Russian Campaign.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 262, 15 April 1915, Page 5

Russian Campaign.

BATTLES ON SNOW-CLAD HEIGHTS. SUCCESS OF THE RUSSIAN ARTILLERY. A GENERAL THAW IN GALICIA. AUSTRIAN'S STARVING AND EXHAUSTED.

Received April 14, 11.20 p.m. London, April t. Telegrams from Petrograd attribute the Russian success to brilliant artillciy work. Single guns were warped aio.ig the mountain paths by hand. Again and again the artillery corps did brilliant service, firing grape, and risking capture by going ahead with the infantry. It was impossible to hide the movements of the troops, the faintest disturbance on the even surface of the inow catching the sunlight and being visible for miles. The nights were never really dark, and on the snow-clad heights many unconventional methods of fighting were resorted to. The Russians are building snow shelters, rifle-proof, enabling them to keep warm in the worst weather. A feature of the fighting has been the frequency and intensity of blizzards. Both sides attempted to steal small advantage in the storms, sometimes at heavy cost. Though a genera! thaw lias set in in Galicia and Poland, the passes are still congested with snow, and a single false step may precipitate men, guns, and waggons into the abyss, whose edges are masked with snow. The Austrians admit that dysentery and typhus are rampant. Many of the troops in the mountains are surrendering from hunger and exhaustion. They are in piteous condition, so enfeebled that the Russians are obliged to provide staves to enable them to walk.

The chief Austro-Hungarian danger at present is the likelihood of the Russians seizing the lower sections of the valleys where the defiles converge on the river, thus making it impossible for the defenders of the passes to escape. The Austrians captured hill 902, north of Tucholka Pass, but this is regarded as an isolated episode. The counterattack at Stry forced the Russians temporarily to suspend their advance on Roumania.

SERIES OF SUCCESSES. IMPETUOUS AUSTRIAN ATTACKS. Received April 14, 11.30 p.m. Petrograd, April It. Official: The battle of the Carpathians on the 11th and 12th developed with great intensity between Bartfeld an.l Stry. We progressed on both banks of the Ondova, south of Stropko, and eaptured several heights north-east of Hslepoich. We gained a victory in the direction of Uszok Pass, where the extremely desperate fight resulted in the capture of the heights around the villages of Bmcoftz, Bene)!', and Vyssokonijy, the Rus•ians taking 2700 prisoners and capturing twenty machine-guns. The enemy delivered impetuous attacks in great strength on the heights south of Voijssate, but all were repulsed with enormous losses.

The enemy made furious attacks in torrential rain and impenetrable darkness in Bukovina along one extensive, front in the direction of LalestichiU. The Russian infantry have been using the bayonet throughout successfully. We repulsed several attacks west of the Nieinen.

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE. PEASANTS RECEIVE BIGGER INCOMES. ABOLITION OF VODKA A BENEFIT. Received April 14, 8.15 p.m. Petrograd, April 14. The Minister of Finance informed the Press Agency that the war was proving a blessing to the people of Russia. The peasants had now better prospects of living in comparative comfort, as, owing\ to the allowance made to the families of soldiers, their incomes were greater than in times of peace. The prohibition of vodka is primarily responsible for the ameliorated condition of the peasants. Before the war their average yearly savings on deposit totalled be- | tween fifteen and twenty million dollars, while in January alone thirty million dollars were deposited.

STRENGTH OF THE ENEMY. THE KAISER HANDY. Petrograd, Apri 13. The Bourse Gazette says that five independent Austrian armies under Generals Weirsch, Boreovich, Bemermoli, Panazer, and Prince Eugene Frederick, and seven German army corps under General Pintzinger, are opposing the Russians in the Carpathians. It is believed that the Kaiser is in the rear of the Austro-German lines, advising on operations.