OCR Text |
Show j GERMAN ARMY WINS ANOTHER ! f IMPORTANT VICTORY BELOW RIGA " t II . t ; Storm Bridgehead on the Drina, Taking 37 Officers and 3- J 1 325 Men Russians Make Vain Attacks on Both Sides II ; of the Vilna Losing Large Numbers in Killed and j Wounded Fighting Continues Around J GrodnoFortress and All Smaller Forts 1 in German Possession. w I r III FRENCH ARTILLERY POUNDING WEST FONT .? it . jj I Violent Engagements Reported, But Germans Deny Paris Re-) Re-) I port of Break Through Lines North of Arras Strong I Offensive Move of Allies in West Forecast by Mili- jj I tary Observers Balkan Problem Still in Un- ! I solved State Serbia's Answer to Quad- M ruple Entente to Be Favorable. i m i M 'f Berlin, Sept. 4, via London. The j I German array engaged in the battle I if for possession of the Russian port of ! a Riga has won another important vic- 1 tory. Army headquarters announced today the capture of the bridgehead I at Friedrichstadt, on the Dvina about forty miles below Riga. The Germans r captured Lhirt-seven officers and 3325 men. i ij. The text of today's official state- fl ment is as follows: 1 "Western theatre of -war: The sit- k nation on the western front is un- W changed. 3?" "Eastern theatre of war: Army of Field Marshal Von Hindenburg The m- bridgehead at Friedrichstadt was H stormed yesterday. Thirty seven of-1 of-1 i ficers and 3325 men were taken pris-f pris-f ! oner Five machine guns were also ' captured. "On both sides of Vilna the enemy ' has repeated his vain attacks. Be- sides losing a large number in killed iand wounded, he left S00 prisoners in our hands. Russians Everywhere Defeated. "In and around Grodno fighting still continues. During the night, however, how-ever, the Russians, after suffering defeat everywhere retreated in an easterly direction. The fortress and all the forts are In our possession. The retreating enemy is being pursued. pur-sued. Six heavy guns and 2700 pris-ouers pris-ouers remain in our hands. "To the south of Grodno also ,the enemy has evacuated positions on the Niemen. "Between the confluence of the Svrislocz and the region northeast of the forest of Bieloviezh, the army of General Von Gallwltz is attacking. Up to this present time S00 prisoners have been taken. .. "Army of General Field Marshal Prince Leopold of Bavaria The fight-,lug fight-,lug in the passages through the PimaVshy district north and northeast of Grodana continues.' "Army of Field Marshal Von Mack- ensen- "The enemy is still holding the i r- bridgehead near Bereza-Kartuska. 1 Further south, in the region of 5 Drohiczyn, 60 kilometers (37 miles) f ; west of Pinsk, the enemy has boen ' !; repulsed." Review of War Situation. London, SepL 4. 12:21 p. m. In the ' i absence of marked changes on any of ; i the battle fronts, the English public ' has again turned its attention to the '' diplomatic situation in the near east and to rumors of tentative efforts in ' the direction of peace negotiations. It is announced officially at Nish 1 that the official draft of Serbia's an-1 an-1 swer to the note of the quadruple en-I en-I tentc is ready and will be presented shortly. It is presumed here that the ;" reply on the whole will be favorable In regard to the concessions to Bul-: Bul-: garia, although little hope is entertained enter-tained that Serbia will grant her late ", enemy all the territory demanded in Macedonia. Advices from Sofia indicate that un- : less the whole of Macedonia is con- ' ' reded there is little cnance of re-es ; tablishment of the Balkan league. It : is pointed out in official circles at the Bulgarian capital that compliance ji with the program of the entente allies - means actual participation in the war, while agreement to the request of the central powers implies merely 4 -friendly neutrality, expressed in peril per-il mltting the shipment through Bulga- , i ria of arms and other war supplies i for the Turks f l Although it has been established I rather definitely that London lias no I T part in the initiation of Informal f ' peace discussions, it is plain tho of-t of-t j ficial circles are Interested keenly in fl 1 the news of activities in thib direc- Hon. J! i Peace May Be Conc'dered. 