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Show -'"-"-' ---- uu.noi U.I. ulOtUSlUlUlC, UUOni XJiaJL. J French Guns Pouring Death 1 4fltH ' B4 flllH L 3. it .. , .i .. K- E21 IBk - ) v Info Germans at Douaumont J '-pi . .? ?ir KAISER'S FORCES IE AHACKING FRENCH KEY POSITION EN MASSE r $ Lloffre's Troops Holding Summit of Knoll That Dominates German Position From South Parts of Town Taken and Retaken Repeatedly German Assailants Leave I PlIes or Oead Behind at Each Change of Fortune 5 Whole Regiments Cut to Pieces. !' I London, March 4, 4:53 p. m. A message to the Ex-J Ex-J change Telegraph company from Zurich says: y ?. German newspapers publish wireless messages from j Washington emphasizing the gravity of the German-Ameri- j ' can situation. "The Frankfurt Bourse which invariably reflects news affecting af-fecting German high finance, yesterday ended in a condition or panic. Berlin, March 4, wireless to Sayville. The sinking of j two French auxilia cruisers and one British patrol boat by German submarines is announced by the admiralty. I The announcement also says, that from Paris is reported k, the sinking of the transport Provence which carried 1 ,800 men of whom only 696 were rescued. f La Provence was listed as an auxiliary cruiser but the ? wording of the Berlin dispatch does not make it clear whether "1 she was one of the two said to have been destroyed. Official ij reports from Paris indicated that about 3,130 men went down V with her. The French admiralty said no sign of a submarine was observed before or after the sinking. v Paris, Thursday, March 2, 4:40 p. m., (Delayed in trans- Jj. mission). TheTemps says that the German admiralty's of- p ficial announcement that German submarines had sunk two auxiliary cruisers off Havre is false. If Leghorn, Italy, March 4, via Paris, 3:30 p. m. The steamship Giava, which left here February 29, has been sunk by an Austrian submarine. There were no Americans on 4 board. The Italian steamship Giava of 2,631 tons gross and j 333 feet long, was built at New Castle in 1881. She was II owned in Palermo. 'I 4 1l Paris, March 4, 4:30 p. m. The ifire of French machine suns and rifles ri-fles has been pouring death for two days into the ranks of the Germans attaching: en masso the village of Douaumont The French hold the summit of the knoll which dominates the village from the squth. 'Parts of the town had been taken and retnken repeatedly and each time that the fortune for-tune of battle has changed more dead from the thick masses of German assailants as-sailants have been added to the piles behind which their surviving comrades com-rades have sought brief protection. Each time remnants of regiments already cut to pieces were pushed ahead by other bodies of troops surging surg-ing on the field, until the ground was ... strewn with bodies. A Crown Prince Paying the Price. r It is the opinion in allied clrcleB L that the crown prince has determined I to pay the price necosBary to capture I Verdun, if possible, drive the French $ from the right bank of the Meuse and , establish a front along that river If V he ib unable to pierce the lines and open up the way to Chalons and Paris. French Infantry Is disputing every '; inch of the ground with persistent j courage and last night once more ",v compelled their adversaries to bus- f, pend efforts, leaving artillery alone ' to keep up the pressure on the for- : tre3S. When ever the Gorman assault A s on the French lino reaches the danger ;t' point, the blue clad troons leaped for- ' " ward with fixed bayonets to the H strains of the national battle hymn. :j Accounts of this fighting from French m sources say that on each occasion the soldiers of the republic got the bet- ), ter of their opponents, pushing back Germans who did not fall under the j cold steel. J Rain Is falling over the battlefield ! today, turning Into snow as was the j', case on the fourth day of the battle. I Firmness of French bonds on the I bourse yesterday and today reflects I the confidence which is felt here in j the outcome of the great struggle. I Paris, March 4, 2:30 p. m. The I bombardment continued with consld- f erable activity last night in the vari- i ous sectors of tho region of Verdun. It was not, however, followed by any 3 actions of infantry, according to the I announcement made by. the French war office this afternoon. At Eparges the French prevented ' German troops from occupying a cra- !i ter made by the explosion of one oi !' their mines. ,. , I Tho customary artillery fire was continued along the remainder of the I frout. f The statement follows: '. "The bombardment which was I