Official News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 171, 28 December 1914, Page 5

Official News.

HIGH COMMISSIONER'S CABLE. Wellington, December 23. The Premier has received the following under date, London, December J.Z (7.30 a.m.):— Petrograd reports that in the Caucasus, in the direction of Van, on Sunday the Turks were defeated with .heavy losses. The Russians pursuing captured a mountain gun and ammunition. There were a few unimportant en. gagements in the direction of Surykamysch. The nigh Commissioner reports under date, London, December 23 (6.5 p.m.) : . Paris reports slight progress in Belgium. A redoubt has been taken east .of Bcthune. The French and British retook Jivenchy, near La Bassee, previously lost. In the region of Perthesles.Hurlus there was a lively cannonade and two assaults carried the last portion of the line partially conquered on the 21st. The average gain was 800 metres. In the last trench we captured a mitrailleuse-section with personnel and .material. A violent counter-attack was repulsed. Considerable advance was made over the trenches at La Grurie for 250 metres. We exploded two German lines occupying excavations. Petrograd reports that in East Prussia the Germans were repulsed on line Neidenburg-Soldau-Lautensburg. Amsterdam, December 23. A communique from Berlin states that the attacks on the dunes near Lombart. zyde and south of Bixschote were easily repulsed and the British again driven from positions near Richebourg. Despite counter-attacks we maintained and strengthened all the positions) taken .from the British between Richebourg and the Aire-La Bassee Canal. Since j December 12 the Germans have taken : 700 British and colored troops prisoners and captured five machine guns. ' Wellington, Yesterday. The Prime Minister lias received the i following from the High Commissioner, dated London, December 2."> th—- : hostile aeroplane was sighted today at 12.35, flying very high from east | to' west over Slieemess. British aircraft pursued the enemy, which was hit three or four times and driven oil to | the seaward.

THE RE-CAPTURE OF LILLE. J BELGIAN SUCCESS ON THE YSER. Paris, December 24. Ihe British recently concentrated tlieir fire and demolished the Emblo.i for/., a few miles west of Lille. They foil; wed this u|> with a vigorous attack I and sweeping fire with hidden machine I guns. A thousand Germans were killed | and Ma: y wounded. This enabled the j British artillery to command the high road to iiic railway entering Lille. | The Belgians on Tuesday broke I through the (iernuin ]iosition on the ' banks of the Yser beyond St. Georges and established a new position notwith- , standing a iierce attack. "black: days of lille." j Times and Sydney Sun Sen ices. 1 London, December 24. A correspondent describes the black days of Lille during the German occupation of two months. The town has been bombarded, fired, and squeezed for money like an orange is squeezed for juice. The German generals governing could not be moved by appeals to justice, and -were deaf te cries for pity. Levies of £280,000 were made. Butter and milk were unobtainable, anil the Germans commandeered the Hour from the mills. GERMAN REINFORCEMENTS. BELGIAN FOKTIFICATIONS STRENGTHENED. Amsterdam, Dei-ember 24. The Germans have greatly strengthened all the Belgian fortifications north of Antwerp, and are strengthening and constructing new fortifications between Heid and Brasechau. It is noteworthy that the trenehea arc so constructed as to guard against attack from the north. A telegram from Slues states that while the Germans are maintaining a desperate resistance, nevertheless they are preparing to retreat from Flanders. It is believed that the Germans are concentrating for a fresh attack on the battlefields of France. One hundred trains of troop* passed Louvain travelling France-wards. German soldiers were shot at Louvnin for endeavouring to foment an antimilitary agitation among the troopers. FURTHER PROGRESS MADE., Paris, December 24. I Official.—Progress was made in attacks between the Mciise and the Argonne, and i we almost completely maintained our front. We reached the enemy's wire en- I tanglements at the south-west of salient at Bois' do Forges and east of Cuisy, running along the road leading to Boise de Bourneilles. Paris, December 24. Official.—We advanced from the sea to Lys, sapping the dunes and repulsing an attack before Lombartzydc. We also progressed at Zwartelen, southeast of Ypres. .T;he Belgian army has thrown detachments on to the right bank of the Y'ser and organised a position at tlic Bridgehead, southward of Dixmude. We took four hundred metres of trenches north-east of Mesnilles and Hurlus. Our artillery wrecked and cleared several trenches in the forest of Apremont and silenced the German batteries at Wocvre. BRUTAL INHUMANITY. I London, D? ember 24. Lieutenant Charles Cochrane Isles, of the medical corps, who studied in New Zealand has died of wounds. Private O'Sullivan, of the sth I Dragoons, signed a statement that he i' and sewn others were taken prisoners I i-t Ypres in the early morning, stripped ■ of their clothing except a thin shire, " and forced to inarch tlirougli thick snow and bitter wind into the open fields. O'Sullivan escaped, and was treated in the hospital for frozen feet. THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT, j b i A DELUSION DISPELLED. London, December 24. M. Viviani, in his speech at the open- ' ing of Parliament, added that Germany's doavour to throw the responsibility of the war upon the Allies no longer deceived even the most credulous. Germany had pursued her object for forty years, which was by crushing France to arrive at the domination of the world. The Allies aimed at a reconstructed and regenerated Europe, ,'ounded upon justice and right. The Government had solely undertaken to rebuild the ruins caused by the German invasion, and had , certainly borne in mind the indemnities we would exact before the day of definite victory was reached. "The task will be heavy, and it may be long. Let us | have before our minds the ideal of right. Belgium giving to this Ideal all'thc blood of her veins; England, unshakeable Fuglaud, fighting for it, also faithful Russia, 'i:i.)Vl..d Servia, and the courage ias Japanese navy." BIG WAR LOAN. Paris, Decebmer 24. The Depuies unanimously passed a credit of 341 millions, including 241 millions for war expenditure, to be met by Treasury bonds and advances by the Bank of France. Fourteen millions have been advanced to Belgium, Servia, Greece, and Montenegro. France's war expenditure for one year is estimated at 550 millions sterling. Paris, December 24. The Senate passed a Bill, postponing all elections till the end of the war. EVIDENCES OF NATIONAL UNITY. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 21. Tn the French Chambers there were impressive demonstrations of national unity. The seats of the' Deputies who had fallen in the field were ornamented with tricolor scarves, and draped with crepe. The voice of the whole nation was heard in the, thunders of applause which greeted the calm aand defiant passages, stating France's unfaltering resolve to fight to the finish.