1 'I There are straws in the wind which i indicate that what are designated as 2 l "proper peace overtures" on the part ' of Germunv would moet with consid- I j orat'on. However, tho general pub ;f 'ic not so well informed as is the gov-i gov-i rrnment. probably would regard such I '3. osfrtures as premature i While diplomats are seeking to en-.f en-.f 'ju'f'e the onbfre of the war. and while jt talk of neace is n the a'r, t'e great struggle continues along all fronts without interruption. The Russians are fighting desperately along the Dvina, protecting the shortest road to Petrograd. They are developing a, counter offensive before Vilna, w'hich evidently is designed to threaten threat-en Field Marshal von Hindenburg's right 'flank. French artillery is pounding the German trenches along the western front Intense activity of the artillery continues con-tinues to be reported from the fighting fight-ing tront in France. Paris alludes to the last engagements as of particular particu-lar violence. Military observers abroad incline to the belief that the persistent bombardment bombard-ment of German positions presages an offensive move by the entente allies In the west. Petrograd Admits Retirement. Petrograd, in its latest statement, admits a retirement of the Russians to the north bank of the Dvina in the sector where the desperate struggle to protect Riga and the road to Petrograd Pe-trograd is in progress North of Vilna, where the German lines have apparently made little progress of late, the Russians claim to have continued offensive operations opera-tions and to have gained ground against the Germans, with the capture of more than a dozen machine guns, and 300 prisoners. The Balkan problem still is in an unsolved state and there are no signs that the situation will definitely shape itself within the next few days. Petrograd yesterday admitted that the Russians had withdrawn across the Dvina at a point near Linden after a stubborn battle In taking the Frlederichstadt position posi-tion the Germans captured jnore than 3300 prisoners including' thirtS'-seven officers. Germans Capture All Grodno Forts. AIL the forts of Grodno are now in possession of the Germans and tho Russians are retreating eastward. They left six heavy guns to the Germans, Ger-mans, while 2700 of their men were taken prisoner. Petrograd military observers express ex-press the belief that the Germans aim to take possession of the Riga-Dvinsk lailway line on the northerly bank of the Dvina, capture Vilna, and likewise like-wise the fortress of Rovno, far to the south, near Lutsk, which was recently re-cently captured, and then entrench for the autumn and winter. Turks Put to Flight. Petrograd, Sept. 3, via London, September Sep-tember 4, 1:57 a. m. The following statement was issued tonight by army headquarters: "On the Caucasus front In the coast region a Turkish attempt to dislodge our vanguard failed and the Turks were put to flight by our hand grenades. gre-nades. "In the direction of Olti. our patrols pa-trols forced the Turkish outpost positions posi-tions in the region of Lake Ahizghel al tho point of the bayonet and captured cap-tured their trenches, killing two hundred hun-dred and capturing war booty." Turkish Victories Are Offered. Constantinople. Sept. 4, via London, 1:33 p. m Turkish victories in minor mi-nor engagements are reported In an official statement given out here today. to-day. The communication follows: "On our right wing on September 2, our artillery dispersed an enemy battalion bat-talion which was being drilled. On our left wing in the region of Kereves Dere we silenced two hostile guns." New German Submarines. Berlin, Sept. 4, by wireless to Say-ville. Say-ville. A dispatch from Chrlstianin states that a German submarine of a new type, far larger than any pre-v!ous pre-v!ous vessels of this character, has been observed off the southwestern coast of Norway. This is regarded in Berlin as confirming reports that Germany Ger-many is about to place in commission commis-sion super-submarines, far excelling the best of her submersibles hitherto. French Report Declared Untrue. Berlin, Sept. 4, by wireless to Say- ville. "Rumors that the French and British have succeeded in breaking through the German lines, at Arras, are absolutely untrue," says the Overseas Over-seas News agency. "To the contrary, the German positions in the west are more secure and favorable than was the case several months ago. It is evident evi-dent that rumors of this nature are being spread by agents of Germany's enemies In an attempt to influence public sentiment " oo . POLO BY ARMY OFFICERS. Manila, P. I., Sept 1. Polo is making mak-ing great strides among American army officers. Many good players are being developed and great interest is taken. The senior championship of the Philippine Island Polo Association, contested on Forbes Field, at Passay, was won by a team representing the second field artillery, who lined up with Lieutenant's Rumbough. Rucker and Parker anr Captain Allin, -'from tho four cracks of the Seventh Cavalry, Cav-alry, Lieutenants Chaffee, Chandler, Hyalt and Zell. oo |