Newspaper Page Text
The Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal
VOLUME XIV.
BRITISH PLAN NEW DRIVE IN MA CEDONIA
BATTIE STARTED ON
FOOD CONTROL BILL IN
BOTH HOOSES TODAY
Most Progressive Republicans
In Senate Favor Measure,
While Strongest Opponents
in House Are Republicans
BY MALPK SMITH
WASHINGTON. June It- —The ques
tion of food control through legis'.at.ve
enactment tn coniplixr.ee with the rec
onunend&tion • of the president, today
occupies both branches of congress to
the exclusion of everything else. Both
the senate and the bouse have under
consideration the »o-<»lled Lever bill,
and it la the purpose of leaders in both
houses to force the issue until the bill
has been enacted.
Senators Smith and Hardwick ane
counted as among the leading oppo
nents to the legislation in the senate,
while in the house at least two Cracker
fee semen—Gordon Lee and W.ll.am
Schley Howard —are among the ener
getic forces supporting the measure.
Senator Hardwick opposes considera
tion of the bill in the senate at this
time, since he contends no senator has
the constitutional right to vote for it In
Its present shape His contention is
. based on the fact that the measure pro
pose * to raise certain revenue through
license taxes Under the constitution
all revenue legislation 'must originate in
the house . , .
The point raised by Hardwick is not
combatted in the senate, since there is
no purpose on part of senate administra
• tion leaders to force a vote on the
measure until after the house has pass
ed the bl IL Then the house measure
will be substituted for the bill being
considered in the senate. The idea of
precipitating consideration in the senate
at this time is to expedite final passage
of the legislation.
•••it is like playing horse with the sen
ate to force debate on this measure
now. when every' one knows that it can
not be voted on,’ said Senator Hard
wick.
■senator Smith contends that the food
bill control is unnecessary since the
l-ill recently passed by the senate to
stimulate food production and take a
food census fully meets the require
ments of the situation.
■ More than two weeks ago the sen
ate passed the house bill, appropriat
ing »1«,000.000 to enable the secretary
of agriculture to take a census of the
food supply for production." he said.
The senate added to this bill an
amendment which will stop food manip
ulation and suppress the speculator
The bill has now been in the house for
more than two weeks W e have asked
for a conference and the house has
not given It- Many of us believe that
the acceptance of the senate amendment
will do away with the necessity for
further food control legislation."
Senator Smith commended the efforts
ts the administration, through Herbert
C Hoover, to provide a voluntary or
ganisation for the conservations of
foodstuffs He takes issue, however,
with the contention of Chairman Lever
and* others that the maximum price
fixing provision has been eliminated for
the present bill.
"While nominally the present bill
strikes the maximum prices fixing pro
vision. the powers still retained in the
bill, really give that privilege." he
stated. "They are covered up. but they
are in the bill, just the same."
The view of congressman Gordon Lee
deserves consideration. He Is a prac
tical farmer and operates one of the
largest farms in n«»rth tleorgla. He s
familiar with the requirements and has
the interest of the farmer at stage.
He is the ranking member of the house
agriculture committee that wrote the
food control legislation. His familiari
ty with its provisions and practical
eperations is attested by the fact that
he is Chairman Lever’s lieutenant in
the management of the bill in the house.
Here Is what he thinks of the leg’.slar
"I am for the food control legislation
first, last and all the time. I am proud
of a committee membership that enabled
me to help draft the measure. I know
that it will prove helpful to the farm
ers of the country and especially to our
southern farmers It will stimulate
them to raise an abundance of foodstuffs
and diversification of crops is needed
in the south.
•There is nothing in all this talk about
the bill injuring the farmers by en
abling the government to take over his
produce There is no maximum price
fixing permitted by the measure The
minimum price will Insure the farmers
against loss. That is why the provision
was written in the bill. In case of an
over-production, the minimum price will
protect the farmers
The bill will stop speculation in
foodstuffs, and that is to be desired It
will destroy the gamblers and jobbers
who control the prices to the advantage
of themselves and to the loss of the
producers. It will enable the farmers
to reap their just benefits from the in
creasing demand instead of putting this
money in the pockets of gamblers and
manipulators.
