The Western Front.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 298, 26 May 1915, Page 5

The Western Front.

A PICTURE OF YPRE3. CHAOS AFTER BOMBARDMENT. A ,SOLDIER KULE-i THE TOi'.VX. (Times and Sydney 'Sun Services.) Received 'May, 25, p.m. London, May 21. A Times' correspondent at the jlriti-sh headquarters {fives a gruesome description of the devastation of tile Ypres zone, which was riddled, and lias only lelt roofless houses, broken furniture, a deathly stillness in the streets, and human remains everywhere. A sickening smell of (lecay overpowers the scent of spring flowers; jackdaws are cawing amid the ruins and starling' are rebuilding their nests in the alter of St. Martin's Church, which is still draped in black, for the 'bombardment interrupted a Mass for the dead and the sacristy was full. Vestments and candlesticks tire tumbled together,' eovciled with a yellow dust from the explosives. The graveyard is a shell-crater from which human bodies protrude. The correspondent says this is a most highly organised mechanical war, depending on modern science, and, as a last resort, there is the human factor in the fighting man. Despite artificial aid, the armies are depending on the same qualities which gave victory in the days of the bow and arrow. lie believes" that in the human factor we are superior to the enemy. He gives an example of a British private asleep in a cellar when Ypres was vacated in November. He awoke and placed eleven townsmen under iron discipline, and shot looters on sight. Though himself inclined to the bottle, he prevented drunkenness amongst others. He was lenown as the king of Ypres, and his kingship lasted for a week. He was court-martialled, but for maintaining orderliness he was forgiven other delinquencies.

A HAIL OF LEAD. BRAVE BRITISH ATTACKERS. STORY OF A RATTLE. Received May 25, 0.40 p.m. London, May 25. In ,1 letter a British ofiicer describes the buttle at Rechebonrg betwci/ the nth and the 17th. The Sussex, Northunmtonx, Ministers, and the Black Watch opened the attack, but met a li«tvy ri?" fire totally unexpected. Alter the liombarilment, which equalled that of Neuve Chapelle, the Ministers mul (lie Black Watch seized the trenches but shortly afterwards they were driven out. Reserves were called up on the !>th for a fresh attack, including the Wori.esierr.. Inskilling Fusiliers, the King's Rwyal Riiles, and a Liverpool regiment. By ten o'clock in the evening four lines of men were lying in the open in front of the breastwork, with others in the trenches behind. The attackers rose at 11.30 in pitch darkness, and went forward at a walk. They had hardly started when a flare cime from the German trenches. The ni"n continued walking. Soon there were other flares, and then a hail of lead. The men dashed ahead. The King's Rifles and the Liverpool soon won a trench and went on to a second, but the Worcester* iound the task impossible. The lnskillings pushed on line after line despite terrible losses, and won the first trench and immediately made for the second, which was captured. The three successful regiments joined lip at dawn, and many heroes in the British trenches during the day shouldered boxes of bombs, bandoliers and ammunition, and attempted to dash three hundred yards to a (lerman trench. Many fell, but some got across. All the l.'enelies wore subjected to a terrific l>:>!i!hardnicui. in Avlih-h the wounded surtVrod terribly. It was impossible to move theri until dark. The and Highland Light Infantry pushed on on Monday, and won more ground. The advance continues.

DUEL IN A CELLAR. A HAND-TO-IIANI) STRUGGLE. ' EVERY GERMAN KILLED. Received May 25, 10.40 p.m. Paris, May 25. Extraordinary details have been read of our leaving Careney, which was captured house by house. In one case thirty-two Frenchmen found twenty Germans with fixed bayonets in a cellar which already contained piles of German dead. A death struggle commenced, all fighting like liends. Sometimes Prussians pretended to be dead and then drew a knife and attacked and stabbed a Frenchman. A Prussian officer appeared to go mad. lie threw down his revolver, tore off his tunic, and lashed out with it. After forty minutes not a German was alive. Most of the French were wounded, but twenty-eight were alive.

