St. John's daily star, 1915-12-28

              the st john's daily star newfoundland volume i 3.00 per annum tuesday december 28,1915 price one cent no 213 severe fighting in mesopotamia but situation not altered russians continue to gain successes in persia—lndian troops moved from france presumably to egypt or mesopotamia—germans resume submarine activities and sink french steamer with a loss of eighty lives—allies practically complete salonika - fortifications which are of immense strength no important actions on the west ern front—hurry call to cabinet meeting in london i ondon dec 28.—the departure of the indian army from france fof another field of action was the most important feature of the days news so far as the british public are concerned whether the new sld t of action is egypt or mesopotamia is not announc ed in both these theatres there are himably already considerable bod ies of indian troops it is assumed the places of the indians in france have been filled by drafts from new armies raised on the soil of the united king dom in connection with to-night's an nouncement it is worth noting the larger and more important share the youthful prince of wales is taking in the business of ■ the empire the british public both home and colon ial will read with a peculiar sense of national pride the king's word to the indian veterans kings message before you leave france i send my clear and gallant son the prince or wales who has shared with my army ihe dangers and hardships of the cam paign to thank you in my name news from the other war fronts continues to show no important de velopments the russians are winning successes against weaker.hostile forces in persia the british in the south of persia have nad severe fighting with the turks without materially altering the situa tion the allies at salonika contemplate their nearly-completed fortifications with the utmost satisfaction on the west front'there is little to record except minor artillery and bombing operations submarines again busy the resumption of german sub marine activity is evidenced by the inking of half a dozen ships in the past twenty-four hours with the loss i eighty lives in tlje case of the i rench steamer ville de la ciotat while two boatloads are missing in the case of the belgian steamer ministre bemartt although to-day was a holiday in england members of the british cab inet returned hastily from the scenes of their xmas festivities for an im portant meeting at which were dis cussed the derby scheme and other matters which must be threshed out when parliament reconvenes situation unsettled the parliamentary situation con tinued uneasy rumors of some change in the cabinet being widely talked of and there is a possibility that sir edward grey's health may compel him to leave th cabinet although he at tended to-day's meeting the sudden return of winston spensor churchill to england likewise is the basis of many rumours lloyd george minister of munition received a great ovation from a holi day crowd when he arrived at down ing street for the cabinet meeting recalled capt k\rl boy-ed german naval attache at washing ton recalled by his government at the request of the united states authorities serb king in exile albanian physician describes the flight of the sick monarch across albania to his refuge in italy derlin dec 28 — the tageblatt's sofia correspondent dramatically describes tbe flight of king peter of serbia through albania as told by an albanian physician in a letter to a friend at uskup the physician reached a miserable little albanian village during a furious snow storm and could find as sleeping quarters nothing better than a stall in a barn at the very height of the storm four cavalrymen appeared and demanded admission to a cottage two riders almost tenderly lifted a third man from his horse and bore him into the house while the fourth brought up the rear guard with boxes of provisions the third man seemingly a wound ed serb officer was laid on a couch he wearily closed his eyes and turned his head as lights were brought for the first time the physician who had come to the house from the stable watched the op erations of the strangers and recognis ed the apparently sick man as king peter of serbia as his companions pre pared a semblance of a bed for him the king between groans thanked them but declined food one of his companions probably a physician forced the king to take a little liquid nourishment after which the whole party sat for a time in gloomy silence and then made a pretense of sleeping they resumed their journey before daylight hfc w "» n m ford abandons peace cruise is now on his return voyage from unappreciative europe new york dec 27.