET TO PASS, / ■'*•■■ '' t: ' / (Reed. .9.40 a.m.). -j',- ; *' ; ' -■' ' : V - ; PARIS, March 24." ' "The Germans will continue a movement to encircle If they succeed it will involve a withdrawal to a line along Avoncourt, Esnes, Chattanoourt and Oumieres, but they must first take hill 304, which is " J h/sort of glacis, completely bare, witi slippery, slopes and commanding the adjacent wood, from whence the Garmans have been unable to debouch ... since. Monday. ' ' u .',' ;■■,, ~ ' ,- '•"...•- ' \ ' A FLAMMINWERFER ATTACK ROUTED. | . . 1 THRILLING NARRATIVE OF SUNDAY J S FIGHT. BY ONE IN THE BRITISH TRENCHES. " : '.V; : r GERMANS RUN SCREAMING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. MAY FRIGHTEN CHILDREN AND NIGGERS. N IN FRONT OF FRENCH GUNS THEY ARE USELESS. ' (Reed. 9jlo a.m.).. ■ . PARIS, March 24. A wounded corporal describing the methods of defence against the Germans' Flamminwerfer attacks, said we carried big shields of interwoven oziers covered with clay, against which the flaming liquid fell harmless, "but the smell was suffocating though we were wearing masks. Sunday's ' smashed our trenches badly and we had to shelter in the jfjlioles; our artillery, however, disorganised the enemy, enabling us to link tip the shellholes and fix up barbed wire before the assault was commenced. "We saw the Boches running forward in groups to mounds in front of their trenches, about 20 yards from ours, then the flame began to spurt ail along the line. Our sharpshooters wer 6 firing continuously but the enemy kept sweeping us wit ha hail of bullets. After that came the nightmare of smoke, and we could never have held the line —for the.enemy charged immediately and 'had flame-throwers with them—except for our artillery. The seventy-fives made havoc with the attack, their shells exploding the "juice-containers*" and the blazing liquid caught the Boches, who ran screaming in all directions. Our turn came then to riddle their whole line with bullets, and when the smoke cleared the ground was carpeted with deep red, for we could see men rolling about the ground endeavouring to extinguish their clothes.' They must have lost the best p'art of a regiment on a quarter of a mile front. These flame attacks might scare •children and niggers, but against the French trenches supported with French guns it is worse than useless. "We had about 70 men burned altogether—less than a score bad enough to go into hospital. AUSTRALIAN PREMIER'S SPEECHES ATTACKED. . , ■ M$ • BY A BRITISH LABOUR LEADER. • ". WHO PRESUMES TO TELL US OUR BUSINESS. (Reed. 9.40 a.m.). ... x « LONDON, March 24. , 3rv ..Mr. Ramsay MacDonald in the labour organ- violently attacks Mr. |r Hughes' speeches. He says they rival the most intolerant utterances of m British "jingoes. The speeches must not be taken as representative of Australian labour opinion. ' 3| GERMAN WAR LOAN A DISMAL FAILURE. NEWSPAPERS MAKE FRANTIC APPEALS. MIDDLE CLASSES ARE QUITE INDIFFERENT. :-; (Reed. 11.40 a.m.). : " {- ". • , GENEVA, March 34.. : German loan is an nnnualified failure. The middle class ar p in.

