About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1918)
She Atlanta Sorwl VOLUME XX. ITALIANS THROW AUSTRIANS BACK OVER PIAVE GERMAN OFFENSIVE HASTENED TRAINING OF AMERICAN ARMY Green Units Are Thrown Into Battle Instead of Slow Trench Training—Our Men ; Break Up Big Raid WITH THE AMERICANS IN | FRANCE, June 17.—Germany hastened ( the end of the war with ultimate vic tory tor the allies by its third blow of the great offensive, ending at the Marne. This advance caused Americans who had landed only a tew weeks before to be thrown into the battle. It changed the American force from a potentiality into a i immediate, powereful fighting unit. The fact that the German press now admits there are SOO.hOO Americans in France, while saying they are useless" is the strongest indication that the German hgh command appreciates the weight America has placed upon the scales. The high command is attempt ing to discount to the German people th- importance of the Americans. When the Germans came out of the trenches, in o the open, they plaj ed into Amer ica s hand--. Open fighting, has been the Ameri cans" game since the Indian wars. Young, green units huddled into the Marne line without the slightest train ing "ate it up.” In two weeks they have chadded from green troops to vet- I e.ans. They have met and defeated the • best the Germans have had to offer. If the fighting had continued in the trenches it would have been weeks, pos sibly months, before the same troops were St. Trench fighting is an intricate game; the smallest mistake' may be vastly. But open fighting is more fitted to the Americans’ nature It gives an opportunity for the exercise of initia tive. The German staff in endeavoring to force the French to use up their re serves in launching various attacks. The ’ plan was a failure at the Marne because the Americans took up the tight. The enemy’s advance was stopped and they lost more men than did the French. In Picardy, in Lorraine, near Verdun, and at other points held by Americans, French troops have been relieved for duty elsewhere. This adds to the con cern the Americans undoubtedly are giving the German staff. WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN I FRANCE. Sunday, June IS.—(By the Associated Press.) —In their attack on Xivray on the Toul sector today the Ger mans hoped to enter the village and carry off a large number of prisoners but the alertness of the American ar tillery observers completely overturned the enemy plan. Examination of the Germans captured in the fight disclosed that the enemy planned the raid a week in advance and that the 600 special I troops who took part in it were re- I rehearsed behind the German lines. The enemy plan was to send forward a large party without preparatory ar tillery fire. This party was to take up a position near the American barbed wire and then send up a signal rocket for a box barrage to cover Xivray vil lage and the approaching communica tion trenches while the heavier artillery was to bombard the villages in the rear. American artillery observers saw a large number of Germans creeping about in No Man's Land and. thinking they compos.-d a large working party, the ar tillery signalled for a barrage. The American artillery and machine guns went into action immediately and before the enemy barrage could get started had inflicted heavy casualties on the anprotecied Germans in No Man's Lund and played havoc with the. plans for the raid. The original enemy plan was for the attacking party to divide into t|jree sec tions and to enter ivray from three different directions. Only one section actually reached the outskirts of the vi.Uge. but only after R na<i been cut up badly by the American barrage fire. Os these only a small group got into Xivrey where they were quickly sur rounded by the Americans and either captured or killed. Eight prisoners, in cluding a lieutenant, remained in the American hands. A majority of the American casual ties. which do not include any missing, resulted from the German artillery fire. Casualties among French civilians oc curred when a German shell burst near a church as a procession ot villagers was emerging from mass. Many of the French wounded were eared for in Amer ican hospitals. This afterftoon the American artillery opened a retaliatory fire against the area behind the German lines, while the Germans, apparently angered by the failure of the raid, bombarded villages as far as eight miles behind the Amer ican lines. The whole Toul sector is now echoing to the heaviest gunfire in many weeks. 300 Germans Killed During Xivray Fight WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE. June 17.