St. John's Daily Star, 1917-06-22

              The St. John's Daily Star Newfoundland VOLUME 111. ($3.00 per Annum) FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1917. (Price: One Cent.) No. 142. ANOTHER ENEMY RETREAT Hun Troops, On Lys River, Withdraw From Eight Square Miles Of Territory ABANDONED TERRITORY Germans Withdraw All Their Forces From the River Lys Section, Evacuating Eight Square Miles WERE FORCED OUT BY BRITISH DRIVE WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN " THE FIELD, June 21—Sometime within the last twenty-four hours the Germans retreated out of all the terri\ est of the River -Lys from near V arneton southward. British patrols cd to-day they had failed to encounter a single Prussian in this sec- The enemy evidently realized the critical position he occupied in the Lys River bend and hurriedly decamped in of the British pressure. The withdrawal of German forces around the Lys mentioned above has been predicted. In this section the Vpres-Lille Canal and the River Lys converge, meeting at Comin. The angle of this convergence is roughly embraced between Pollebeche and Houthem on the north and Warneton, Houplinjes and Armentieres on the south. Warteton is about two and a half miles southwest of Comines on the Lys. "West of the River Lys, from near Warneton southward," presumably means that about eight square miles down to Houplines has been evacuated. GERMANS SHELLED HELPLESS SEAMEN U-boat Torpedoed Steamer, Then Turned Her Gnns on the Men in The Lifeboats DAFUS, June 21—The German submarine which torpedoed a British steamer turned its guns on the lifeboats and killed eight of the occupants. The Admiralty announced last night that "One of our patrol boats of the Brittany flotilla in a statement says it picked up fifty men belonging to a British steamer and drove off with its guns two submarines which were still close to the boats in which the crew had taken refuge. The night before, a patrol boat of the same flotilla saved forty men from a British steamer. The submarine which torpedoed this vessel turned its guns on the lifeboats, killing eight of the occupants." *•* I*. 11 "**  RUSS. RAILWAY STRIKE Employees Refused To Await Award Of Commission Petrograd, June 21.—Railway men on the first* section! of the Nicholas railway which connects Petrograd and Moscow, have gone out on strike. The remainder of the railway men are said to be opposed to like action. The men struck without waiting the award of the Commission that had been appointed to examine their claims* Bulgar Front Quiet Sofia, June 21—Comparative inactivity on the whole Bulgarian front is reported in the official statement issued by the War Office to-day. SCENE OF LATEST HUN WITHDRAWAL OUR MAP shows the region of the River Lys, where the Germans, under pressure of the British attacks, have been forced to abandon territory estimated at eight square miles. ANOTHER JELLICOE SERVES THE EMPIRE Admiral Jellico's Nephew Trains as *"•- Aviator for The Annies of Britain L ■ •»> JJEW YORK, June 21— H. V. Jellicoe youthful nephew of Admiral Jellicoe, British Navy, enlisted yesterday for the English Army Aviation Corps at the British recruiting station here. He is a son of Col. Jellicoe, Royal Engineers, and, with twenty-four others, he was sent to the Canadian Aviation Traning Camp. A Highland regiment for service with the British Army* is expected to be mustered about August Ist, according to a statement issued here today by the British/Recruiting Mission. The regiment will be known as the 79th Highlanders. So many recruits applied for enlistment with this unit that it is possible another regiment will be organised.11  ITALIAN SHIP LOSSES Seven Italian Craft Were Torpedoed Last Week Rome, June 21 —Two Italian Steamers and five sailing ships were torpedoed by submarines during the last week, according to the official weekly announcement. Two other steamers were attacked but escaped. During the same period 606 ships with a total gross tonnage of 443,170, entered Italian ports and 531 ships, with a tonnage of 481,755 sailed. Ex-President of Bolivia Dead. Paz, Bolivia, June 21—General Joseph Manuel Pando, former President of Bolivia is dead. SAYS THE HUNS FEAR AMERICA French Minister declares Entry of U. S. Into War Has Caused Serious Unrest In GermanyDREAD AMERICAN DETERMINATION DARIS, June 21—Jules Cambon, General Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declares that the entrance of America into the war has caused serious unrest in Germany. In the course of an interview with a correspondent of the Associated Press today he said a feeling of serious unrest was caused in Germany by entry in the struggle of a country which brings to the Allies, together with its entire strength, a freshness and ardor which have not been diminished by three years of war. Germany feels that the Americans, once engaged in the struggle, will not give up. It is to prevent this cementing of close ties that is is multiplying its efforts to spread dissension among the Allies. The incident of the Swiss Socialist Grimm's intrigue in Russia reveals Germany's handiwork and is one of the straws showing how uneasy and troubled