“It is well enough to remember also
that the southern people, including the
farmers, are consumers, broadly speak
i •*. We do not produce as much as we
consume tn the southern states. We
must go into the markets to get many
of our provisions. We do not raise
enough wheat to supply us with flour,
and unless we get this legislation I coo-
U flour will coat M
s3® a barrel before long.”
While the bill was being explained to
the house by Representative Lever, as
a measure which would harm no hon
est. business man. but would drag
"crooks" and speculators into the sun
light. a letter from President Wilson to
Representative Borland was made pub
lic. in which the president warned op
ponents of the bills that should they
defeat them they must be prepared to
take the responsibility for food condi
tions and prices which were predicted
to follow.
The great majority of the house greet
ed the opening of debate with bursts
or applause and approval, but tne op
position was silently making ready for
its attack.
In the senate, the opposition also
was ready. Led by Senator Reed, of
Missouri; Senator Smith, of Georgia,
and Senator Gore, of Oklahoma, all
Full Associated Press Service
MANY GO THROUGH
WAR AND ESCAPE
DEATH, MAJOR SAYS
Dunbar, Canadian Officer Here
With Rotarians, Says Troops
Are Much Safer in Modern
Fighting Than Formerly
“When a man goes to war It doesn’t
neewaarily follow that he gets killed.
On the contrary, a great percentage of
the chaps I fought with have been in
the trenches since the war began and
are olive and kicking yet. Some of
them arc wounded, but that matters
very llttla Fifty per cent of the men
that are wounded are able to return to
j the trenches in six weeks."
Pipe Major Charles Dunbar, In At
lanta with the Canadian Rotarians, was
speaking, and he ought to know, for he
has served in the British army for near
ly twenty-five years, fighting through
the Boer war and through the present
European struggle until he was wound
ed Counoelette. on the Somme.
’This is the healthiest war the world
has ever known.” he continued. "It is
three times as healthy as the Boer war,
when typhus knocked out men by the
thousand. There is practically no death
from disease in Europe. and that, too,
when it is impossible to keep conditions
In the trenches from being insanitary.
"The war is healthy because, since It
began, the doctors and surgeons have
made gigantic strides. They have found
cures for practically any disease that
can be caught in the trenches, and they
can save a man who Is shot to pieces.
"The first thing they do to a man
after he has been wounded is to innoc
ulate him against tetanus, the lockjaw
which has been the terror of war In
years past. There is hardly any lock
jaw or gangrene in the armies fighting
in Europe.
’That is one reason I say that a
man stands every chance of coming out
‘ alive when he goes to the trenches. The
average American has the idea that
when he enlists he has signed his own
r j death certificate. That is utter non
sense '
"He probably thinks that because he
( bears of so many that are killed and
does not hear of the many, many more
that are not killed. While It Is true
that there are millions of men who are
maimed and wounded in England and
Canada today and that after the war
is over, the allied nations will be thick
with one-legged men and one-armed
men. the majority of them will come
out of it alive.”
Pipe Major Dunbar Is himself a good
example of one of the ones that came
out alive. He went with the first Cana
dian contingent to the front in France
and for many long weeks was in the
trenches. The night before his regi
ment was to "go over the top,” he was
wounded by shell Are. That was In
September, 1916, on the Somme. He was
sent to his home In Hamilton, Ont., and
came to Atlanta with the Hamilton Ro
tary club as their guest.
Major Dunbar wears his Highland
kilt and tarleton and plays the bag
pipes wherever he goes. He wears the
"distinguished conduct” medal and was
mentioned three times in dispatches
for services rendered.
Major Dunbar is very anxious to go
to Fort McPherson to see the interned
German sailors.
"From what I have heard," he said.
"I imagine they are much better off
than are the prisoners in France. There
the Gfrmim are behind barbed wire
and they have a ‘dead line.’ If any
goes beyond the dead line, they are shot
down by the sentries.”
Democrats. It was contended that the
first food bill, already passed and now
awaiting conference with the house,
contained provisions to check specula
tion and price fixing which made the
second bill unnecessary.
To bring "food crooks out into tne
sunlight,” but not to injure honest
business, it the aim of the food con
trol bill. Chairman Lever, of the agri
culture committee, declared In opening
debate in the house.
