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Show GIVE WAY ! SS SLUES PRESS ON French and English Make Several Important Impor-tant Gains; British Soldiers Sol-diers Get Footing on Right Bank of Yser and Destroy Field Fortress of the Enemy. FRENCH GUNNERS WIN NEW LAURELS Mystery Surrounds Operation Op-eration of the French in Alsace; Whether Movement Move-ment Is on Large Scale Is Not Known as War Office Maintains Silence. (Sjmc al Cable tr Arrangement WlrJi London Daily Teograpo and In e-Ba ooal hem Service.) PABIS Dec 6 Three overwhelm ing victories were won by the heavy artillery of the allies in fighting re ported today in official dispatches from I widely separated sections of the battle front In Flanders near tha ferryman t hou"e betwpen Dixmnde and Ypres which was captured by the British after a month 3 fighting the British gunners destroyed a German field fort, In Champagne the Trench guns com pletely overwhelmed the kaiser 3 bat teries "Sear Aarrennes sixteen miles from Verdun the French guns put every gun of the German batteries out of action The week opened with the allies holding more advanced positions in Flanders than they have gained m any corresponding period during the past month Allies Admit One Lcr-s The past three days have shown ao unbroken record of successes on this section of the front w th the exception of the battle around Weidendreft on the outskirts of Langemarck northwest of Ypres where the Germans have ef fectivelv re"isted the French attacks Today s official statement declared that tho German corps contesting for the poe tion as"umed the offensive but without aail the British cont nuing to hold the section of the town to wh ch they ret red on Fridav One of the most notatle gains was made by the allies to the east of Paesel in the rcsion about the ferryman s house where the German fie d fort as reported destroyed toda Th s is the first rea ly firm footing the British have been able to gain on this bank of the Tser and the failure 01 the German counter attacks ln an effort to regain the lost strong hold together with the reduction of the fortified pos Hon from w hlch they had conducted their operations speaks o umes for the f rmness with which the Britlbh have establ shed themselves at this front. French Gunners Win Tt eldendreft Is Important as the vl age is of gTeat "trategic alue. dominat nc. as it does the ope stretch of ground which gi es access to I e fortified posl tlons of the Ger lans. if he a es are ab e to establ th themsel es here they will be in a position o assail the Qer man tren hes to t e east The new taurelS for the French gun ncrs were gained ln the Champagne re gion bj ren a kably accurate and per s stent cannonade whl e they themsel ea were under a terr fy ng fire ote Ger man batteries The kaisers gunne s opened a furious bombardment of the I renc po" tions. The Frenc batteries replied wi h a deadl, rain of s ells from the new field 1 owitsers whicl recent were broug t up from the rear to rep ace the b rnt out p ocee and the German" were effectl elj smothered by t a fury of the reply German Sappers Bus Sapping the most ter If -Ing form of warfa e continues ln the Argonne re gion Here the Germa s by dlgg ng z zag trenches at such a angle as ne or to subject the occupants to an enf ad Inir fre but alwajs bringing the bur rowers closer to the opposing force" have crept up under the French trenches and hurled bomba and hand gTenades of great exposive power Into the rifle p a Or bv tunne Ing f om the r trenches to a point nd r the French pos tions. hev a e p anted mines wh ch we e detonated after t e on e end of e bo es had been sea ed Both opera ion" ha e been t -ted epeated 5 bu the wat hfulness of tl e Fren h and the dash and daring of (Continued oa Page Two.) i 1 i GERMANS LOSE f; POSITIONS AT h A FEW POINTS i i : ; Allies Make Several Import-1 Import-1 ant Gains; French Gun-i Gun-i ; ners Win New ! ; Triumphs, (Continued from Page One.) their offensive have more than over- come the advantage gained by the Ger- ; mans through their sapping methods, , i! with the result that the French have been able to record considerable gains, ! and the occasions on which the Germans ; ! ; have taken the offensive in the open have . been of sad memory to the invaders. 1 . I; Progress has been made in the Verdun I 1 region, southeast of Varenne?. where the . fighting is becoming more important, . 1 both in the forces employed and the ! stake for which they are contending. I The right wing of General Joffre's al ii lied army is heavily engaged with the i il Germans on two important fronts, one ii facing Metz and 'the other threatening , I Strassburg. i I s Several trenches have been taken in ' . I j the forest country in Alsace, where nil I ' i the counter attacks of the Germans thus ' : far have been repulsed. West of Altkirch the two armies are i ; j still ot grips and about Mnelhauaen sharp ' i fighting is unofficially reported, but the !: official statements are barren of any 1 ; mention of thes engagements. ' i In fact, the silence of the war office .: regarding the operations' on this front . j only lends to their Importance. It has i u 1 wa vs been t li e pol icy of the gene ra.l ; staff not to publish reports of major i operations where the issue is still in tne 'j balance. This caution is enjoined upon correspondents even to the point of forcl-i' forcl-i' ble exclusion from their dispatches of 1 comment on the si tun tion, even though I no vital facts are given. |