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Show FINCH GUNS GAINING ADVANTAGE FROM THE NORTH SEA TO ALSACE Artillery Activity Reported All Along Western Battlefront Infantry Making Advances Heavy Fighting in Belgium and Vicinity of Arras Serious Damage Inflicted on Germans Kaiser's Mine Throwers Inflict Heavy Losses in Valley of the Aisne. FRENCH REPULSE ATTACK WITH BAYONET Progress Made in Alsace Germans Take Fifty Prisoners East of Rheims and 100 More With Two Officers on Heights West of Sennheim Berlin Reports Capture of 1600 Russians and Five Machine Guns Consternation Con-sternation Reigns in Constantinople French Hammering at the Dardanelles. Petrograd, Jan. 8. There was given out in this city this afternoon an official communication from the headquarters staff of the Russian army in the Caucasus reading as follows: "In the combat of Ardahan, in Trans-Caucasia, forty miles northwest of Kars, we defeated and dispersed the component com-ponent parts of the Ottoman army which formed part of the first army corps. This corps had been stationed at Constantinople. Constanti-nople. A number of Bashiba Zouks, brought from European Turkey, as wTell as bands of Adjar tribesmen who have taken r i r l All up the cause or 1 urkey, fought against us at Ardahan. "We captured a large quantity of war booty. The cannon can-non made a vast pile, with their trucks and caissons, etc. We captured also the officer in command of the Turkish artillery. Other prisoners included several dozen officers and we captured cap-tured also a large number of soldiers. We buried more than 1.500 bodies of the enemy's troops. A regiment of Siberian Cossacks delivered a brilliant charge. These men sabred several sev-eral companies of the enemy, and captured the flag of the Eighth infantry regiment. "It has been established that the Ninth Ottoman army corps, 30,000 men strong, was completely destroyed; these detachments were entirely overwhelmed in the snow." "We took possession of all the artillery artil-lery of this corps, all the generals, more than 300 officers and several thousand Askaris tribesmen who com posed the reserves of this corps. "We still continue to pick up enormous enor-mous quantities of arms and other trophies thrown down In heaps in the mountains, In the forests and in the ravines, and covered up with snow. "Our energetic pursuit of what is left of the Tenth Army corps of the enemy is constantly augmenting our trophies of war. It Is at the present time difficult to give any valuation of the booty we have taken." Paris. Jan 8 - The extended French official report, given out in Z Paris this afternoon, shows the custo- mary artillery activity all along the line from the sea to Alsace and says that the French gains arc gaining the advantage. The French claim some infantry advances. ad-vances. Near Rheims Ihey moved tor-ward tor-ward 200 yards and elsewhere fifty At another point they retired fifty yards. Referring to the situation in Alsace, the French report claims favorable developments The official statement this after- : noon as follows: i "The artillery of the enemy showed , during all tho day ot January 7 great activity In Belgium and In the vicinity vi-cinity of Arras The French artillery responded spiritedly and efficaciously "Our infantry made some progress near Lombaertzyde We occupied at a point fifty vards in advance of our trenches a' hillock which had been held by the enemy. To the east of St Georges we gained ground and we k inflicted serious damage on the ft trenches of the enemy In the vicinity of Steensl raate. "In the section of Arras, at the forest for-est of Rerthonval, without being attacked, at-tacked, we were compelled to evacuate evacu-ate certain trenches, where our men and water. To the left of Boisselle our line of trenches has been moved forward, and we occupied the road from Boiselle to Aveluy. 1 German Mine Throwers Inflict Losses. "In the valley of the Aisne the artillery ar-tillery exchanges yesterday were quite spirited. Our heavy artillery secured good results near Blanc Sab- ar Ion At this point the mine throw- 3c- erB of the enemy inflicted losses n or us. but in the afternoon we checked on this fire from the Germans, an "In the section of Rheims, to the iat west of the forest Des Zouaves, we ur I blew up a block house and occupied j a new trench 200 yards in advance of our lines, JJ Fierce Artillery Engagements. "The artillery engagement between Bethcny and Prunay was conducted th yesterday with gTeat fierceness. The Germans left many dead on the field , our losses wore not heavy. Between Jonchery-Sur-Suippe and Souuln we time and again reduced to silence -ygl the artillery of the enemy, demolished '! bis trenches and destroyed his breast B" 1 orks. rs 1 ' "In the Argonne, to the west of j Haute Chovaucheo, the enemy, by i nieans of a mine, blew up some of our 0. I;! Urst line trenches, which were com-Jt, com-Jt, ml Pletely demolished A violent attack I undertaken at once by the enomy on ; cur positions, was repulsed with the j bayonet. We took, some prisoners and we maintained our front excepv for a distance of eighty yards. Here the demolition of the trenches obliged ' us to establish our line twenty yards further back. "On the heights of the Meuse and between the Meuse and the Moselle there is nothing to report. Here the wind blew a tempest all day iong Janu- I ary 7. Important Results Near Thann. "Our offensive continues yesterday in the region of ThaJin and near Alt-kirch Alt-kirch and brought important results We re-occupied the trenches on the eastern flank of 'Hill 425.' a position where the enemy two days ago succeeded suc-ceeded in re-establishing himself. We then gained some ground to the east of these trenches. Further to the south we occupied Burnhaupt-le-Haut, and at the same time we made progress prog-ress in the direction of Tont d'Aspach and the KhaJberg. "The artillery' of the enemy, which had endeavored without success to reach our batteries, gave over shooting shoot-ing at our artillery in favor of the exclusive bombardment of the hospi tal at Thann which has been cvacu- tr.n German Official War