—More than a third of the large force of Germans which at tacked Xivray at daybreak yesterday was wilted out, it was established today. Eight hundred Roches participated in the attack which was made on a half mile front, extending on both sides of the village. The enemy losses were es timated at more than 300 from the Americans’ deadly rifle and machine guu fire. Our losses were slight, and we took eight prisoners. Both artilleries maintained a terrific barrage during the attack. American patrols raiding in the Toul sector, report enemy trenches are oc cupied by an unusually large numbe* of troops, contrary to their recent pol icy of withdrawing into the support trencher each night. The Germans are also using a large number of observa tion balloons. It is now permissible to announce that the Americans have been occupying ad ditional sectors on the Tout front since May 37. including some east of Seiche prey. where the biggest fight in this area was staged several weeks ago. For the second time since the Ameri cans took over a sector in German ter ritory east of Belfort—official announce- Full Associated Press Service ITALIAN STATUS IS VIEWED HOPEFULLY ! BY LONDON PAPERS Failure on First Day Generally , Means Fatal Result —Think Austria Is Taking a Final i Gambler’s Chance LONDON, June 17.—The outcome of the Austrian offensive is viewed hope fully. even confidently, by the newspa . pers here. This view is based on the staunch resistance of the allied defens ‘ ive and the failure of the enemy to I make anything like a big success in his initial advance. It is admitted that some days must ' pass before the results of fighting on ' such a great scale can correctly be judged, but the conviction is firmly ex pressed in several quarters that it will end in failure for the enemy. “Failure.” says the Daily News, “on the first day of these attacks as con ducted on the modern German plan has hitherto been fatal, as in the case of Vimy ridge, and in the present case the fact of failure can hardly be doubt ed." The newspaper cites the opinion of its correspondent on the Italian front that no enemy offensive up to this time has begun so badly, and adds: •’There is strong ground for believ ing that an enemy failure is imminent.” The opinion is expressed by several papers that there is a direct connection between the initiative of the offensive and interna! conditions in Austria- Hungarj. The Daily Express describes it as a “gambler’s throw, the most des perate that the war has seen,” while the Times declares it js “a desperaate attempt to keep up the waning spirits iof such elements of the population as I still remain faithful to the established I institutions of the Austro-Hungarian state.” The Daily Mail and others predict that an Austrian failure to gain a de cision will have serious internal ef fects. Germany's hand generally is seen behind the move. The Daily Nows believes that it is an offensive “imposed by Germany on an ally which long ceased to have any part in the strug gle and which is sinking to a condi tion of internal disintegration and de spair.” The Daily Mail says: It can hardly escape the Austrian peoples that they are being! driven to slaughter for the profit of Germany. Objectors, Refusing To Serve, Sentenced To Long Prison Terms WASHINGTON’” June 1". —Sentences ranging from eighteen months to twen ty vears’ imprisonment imposed by courts-martial upon so-called cor.scien objectnrs who refused military service at Camp L'pton, N. Y., and Camp Gor don. Ga.. were approved today by Sec retary Baker. Most of the men objected to fighting against Germany or Austria because thev have relatives there. In approving the findings of the courts, the rst of the kind to reach the department, Mr. Baker went on record as favoring the return of such men "to the countries of their preference” after the war. Tweleve objectors were sentenced, as follows: Hyman Polkes, fifteen years;. William J. Seider. twenty years; Joseph White, fif teen pears: Anton Zsoldak. ten years, Julius Levinthal. eighteen months; Louis Silverman, ten years; Mayer Sufferkind, ten years: William Charles Schwab, twenty years, and Michael Ciupa. ten years. Captain Bryan, intelligence officer at Camp Gordon, stated Monday morning that no “conscientious objectors” have been sentenced at Camp Gordon. These rrfen are being classified, he says, but courts-martial have not been held. Registration of Women Alien Enemies Begins Monday at Atlanta Registration of all women in At lanta classed as enemy aliens began Monday morning in the office of Bertil lion Expert Jeff Wright at police sta tion and will continue for ten days. All women living in the city limits who are natives of any of the powers arrayed against the allies, must regis ter. Male aliens were registered some time ago. It is expected that about 100 women in all will come under this classification. Each registrant must bring four photographs of herself, taken without a headdress and against a white - background. The photographs should be about three inches square. About twelve women applied for reg istration Monday morning One of them was a woman fifty-six years old. who was born in Germany, but who now has two sons in the United States army, one of them serving in ?~»nce. Al! her pa pers were destroyed in tiie Atlanta fire and she wasn’t sure whether she had ever been naturalized or not. Wood Is Reassigned To Camp Funston Washington. June 17.