OCR Text |
Show German Army Still Retiring I Before Trench and Allies I I Paris, Sept. 14. 2:15 p. m. A Havas agency despatch from Petrograd says that the Germans are sending important reinforcements to the fortress of Memel (the I I northernmost town of the German empire on the Baltic, 72 miles northeast of Koenigsberg) which threatens Tilsit. The Russian imperial council is examining the laws I for the administration of conquered Prussian and Austrian territory. GREAT BA?TiFRAGW( AUSTRIANS MEET SERIOUS REVERSES; LARGE PART OF ARMY CAPITULATES i MAIN GERMAN ARMY IS INTACT SUPREME CLASH STILL TO COME & First Stage of Battle of Marne Is Won Numbers of Men En- gaged, Extent of Battle Line, Terrific Slaughter Makes est "Battle of the Ages" More Desperate Encounters Expected This Week Will Eclipse Anything ib. That Has Thus Far Happened. SPLENDID OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GERMANS ik u Chain of Forts Strong Pivot for Invading Army Military Ex perts Foresee All Kinds of Perplexing Possibilities Ig Ger-,-. mans Regain Positions Held Before Starting Rush on Paris London Official Bureau Gives Com- d plete Report of War Movements. IC Paris, Sept. 14. 3 1 6 p. m. It was officially announced this afternoon that the Germans still are retiring everywhere. They are abandoning all the positions which they erected to cover a possible retreat. a The official statement follows: "First On our left wing the enemy had prepared, to the north of Aisne, between Compiegne and Soissons, a line of ad defense which it was forced to abandon. Some detachments which it had held at Amiens now have retired on Perrone and IT w St. Quentin. "Second On the central the Germans had taken up a defensive position near Reims but were unable to hold it. In the Argonne region they turned back toward the north be- yond the forest of Belnoue and beyond Traincourt. "On the right wing the retreating movement of the Germans Ger-mans is general from Nancy to the Vosges. Yesterday even-It even-It ing French territory in this vicinity had been completely evacu ated " 3. London, Sept. 14, 4 48 p. m. The official press bureau $ this afternoon issued the following statement. "All day yesterday the enemy stubbornly disputed the ' passage of the Aisne by our troops, but in spite of difficulty of forcing the river in the face of a strong opposition, nearly all V the crossings were secured by sunset." "On our right and left, the French troops were confront- Ped with a similar task, in which, like ourselves, they were successful. suc-cessful. Many more prisoners were taken. "It is reported from the French headquarters that the German Ger-man crown prince's army had been driven back and that he has moved his headquarters from St. Menchould to Mont-faucon. Mont-faucon. " t London, Sept. 14, 1:45 p. m. Despatches from Antwerp Ant-werp relate that the fighting by the Belgian force.which went out from Antwerp last Friday lasted for three days and nights. r There was a heavy engagement along the ruins of Louvain, the Belgians penetrating twice to the center of the city. Yesterday, Yester-day, the Belgians delivered a fierce cavalry attack on the Ger- mans at Louvain. Paris, Sept. 14, 1 : 1 0 p. m. In a despatch from Petrograd, Petro-grad, the correspondent of the Havas agency says it has been 1 announced in the Russian capital that a Russian army is now J before Koenigsberg, East Prussia. Nish, Servia, Sept. 1 4, via Paris, 2 : 1 0 p. m. The Servian offensive movement continues successfully on the left bank pf the Save. No important developments along the lower Drina have been reported since the Servian victory on September Sep-tember 9. London, Sept 14. l 20 p m. The first stage of the buttle of the Marne, which, from the numbers of fiKhtintz men engaged, the extent of the line of battle and the terrific slaughter, is perhaps correctly described as "the battle of the ages," appears to have been won by the French and British armies, but the main German army is still intact and the supreme clash is still to come. The present week may see even more desperate encounters than any which have yet taken place. Metz the capital capi-tal of Lorraine, and the chain of forts thence to Diedehhoff, on the Moselle. 17 miles north of Metz, form a strong pivot for the German left, while the river courses and the dense forests on the frontier, together with the stratecir roads, give the German army of invasion, now in retreat u splendid opportunity for defensive action, should the French pursuit extend this far. Military observers foresee all kinds of perplexing possibilities in the event of the Germans regaining the posi tions they held before they started the rush ot 1.500.000 men on Paris, particularly should they Bucceed in taking buck any large portion of their losses. London. Sept 14, 10:10 a m. "Incontestable "In-contestable ' is the adjective used b General Joffre, commander-in-chief of the French lories in describing th" victory claimed by the allies along the western battle front The latest official communication from Paris Indicates In-dicates that the advance is continuing continu-ing along the line with the allies' left wing now across the river Aisne But little news, and that of tho vaguest sort filters through from Germans, Ger-mans, regarding the operations in the west, though It Is evident from the tone of Berlin official statements thai the people are being warned not lo be too optimistic as certain reverses may be expected. The latest actual battle news In Berlin describes a sortie sor-tie from Paris on September which, it is stated, has been repulsed. Austrian Army In Sore Straits Dispatches from mnny sources, Including In-cluding Vienna, indicate