Official: We slightly progressed from : Nieuport, and repulsed an attack in the I direction of Notre Dauie, De Lorettin. We captured a trench at Piuss-a-Lcinc, and hold our ground, notwithstanding several counter-attacks. The enemy made a vigorous, but unsuccessful, at- ' 'tack on Thursday night at Latez-dc-Faux, in the Vosgos Department. I ,\ later report- slaf-s that the fog ■paralysed operations from the sea to Lvs. ' We repulsed several counter-at-tacks at N'odettes, l.a Doir.ollo, Lihons. and Chivy. Our artillery silenced the enemy's bat. teries at Perthes, where particularly violent German counter-attacks by important ell'eclives along a front of 1500 metres completely failed. We appreciably progressed hi Upper lAlsaco. F-TNE FORWARD MOVEMENTS. 14 PLATEAU CAPTURED. JJ!|^r~ir' r Paris, December 25. i Official: There has been intermittent j artillery fighting in Belgium. j The Allies between the Lys and the ! Oise on Monday evening reached a .point , where the" roads, meet from l.oos Rutoire and Loos Vermelles. The Allies captured j part of the village of La Boisclle, which i l is north-east of Albert, and also made : I some progress at Lihu, near Chaulnes, ; I where various attacks were carried out | j with much spirit. Everywhere we main, j | tained our ground, and gained. I ! Tlie Allies' artillery has overthrown a I defensive organisation on the plateau of. •Mouvron. There has been artillery duels in the Aisne and Champagne districts, i and several German attacks were re- j j nulsed. The Allies advanced north of | Sa,pignuel, near Berry-a-bac. A violent | I counter-attack followed, but failed. I We captured a wood north of Misnil. I Following up the capture of the trendies on the 23rd, we are now in possession of the whole of the enemy's first line of defences in this region. The Allies in Argnnne repulsed five attacks at Bois-del.Crarie. ,- Our heavy artillery is'mastering the I German batteries in the Cuisy and Bois- , | de-Forges region, where machine-guns enabled the (Allies' infantry to make a good forward movement. Wo advanced in the Lower Vosgos to 1500 metres from Crey.sur-Yesonze. Paris, December 20. Germans attacked a British position on Thursday night at La Bassee. At first they compelled the British to give ground, but the British delivered a vigorous counter-attack three hours later, recovered all the lost ground, and i inflicted severe losseos, taking -100 ipris- ■' oners. i I SUCCESSFUL BRITISH j AIRMEN. j BOMBING GERMAN POSTS. Dunkirk, December 2(1. j Commander Samson, with twelve I bombs, started at (i.30 this evening, and j bombed military posts at Ostend, Bruges, Ghent, and Alost. Tie descended to a few hundred yards, and bombed Brussels, as cabled on Tuesday. Tnc flames showed up the aeroplane against the black sky, and guns were fired unsuccessfully. Commander Samson returned after five hours, and landed safely. CHRISTMAS DAY SPOILED. London, December 20. Rotterdam reports that, owing to the Allies' pressure, the German Christmas festivities at Ghent were a fiasco. All the troops had to be hurried to the front. A GALLANT SCOT. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 25. : Private Graham, of the First Scots Fusi'lors hs.s been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He carried a wounded comrade to safety under heavy fire at Vailly, and then, hearing of another wounded man left behind, brought him in too. The vessels sunk by the Belgians in the docks at Antwerp have been raised by the Germans and confiscated. Germany is also preventing the inhabitants closing the frontier. The Germans are using captive balloons freely for observation purposes, and also decoy aeroplanes. Airmen tempted to attack these come within range of an anti-air-craft battery waiting below. One million two hundred thousand Belgian refugees are still in Holland. M. Viviani's speech has caused a buoyancy on the Taris Bourse. Paris, December 25. Since the beginning of the war Pont-a-Mousson has been bombarded forty-five times. It transpires that on September 5, the Germans at Tezainvillo and St. Genevieve lost five thousand killed and eight thousand Mounded. The latter ' were brought to Pont-a-Mousson, and the corpses splashed with petrol and burnt. When the Germans evacuated the town an enormous number of jneondiary bombs were captured. BRITISH SOLDIERS BURNED I TO DEATH. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 25. During the recent heavy fighting at lirmcntieres, shells fell in every quarter of the town, and irretrievably damaged the famous organ at St. Vast Church. Incendiary shells were fired at a factory, where several hundred British sol. diers were sleeping, and several were incinerated. HOW V.C's ARE EARNED. London, December 24. After the Manchesters' two unsuccessful attempts at re-capturing the trenches on Hctobi-r 2!l. Private dames Hogan, i who is an ex-postman, and Lieutenant Leach, at the head of ten others, crawled a hundred yards to the trenches amid a storm of bullet-, and then in a hand-to-hand fight killed eight, wounded two, and made prisoners of sixteen. These i two, as previously cabled, have been ' awarded the Victoria Cross. j Found at 3. McNeil's store a little j packet, containing a wonderfully quick cure for Catarrh, Hay Fever, Cold in the i Head, and So l Throats—DlNGO, Tel* ( e No. 151 L ... ] u M ,^ m