A wave of applause greeted his state
ment. adding strength to his prediction
that the bill will pass the house by a
large majority perhaps by tne eno or
the week.
opponents of the bill, under the lead
ership Os Representative Haugen ot
lowa; former Speaker Cannon, of 111-.
r and Representative Moore oJ Penn., were
, ready to lead an attack.
"The contest between autocracy and
• American democracy.” said Representa-
I tive Lever, "will be determined in the
end by the character and strength of
t the organization which one can put
. against the other.
, A loose-jointed, unorganized democra
, cy has no ghost of a chance in a con
j tst with such an autocracy as is Ger
, many. Organization is the only weapon
1, with which organization can be over
, come. An organization, as the term is
I used here, means not only the whipping
I into shape the man power of the na-
II tion, the money power of the nation,
t but as well every resource of the na
, tion which may be used in the con
» test.”
9 Anticipating attacks on giving the
, president extraordinary powers, Mr.
. j contended the situation warranted
■ them.
j J -We must either confer the so-called
| autocratic powers upon the constitu-
> tional head of our government or be
a prepared to have them assumed by
-' the German kaiser." he said. “No war
• was ever won by a debating society.
“ The time is upon us for getting down
f to brass tacks Every man, woman and
9 child must be prepared to make sacri
’. tices —great sacrifices —and no man is
- going to be permitted to stand behind
• fine spun theories and technicalities In
his opposition to those measures. This
> is no pink tea affair, nor is It a ladies*
5 sewing club matter. It is war against
- the most powerful autocracy the world
I ever saw.
‘The supreme duty, as well as the
> supreme necessity, .is to feed our fight-
- ing forces, the fighting forces of the
allies, and absolutely provide neces-
’ ■ saries at living prices for our own peo-
> pie and as largely as we can the civilian
■ j population of our allies.”
I Progressive Republicans with the ex
ception of Senator I-A Follette who is
bitterly opposed to the bill, for the most
> part support it. They are making clear,
- however, that the atuocratlc power
’ which It Is proposed to sweep Into the
lap of President Wilson is for the war
‘ only.
f In the house the strongest opponents
. of the measure are on the Republican
lj side. ,
MEN NAMED FDD
SELECTIVE SERVICE
SOON TO BE KNOWN
President’s Proclamation
Probably Will Be Issued
Within Forty-Eight Hours
Giving Rules for Selection
WASHINGTON, June 18. —The Ameri
can war machine which is to select 626,-
000 soldiers for service In France is
geared up and ready to start work to
day.
President Wilson’s proclamation of
regulations, which will start the ma
chine by putting into operation the act
ual selection of men, is completed and
ready to be Issued.
This proclamation tells In detail how
the fate of every’ man eligible for army
service will be decided. It directly af
fects every American on the registra
tion Hate.
Since Saturday the president and Sec
retary Baker have been going over the
final draft of the regulations, prepared
by a special advisory board.
Within twenty-four hours the rules
will probably be promulgated and the
most vital phase of the selective con
scription ’will begin. The regulations
create two classes of exemption boards,
outline their duties and enunciate gen
eral rules for exemption or selection.
The personnel of local exemption
boards In twenty states was* decided to
day. They will be announced within
forty-eight hours.
President Wilson’s proclamation does
not set an exact day for the great lot
tery which results in the men for Amer
ica’s first armies being summoned from
thousands of homes. But all Provost
Marshal General Crowder’s plans are
predicated upon conducting this moment
ous lottery during the first week of July.
DHTHCOMES SUDDENLY
TO JOBSON C. CLEMENTS
Member of Interstate Com
merce Commission Dies of
Acute Indigestion
BY RALPH SMITH.
WASHINGTON, June 18. —Judge Jud
son C. Clements of Georgia, member of
the interstate commerce coifimisslon,
died suddenly in this city this morning
jof acute Indigestion. His death came
a s a distinct stock to official Washing
ton and was the source of profound sor
row to Georgians in the national capital.
He was the oldest member of the com
merce commission in point of service,
having served since 1891. He was reap
pointed about two years ago by Presi
dent Wilson for a term of six years.