Berlin is of America. In France, everyone realizes that this uneasiness and this fear are justified. fl 1* H f* H H "^ SAYS CASUALTIES ARE DECREASING British. Troops Better Protected, Now They Hold Most of Commanding Positions. lODON, June 21—With the recent captures in the Mesines region the British now hold all the vantage points along their line on the Franco-Belgian front, as a result of which there has been an enormous decrease in the number of British casualties, said Major-General Maurice, Chief Director of Military Operations at the War Office, in his weekly talk with the Associated Press to-day. General Maurice pointed out that when the Germans were stopped in their drive to Calais early in the war they decided on defensive warfaie in the West and established themselves on such dominating heights *i 3 those of the Somme and Messines. All these positions have now been wrested from them. Our Western front is approximately one hundred and thirty kilometres long, and we are occupying German trenches for this entire length, with the exception of a few sections which total about twenty-five kilometres. Naturally since we now hold dominating positions there is an enormous reduction in our casualties. General Maurice contradicted the reports current that the Germans had drawn large forces from the Eastern front to take part in the fighting in France. The fact is, added the General, there has not been a considerable amount of German troops brought from the East to the West. The Germans sent fresh units to the West front, but these were made up of men called to the colors. Recently the Germans have been using people of occupied territories to replace laborers at home who are thus released for the army. RUSSIA THE SWORN FOE OF AUTOCRACY Head of Russian Mission to U. S. Says His Country Has No Intention Of Abandoning War WASHINGTON, June 21.—Russia's consecration to the war to the end with German autocracy was avowed today by special Ambassador Boris Bakhmetieff, head of the Russian Mission here, in a statement to the American people. Only through victory, he said, can a stable world peace and the fruits of the Russian revolution be secured. The Russian people understand and are fully convinced that it is absolutely necessary to root out autocratic principles which underlie and are represented by German militarism which threatens the peace, freedom and happiness of the world. WANT AN OFFENSIVE Soldiers' and Workmen's Council Urge A Move By Army London, June 21.—Despatches from Petrograd to the Exchange Telegraph Co. says the Congress of soidiers* and Workmen's Delegates from the whole of Russia yesterday voted confidence in the Provisional Government and unanir mously passed a resolution demanding the immediate resumption oT the offensive.A War Cabinet has been formed including leaders of the Russian army and navy and technical representatives. TINO EMULATES WANDERING JEW Constantine, Throneless, Seems To Be No Favorite of the People of Switzerland gENEVA, June 22—Former King Con stantine of Greece left Lugano this morning for an unknown destination, but probably intended to proceed to Thousis, according to persons in the hotel wh { c Constantine has been stopping. He was accompanied by Prince yon Buelow, former German Imperial Chancellor, and Princess yon Buelow. The health of Queen Sophie is causing anxiety. Constantine is said to be indignant as the result of hostile demonstrations against him at Lugano, where he had hoped to stay for some time. He departed unofficially like any tourist. Changes Lodgings Paris, June 22—Former King Constantine of Greece left Lugano this morning on a special train for Thousis, the Canton of Grisona, Switzerland, says a despatch to the Havas Agency from Lugano. m. '"Sk "^ SPARING USE OF THE TRUTH German Naval Critics Blame Fine Weather In May and Bad Weather in March For Low Toll of U-Boats WANT CAMPAIGN PERSISTED IN COPENHAGEN, June 21 The steady continuance of the submarine campaign, despite the decrease in destroyed tonnage admitted in the German Admiralty reports for May, will, in the opinion of Captain Kue Plewetter, Naval Expert of the Berlin Lokal Anzieger (Local Advertiser) make for a general naval battle between the British and the German fleets as the only means of the end of the submarine menace. Captain Kue Plewetter blames the good weather for the falling off in the nubmer of submarine victims. He argues that such weather permits small submarine chasers to venture further to sea, to shoot better, and to detect periscopes easier. In this line of argument his criticism is quite impartial, as he equally blamed the storms for the failure to secure better results in' March. The other well-schooled naval writers generally follow Admiralty instructios to treat the May results as practically as satisfactory as thosq of April and to describe the Entente counter-measures as a complete failure. They all accept the estimate of the Wolf-Bureau Official News Agency that the new tonnage is one-fifth of that destroyed. Good Work of Portuguese. Lisbon, June 21—The first official report from the General Commanding the Portuguese troops in France was read in