Georgia Historic Newspapers

    O c Atlanta Saamal
VOLUME XX.
British Counter Attack
SHELLING OF HUIS
INTERRUPTED AFTER
FOUR -SHOTS FIRED
German Long-Range Guns Re
sume Bombardment Monday
Only to Cease After a Few
Minutes
PARIS. March 25.—The long range
bombardment of Paris was resumed at
»:30 o’clock this morning, but was in
’errupted after the second shot.
Another air raid alarm was sounded
shortly alien 1 o’clock this morning
After three-quarters of an hour fire
men’s bugles and church bells an
nounced that all was clear and the Pa
risians were able to return to their
beds.
After a brief interval, two more shots
were fired. The bombardment was
again suspend’d at 9:19 o’clock.
As was the case yesterday the peo
ple did not take to shelter. Cellars
which were tilled on Saturday remained
»mpty this morning. Little interest
eras shown in the bombardment.
Soon after they were awakened by
the first shot the people were brought
io their windows by the rattling of
drums. Policemen circulated through
“adit quarter of the city, introducing the
new system of alarm, which is distin
guished from the alarm in the case of
air raids.
IVork was resumed under normal
onditions. All the transportation linea
were running The streets were full
of people whose sole subject of con
versation was the new battle of the
Somme, which is generally compared
with Verdun.
Twenty-four shells reached Pans
Saturday and 2< yesterday. The inter
.aj between shots was reduced from
fifteen or twenty minutes Saturday to
an average of nine minutes yesterday.
On two occasions there was an inter
val of only one or two minutes. This
was accecpted as confirming the theory
that at least two guns were firing.
The time of flight of the shells is. es
timated at ten minutes, at the least:
the curve traversed at 120 miles, and
the maximum height attained at 15
miles.
Several Casualties From
Sunday’s Raid on Paris
. PARIH. March 25.—Several eaauai
•>ee resulted from yesterday** air raid
,->n Paris, it was officially announced to
day.
A namber of enemy airplanes suc
ceeded in crossing the battle lines at a
•ugh altitude and attacking the city.
They were pursued immediately by
u ’rench airplanes from the front and
.hose attached to the Paris defenses.
They were driven oft after dropping
-everal bombs. ,
Hope Career of Big Gun
Will Soon Be at End
PARfcs. -March 25. —It is to be hoped
•hat the gun which shelled Paris will
rerv shortly be silenced, says the Figa
-o. which gives the following quotation
from a man who is said to be in a posi
tion to know:
-The HO-millimeter gun which bom
barded Dunkirk two years ago from a
distance of twenty-five miles was locat
ed by our airplanes and soon put out of
o-tion The same methods will be
tdepted with regard to the 240-miHi
meter gun which has been bombarding
Paris for the last two days Since Sat
i-diy our airplanes have been looking
for i.. and the fact that it stopped firing
s due. perhaps to their arrival. It will
sot be long before the gun is definitely
placed; then its career will soon be
The military authorities, according o
another morning newspaper, are convinc
'd that the Germans are using two new
guns, while Richard Arapu, the military
xpert of LOeuvre. believes there is s
* hole battery of them.
The Germans undoubtedly desire to
read the belief that they have devel
ped such a gun. in hope of demoraliz
ing public morale in Paris and London
the English coast, including Dover be
ing within its range.
NEW YORK. March 25. —"It is my
belief and that of my associates that
the missiles falling on Paris are aerial
»orpedoes—nothing more." said Henrr
Woodhouse, of the board of governor
ef the Aero Club of America today,
after reading all the reperts in the
morning papers.
Washington Officials
Are Still Skeptical
WASHINGTON. March 25.—Skepti
cism over the ability of the Germans to
bombard Paris from a range of 70 or
more miles continued here today. There
was a tendency to believe that the Ber
lin claims of such bombardment was
based upon the fact that Berlin knew
that shells had been dropped, and hence
desired to claim credit for it and cast
fear among the allies.
"They've got to show me. even now.”
»aid General Snow. American chief of
artillery.
The general shared the feeling that
Berlin was camouflaging, and expressed
he view that an airplane standing off
-ome distance was shooting a shell or a
bomb filled with portions of a 240-milli
meter shell therein. He felt certain
that some device nearer Paris than 70
miles was responsible.
He pointed out that beyond a certain
uoint the addition of extra explosives
gives very small added range. The
longest range known, according to his
reports, is 31 miles, and even that, he
said, was not verified.
An ordnance expert who ranks among
the foremost of the country declared to
day that he would stake his reputation
on the statement that the Germans have
no long-range gun capable of shooting
from the German lines into Paris.