that the Austrian Aus-trian army in Galicla is in sore straits, but the story of its complete destruction destruc-tion is evidently exaggerated as the latest Russian reports indicate that General Ruzsky's forces are still meeting meet-ing with organized resistance It i3 evident, however, from the disposition disposi-tion of the combatants that the Austrian Aus-trian center was (rumpled up, while the left wing was hurled back into the marshes of the river San. This left wing, composed of the flower of the Austrian troops, may be i taught In a trap, making unconditional sur render the only alternative to destruction. de-struction. The official statement given out In Petrograd says that General Gen-eral Rennenkampff, in east Prussia, Is stubbornly retiring before a supe rior force rather than risk the turning turn-ing of his left flank by the Germans. Belgians Return to Antwerp. The Belgian mobile force has returned re-turned to Its Antwerp base with the official explanation that it has served lis purpose In preventing German re Inforcements from joining the arm) In Prance, Tins force operated for four days In the Brussels Louvain and Ma lines triangle, forcing' the Germans Ger-mans to abandon much of that portion por-tion of Belgium In connection with tlii-- movement, it is reported that the Belgians are cutting German communications. commu-nications. Other sources declare that the Belgians were compelled to return because the Germans wore strongly reinforced from Liege The retirement Is said also to have been expedited by a threat to bum Brussels. Brus-sels. One of the moBt Interesting rumors coming out of Belgium is a report in a Triris newspaper thai ihe German governor of the occupied Belgian territory ter-ritory entered Antwerp under nn agreement of safe conduct in a fruit-leas fruit-leas attempt to come to an agreement with the Belgian goernment. Italy Still Neutral. Italy 1r 6till preserving neutrality but has joined the triple entente am bassadors in a protest against the revocation of the capitulations by Turkey Austria evidently fears hos tile action on the part of Italy according ac-cording to newspaper reports from Rome for feverish efforts are being made to fortify Trieste against attack and the coast in that vicinity is being be-ing mined. German Retreat Continues. Paris Sept 14 flr20 a. rr. The r treat of the armies of Generals Vo.i Klnck and Von Buelow continued at last accounts with considerable rapidity ra-pidity The only official comment last night was that the allies were keeping In contact with the enemy and had crossed the river Aisne The whereabouts of the Germans was not revealed but It is eldent that they do not intend to make a Btand on the line from Rheims to Soissons and it Is hardly likely it is tl iughl here, that they will halt their retreat before reaching Belgium They have already made two-thirds of the distance from Provlns. in the department depart-ment of Pe ine et Marne to the frontier fron-tier The heavy rains of Saturday aud Sunday are not likely to facili tate the movement of the famous 120 millimetre mortars that were to reduce re-duce Paris and which require forty hiTr-- to draw them The armies of Generals Von Uau sen and 'lie Prince of Wuerttemberg Which constituted the renter, seem to be headed toward Rethel and Me;-rres Me;-rres though part of this force Is reported re-ported as still resistlne at the south end of the forest of the Argonne French Lorraine Liberated. It was reported last night that the armies of the crown prim e. the Prim e of Bavaria and General Von Heerin gen had been forced across the fron tier and that the entire territory n French Lorraine had been liberated This disposition of the German armies ar-mies If confirmed, makes another , ,,m entratlon In France, as suggested bv certain critics impossible It leaves Generals Von Kluek and Von Buelow hotly pursued by the allies and menaced b an enveloping move ment on the left, and without hope o' reinforcements except perhaps from the 60,000 troops which occupy Belgiupv The latest news from Antwerp, how over ShOWfi that these are likely to be needed there to stand off the oi tensive movement taken h King Albert's Al-bert's army . .. .. 4 Taken altogether Ihe situation here in viewed with equanimity while the government is busying Itself with ways and means for reviving trade and commerce. Germans Are Reinforced. London. Sept. 14. 9:50 a. m.An Antwerp dispatch to the Central Nrw, dated Sundav. sas that the German force against which the Belgian! Bel-gian! have been operating, has been heavily reinforced, particularly with guns ' it is believed the reinforcement's reinforce-ment's eame from Liege where a thousand German marines are report ed to have arrived The Belgian retirement is Bald to be due to the fear that the Germans would burn Brussels. Austrian Armies Capitulate. London. Sopt. 14, 10 06 a m A dispatch from Paris to Rente. , Telegram Tele-gram company says: telegram trom Petrograd to the Matin states that persistent rumors are current there that the larger part of the Austrian armies capitulated yesterday "The Figaro calls attention to the fact that Italy, displaying for the first time her detachment from the triple alliance banded to the porto a protest pro-test against the proposed abolition of the capitulations, drawn up in terms identical to that of tho triple , entente powers. The Figaro announces that Gen eral Von Goltz. governor of the occu pied Belgian districts, visited Antwerp, Ant-werp, provided with a safe conduct, and made proposals to the Belgian government with a view to reaching an agreement. The Belgian government, govern-ment, refused to consider these pro posals.'' |