GERMAN BATTERIES SILENCED. NIGHT INFANTRY ATTACK. Received May 25, 8 p.m. London, Mayi "25. Sir John French reports that our guns on the 24th silenced three Gerjnan batteries. One was destroyed hy direct hits and the ammunition was blown up. The Germans developed a night infantry attack east of Ypres, under cover of poisonous gas, and we were forced to evacuate our trenches. Fighting continues, and wu have already retaken some trenches. THE BRITISH PROGRESS. 0101! MAN ATTACK STOPPED. Received May 25, 8 p.m. Paris, May "25. Official: The British progressed north of La I'assep. The Germans, in very heavy forces, attempted to attack north of Ncuville, but were caught under our artillery, and the attack was stopped dead, the enemy sustaining heavy losses. T'usincss men, who are usually keen judges of tea, and very fastidious about flavor, appreciate the general excellence of "Desert Gold" Tea. Test this Tea TO-DAY. ? CRAMP AND COLIC. Take a dose of Chamberlain's Colic and Diarrhoea Remedy at the first sign »f cramp or colic and a theatened attack may be warded oil'. Hundreds of people who are n11:■ clred wilh cramps and colic use Chamberlain's Colic and Dirrhoea Remedy. It never fails to give relief. Sold by all chemists and storekeepers.

BRUGES EVACUATED. STRONG BRITISH ADVANCE. GERMANS CANNOT REINFORCE RAN KS. Paris, May -21. A communique states: The. Germans attacked at several points after using gas, between Sternsiraate ami Vprcs, but were re'iei3m".l. Violent lighting continues. North of Arras we repulsed several counter-attacks. At Neuville-St. Vaast the struggle continues with intensity. The latest intelligence shows the extent of the German check in this district. On Mny 22 and 2li, despite important rein I orcentents and vigorous thrice-renewed eliorts. the Germans failed in a'i their attempts and suli'ered considerable losses. Tile wpttnv 01 the V.'hoe Road, giving viie maV-ery of the l.ovette heights, is a magnificent victory. During 'thirteen (lays of tierce bailies we killed on [daleau and defensive works upwards of 'iWIO and t ' "t; 101)0 prisoners. The actual booty is only a small portion of captures, inasmuch as we are daily finding machine-guns, trench mortars, and rifles concealed in iiiled-up trenches and collapsed shelters. The carrying of the l.orette heights achieves one of our principal objectives northward of Arras. The Germans believed that thev could not be driven out. Fresh troops three times relieved the defenders: lievcrthe- ! less they were driven out. Our superiority of tactics was unmistakably con- ' firmed, and . our troops more thai) ever strengthened in the belief of final vie- ! tory. 1

London, May 25. Ihe Daily 'Mails Rotterdam correspondent states that the Germ:'-'--, are deepening their trenches and widening their defensive works on theV " and third lines, particularly arou:: ' Lille. .Since reinforcements are impcsible while the German effort, in (-'<licia continues, they may decide, to fall backon the second line, jlruges has already been evacuated, and 'he food and ammunition stored :if Ghent. Ille I'riti-'b 'lea-lc '"i' ' -;"iort states: Or May 22, in' tii sector, we captured S(<veral rv <■■< man trenc'nx, and our line was favilier advance!. The Germans strongly couu-ter-attnelo 1. and were allowed to ;• .1 - vince td: well into the open, when our ai tillei \, with a withering fire, mowed their, down in see,res. The attack recoiled shattered, and only a few regained their trenches. Rrilish aenmlanes (-rove c.T German aircraft in the North I'oreland yesterday morning. The German Governor '~of Belgium pi'-ldi-l'.ed. a Tlnd'/et with a d-ficifc' of twenty-three million francs ( .Cr.'d.OOO) tor l!)l 1. Tie States that it must be made up later. A petty o'lieer 'writes: "A Mack •Johnson • buried Molding alive in a duirout. Ilis Trish terrier wandered aliout disconsolate." . ™ . , Paris, May 24. A raube dropped bombs on the northern suburbs of Paris, but the damage was slight.