maintained with considerable activity W last night on the different sectors In fi the region of Verdun, has not been m followed by any action on the part ,ot the infantry of the enemy. I ! "At Eparges we have prevented the enemy from occupying a crater produced pro-duced by tho explosion of one of their mines. "Thero is nothing to report from the remainder of the front, excepting the customary cannonading." Berlin, March 4, via London, 3:39 p. m. "The enemy was repulsed in an effort to retake Douaumont," tho war office announced today. It was also announced that the booty taken bjr the Germans since February 22 had increased to 115 gunp and 161 machine guns. The text of the statement follows: "Western theatre- The fighting southeast of Ypres has for the time being come to a standstill. The position posi-tion held by us prior to February 14 is firmly in our hands and the bastion is in the hands of the enemy. "Lively artillery engagements in the Champagne continued throughout yesterday. In the Argonne an enemy attack failed. "On both sides of the Meuse the French increased the activity of their artillery and after a great increase in the volume of their fire they attacked the village of Douaumont and our lines 'adjoining it. They were repulsed re-pulsed partly in close range fighting and sustained heavy losses. We took more than 1000 unwounded prisoners. More Booty Taken. "After the work of clearing the battlefield, bat-tlefield, it has been ascertained that the booty taken since February 22 has been Increased from 37 guns and 75 "machine guns to 115 guns and 161 machino guns. "Near Obersept, northweBt of Pfirt, the enemy attempted In vain to recap-turo recap-turo the position taken by us on February Feb-ruary 13. His first attack succeeded partly in reaching our trenches from which, however, ho Immediately was ejected by a counter attack. "Our curtain of fire prevented a repetition of the attack from developing develop-ing except in some places. Many French Killed. "The enemy after suffering losses, consisting of a great number of killod and wounded and eighty prisoners was compelled to retreat to his former for-mer position. "Eastern theatre: In a small on-cagement on-cagement near Alssewltechl, (eight miles northeast of Baranovichi), tho Russians were driven out of their positions." po-sitions." Review of War Situation. After the desperate battling on the Douaumont plateau in tho renewal of tho German drive for Verdun there has come a second halt. Paris today announced that there had boon a cessation ces-sation of infantry attacks by tho Germans, Ger-mans, although artillery still is keeping keep-ing up a heavy bombardment. The Douaumont sector 1b pointed out by French military critics as a key position essential to the German .urpose of taking the fortress There have been advances on both tho French flanks and Indications are furnished of contemplated thrusts at v Itl points In the lines about the curving Verdun front. Confidence in the outcome of the Verdun struggle has been expressed by General Gallieni, the French minister min-ister of war, according to a Paris dispatch. dis-patch. The Russian occupation of Bltlis, in Turkish Armenia, is. declared by Petrograd correspondents to separate the Turkish force operating in the vicinity of MuBh from that in the Lake Urumiah district, Tbe German admiralty announces the sinking by German submarines of two French auxiliary cruisers and a British patrol boat. It Is unofficially declared in Paris that the Gorman claim to the sinking of two auxiliary cruisers "off Havre" is unfounded. The driving German assault on Verdun has halted for the second time in the Douaumont sector northeast of Verdun, on this occasion in the face of a formidable counter attack by the French in an effort to retake Douaumont Dou-aumont village. The clash of the opposing armies at this point was extremely desporate Today's Berlin statement mentions the capture of more than 1,000 prisoners. prison-ers. The number of cannon taken by the Germans since February 22 has reached a total of 115 with 1C1 machine ma-chine guns. An Austrian submarine in the Mediterranean Medi-terranean has sunk the Italian steamer Giava, which sailed from Leghorn, Italy, on February 29. There were no Americans on board. French Steamship Sunk. La Rochelle, France, March 2, 4.25 p, m, Tho French steamship Lakme of Dunkirk, 3117 tonB gross, which sailed from La Rochelle on Tuesday, was sunk on the same day in tho Bay of Biscay at a point six miles northweBt of Ilo d'Yeu. She Is believed be-lieved to have struck a mine. Six of the twenty-two men of tho crew lost their lives. |