ADVANCED FINANCE STATEMENT. ALL CAPITAL BELON Go TO THE COUNTRY. MUST BE INVESTED FOE COUNTRY'S BENEFIT. (Reed. 11.30 a.m.). MELBOURNE, this day. I Replying to a deputation from the Trades Hall pointing out the necessity for the establishment of new industries after the war, Mr. Pearce said the Government must have a voice in saying how capital shail be ap--1 plied. Capitalists should not invest in picture shows while industries were languishing. They want capital; capital belonged to the country and the government should have the right to see that it was invested for the benefit of the country. ( THE GERMAN LIIJES PIERCED. MORE IMPORTANT RUSSIAN SUCCESSES. A BATTLE FOR THE RAILWAYS. HINDENBURG VERSUS KUROPATEIN. GERMANS SUFFERING ENORMOUS LOSSES. '.■■'" , PETROGRAD, March-24. A communique says: We pierced the enemy's organisations in the Jacobstadt sector and again advanced southwest of Narctch. .We repulsed an attack on Kosloff on the Upper Strypa, inflicting enormous losses. / The "Daily Chronicle's" Petrqgrad correspondent says a fierce battle is raging on the line of lakes south cf Dvinsk to Moledecheno. They are battles for the. railways commenced Ly Von Hindenburg putting out a feeler on lake Kanger, near Riga, then .'outh of Dvinsk. As a result this has* stirred up the Russian offensive. Generals Kuropatkin and Evert are attacking Vidsky region, where they seized German trenches at Lake Sekla and north-west of Vileika, where the Russians are seeking to force a passage between Lakes Norotch and Nachniev. The Germans meanwhile are struggling to reach the railway from Molodetchno to Polotsk, thus getting at the rear of the Dvinsk position. The Germans are mainly on the defensive, and are stubbornly holding positions between lakes, elaborately constructed during the winter.

GERMAN SUCCESS IN MALANCOURT WOOD. ITS IMPORTANCE MUST NOT BE BELITTLED. A FORERUNNER OF FURTHER ADVANCE. i PARIS, March 23. Colonel Rousset, a military criti, says that the German success in capturing the Avancourt corner of Malancourt wood must not be belittled. It must prove the forerunner of a further advance, ending perhaps in the capture of one of the dominating hills encircling Avancourt wood. A communique says: We carried out numerous concentrations of fire upon the enemy organisations, roads and railways in the eastern Argonne and at Malancourt wood. There were no infantry actions during the day. ALL OVER IN HALP-AN-HOUR. ~ '.■'■-'* : .'J' ' '■ ■'■■ .■ • ■ ■. ■■. THOUSANDS OF : GERMAN CORPSES LEFT.' ■ A GHASTLY ENCOUNTER AT VERDUN!. , .'■"'., r ~ ( LONDON, March 23. Mr. Warner Allen describes the heroic resistance of two regiments which during the battle of Verdun were fourteen days under fire. They repelled repeated furious attacks, and' then dug in under a' terrific bombardment. Finally the enemy flung forward heavy masses of infantry, in an attempt to break through the thin line like a battering ram. A French officer, describing the fight, said. ".We used every gun possible against them, particularly our '7s's and machine-guns. It was over in half an hour, and thousands of German corpses covered the ground. We still hold the positions entrusted to us." General Joffre specially congratulated the regiments. " '• : ' ,; ' ■ ' ' ■ '.'..' i"'

THE COMING SECRET CONFERENCE. "WILL MEET IN PARIS NEXT WEEK. THE FIRST OBJECT OF THE MEETING. ; WAS THE WARS SUCCESSFUL ENDING. SOLITARY PLEA FOR GERMAN TRADE.. *'■■ . : LONDON, March 24. 'ln the House of Commons, on »a motion for adjournment, Mr. Dalziel urged the Government reconsider its decision to send delegates to the Paris Conference merely as observers. The Government was missing an opportunity to strike a blow which would effect the stopping of the war. Delegates should have the power to say that never in future could trade relations with Germany be as before the war. He urged that Mr. Hughes be included. The Rt. Hon. Ellis Griffiths said Ave must be careful that we did not punish ourselves more-than Germany. There were certain materials only obtainable in Germany, and it would be ridiculous to deprive ourselves of them. Mr. D. Macmaster urged that if Mr. Hughes was allowed to attend representatives of other Dominions should be present. Mr. Lloyd George said it was u n desirabl e that a declaration should be made regarding the instructions the Government gave to delegates. It was obviously a case wherein Ave must trust our delegates to a very considerable extent. This was the first conference of the kind, and he would be surprised and disappointed if it w as the last. If we were to organise' trade for generations to come it wo u id have to be done deliberately and carefully. It was not greatly a question of tariff; there was a much bigger question, such as our relations with Russia and France, where opportunities for trade were almost infinite. At first the conference would be wise to feel its way. The first object was to bring the war to ft successful conclusion. t Mr. Lloyd George, continuing, said: I do not mean to say you should' set up a system of tariffs or rival commercial federations, which would simply perpetuate the war spirit, but we have discovered that Germany craftily built up many industries not w ith a view to trade but war. We were almost done for, because of being without them, but we have built them up now. It would be a fatal blunder to allow them to go down. Mr. Asquith (Prime Minister), Sir Edward Grey (Foreign Minister), and Lord Kitchener (Minister of fWar), will attend the Allies' war conference at Paris next week for the secret consideration of the conduct of the war. '