Parliament to-day. It praises the excellent spirit and discipline of the troops and states that all the enemy raids were repulsed, notwithstanding their support by heavy bombardments. DISLIKE CONSTANTINE. People of Tino Demonstrated Against Former Greek King. Lugano, Switzerland, June 21—The Federal Authorities are making an inrvestigation into the demonstrations here against the former King Constantine of Greece and have received a preliminary report. The former King and his suite rev mained insTcte their hotel yesterday. They intend to leave to-day for Berne. PUBLIC PROTECTION QUITE POSSIBLE rHE STAR quite agrees with The Herald that there are tremendous difficulties in the way of any move to commandeer our food supplies to assure equitable charges to the public and to make certain systematic distribution of these supplies. But there are no IMPOSSIBILITIES in the way of such act ion. Moreover, however difficult the undertaking, it must be faced in the interest of the people of this Country. Let us reiterate the remark made in a previous issue of this paper* that the difficulties in the way of systematic regulation of food prices and food distribution are not peculiar to Newfoundland. They have been faced and overcome in other countries, even tho they have there presentd problems far more hard to solve than any awaiting solution in this country. Possibly the difference between the results achieved here and abroad is explained by the fact that in the latter instance they were tackled in a spirit that refused to be daunted by difficulties and were considered with an eye single to the general public weal, while in this country there has been manifested a peculiar indifference io popular interests; a disposition to adhere strictly to a policy of noninterference with business interests, whatever the developments of the times or however grevious the trials of the people resulting therefrom; and a marked tendency to let any and every bugaboo of difficulty prevent the application of practical remedial measures to the food situation.. Food price and food supply regulation have been tackled in other countries in a spirit devoid of partisanship. The necessary measures have been regarded as of the utmost national importance and have been so devised and so applied to the national situation. When such a spirit is manifested in this country in this connection, We may hope for the greatest possible amount of relief from our present and prospective trials. But while political parties show such a marked disposition, as at present, to attempt to gain partisan advantage by exploit ing the people's needs and the peo pies trials, the people need hope for little, for any other mood will net them nothing but disappointment.The Herald assures us that the commandeering of food bristles with such difficulties as render it in advisable, if not impossible, as a practical economic measure. We cannot agree with any such radical pronouncement by our contem porary, seeing that all the facts connected with the experiences of other countries in a similar connection, contradict such a conclusion.conclusion. But, granting that our contemporary is correct in its pronouncement, surely the impossibility of food commandeering, would not justify the authorities in the policy of non-interference with food prices to which they have adhered during almost three years of war. Let us accept as true to fact, a conclusion that the majority of the flour dealers have dealt fairly with the people in the matter of food prices, but that the minority of these dealers have taken advantage of public extremities to rake in huge profits. Under such circum stances, we must reasonably conclude that the protection of the good name of our business housei as Well as the protection of the gen eral public* combined, demand effective action on the part of the au thorities. What action, short of food commandeering, is a possibility in food price regulation in this country? , The development of the food situation make plain the solution of the whole problem. The Commissioners of Investigation assert that some flour dealers have made as high as five dollars per barrel profit on flour sold during the last few months. What is the remedy for such ex ploition of the public? Government regulation of profits.A firm that was content with fifty or sixty cents profit on each sale of a barrel of flour in pre-war times, should be content with a pro rata profit now. In the fall of 1914 flour could be purchased in St. Johns at six dollars or less per barrel. Fifty cents per barrel was then regarded as a reasonable profit. Flour retails here now at close on three times this price per barrel but few firms would come out on - (Continued on page 2) Ladies' Feather Ruffles From $2.00 to 5.50 each. Ladies' Am. Cotton Dresses, 1.50, 1.60, 1.70, 1.80 and 2.40. Ladies' White Lawn Aprons, With and without Bib, 36c, 40c, 45c, 50c, and 65c each. Ladies, Fancy Cotton Overall Aprons, 65c, 75c, 85c, and 1.25 each. LADIES' SUMMER VESTS, 12c, 16c, 20c, and up. FULL RANGE Ladies Summer Hose In Black and Colored, From 35c up to $1.60 a pair. Bowring Bros., Ltd. B£W*Be sure and Read The Star