—J Re voca tion of orders assigning Major General Leonard Wood to command the western department and reassignment of the general to Camp Funston. Kan., was an nounced today by the war department. When General Wood recently was withdrawn from the division that he had trained at Camp Funston, on the eve of its departure for France, he urged strongly that he be given some more ac tive duty than he would find as a depart mental commander. No explanation accompanied a brief announcement by the adjutant general that the assignment had been changed. There have been intimations that the war department contemplates giving ■ General Wood some special assignment I of great importance, and that he goes to Camp Funston only temporarily until the plan can be worked out. rr.ent of which was permitted Saturday night—tney repulsed a German raid Fri day morning. Only one American was captured and the enemy suffered severe casualties. IW PLANS TO MEET i SUBMARINE MENACE | WITH ML BOATS i Cross Between Ford Eagle Boat and Destroyer Will Probably Be Built for Protec tion of American Coast WASHINGTON. June 17.—Submarine | patrol vessels, resembling a cross be : tween a Ford Eagle-boat and a destroy ; er. will be built to meet the coastal U-boat raid danger if plans now being urged in the navy department mate rialize. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt, who sponsored the subma rine chaser plan, is the proponent of this new type of craft; and he is urging on the other chiefs the need not alone of trying out this variety, but also of experimenting with several varieties which can be turned out quickly. The Eagle destroyer variety would be about 250 feet -long, constructed largely along destroyer lines with thin plates and speedy power. The tonnage and en gine power are withheld lest they give an indication of tne size and power of the Eagle boats. Its cost would be half or less of a destroyer’s, and its period of construction would be far smaller. Rooseveit does not claim this is a panacea, but he is urging that it and other types ought to be built as an ex periment, and then, should they be sat isfactory, should be developed coinci dentally with the destroyer program so that the Atlantic coast would be suffi ciently patrolled. Other types he suggests are 120-foot wooden boats with a system of propul sion cheaper than that of the subma rine chasers, and a 200-foot boat that would develop speed without extreme cost. Both these types are on lines that could be produced quickly and cheaply. Sinking of two Norwegian ships, the Samoa and Krlngsjaa, at about the same distance off the Virginia capes in the closing days of last week has served to emphasize the need for more craft. Hen ry Ford has been asked to speed up his Eagle-boats, and has promised reason ably early output. It is unlikely, how ever, that they will be available before mid-summer or early fall. Luck and persistence, it is said, may bag the U-boat raiders, but it is felt a laeger patrol is needed, jf the next, to impossible "hunting-th«-needle-in-the hay-stack” problem is to f be satisfacto rily accomplished. Two Norwegian Ships Sunk Off U. S. Coast WASHINGTON. June 17.—Two more ships, both Norwegian, have been sunk off the Virginia capes by the German raiders which have been off the At lantic coast for three weeks. The latest vessels lost were the sailing ship Kringsjac and the bark Samoa. These brings the total of victims to twenty. NEW~ARMY AGE' BILL MAY PASS AT THIS SESSION General Crowder Will Lay Be fore Congress Plan to Extend Age From Eighteen to Forty five Years WASHINGTON, June 17.—Provost Marshal General Crowder will lay be fore congress—probably at this session t—suggestions for legislation widening the scope of the present army law to include men over thirty-one years of age. Following communication between General Crowder and Secretary Baker, it was learned today, the secretary sug gested that General Crowder explain the situation to the congressional mili tary committees and make such recom mendations as he saw fit. General Crowder did this Saturday. Secretary Baker will not oppose exten sion of the age limits. The new legis lation which may now come up this session as an amendment to the army appropriation bill is expected t oinclude men between the ages of 18 or 21 and 45 years. Work or Fight Order Not Modified —Official WASHINGTON, June 17.—Persistent reports that the provost marshal gen eral’s office has decided that the "work or fight” regulations shall not be al lowed to intefere with major league I baseball players this season led to an . authoritative statement today that no . ruling on the subject had been made. It ' was stated that Provost Marshal Gen j eral Crowder adhered to his original an : ncuncement that the question would be ; passed upon by the president in the I regular way when the occasion arises 1 on an appeal from a local board’s deci | sion. The "work or fight" order be- I comes effective July 1. Would Call All Men In the Military Age WASHINGTON, June 17. —Unanimous approval of the house provision author i izing the president to call all men of ' military age who can be trained and equipped was voted by the military sub | committee considering the appropriation i bill. U. S. Troop Arrivals Eclipse All Records i LONDON, June 17.