If it is assumed that the shell is fired
from that line, it means, according to
-ome authorities here, that a new meth
od ol propulsion has been developed
•uch. for instance, as an application of
the ancient catapult, which threw rocks
through a mechanical rather than an ex
plosive arrangemeoc.
Full Associated Press Service
NO AMERICANS HAVE
BEEN SENT AGAINST
ADVANCING GERMANS
Uncle Sams Boys Are Indig
nant Over Report That They
Had Been Defeated by the
Huns
WITH THK AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE. March 24. —No American reg
iments have participated with the Brit
ish in meeting the German offensive, it
was stated authoritatively here today.
American soldiers on the Toul front
were indignant when the German offi
cial wireless statement regarding the
defeat of a Franco-American reserve
force was picked up.
One Place in Enemy
Line Virtually Abandoned
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE. Sunday, March 24. (By the
Associated Press. Precede). —American
artillery on the Toul sector continues
today to shell effectively enemy first
line and communication trenches, the
town of St. Baussant. and billets and
dumps north of Boqueteau. Many of
the American shells have fallen in the
German trenches and the first two lines
in at least one place have I .en virtually
abandoned.
One American patrol freely inspected
this point in*the enemy line without
molestation last night and this morn
ing, and remained there several hours.
There have been no contacts between
the infantry during the last twenty
four hours.
American Engineers
In Throes of Conflict
BRITISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS
IN FRANCE, March 25.—American en
gineeers have again been in the throes
of fierce conflict, in which they have
done excellent work in transportation.
The presence of the American engi
neers on the battle front has long been
known. They were praised highly for
their gallantry in the battle of Cam
brai. last fall.
Gas Shells Dropped on •
Town in American Lines
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FKANUA Bunday, March 24. — (By the
Associated Press.)—For the third suc
cessive day German artillery today
bombarded heavily with gas shells a
certain town within the American lines.
Today s bombardment was made in fwo
periods, each a half hour in length.
Many gas shells and a few high-explo
sive shells fell on the American posi
tions.
An enemy airplane early this morn
ing cut off its engines at a great height
over the American lines northwest of
Toul and planed down. When close to
the ground it dropped a quantity <f
bombs. Some were of a new variety
which explode in mid-air with a bluish
red flash and give off a cloud of-mustard
gas. Being heavier than the air the
mustard gas quickly descended toward
some of our battery positions and road.
After the machine disappeared the
German gas shell bombardment began.
Another enemy airplane hovered over
the town while the bombardment with
German shells was in progress.
The weather was especially suitable
today for aerial work, and the Germans
took advantage of it. On one portion
of the sector fourteen enemy airplanes
crossed betweeen noon and six o’clock
in the evening, mhile four friendly ones
were over .the American line in the
same period. One group of seven ene
my machins, apparently on a bombing
expedition, was discovered at midnight
and driven off by the rapid fire of Amer
ican anti-aircraft guns.
An American patrol has brought in
quantities of valuable papers from the
bodies of five Germans killed in a shell
hole by American artillery fire a few
days ago
The entire American front, from gen
erals to privates, eagerly awaits news
from the British front. All are confi
dent that the Germans eventually will
be defeated severely, even If they
should strike hard at the outset.
The German offensive is the sole top
ic of discussion on the American sector.
Official communications are caught by
wireless operators, and newspapers are
circulating rapidly along the front.
Damage to Hun Positions
Photographed From ’Planes
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE. March 25.—(8y The Asso
ciated Press.) —Gn the Toul front there
was considerable artillery activity dur
ing the night. American Ans heavily
shelled the German front line positions.
Enemy batteries replied, using many
gas shelis. Later photographs were ta
ken from airplanes of the damage in
flicted by the Americans.
Wood Believes Shells
Were Launched From Air
NEW YORK, March 25.—Major Gen
eral Wood, jpst returned from France,
emphatically declared his belief that
no mysterious new German gun is fir
ing on Paris.
“I have read the reports regarding
the attack on Paris,” said General
Wood, in a statement to the NeW York
Herald, ’’and 1 am convinced that no
new gun of marvelous range is in
volved. In my opinion, a great aerial
attack is taking place, and it seems
very possible that radical development
of airplane guns by the Germans is in
volved. I hold this belief despite the
assertion that the position of a great
new gun has been accurately ascer
tained. I am sure that within a short
time it will be established that an air
plane bombardment has resulted in a
misleading report."