Judge Clements was a native of Walk
er county, where he was .born in Feb
ruary. 1846. He was edcuated In the
common schools of LaFayette and later
graduated from Cumberland univeslty
at Lebanon, Tenn. He began the prac
tice of law at, LaFayette In 1869.
judge Clements’ public service began
in 1872 when he was elected to the Geor
gia legislature from Walker county. He
j subsequently served as a state senator,
and was elected to the forty-seventh con
gress, redeeming the Seventh district for
the Democratic party. He served con
■ tinuously in congress for ten years, re
: tiring voluntarily to accept a place on
| the commerce commission.
Sixteen Cantonments
For Army to Be Built
Under Special Contract
WASHINGTON. June 18. —The sixteen
great cantonments for the new army
will be built under a special form of
contract by the terms of which no con
tractor will be permitted to overcharge
the government, the maximum profit
of any contract being fixed at $250,000.
The government also will have complete
supervision over the work and may ter
minate any contract at will.
The terms of the contract were made
public by the war department today. The
primary object In the wording of the
agreement is to secure speedy con
struction and avoidance of unnecessary
expenditures.
The contractor is to be paid his ex
penses and percentage of their total
amount, out of which he must meet his
overhead costs. His profits are to come
from the difference between this per
centage arM overhead expenses.
Spot Cotton at 25.60;
Highest for Fifty Years
Following the sensational advance in
Liverpool of 12 a bale and a rise of 83
to 102 points in New York futures, the
i local sj>ot cotton market was quoted 90
points higher Monday than Saturday, at
25.60. This is the highest mark for half
* a century.
At noon New York futures stood at 88
to 104 points up from Saturday, and
New Orleans at 90 to 112 points. *
New York spot cotton was quoted at
26.20 cents, an advance of 90 points
from Saturday.
New Orleans spots were up 56 points
at 21.75 cents.
Mrs. Elizabeth Camp
Ends Her Own Life
(Special Dispatch to The Journal.)
CLARKSTON, Ga., June 18.—Despon
dency as the result of ill health is be
’ lieved to have been the cause of the sui
' clde of Mrs Elizabeth Camp, forty
years old, who ended her life here yes
• terday with a pistol.
Resides her husband she Is syrvived
' 1 by three children —Edith, Felix, Jr., and
’ I Harriet Camp, her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. W. H. Barnes: two brothers, Henry
' Barnes, of Atlanta, and Lieutenant
1 Clifford Barnes, of the United States
navy.
ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1917.
LET HIM PASS!
uwSR Sv 4j
WOMAN AND SON KILLED
WHEN EMIN HITS AUTO
Mrs. Minnie Turner and Fred
Turner Folk, Met Death
at Jonesboro
Mrs. Mlnne Turner and her four-year
old son, Fred Turner, were killed; Miss
Grace Dorsett was seriously injured and
three others were slightly hurt Sunday
afternoon at 4:45 o’clock at Jonesboro,
when Central passenger train No. 12, At
lanta to Macon, smashed into the Ford
automobile in which Mrs. Turner was
being driven to the bedside of her sick
daughter at Fayetteville.
Mrs. Turner is the widow of the late
Rev. James Turner, of Fayetteville, and
at the time of her death was living with
her father, L. P. Jackson, four miles
from Jonesboro.
Miss Grace Dorsett is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Dorsett, who live
four miles west of Fayetteville. She
was brought in Poole’s ambulance to the
Atlanta hospital, where it was found
that her right leg is broken and that
she is badly bruised. It was not until
midnight that she regained conscious
ness, but it was believed Monday morn
ing at the hospital that she will recover.
Others in the automobile were J. D.
Adams, driver of the car, and Ursie
Denham and Miss Cora Denham, all of
whom live near Fayetteville. None of
the three suffered injuries beyond cuts
and bruises.
The party had been to dinner at the
home of J. P. Jackson near Jones
boro, and in the afternon it was ar
ranged that Mrs. *Turner, with her four
year-old son, should be driven to
Fayetteville to see her daughter, who
is seriously 111.
Two hundred yards north of the
Jonesboro depot at Stockbridge cross
ing the accident happened.
In a statement to The Journal's cor
respondent, J. D. Adams, driver of the
car. says that as he approached the
track he saw the Central suburban
train parked just above the crossing,
and this led him to think the way
was clear.