—" Arrivals of American troops in the past few days I have eclipsed all records," the Post de | dared today. "Considered purely as a shipping feat, I it is something hitherto never accom- I 1 plished in maritime annals. Week-end scenes at one army post were amaz ing.” ATI.ANTA, GAI TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1918. THIScrSmaRKABLE PICTURE OF THE ACCIDENT OF SUNDAY AFTERNOON when the big army truck crashed through the Etowah river bridge, killing three men outright and seriously injuring six others, was taken only a few minutes after the accident occurred. It. shows the hole the truck tore in the bridge timbers and tbe distance of the fall. Around the truck are the men engaged in rescue work. r • ■' i LIT Bl I ■ ■ • ■ ■ ■ LILb I r- ■, • l-ibr 5 ; . i•• r lfl I. , • • : -h’.i •: J ‘ 't, I hI i ! -• ' * ■.wsSi -a i ' • b ■ i M Hl I t- - hHi IP ii ■.a-*' - --'ZZb-TJ •* ’* T "C-'S. Three Gordon Soldiers Killed As Big Army Truck Plunges Through Etowah River Bridge jSix Men .Seriously Injured in Tragedy That Ends Expedi ' tion Into Cherokee County in Search of Deserters BY WARD MOREHOUSE The expedition into Cherokee county which was made by fifty picked men from Camp Gordon in eo-operation with the United States government authori ties, to round-up several selective service law resisters and ’ arrest a number of alleged deserters in the county, came to a tragic conclusion at 1:15 o’clock Sunday afternoon, when an army truck, loaded with soldiers and supplies. dropped through Steele's bridge into the Etowah river, killing three men, seriously injuring six, and injuring several others. The scene of the accident was eight miles from Can ton, the county seat of Cherokee county. Those killed in the accident were: SERGEANT ABE L. MARQUESEE, of Syracuse, N. Y. • CORPORAL SAM F. SMITH, Charles town, Mass. PRIVATE ERNEST RHINESMITH, ! Englewood, N. J. . The six’ men seriously hurt, and who ■ are now at the cantonment hospital at Camp Gordon, are: Harold H. Secor, Watertown, N. Y. I Alfred Tripp, Richmondsville, N. Y. Sergeant Harold Burton, Elizabeth. I New Jersey. Charles J. Kennedy, Troy, N. Y. A. S. Johnsen, Norcross. Ga Corporal George W. Schmidt. New i York. Others injured were Corporal Edwin iF. Brindley, William S. Ormerod, Fall ißiver, Mass.; Sergeant Samuel S. Miller, t Denver. Col.; Hugh .1. Fitzpatrick. Wai ! tham, Mass. The injuries of the latter ' four consisted mostly of bruises. Men Yrorn East With a few exception, all of the men : who were picked for the expedition were I easterners, having been, at the canton ! ment since last fall. They came to Camp I Gordon from Camp Dix and Camp Dev -1 ens. Every one of the fifty men was ' selected from the depot brigade, and ' were considered to be among the best soldiers in camp. The fatal accident occurred several I hours after the party left Woodstock, I en route to another spot in the county, where, it had been reported, a moonshine j still was to be found and a number of ' selective service resisters were hiding. • There were four automobiles and two trucks in the procession when Steele's bridge was reached. Three trucks had been brought along, but one of them had been left behind to pick up a soldier who lost himself in the mountains near Alabama road. The leading automobile was occupied by revenue agents, and be hind it came the machine of Howell Jackson, of the department of justice. With him were Major Joel B. Mallett, officer in charge of the selective service law for Georgia, and representatives of the marshal’s office. Directly behind this car crept the car of First Lieuten ant Mark O . Klmberling, commanding the Camp Gordon troops. With him were First Lieutenant L. M. Blenner, second in command; Tracy Mathewson, newspa per photographer and motion picture man, and The Journal correspondent. These three machines crossed the bridge safely. A Scene of Horror Just after the car of the command ing officers passed over the bridge- Lieutenants Kimberling and Blenner de cided to wait for the two trucks to catch up. The trucks had found some of the Cherokee hills hard to climb, and progress was slow. As the first truck disappeared through the bridge, which is an inclosed, tunnel-shaped affair, fifty feet above the water, it was hidden by a cloud of dust. The next time it was seen it was lying upside down in . the Etowah river, with the soldiers pinned beneath it. Lieutenants Kimberling and Blenner rushed to the scene and worked heroically to aid the victims. Ten sec onds after the heavy truck had crashed through the wooden structure the scene was one of horrow. The uniformed men were writhing and floundering in the yellow, muddy water, those who had been pinned beneath the huge vehicle were moaning and groaning and the wa ter became crimson. Battle With Death The truck fell after it had gone about twenty feet from the entrance, the rear .