Paris Bombardment the
Great Mystery of War
LONDON, March 25.—The unexplain
ed arrival of high wad German
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GEfIMW LOSSES OUT OF
HL PROPORTION TO GOIN
Daily Chronicle Says Eight or;
’ Ten Per Cent of Effectives
Are Destroyed
■
LONDON. Kiarch 25. —Commenting on ,
the results of the German offensive, the
t Daily Chronicle says:
"Assuming that the German losses .
are at least 150.000. the enemy has sus
tained a reverse for he has not obtained
.1 strategical success directly conducing
| to a decision, while he has lost 8 or ten
per cent of his effectives without sim
ilarly lowering the efficiency of the
■ allies.
■ “This matter is of ihe greatest im
portance for Germany at present is at
the critioal moment when the man pow
er pendulum is swinging in favor of
the allies. No weakness at the Anglo-
French junction has yet been disclosed,
and the task before the enemy in the
next days of the battle is more formid
able than that already accomplished.*’
shells in Paris today is regarded
as the greatest mystery of the war.
British experts suggest the poss’bil
! ity of the shells being propelled from
Zeppelins at a great height, possibly
behind the German lines. Reports of a
big German gun being located more than
70 miles from Paris has not been con
firmed.
Experts here, who are frankly skep
tical. considered various theories, in
cluding the possibility of a new discov
’ ered propellant o* power hitherto un
known expelling a* sectional shell. Such
a shell by explosions at intervals in
’ the air. might surpass any previous pos
sibilities
Franco-Americans Thrown
Back, Berlin Office Claims
BERLIN tvla London), March 25. j
French and American troops have been i
thrown back through the pathless,
wooded country near Launeville, Ville
qnire and Aurr.oat. the Berlin war of- ,
flee declared today.
American Wounded by
German Long-Range Gun
PARIS, March 23. —An American cor-I
poral of marines was struck in the chest I
bv a splinter of one of the first shells I
which fell during Saturday’s bombard-1
ment of Paris by the Germans. He |
was wounded seriously but h‘.s life prob
ably was saved by the deflection of the
1 splinter by a cigarette case. So far as ‘
has been reported he is the only Amer
ican victim of the bombardment.
The Matin says one of the shells >
tired in the direction of Paris yesterday •
struck a church in the suburbs. Sev- >
eral persons who were attending a Palm
Bandar «errtc» wore kflM, , K , I
ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1918
AIRMEN ARE GIVING
VALUABLE HELP TO
INFANTRY TROOPS
Greatest Struggle of All His
tory Rages Back and Forth
Under Eyes of Kings and
i Military Chieftains
BT WILLIAM PHXLLP SIMMS
WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
THE FIELD. March 24.—Under the
eyes of captains anti kings the great
battle crashes on without pause.
Haig and others are fingering its pulse
on this side. The kaiser. Crown Prince
Frederick William, Crown Prince Rup
precht, Hindenburg and Ludendorff are
in consultation on the other.
Bombing planes soar out carrying
bombs across the battle ground. . They
broaden the area of death scores cf
miles, few villages escaping.
When the sun rises the bombers, like
prowling birds, return to their roosts;
ground fighting speeds up and scout
fleets, succeeding the bombers, fly low
over the crashing infantry, harassing
enemy columns and observing for the
artillery. British airmen have smashed
records. The forty-seven German air
planes downed Friday were equaled
again Saturday and probably today. The
battling is almost exclusively between
the Scarpe and the Oise. While the |
struggle continues throughout the line i
it is hottest on the British right. Prus- •
sian cavalry hurled forward at various
points attempted to back through the
British lines, but was foiled every
where. Terrific encounters with mount
ed and unmounted enemy in the re- ■
gion between the Tergnier canal and I
Ham resulted in driving the Germans
back. Although making' some progress,
the Germans have been unable to main
tain all their gains.
In the midst of the most stubborn
fighting, the British can not resist
smiling at the German wireless claim
t hat a considerable portion of the Brit
i ish army is defeated
“Exthaordinrry! We didn’t know it
! ourselves,” exclaimed a British officer.
The wireless said the offensive was
j"a su •prise.”
Personally, I announced an offensive
1 was imminent, in my reent dispatches
I from Zurich, and repeated the announce
i ment upon my return to the British
front —giving the exact point of at
! tack.
Wilkes County Jurors
Paid in Thrift Stamps
WASHINGTON. Ga., March 35.—Mem
; bers of the Wilkes county grand jury,
■ sitting for the February adjourned term
, of the superior court here last week,
voted unanimously to accept only thrift
I iwxieoi fhr ttafr,.
CLllffl TO SLIMTTB
EXPECTED IN H HDUfIS
If British Can Hold Lines Hin
denburg Will Begin Big
Losing Fight
NEW YORK, March 25.—The next 24
hours will probably mark the climax of
Von Hindenburg’s unprecedented slaugh
ter of his own troops in an effort to
overwhelm the British armies in
France. If the British lines hold their
own during that period. Von Hinden
burg’s great gamble must begin to go
against him.