With the automobile going at a low
rate of speed, he started across the
track, and just as the front wheels
touched the rail he saw the Central
No. 12 bearing down on him. He tried
to quicken his speed, but too late.
The engine crashed Into the car, pitch
ing it twenty yards and grinding it into
bits. The six occupants were tossed
out, but all fell clear of the engine
wheels.
Mrs Turner’s son, Fred,
was brained by the fall, and was dead
when picked up. Mrs. Turner lived for
several hours at a near-by residence to
which she was carried. Miss Cora Den
ham was taken to the home of J. O.
Blalock and afterward to her own resi
dence. Neither J. D. Adams nor Ursie
Denham suffered anything more than
bruises.
The train was in charge of Engineer
Lavender and Conductor Frank Pritch
ett. The former was on the opposite
side of the cab from the automobile and
says it was impossible for him to see
the car.
Th bodies of Ms. Minnie Turner and
her young son were taken to Fayette
ville for funeral and interment. Mrs.
Turner is survived by four daughters.
Pershing’s Nephew Has
Enlisted as a Private
CHICAGO, .Tune 18.—Frank E. Persh
ing, twenty-two, nephew of Major Gen
eral Pershing, and captain of the Uni
versity of Chicago football team for
next fall, today enlisted as a private in
the regular armyi
IRON HAND USED
BY KERENSKY ON
ARMY IN RUSSIA
War Minister Is Gaining
' Strength in His Efforts to
Force Troops to Continue
Fighting Against Germany
PETROGRAD, June 18.—Minister of
War Kerensky discarded the pleasant
phrases of oratorical persuasion today
for iron-handed disciplinary measures to
force Russia’s troops to fight.
He issued orders depriving all desert
ers from the army of the right to vote
' and from participation in the dlstribu
i tion of Russian lands.
He overruled a subsidiary branch of
I the Workmen’s and Soldiers’ delegates
I in granting permission to nine compa
nies of soldiers to leave the front.
He refused leave to a whole division
of Ukranian troops who wanted to jour
ney back home and attend a conference
urging autonomy for L'kranla.
He sponsored a government order is
sued- today making all anti-war agita
tors in the army liable to te nyears’ im
prisonment.
"1 hopeT never hear of such an inci
dent again,” was Kerensky’s short dis
missal of a request from a committee
of soldiers, approved by the Workmen's
and Soldiers’ council of the city of Bui
gulma for leave for nine companies of
soldiers. Moreover, he ordered immedi
ate arrests of the soldiers’ committee.
That Kerensky is gaining strength in
his efforts to make Russia fight is evi
denced by several incidents of the past
1 i few days.
The private soldier Stephano, made
famous throughout Russia because Ke-
■ rensky called him a “coward” and dis
missed him from the army because of
his pacifist views, today requested per-
1 mission from the minister to re-enlist,
i go to the front, and die for Russia.
|He explained his former views were "be
cause he did not understand Russia’s
duty.”
Women of Moscow and Odessa have
| formed a “legion of death” and applied
' formally for permission to go to the
front and die for Russia If need be.
Evidencing art increasing antagonism
I to\vard Germany one Russian newspaper
today “played up" the recent London air
raid as "proof of German inhumanity.”
Billy Sunday Weeps as
He Leaves New York
> ■
l NEW YORK, June 18.—Billy Sunday
) wept when he told New York good-bye.
Today he is speeding to his home at
, Winona Lake, Ind., for a rest.
I He started to leave the platform once,
•I but turning, he yelled to the crowd:
>j “I don't want to go. I don’t want to
■ i go.”
And the cry from the crowd was:
■ [ "Come again. Bill.”
: Sunday’s $1 14,000 freewill offering he
1 • did not touch. It will be divided be
tween the Red Cross and the Y. M. C.
■ i A. army field work. Sunday’s trail
■ ' hitters for-the ten weeks campaign to
• taled 98,264
I
Peanut Acreage Shows
Big Increase in Georgia
WASHINGTON. June 18.—Almost 61
I per cent increase in the peanut acreage
J this year is indicated in the prelmiinary
j report of the department of agriculture.