} road from Ypres to Comines and those I of Lnngemarck, but did not attack. We have slightly progressed before Laboisclle, north-east of Albert. A German night attack in a wood at St. Mard, east of Tracy Laval, was repulsed. The position is unchanged elsewhere. ! ; GENERAL JOFFRE ON THE OFFENSIVE. ■ '-SPARRING FOR AN OPENING." I Times and Sydnov Sun .Services. Loudon, December 2-1. The Times' military correspondent says General Joll're M plainly spurring for an opening. He has made a double advance, enabling him to learn where it is best to strike, and taking oil' the strain from the Russi-ins. The Gorman Press, which recently asserted that he I was incapable of taking the offensive . j must revise its ideas. The Austro-Gor- ' man forces will probably not reach 11 j million men, and the Pussians should not ! I have insuperable difficulty in ovorthrow- ' I ing such a force by a superior number. • I They ought to enjoy a numerical superI j iority of over a million, and therefore we i '■ do not expect General Hindenberg's suc- : : cess will be lasting. Although his coun- , ; tor-offensive temporarily saved Silesia t j and relievert--thdj., pressure on Cracow, it .was only postponing the day of j reckoning; t I ' . ■ London, December 23. j I The Times' military correspondent I adds there are indications of some fresh 1 developments. The Gorman military '' I power is calling up the whole of the . j nation's manhood and intensifying every I industry in manufacturing war material i in preparation to crush the Allies in fhe spring, or perish in the attempt. • Germany has two million men on the s western line and a million on the eastern. 1 Losses have boon a million. She is ;' now training four millions. We have no reason to fear a war of numbers, be- :- cause, the Allies' population is double ,' that of Germany, our resources much .>) greater, and our spirit at least equal, •j . 1 DESTRUCTIVE AEROPLANE i ' BOMBS. t Received tN, ]■:.:, a.r.i. > Paris, December 27. A Zeppelin dropped fourteen bombs at . Nancy, killing two people, and damag- [ ing many houses. GERMAN KING FOR BELGIUM. London, December 23. It is asserted in Paris that the Kaiser proposes to make Prince Windichoratz King of Belgium. German officers told the men they must die before the English take Zee'I brnggc. ,{ The Daily Mail states that at the j j front there is abundance of necessities and clothing and streams of Christmas ' luxuries are pouring in. There are ' splendid postal arrangements. Amsterdam, December 28. '• Beyart, an aged retired priest in Bruges, has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment in Germany for writing to a London paper. Rotterdam, December 23. The Germans are daily reinforeing the ■ioast. There are now 17,000 soldiers at Heyst, mostly youths. More guns and quickfircrs have been posted at Heyst. Masses of Germans have reached Aix-la-Chapelle from the Eastern front. Paris, December 23. iA communique states: "We progressed slightly between the seat and the Nicu. port-Westende road, also in the district of -Steonstraeto and Bixschote, where we captured a wood and redoubt and recaptured the village of Jiveuehy, cast , ' of Bethune. We captured the remainder of the enemy's trenches at Pertlies-les-Hurles, amounting to an average of half a mile, We progressed north-east of Beau Scour, also in the Bois.la-Grurie, where we advanced 250 metres, after mining and blowing up two German lines. London, Dt-ccml.ci ?3. At Dunkirk, Deschamps, a leading Belgian aviator, was returning from a -flight when he landed heavily and exploded a bomb he was carrying. Desjchamps was blown to pieces and a dozen spectators were wounded.