-'nd crashing through first. As it plunged downward it turned upside down and there was a wild scrambling of men as the soldiers realized what had occurred. Some clung to the sides of the bridge, others jumped to safety and others, less fortunate, fell beneath the vehicle and were killed. The second truck was just a short distance behind the first truck. With a throbbing engine, thus truck was wait g for the flrst to pass "across the stream. When the first vehicle tore through the boards of the structure into the yellow stream below, the men on the second truck slid down the slip pery banks into the water and began to battle with death. It was just that —nothing more. The men of the second truck found them selves in a mass of floundering, strang ling victims, most of whom seemed to bo dying. Working feverishly and with all possible speed, they dragged the vic tims from the water to the slimy shore where soldiers formed a human rope and pulled the sufferers to the top of the bank, which was a distance of at least forty or fifty feet. Heroic Rescue Work Had it not been for the heroic work of the rescuers others would have died During the entire scene, as the men were hearing bruised b: dies to the bank. Corporal Schmidt, who Is perhaps the most seriously injured of all those who did not die, was moaning, "Please kill me, boys, please kill me. Put me (Continued on Page 2, Column 4) AMERICAN TROOPS WILL GO TO THE 110 OF ITALY Washington Is Well Pleased With Defense Being Made Against Austrians WASHINGTON, June 17. —American troop aid for Italy will be forthcoming soon. With the Austrian offensive under way, this fact developed today. In line with the pledges of President Wilson and Secretary Baker, United States forces will take their plapes along with the Italians and other allies. They will not be vast in numbers; their purpose is to show Italy, concretely, that the Unit de States is backing her. American avi ators and forces of other kinds have been in Italy for some time, but there has not yet been any announcement of United States soldiers in the Italian trenches. The initial stages of the offensive caused no undue alarm here today. The Italian embassay's first messages indicated that, while the Austrians had made some progress, the counter attacks had developed quickly and satisfactorily. It was deemed too early, though, to make very definite predictions as to objec tives or outcome. The unmistakably reassuring thing about the struggle thus far was the splendid resistance ot Italians and Brit ish. There will be no great yielding such as accompanied the previous Teu ton smash, it is felt. Italian authorities said that quite naturally an offensive force would gain for a time, but they forecast that this drive will be stopped In a reasonably short time. The Italian morale is satisfactory. In fusion of British and French: and the promise of early American troop par ticipation have had stimulating effects. Authorities here differ as to the com pelling causes of the new offensive. The first conclusion in many quarters was that unrest in Austria forced the war lords to strike a blow which might give them grounds for talking successes to their peoples and promising early and victorious conclusion of the war. Other quarters believed that much of the un rest talk of late is part of the propa ganda offensive which has preceded all military efforts. It was pointed out that similar talk of revolution and disorder has been heard many times beforfc. Its purpose Is considered to be that of con vincing the enemy that he ought to re lax his watchfulness in view of Teu ton "weakness.” Military men say. too. that the Teu ton directors of this new offensive un doubtedly are striving to cause a diver sion from the west front. Italy, how ever, has sufficient manpower, it is said, so that more troops are not needed now. Stuart on Board WASHINGTON. June 17. —Henry C. Stuart, former governor of Virginia, and a large live stock producer in the south west, will hereafter represent the de partment of agriculture on the war in dustries board, the department of agri culture announced today. NUMBER 76. ENEMY LOSES FIRST SMALL GAINS WHEN ITALIANS HIT BACK Fighting Rages Furiously Along Piave Front —Enemy Cross-, ing River Is Thrown Back by; Counter Attacks L . =• —— NEW YORK, June 17.