For the present the Germans have
gained two objectives. They have large
ly improved their own defensive posi
tions guarding their chief lines of com
munication in western France, and they
have undoubtedly disarranged British
offensive plans for the coming summer.
But the Germans have not regained all
the territory they voluntarily aban
doned last March, when they retired to
the Hindenburg line.
The British front is resisting all
tendency to give way in disorder. As
long as this slow, orderly retirement
proceeds, the German attacks must con
tinue to exhaust Germany’s power with
out compensating offensive advantages.
The Germans confess to an improved
British defense in their statement of
captured prisoners. During the first
two days of fighting Berlin reported
25.000 British had been taken. For
the second two days of the combat only
! 5,000 additional captives have been an
-1 nounced from the German headquarters.
This sudden decline in the number of
prisoners is very reassuring.
The present German objective in the
attack shows evidence of not being
! fixed at any one point. The British re
tirement has caused Von Hindenburg
apparently to search madly at numer
ous sectors for any special weakness of
the line, with the intention of trying to
break through there. (Otherwise, it is
difficult to explain satisfactorily the
scattering nature of the German blows.
After attempting to outflank the Brit
ish positions at the southern end of the
British front and failing. Von Hinden
burg has turned for a new drive nearly
50 miles north, near Arras. A break
ing up of the German strength in this
manner indicates Von Hindenburg is
now acting as an opportunist. The fail
ure of opportunities has been almost in
variable in the present war.
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45,000 BRITISHERS
CAPTURED, BERLIN
STATEMENTCLAIMS
Berlin Official Statement Claims the Capture of
Bapaume and Crossing of River Somme, But
Haig Reports Repulse of Enemy at Bapaume
and That Germans Who Crossed Somme Were
Driven Back
WASHINGTON, March 2».—President Wilson today cabled Field
Marshal Haig, congratulating him on the British stand against the Ger
man offensive and predicting a finaJ allied victory.
The president’s message read:
“May 1 not express to you my warm admiration of the splendid
steadfastness and valor with which your troops have withstood the Ger
man onset, and the perfect confidence all Americans feel that you will
win a secure and final victory?’’
LONDON, March 25.—The British this morning were counter attack
ing between Nesle and Ham, Heater’s correspondent at British headquar
ters reports. The French also were in action.
North of Bapaume, he states, the Germans were attacking in consid
erable force at dawn, but did not get through the British barrage.
The Germans, says the correspondent, are relying upon sheer weight
of numbers in their heavy attacks on the British lines, relieving their tired
troops by fresh divisions, which press forward without waiting for artillery
support.
The enemy all day yesterday and through the moonlight last night
kept up his hammering of the British positions, the message states, the
British troops resisting with valiant stubbornness.
The Germans are employing many small bodies of Uhlans, mainly as
scouting patrols, it Is added.
Fresh attacks by the Germans developed Sunday afternoon northward
and southward of Bapaume, the war office announces.
The British repulsed powerful attacks yesterday afternoon northward
of Bapaume.
The British drove back to the eastern bank of the Somme bodies of
German troops which had crossed the river between Uconrt and Brie, south •
of Perrone.
The statement follows:
“The battle continues with great violence on the whole front. Power
ful attacks, delivered by the enemy yesterday afternoon ana evening,
of Bapaume, were heavily repulsed. Only at one point did the German in
fantry reach our trenches, whence they were immediately thrown out. Else
where the enemy's attacks were stopped by rifle, machine gun and artillery
fire in front of our positions and his troops were driven back with great
loss. •
’ “During the night and this morning fresh hostile attacks have again
developed in this neighborhood and also to the south of Bapaume.
“South of Peronne bodies of German troops who had crossed the river
between Licourt and Brie, were driven back to the east bank by our counter
attacks.”
This mav be regarded as the most optimistic official statement issued
by Field Marshal Haig since the German offensive began. According to
the British commander the enemy’s advance has been stopped all along
the line, temporarily at least.
♦ ♦ ♦
BERLIN rVia London). March 25. —The German war office today
announced the capture of Bapaume.
Passage of the Somme river was forced below Ham. the Berlin war
office also announced.
“We mounted the heights west of the Somme, the statement con
tinued. ,
Near Bapaume the enemy was twain
defeated. Northeast of Bapaume Ger
man troops broke through and drove
the enemy back byway of Yters and
Saelly.