■ The total acreage is 2,001,000 acres. All
southern states except North Carolina
■ and Tennessee show greater acreages
this year than last. Georgia, with 420.-
000 acres, shows an Increase of 121 per
cent; Texas, with 600,000 acres, shows
an increase of* 118 per cent, and Ala
bama, with 268,000 acres, shows an in
crease of 97 per cent.
STATE DEPARTMENT ASKS
ITALY TO HOLD COCCHI
Alleged Slayer of Ruth Cruger
Is Indicted in New
York City
WASHINGTON, June 18—At the re
quest of the of New York, the
state department has requested the
Italian government to hold Alfredo
, Cocchi, now at Bologna, Italy, in con
nection with the murder of Ruth
Cruger, a New York high school girl.
, whose body was found Saturday beneath
Cocchi’s shop.
Whether Cocchi can be extradited and
• returned to the United States is prob
i lematical. A diplomatic controversy is
. expected, because Italy always has In
terpreted her treaty with the United
1 States so as to require the trial In
. Italy. Despite this, the United States
, always has taken an opposite view,
and in fulfillment of it, returned Por
. ter Charlton to Italy, in the celebrated
. case which ended with his conviction
. but short sentence.
The indictment was signed by Judge
Wadhams in general session court and 1
f-.t once forwarded to Governor Whit
-1 man at Albany.
1 Police Commissioner Wood flatly con
demned his own department for its in
' efficient handling of the case and turn-
• ed the police end of it over to the
district attorney with the suggestion
1 that the pelice department be included
in the general probe of the Cruger j
murder mystery.
Wood will drive the police to a vigor- ,
; ous hunt for the "white slave” ring |
■ ; Mrs. Grace Humiston, the woman law- |
• I yer,' who, he admits, cleared up the .
’' case his own men had boggled, declar-
• I ed is responsible for at least twenty
, I two missing New York girls she knows
I of.
• 1 Wood's men may dig in the cellars
i i of five other locations where Cocchi had
i motorcycle repair shops, in an effort to
! unearth other bodies, the commissioner
I I declared.
, .
: Belgian War Mission
Spends Day Calling on
Government Officials
WASHINGTON, June 18.—The Bel
| gian mission, headed by Baron Mon
cheur. spent its first full day in Wash
ington in paying calls on President Wil
son and other high government officials.
These formalities are preliminary to lhe
beginning of conferences with Ameri
can officials on war problems.
A round of official entertainments has
been arranged for the Belgians including
a dinner at the White House tonight
and receptions by the senate and house.
The main object of the mission in
coming here is to express its gratitude
for the relief extended to Belgian by
tne United States and to take up with;
officials demands to be made on Germa- 1
ny for her violated faith when the war
began and international crimes since
then.
Judge J. R. Grant Kills
Himself by Accident
(Special Dispatch to The Journal.)
TOCCOA, Ga., June 18.—Judge James
R. Grant, attorney of Toccoa, formerly
I of Hazlehurst, accidentally killed him
; self Sunday morning.
Judge Grant jokingly pointed his pis
tol at himself and pulled the trigger. By
mistake he had left a loaded cartridge
4n the gun and was fatally wounded,
dying two hours later.
Judge Grant was formerly judge of
the city court of Hazlehurst and was
the son of W. D. Grant, of Clarkesville.
He was forty years old. He is sur
vived by Mrs. Grant and fiv» children.
NUMBER 74.
BRITISH RETIREMENT
BELIEVED FORECAST
OF ATTACK IN EAST
Preparations Are Under Way
for Blow at Teutonic Power
in the Balkans, Is Indicated
by Reports
LONDON, June 18. —Replying to ques
tions in the house of commons as to
whether the British government had de
cided on reprisals for the German air
raid on England, Andrew Bonar Law, of
the British war council, aaid the gov
ernment intended to take steps not only
for damaging the enemy but for pre
venting raids on England.
NEW YORK. June 18. —(By foreign
cables from European capitals.)—Devel
opments of osme importance apparently
are impending on the Macedonian front
following the recent clarification of the
military situation in Greece coincident
with the abdication of King Constantine.
The most pronounced movement is a
withdrawal by the British without press
ure of their advanced positions estab
lished some distance east of the Struma
river, on the extreme easterly end of the
front. Several towns have been evac
uated by them and occupied by the Bul
garians.