—reports that wm jennings bryan had contemplat ed joining henry ford in europe were confirmed today but because ford himself is returning to this country bryan will not go to europe ss ps fs sclir evelyn miller has arrived at bonne bay to load herring tor zwic kcr and co of lunenburg salonika strongly fortified gen castelnau says it is impossible for the teutons to oust the allied forces from the greek macedonian port—position suits the offensive as well as defensive dec 27.—with our bat teries of heavy artillery and the men behind them it is impossible to oust the allied forces from salonika said general castlenau chief of the french general staff in a statement to-day to the associated press gen eral castlenau gave an interview after being received this morning by king constantine and attending luncheon at the french legation the situation at salonika today is most excellent he continued i must say i have rarely seen an emplace ment which lends itself better to de fence i may say also that,the position pro vides most favorable conditions for offensive as well as defensive opera tions the general was asked if the allies contemplate an offensive movement from salonika in the spring the spring will tell he replied it is im possible to discount the exigencies of the military situation so far ahead a homely xmas london dec 28.—the only feature that marked xmas this year was the fact that people stayed at home the absence of cheap fares on the rail roads and restricted train service had this effect greece to become new war theatre on the map above fig 1 shows where the remnantb of the serbian army are making a last stand against the pursuing austrians on albanian soil fig 2 bhow3 how the bulgarian forces driving down the vardar valley have swept the british and french forces out of serbia and are now forcing them to retreat through greece to their naval base at saloniki the allies line of retreat is shown by fig 3 while fig 4 shows transports of the allies anchored in the gulf of saloniki long list of casualties many cases of frost-burn large number of our volunteers vic tims of severe weather conditions several men wounded and a num ber reported seriously 111 at vari ous hospitals the following casualty r£t was iss ued by the colonial secretary ibis afternoon 23 private john francis hynes st brendan's b 8 at xo 54 casualty clearing station suv la dec 1 frost bite serious 417 — private william joseph glad ney trenton pietou county x s same as above 10 l corp rowiand williams logo same as above • 30 — private alfred seymour mur ray harbour grace same as above 1032 private chesley noftall broad cove b de v at no 54 casual ty clearing station suvla dec 5 frost bite 1364 — private george gordon phill ips rocky lane lemarchant road same as above ivy.—corp charles legallais edgar 36 freshwater road at xo 54 casualty clearing station suv la dec 5 gunshot wound in neck severe 1248 prvatc ludwig hoddinott in dian islands logo at xo 54 casualty clearing station sm la dec 5 gunshot wound in thigh 449 private lawrence amour hos kins port blandford b b at 54 casualty clearing station suvla dec 5 nephritis ser ious 1034 private william john lilly harbor grace at 54 casual ty clearing station suvla dee 5 tonsilitis serious 54 — private gladstone rendell burt 2jg soutliside kd at xo 54 cas ualty clearing station suvla dec 7 serious 455 — private john eugene odea 20 mullock st arrived at 3rd london general hospital wandsworth frost bite 324 — private wilfred eric harvey 228 duckworth st do 622 — private andrew mearns clous ton patrick st at xo 54 cas ualty clearing station suvla dec 7 frojst bite serious the following additional informat ion was also given out 893 — private chesley j gough ell lton t b previously reported alexandria oct 18 dysentry now reported arrived 3rd lon don general hospital wands -.-. 1 rrth ; enteric plague of rats in the trenches destroy clothing and food and men ace the men with infections london dec 28.—soldiers on leave from the front report a plague of rats in the trenches is becoming serious those rodents eat clothes as well as food left about medical authorities are doing their utmost to stamp them out recognizing the peril which may arise through their conveyance of disease a ferret dealer in kent recently sent five hundred ferrets to flanders to help rid the trenches of this pest in fact rat hunting has become a daily sport with thrf troops arab force is defeated by british british attacked main enemy force near tripoitan border on christmar day and dispersed them with but trifling losses to themselves berlin yarn notwithstanding london dec 27.—the main arab force which had been operating near materuh was attacked on christ mas day and dispersed by the brit ish who suffered small losses is of fically announced to-night the of ficial statement follows with reference to the turkish of icial communication of the 27th the war office states that from the 14th to 24th there was no fighting between our troops and arabs on the western frontier of egypt on the 25th the principal arab force which was located some eight niles from materuh was attacked anc dispersed with trifling losses of troops the foregoing evidently is the al lies answer to the turkish officii received to-day from constantinople sy way of berlin which was sent by way of wireless through constanti nople on date dec 26th french liner is torpedoed and eighty lives are lost another murderous outrage cornmit mitted by german submarine in the mediterranean—ship on her way from far east to marseiles was tor pedoed without warning washington dec 27.