Hot fighting is in progress for the
possession of Combles. Nesle was
stormed during the evening. Strong
positions west of the Croxat canal were
captured. Guiscard and Chauny have
been captured, according to the state
ment. Enemy losses are unusually
heavy. '
Forty-five thousand allied prisoners
have been taken, with more than 600
guns and quantities of other war ma
terial.
Field Marshal Haig, in his official
statement, admitted the Germans cross
ed the Somme south of Peronne, near
Licourt, but declared they were driven
back. It is not plain whether the Ber
lin war office and Haig referred to the
same action.
Ypres and Sailly are southeast, rather
than northeast, of Bapaume. It is
probable the German statemem meant
the British retreated in the direction
of those two towns.
Haig admitted the enemy gained a
slight foothold in the new British lines
north of Bapaume during powerful at
tacks Sunday evening, but declared
they were later driven out.
Combles is midway between Bapaume
and Peronne. It is 13 miles west of
Villwrs. the nearest point in the line
previous to the start of the offensive.
Nesle is 15 miles south of Peronne
and seven miles west of Hani, the cap
ture of which has been admitted by the
British. Nesle is 18 miles west of the
original line and if it is in German
hands, as claimed by Berlin, this marks
the farthest enemy advance to date.
The Croxat canal starts at Tergnier
turns westward to Ham, then hangs
north to Peronne. It passes three miles
east of Nesle.
French Join British;
Latter Holding Fast
NEW YORK, March 25. —(By Euro
pean Cables to the Associated Press.) —
TJranee has thrown the weight of her
forces into the great battle raging with
unexampled intensity on the western
front and the British and French armies
are now battling together against the
onslaught of the common enemy in his
desperate attempt to break through the
allied line.
The British armies are holding fast
along the line of the Somme and alsd
in the region north of Bapaume, Field
Marshal Haig reports today. The Ger
mans in their thrusts in the latter sec
tions reached the British trenches at
only one point and there they were im
mediately ejected. Their assaults else
where were smothered by the British
fire with great losses to the enemy.
On the Somme line bodies of German’
troops which had succeeded in forcing
their way across the river between
Licourt and Brie, south of Peronne,
«er» driven back -to the easterly bank.
NUMBER 52.
On both sides of the Bapaume the
German attacks were resumed today.
The greatest danger point at present
seems to be further south, where the
Germans apparently' have driven
through the great width of the region
they devastated in retiring in 1917, as
the Paris statement today reports heavy
fighting in the region of Noyon. This
town itself is some ten miles to the
west of Chauny, in the region of which
Berlin yesterday reported the repulse
of Fra neo-American reserves, but the
German advance probably has been met
considerably short of Noyon.
The wedge driven into the allied line
is evidently a deep one, however, as
the French troops are reported by Paris
to be contesting for the heights to the
north of the Oise with important Gfer
man forces. The Oise on this part cf
the front runs southwest past Chauny
and passes to the south of Noyon.
Field Marshal Haig’s withdrawal, pre
viously planned in ease of a heavy en
emy attack, has been executed in a
manner described as masterly, and great
credit for its success is given to the
small units which, sometimes outnum
bered eight or nine to one. clung to
their posts and impeded the German
advance. The British have made few
counter attacks, but every one attempted
has been successful. The British ef
forts are centered on withdrawing as
occasion requires and permitting the
enemy tc wear himself out before the
British defense. Sunday the ■ fighting
forces in the north reached 'the oid
battlefield of the Somme, from which
the Germans retreated a year ago. Again
Bapaume and Peronne are the centers
of the most bitter fighting. Bapaume
is the key position between Arras and
Albert, and Berlin reports that a “gi
gantic struggle” is being made for its
possession.
The capture of Peronne is claimed by
the Germans, but heavy fighting Is
taking place north of it, and southward
along the Somme river. Between Ba
paume and Peronne. the Germans have
reached the Transloy-Combles-Maurepar
line, where they are held up by th*
British. On the northern end of the
great battle line, where the sanguinary
struggle has rot halted for many hourK
the Germans have reached Chauny. an
important point on the Oise river south
west of LaFere. Here, however, their
advance lias not been so great as di
rectly west of St. Quentin, where they
have progressed more than ten miles.
The British and French battie lines meet
near Chauny and the French lines along
the Chemin des Dames and eastward
toward Rheims would be menaced if
the Germans advanced as far as Com
peigne, on the roau to Pari.:. Rut Com
peigne is a good twenty miles south
west of Chauny.
The intensity of the struggle la shown
by the official announcement that Brit
ish aviators on Saturday brought down
54 enemy machines. The British lost
only nine In addition to carrying out
(Oonttamd -on. Pago A SQ