GERMAN EFFORT THAT ENDED IN DISASTER. DEBOUCHING FROM AVOCOURT WOOD. NOTHING LEFT BUT HEAP OF DEAD. , " (Reed. 11.40 a.m.). „, . •■ , <; PARIS, March 24. A Bavarian division while attempting to debouch from Avocourt wood on Wednesday ascended the first sloj es of Hill 304, when the ywere mown down. One fourth of the effectives "who tried to re-enter the wood were taSktJ a fhp ™ n ° nf French fire and left in a cn-ait. hjajj Cf <3ead froutin?

THE ZEEBRUGGE EAID.

, AMSTERDAM, March 24. Newspapers state that the Allied raid on Zeebrugge destroyed ian aerodrome and six aeroplanes. One torpedoer returned to harbour with six dead and thirty wounded.

OFFENSIVE TO BE RESUMED.

LONDON, March 23. General Cadorna, interviewed, said: "The people don't realise the prodigious difficulties our troops have to surmount. It is necessary to occupy positions which during the long months seem useless, but which for the development of long-prepared action are indispensable. Our offensive is about to be resumed in an energetic manner on the only front where we can act at present."—(Times and Sydney Sun Services).

HIGH COMMISSIONER'S REPORT.

LONDON, March 24. The High Commissioner reports: North of the Aisne we directed a destructive fire on German works on the Plateau Vauclere. \ In the Argonne an effective bombardment was carried out on enemy railways and th e wood Malancourt, west of the Meuse. Bombardment continues in the region Malancourt to Bethincourt. At Morthcmme and at Cumieres, east of the Meuse and in the Woevre, intense artillery activity continues. Petrograd reports that on the Riga front fighting developed at Jacobstadt. The Russians broke through the enemy positions, developing yesterday's success. In the Dyinsk region enemy masses were destroyed by artillery fire. South of Lake Drisojati, the Germans assumed a counter-attack, retaking part of trenches lost the day before. South-west of Lake Noroth, the Russians advanced despite enemy counter-attacks.

THE RUSSIAN ATTACKS

LONDON, March 23. A German wireless message states that the Russians repeatedly advanced with strong forces at Jacobstadt. They delivered four attacks at Vidsky, south of Dvinsk, and 'also repeatedly attacked with renewed violence between Narotch and Vishnieff Lakes. The enemy did not secure the slightest advantage.

KAISER WON'T WAIT.

LONDON", March 23. A deputation of the married men in London who attested under Lord Derby's scheme, waited on Lord Derby and urged that the singfe man working in the munition factories should go into the army, and that the married men should take their places. Lord Derby assured ike deputation that he was doing his utmost to secure every single man for t-he army, but his powers were limited. Unfortunately, the Kaiser would not wait, or it might be possible to concede some of the deputation's demands.

THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

(Reed. 9 a.m.). LONDON, March 24

(Copyrighted in (Australian; and New Zealand by the Australian Press Association; in Great Britain by the Daily Chronicle, 'and in America by the New York Word). A wireless from the Aurora states that the vessel was driven by a blizzard from her moorings on May 6th, while Mackintosh ana 5 of the crew and 4 scientists were on shore. The vessel became locked in pack ice and drifted for ten weeks, then lost her rudder and her hull was strained. She was released from the ice on March 14th and is now proceeding to New Zealand. THE AURORA IN DIFFICULTIES. MELBOURNE, this day. The Navy authorities have received a wireless message from the Aurora, stating that the hull is severely strained, and that the ship was released from the ice on March 14th. Gage, Richards, Hayward, and Jack were left ashore. The wireless sent appeals for help. The ship is proceeding to Port Chalmers with a jury rudder, and short of fuel. She expects to arrive early in April. The wireless did not mention Shackleton's overland party.