—seventy nine persons were drowned by the obstruction of the french liner ville de laciotat the consul at malta re ported to-day to the t state department that no americans were aboard the ship he reports that it was torpedoed without warning at 10.15 o'clock dec 24th and sunk in fifteen minute the american consul reported that the rescued were picked up by a liner after they had been in a small boat for two hours the torpedoed ship was on her yay from japan china and hawaii to marseilles i eighty lives snuffed out on the ville de laciolat london dec 27—eighty of the pas sengers and crew of the ville de laci olat lost their lives the remainder of the persons on board were saved liner's crew rescued by a british steamship paris dec 27.—the minister of marine announced today that the str ville de laciolat was torpedoed and sunk on the 24th in the mediterranean by an enemy submarine without warn ing the majority of the passengers and crew were picked up by a british steamer details have not yet been received isv isv ist ist to the volunteers resumed drill this morning recalled capt franz yon papen german military attache at washing ton recalled by his government at the request of the united states authorities lloyd george after slackers daily mail says he will resign if they are not rounded up } ondon dec 28.—the daily mail understands loyd george threatens to resign from the cabinet uness prerr cr asquith strictly adheres to h's oledge to apply compulsion to unmar ried slackers if they fail to preseni hemselves for attestation under ear selves for attestation under ear derby's recruiting scheme crisis is reached in cabinet matters lloyd george will resign london newspapers assert he has noti fi d premier asquith he will not re main with\jie government unless the pledge to married men that unmarried slackers will be forced first to shoulder their responsibilit ies to the empire is kept—cabinet hopelessly divided in opinion on the proper method of prosecuting the war f ondon dec 28.—that the proceed ings of the british cabinet have not been going smoothly is seen in the fact that after two hours sitting yester day monday the council was oblig ed to adjourn till today no decision laving been reached and the discuss on having revealed grave differences df opinion the times parliamentary correspond cnt asserts the position is undeniably delicate and may become critical to day unless handled with firmness and decision the daily mail asserts andrew bon ir law secretary of state for the col anics and lord kitchener war min ster have not yet made their position ear whi'.s balfour first lord of the admiralty resolutely opposes compul en in which attitude he is supported iy a majority of the ministers demand compulsion but loyd george the marquis of lansdowne earl curzon sir fredrick smith j austin chamberlain walter hume long and earl selborne advo cate immediate compulsion lloyd george the mail adds before sitting at the council made his position lcar to premier asquith in a message ntimating that unless asquith's pledge o married men be kept in the strictest ense he could not continue as a mem er of the government the morning post equally with the limes and the mail all conscription sts papers see a possibility of several abinet resignations or the other alter native of a general election the morning telegraph and the chronicle anti-compulsion organs are also apprehensive of the crisis and a general election makes a protest the chronicle editorially protests a gainst intrigues of wire pullers who con template the desperate and mad exped tent of a general election a gamblers plunge which might entail disasterous consequences and points out how by merely with-holding assent of parlia ment to the registration bills the lords can make an election unavoid continued on page 4 quiet season london dec 28—it lias been unusu ally quiet here there were no papers issued saturday the chief activity today which is also one of the public holidays were big crowds waiting for the first panto mimes there has been a marked decrease in drunkenness this holiday season ladies and gent's fur lined coats no advance on former prices liberal discounts for spot cash value par excellence bowring brothers limited read the dail7 star in stock best screened north sydney coal also lehigh valley anthracite all sizes furnace egg stove nut satisfaction guaranteed i3ive us a trial order a.harvey sfco limited ii ii immmi i ii umi i i 1