Statement. Berlin, Jan 8, by wireless to Ixn-don. Ixn-don. 3:30 p. m. In the official statement state-ment issued at Berlin today the Germans Ger-mans announce that they hnve made further gains in the Argonne forest, m France, and that attempts of the French to advance in the vicinity or Rheims and in the Vosgee mountains have been repulsed The statement adds that fighting is still in progress prog-ress for the Alsatian village of Ober-burnhaupt. Ober-burnhaupt. In Russian Poland, where unfavorable unfavor-able weather is Interfering with military mili-tary operations, the Germans report the capture ol LOOT prisoners. The text of the communication follows: fol-lows: , "In th western theatre of the war. th-' eontinuous rains swamped the ground in Flanders more and more, and our operations In consequence are verv much hindered. "To the, east of Rheims the French attempted during the night to take one of our outer trenches, but were driven back into their own positions by a counter attack, losing fifty pns oners. . ' f. . in (he center and in the eastern part of the Argonne we made further progress. French Attack Repulsed. "A night attack by the French against our positions on the Buehen-kopf Buehen-kopf south of Diedolshausen in the. VolgeB, was repulsed. Repeated PrencB attacks on a height to the vest of Sennheim (Ornay) broke down under our artillery fire Wo took two officers and more than 100 men an prisoners. Fighting still Is going on for the village of Uberburn-haupt Uberburn-haupt (Burnhaupt-Lo-Haut) to the south of Sennheim. "Unfavorable weather also is being experienced in the eastern theatre of the war. "On tho East Prussian frontier and in northern Poland the situation re-. mains unchanged. "East of tho Rawka river our attacks at-tacks are progressing. One thousand thou-sand six hundred Russians were taken ta-ken prisoners and five machine guns were captured by us. "Only artillery battles took place on the eastern bank of the Pillca river." Austrians Falling Back. Vienna, Jan 8. via London, 12:17 p. tn. An official statement on the. progress of tho war was given out today. "In the Carpathian forest lands and the southern part of the crown land of Bukowina, regard for tho safety of our advance troops obliged us to fall back on the principal mountain passes before an enemy numerically superior to ourselves. "On the Hungarian-Galician front everything is quiet. In their higher districts there is some frost and snow. On the Dunajec river and in Russian Poland there have been some artillery exchanges." London, Jan. 8. 12:40 p. m. Aside from the continued Russian pursuit of the Turkish forces, defeated in the Caucasus, and the continuation ot the Russian advance through the passes of the Carpathian mountains, siege-warfare siege-warfare with intermittent artillery duels seems for the moment to prevail almost everywhere in the area of hostilities, hos-tilities, in the eastern arena as well as in the western. The reports reaching London show that General Von Hindenburg. the German commander In Poland, tor some time past has made no appreciable appreci-able progress toward Warsaw, the mud of Poland evidently having done for him what the broken dykes and the resultant inundations did for the Germans in western Flanders. A dispatch dis-patch coming to London from Copenhagen Copen-hagen declares that Von Hindenburg is expecting heavy reinforcements and that with an army of one million men he purposes to make one more supreme effort to break through to the Polish capital. The Russians would appear to have ample time to reinforce themselves and to strengthen strength-en their positions around Warsaw, and it is the opinion of British observers ob-servers that the trench warfare for which the western theatre of the war has become famous, will be waged in the region of the Polish rivers. Austria-Hungary again admits the retirement of the forcea on 'BiTkowlna and it is from this Russian forward movement, before which the Austrians are giving way, that the most spectacular spectac-ular developments of the next fortnight fort-night may be expected to spring, according ac-cording to the opinion held today by some British observers of the war. The argument is made that once Russia Rus-sia gets a good foothold beyond the mountain passes, something that may be accomplished in a fortnight if the Russians are not checked, a big stride toward the over-running of Hungary' would have been made. If tills is accomplished it will be the first considerable invasion of any territory' ter-ritory' of the Teutonic allies. Newspapers Agitate Merclcr Incident. Both British and French newspapers newspa-pers continue today to agitate the alleged arrest by the German authorities authori-ties in Belgium of Cardinal Mercier. Tho Germans have been quick to deny that the cardinal has in any way been detained. The London papers nevertheless still give prominence to the incident and publish the pastoral letter of the cardinal which was said to have given offense to the Germans, appending to it comments gathered far and wide from prominent clergymen clergy-men and others. They also cast doubt on the German denial and declare it will require a statement from tho cardinal himself to clear the matter up. Constantinople, regarded by the allies al-lies as one of the greatest prizes of the war. should thoy win and Turkey be forced to give it up. may be abandoned aban-doned soon as the seat of the Turkish government An Anglo-French fleet is hammering at the Dardanelles, which, if passed, would give access to Constantinople, east of the city, on the Russo-Turkisb frontier. Russian forces, which are 3aid to have defeated de-feated the Turks, are seeking to penetrate pene-trate Asiatic Turkey in the direction of Constantinople. Fighting has been resumod on the Servian front. An Austrian force which occupied an island near Belgrade Bel-grade was attacked by Servians, according ac-cording to an official statement from Nish. The hostilities were on a comparatively com-paratively small 3cale and there is no r . j., vnctrli ritni em n lat ps inuicauuii uioi r another attack in force in Servia at this time oo |