SHELL MAKING IN CANADA.

OTTAWA, March 2T. Tito Minister for Finance stated that contracts for 5,400,000 shells .'have been let during the past fortnight by the Imperial Munitions Board as the result of substantial .credits established for the Imperial Treasury by Canadian banks. The war is costing Canada £2,400,000 monthly, irrespective of the Dominion's share in the Imperial expen-

FREE TRADE TACTICS

LONDON, March 23. The Evening Standard says Mr. Hughes cannot be fooled or qieted, be-, cause he knows his own mind. He has something to say, and will say it, so the Free Traders are trying . another plan. | When they don-It ignore him they pretend he is a dear good fellow, but with a "bee in his bonnet," an<T so his ideas are impracticable. The Standard adds: "We welcome Mr. Hughes' virile speeches," which are awakening a feeling in the counti-y that will make itself felt somenow or other." Mr. Hughes attended the War Council'' to-day. He and his wife lime' with Viscount Bryce, and had afternoon tea at the House of Commons as the guests of the Empire Parliamentary Association. They were received by,the Speaker and Mrs. Lowther. at the Speaker's residence. Mr. Hughes goes to Cardiff on Friday and receives the freedom of f city. Subsequently he addresses wounded Australians there and later visits Manchester!,. Glasgow, and Edinburgh. He is expected to prolong his visit to England by at least a week!,

A MYSTERIOUS WIRELESS.

(Reed. 11.40 ia.m.). •AMSTERDAM, March 24. The Leipziger Tageblaat, discussing submarines urges the Reichstag to consider whether trustworthy neutrals will remain so if their merchantmen are sunk. The Telegraaf says the Tub'antia's only wireless messages were one stated that she had been torpedoed and another asking for assistance, simultaneously. The wireless now attributing that she had been torpedoed and ceived from Flushing stating that the Tubantia had been mined.

ANOTHER NORWEGIAN TORPEDOED.

(Reed. 11.40 'a.m.). LONDON, March 24. The Norwegian steamer Konig was torpedoed in the Channel without any warning. Th e crew were saved.

STOCK EXCHANGE RESTRICTIONS. ~

. • : * \ (Reed: 11.40 ta.m;)v -~ | LONDON, March 24. From Mr.- McKenna's reply to a question in the House of Commons, it appears that -there is little likelihood of any alterations or restrictions in Stock Exchange dealings with the colonies and dominions.

ENGLISH BYE-ELECTION.

INTERESTING TO NEW ZEALAND. LONDON, March 24l The Market. Harborough by-elec-tion resulted: Harris (Coalitionist), 7,53 G; Bowles, 3,711. Harris's fathor was a Polish refugee and an early settler of New Zealand. He is described by Sir Thos. Mackenzie as one of the Empire's builders.

Disturbed china.

PEKIN, March 23. Yuan Shih Kai has issued a mandate abandoning the establishment of a monarchy.

AFTER THE WAR

LONDON, March Sir Thomas Mackenzie, speaking at a meeting of the Early Closing Association at the Mansion House, said the conditions in New Zealand in 1873 were better than in many parts of London to-day. Unless we won tlic war all social reforms would be useless. Adequate ImperiaS defence must be the first consideration. A matter of the next importance was the organisation of our national resource's. It should be possible for the products of the Dominions to be landed cheaper in Britain than in Germany. Exports from Germany had an advantage because of t-he cheap State-owned railways compared with the high rates in England. They also had an advantage in that they were carried abroad in subsidised steamers. These 1 handicaps to British trade must be counteracted.

QERMAN PEACE 'FEELERS/

LONDON, March 23.'-,[ The Times correspondent says it is I offiically denied that Berlin is preparing to use the good offices of Washington for peace negotiations. Never- j theless, it is generally believed that there is something in the Batest "feel- j ers," but Germany has chosen a sin--gularly bad time, and Colonel House | has apparently told President Wilson that the Allies are more determined than ever to see the war through.

RACE FOR BAGDAD.

(Reed. 11.40 a.'m,). ROME, March 24. A Russian diplomatist states that if the Russians occupy Bagdad before the British, the fact will not lead to