Simultaneously comes news of pro
nounced reconnoitering activty by the
entente forces In other parts of the front
notably along the Vardar In the central
sector.
It has ben frequently pointed out by
military obeervers that virtually the
only practicable route for a successful
advance to cut the lines of the central
powers in the Balkans and reclaim Ser
bia is up the Vardar valley, alon£ the
railway line there.
The present activities while they have
not developed far enough to make the
thing a certainty, none the less points
to the probability that an offensive by
General Sarrail in the only likely sector
—that embracing the Vardar—is Immi
nent.
Had this been decided upon. It would
be a natural move for the British co’
relinquish the advanced ground they held
along the Struma and withdraw, as they
have done, to the bridgehead near the riv
er nearby, thereby strengthening the en
tente right flank for defensive purposes
while the offensive stroke was deliver
ed by the centr. All aggrssive move
it would seem has now been made pos
sible by the removal of the menace to
the allies from the rear, which existed
as long as Constantine was on the Greek
throne and his pro-German political ad
visers in control of the Greek military
situation.
Both the Russian army and the Rus
sian navy are giving more evidence of
aggressive intent. Recent German and
Austrian statements have instanced In
creasing activities by the Russian mili
tary forces in .various sectors, notably
Volhynia and Galicia, where the great
Brussllloff offensive was in full swing
at this time a year ago.
The Russian naval arm also has been
so largely in evidence in Baltic waters
that Berlin announces it has been found
necessary to carry out extensive air
raiding operations on Russian bases in
this area.
In the Arras battle area the British
are subjected to a heavy counter attack
this morning on the new position they
won last Thursday east of Monchy le
Preux. They held fast to the main
point, the important infantry hill, but
had to fal back from some positions they
had established farther in advance.
I British Admit Retirement
From Advanced Positions
LONDON, June 18.—The British have
fallen back from some of their advanced
posts in France, according to an official
statement isued by the war office this
morning. The main new positions are
still held. ■*
Berlin official reports today hinted at
I readjustment of fighting activities on
I two widely separated fronts.
First was the resumption of offensive
| war by the Russians in the Lui.sk sector,
which, combined with Petrograd dis
patches detailing the vote of a secret
: esslon of the duma urging an immediata
1 offensive gave great hope here that Rus
sia was making ready to "do her.bit."
Second was the Berlin statement indi
cating a withdrawal by the British Sa
lonika expeditionary force from certain *
positions in the Struma lowlands.
• Combined with news of the work of
the American mission, now in Petrograd,
the duma resolution for an immodiate of
fensive was taken as a favorable sign
of crystallization of Russian sentiment
against Germany and complete failure
of the German peace plots.
There ha\e been numerous attempts
I In the house of commons to obCaiff from
the ministry an explanation of the full
reasons of the British partlciation In the
Macedonian offensive. Certain members
have insisted that the British forces
now there under General Serrail could
be utilized to vastly better effect on the
western front, backing up Field Marshal
Haig’s offensive.
British Give Figures
On Submarine Toll
WASHINGTON, June ffc.—The Ger
man submarine toll of British merchant
shipping since February 17, as shown in
official British figures compiled here to
day, is 322. vessels of more than 1,600
i *jons’ and 135 of less than 1,600. Brlt
; -team fishing vessels sunk in that
1 period numbered 78. Records for sailing
fishing vessels *re Incomplete, but a
three weeks’ total was 78.
Submarines in the period given at
tacked 299 ships unsuccessfully and the
weekly percentage of unsuccessful at
tacks has ranged from 51 to 75. Dur
-1 ing the last week given—the seven days
: ending wtih June 9—it was 58.
Arrivals and sailings In British ports
since the intensive submarine campaign
began have averaged about 2,500, in
cluding channel sailings.
The British figures do not give the
tonnage of vessels sunk, but officials
here say 5,000 tons probably would be
a fair average for vessels of more than
1.600 * tons destroyed. Computing the,
total at that average and putting the
average of the smaller ships at 1,000
tons, the total loss during slightly less,
thn four months submarine warfare
would reach 1,745,000 tons, or about 250,-
000 tons less than the entire world’s
shipping output during ISIS.