—(Summary of' European Cables to the Associated Press.) —Although the situation along l the great crescent-shaped battle line in y northern Italy remains somewhat ob-j scure, it seems that the Austrians havej accomplished little at the inception ofi their drive against the Italian and al-, lied armies. From the lower Piave river; and northward along that stream comej encouraging reports telling of the enemy | being checked and at some points being £ hurled mack across the stream. From the Piave to the Brenta, the Teutons advanced through mountain I ravines in their attempts to break; through the allied lines the situation > seems to be well in hand. It now appears that the Austrians made three successful attempts to cross the Piave. One was south of Montello, ( where the battle line leaves the Piave river and mounts to the westward Into the One was'-between Candelu and . Zenson loop, where the Austrians ef-' fected a crossing' last November and held a bridgehead for some time. The other was at S. Dona di Piave, about' eleven miles from the mouth of the river. At least some of these forces, have been driven back across the river,' while the others have not been ablsj to develop any advantage from their early success. • ,1 Austrian Tactics Reports of the battle show that the tactics followed by the Austrians were, similar to those which brought sue-; cess to the Germans in the Somme and Aisne offensive. The enemy advanced under cover of a smoke barrage from bombs and. smoke apparatus, in com paratively small parties. These were directed against portions of the line be lieved to be lightly held. Jn. Franpp the Germans succeeded by this method in gaining the rear of strongly-held por tions of the line which had to be evacu ated quick! j- by the allies. Along tfce Italian front, however, the foe was not able to penetrate far into the allipd po-' sitions and counter attacks soon drove him back to his lines. The result is as yet in the balance* So far German troops are reported only In one sector on the mountain front, but it is not improbable that they will be dispatched to aid the Austrians if< they can be spared along the French; front. Furious fighting is said to bei continuing and it is probable that harder blows will be launched by the enemy. The fact, however, that the first onset did not resultjn a virtual debacle, such' as ensued when the Germans and Aus trians attacked along the Isonzo last! October, speaks volumes for the Italian j morale, and late reports give refason for' belief that the blow at Italy is not being; launched with the force that has char-1 acterized the offensives of the Germans | in France during the last three months, i 16,000 Prisoners Claimed In two days Os fighting Vienna claims the capture of 10,000 prisoners on the Piave and 6,000 In the mountain region. Fifty guns were taken along the river front. In their counter attacks, begun- Saturday night, the Italians already have captured 3,000 of the enemy. The Austrians’ plan apparently was to strike heavily on the north and on the east at the same moment in the hope that on one of the fronts large forces could be thrown on the Venetian plains between Bassimo and Treviso. Although carried out in great force and with heavy bombardments the Austrians’ ef fort seemingly haM fallen short of its purpose of shattering the Italian front: and rolling it back toward the Adige. On the front in France the fighting activity has been limited to local Ger man attacks at isolated points. Against the French, along the Matz river, the enemy failed. The Lys salient in Flanders Is being 1 subjected to a heavy German artillery | fire. The enemy is paying special at-1 tention to the front southwest of Ypres, east ’of Dickebusch lake and to the west- I ern part of the leg of the salient where | the British recently carried out a con siderable local advance. Austrian Troops Hurled Back Across Piave River: WITH THE ITALIAN ARMY, Sufi-, day, June 16.—(8y the Associated! Press.) —Austrian troops which forced! the PiaWe river have been driven back., The fighting along the river is most in tense. Nowhere else along the front of at tack has the struggle been so severe as on the Piave line. One of the most brilliant of the Italian actions was the defense of the Monte Moschin salient protecting the important Brenta posi tions. Here the Austrians suffered heavy losses, many of their machine guns were captured. The prisoners are ragged and ill-fed. Many of them are undersized youths. One of them remarked to the corres pondent that he had no interest in the war. •_ The feeling of the Italians is buoyant. At Italian army headquarters satis faction is felt over the situation on ev #ry part of the front. The general commanding the artillery”, corps in the Monte Grappa region ex* pressed this feeling to the correspond-• ent: "Now send us only four divisions ot Americans,’’ the general added. “We will first shake hands and then travel together into Austria." The severity of the fighting on Monte Grappa may be understood from the fact that the Italian artillery fired 70,000 shells in twelve hours. LONDON, June 17.—“ The Austrians, lost five men to our one,” the war office declared today, in a report on Italian front operations. “The enemy used twenty-nine divl-j sions (348.000 men) between the Asiago plateau and the Piave, of the fifty-eight! divisions (6t ! 6.000 men) employed on the whole battle front. "British airmen have destroyed seven bridges.” •
