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Show ALLIES NEARING QTYJF ML Paris. Nov. 25. A mantle of silence has been drawn oer the operations between Ypres and La Bassee. Neither Nei-ther of today's official communiques Issued by the war office mnde any mention of the developments on this line, although Paris hears unofficially 'hat here the Germans are centering the most desperate of all their dee-perate dee-perate attacks, apparently In a last effort to break through the allied lines and clear a pathway to Calais "The day has been quiet. There has been no modification upon the front as a whole." reads tonight's official of-ficial statement. That issued this afternoon, while more voluble and ehronieling certain French and allies" successes, was equally significant in that it Ignored entirely this section of the line of battle. "From the North sea to Ypres there was no infantry attacks yesterday,"' it said. "Between Langemarek. and Zonnebeke we have gained ground." La n gem a r eke and Zonnebeke are each about five miles from Ypres. but In a northerly and northeasterly direction. di-rection. Unofficially, a big battle is reported to be raging aloug the front from Ypres to La Bassee. which line is far from these two towns, but the communique skips over all this intervening inter-vening territory German Reinforcements It Is known that the Germans have brought up fresh relnforr ements and the largest guns in their artillery before be-fore beginning their new drive in the direction of Calais It is supposed that the attack ' centers somewhere about Arras, but it is Impossible for anyone to forecast what the results of the fighting have been since it began be-gan on Monday The silence of the war office is not reganb" d as ominous Paris is g row ing accustomed to the vagaries of the official mind and is Hinging to the motto that "no news is good news, 1 waiting patiently In the menntimo for some definite and official tidings from the new battlefield. From other points on the allied iron i there was much news in this afternoon's official communique. After Af-ter long silence In regard to the force making its base at Pont-a Mousson, the war office announced that this body had succeeded in bombarding Ar-naville Ar-naville s village on the Lorraine fron tier only ten miles from the German base at Metz. This is taken to mean that a new offensive movement on Metz has begun There is room for speculation on this sudden activity in this direction of Metz. Military experts concede the possibility that it is a counter offensive, undertaken with the idea of forcing the Germans to withdraw troops from the battle line between Ypres and La Bassee and throwing them inlo the lines that aro guarding the important base that is furnishing food and supplies for the German army which has Verdun for its objective. ob-jective. That a large proportion of the German Ger-man troops in the western arena is engaged below Ypres Is generally believed. be-lieved. Representatives today from Louvaln, by way of Rotterdam, say that as late as today continuous streams of troop trains have passed through the captured Belgian city, en route for the German armies engaged In the movement toward Calais For a week past similar reports have been current and .make it seem probable that the German force on the new-battle new-battle line is the largest which the kaiser has as yet thrown into the fighting. on |