THAT GHASTLY .SALIENT. Salients and re-entrant* mean little to the general reader, but they are everytiling to the commanders (writes A. Spence m tie Dunedin Star). 1 made sur « forecast in August that the problem lying before (.lie Ri;--ian Gen eral Stall' was more tlina difficult, and tilat an invasion of Germany could only be accomplished if the Russian, broke 'both ends of the salient. They have been hammering along that wav, but without much result. They have attacked the .Masurian Lake district three times, with the result that might have been anticipated. Once they tried Momel and were thrown out. They got Przemvsl about the end of March, and there was a chance that now, at least, this dreadful salient had been cut down. (Jnc of ,its arms had been lopped, and the investment of the fortius of Cracow seemed the likeliest thing, to sav, nothing of tile political, military, and moral effect v. liich the capture of the cardinal passes in the Carpathians—lJukla, i.upUow, and Ls/ok—was bound to produce. Ihe lcsult, as we see it at present is that the Russians, in falling back to the San river, have lost every hold ivhich they ever had on the Carpathian passes. Six months' fighting has been reduced to naught by the sudden advance oi von Mackcnsen along the valleys of middle Galicia. The wing of the salient has therefore b»en widely extended in the south, ami perhaps the Galiciau oil wells have a good deal to do with it. On the northern wing of the salient every effort seems to be directed to minimising the capture of the great Russian naval base at Lihau. It may be true, as the Times stated Some time ago, that the arsenal had long been dismantled, and that the importance of the capture may be over-estimated. It is equally true and incontestable true that by capturing fLibau in the north and advancing to the San in the south the Germans have extended the salient, and made it more formidable than it has ever been since September. IScing our ally, it is impossible to pass by the position of the Grand Duke without a word of good cheer. Above and beyond his dangerously salient position there was always the question of the railway gauges. How the German gauge of -Ift. Si 1 /, in. came to run so far into Poland is still a matter for some Solomon to solve. At present the lvicff, Odessa, and possibly the Varsovie armies are thrown back on a diagonal front of 20!* miles, and an- being attacked by 33 army l corps, of which 10 corps are Germans. A corps means about 43,000 men. The Russian right is at Opatow and the left at Kolomea, the latter not .being more than (iO miles from the frontier of Russia. That is in the south. Li'bau has still to be dealt with in the 'north. The Duke has, of course,, lost the Carpathian passes. Now, the feature of all these kittles in Poland is simply tllis: The Germans watch Russia attacking here or there. They allow the Russian generals to commit their supply trains and troops to a certain line of advance, and when the committal of men and munitions is, in their judgment, large enough, they pour out through their rail-heads at some well-chosen point. The problem, then, for the Grand Duke is to swing up masses on to them from right and left, and the result has always been the same. Tactically the Germans and Austrians can no more hold up the weight of Russia in the open field than they can fly. They attack, and then they break uir the action. It will not be surprising if we see this feature repeated in the battle now in progress. .Only th is time matters arc more com- I plieate-l for the Oraml Jhiki'. 'Hitherto ho has only been attacked at one spot at once, Imt now lie is hit in two places —in (lalicia in Ute soiitli ami in fie' province of Coiirland in the north. ITe must <lo something to remove the Hermans from Lihau or they wil! on io 'Kiiia, which .is well a!on:r the mint to Vetro'rrad. At tlie same time, li > must arrest the onfall in '(falicia. l>cvau~e, ii lie does not, six DumMis' work /roes to ruin. The clever Cernmn attach lias Von to commit him to divcrirent operations, counting especially on Iris inferior transport. It is difficult, very difficult, for "Duke "NiehnV'-i. lint tlteye is always tins: "Whenever he lias met them in a square sfand-UM fitflrf lie hrH von in a tucth-a' way. Thev liav:- Ih<railways, no dotiot. Tie lias (he rerevve: of nun.