St. John's Daily Star, 1917-03-19

              the st john's daily star newfoundland volume 111 3.00 per annum monday march 19 1917 price one cent no 63 sweepinng allied gains made on a 100-mile front british and french forces chase the retreating germans germans retreat from lines 100 miles long along west front british and french for ces capture important positions of bapaume peronne and noyon cavalry harrassing the retreating enemy london march 18.—the british and french troops which have been holding the line in france are now actively pushing forward on the heels of the fast retreating germans latest have been made altogether on a iront of one hundred miles or more and the important towns of bapaume peronne and noyon lying almost in a straight line running north and south are in the hands of the entente alies nnd between these lying somewhat westward , rove nesle and chaulncs have been taken the french are moving in the direct ion of ham on the somme river while the british are continuing to advance eastward from both bapaume and per onne the cavalry both british and french is now active strong cavalry uadrons have been in motion for sev ■ lays past and have taken a prom inent part in the operations whicbptdb ably accounts for the rapidity of the anglo-french advance the germans noluntarily evacuated much of the territory recently lost by them there has been some fighting t various points where strong rearguards have left by the german comman ders to protect the retirement of the main army although there is no actual know ledge of the german plan of retreat it is presumed in certain quarters that if the pressure of the british and french keeps up they will retire to a powerful line running from lille to laon and in eluding the strongly defensive positions of cambria and st quentin these are all fortified cities laon being a fortress of first class and the scene of many battles in previous wars even at the present rate of progress it would be sev eral days before the forces of the all ies would confront these defences . the french gains were made in two distinct sectors along a front of about thirty-seven miles between the avre and the aisne their most important capture was the town of noyon a strategic point which lies almost due south of peronne and north of soissons which lies less than twenty miles to the s w of laon they also occupied the village of crouy other villages were taken with the object of strengthening their new positions it is to be noted the british official communication says we have occupier jsesie while ivesle is apparently on the french line the british have taken the town of chaulnes and it is possible that forces from both armies have en . tered nesle which lies only a few miles southeast of chaulnes brings in america ruthless destruction of three american stea mers putsu s tech nically in state of war with germany washington march 19 with the announce ment of the ruthless de struction of three unarm ed american merchant ships by submarines it was unofficially admit ted here tonight that vir tually a state of war ex ists between the united states and germany technically the unit ed states remains in a position of armed neu trality but whether this shall be changed before april 16th the date fix ed for a special session of congress the war-mak ing branch of the govern ment president wilson has not decided consul frost at queenstown report ed to the state department tonight the sinking by a german submarine of the american steamer city of memphis saying forty-nine survivors had been picked up and that an admiralty vessel was searching for eight missing the department announced a de spatch from consul-general skinner at london who said it was reported the city of memphis the illinois and the vigilancia all american steamers had been sunk without warning the mes sage added that some of the crew of the city of memptiis had been landed and that a patrol boat had gone to pick up the crew of the illinois is a great victory london expected furth er gains for british troops following re cent german retreat b\it did not anticipate victory of such magni tude f ondon march 19.—bapaume cen tre of the german defences on the ancre river front fell into british hands this morning and simultaneous ly achiet le petit to the northwest of bapaume and le translpy a town al most the same distance to the southwest were according to press despatches from army headquarters entered by the british troops bapaume was set afire by the germ ans before their departure which only occurred after stiff fighting the fall of bapaume kad beep anti cipated for seme time and the capture of achiet le petit and le transioy were looked upon as a necessary con sequence of that event the british pub lie however hardly had hoped for such a quick result of the continued british pressure folflowing the german retire ment and it was believed the germans would make a stubborn resistance on the bapaume ridge so as to enawe them to retire from the arras salient which now becomes more pronounced than cv er apparently the british following up the advantage gained in t!i receftt potations rrev.eated thu being do scene of the allies gains this map shows the region in which the british and french forces have made such sweeping gains along a front of one hundred miles the 2 shows the approximate position of ba paume a line drawn through lille and south to laon shows the front along which the enemy is expected to make a stand against the advancing soldiers of the entente _____~ russians welcome reforms all classes of empire en thusiastie over new re gime now fully estab lished and look for ward to bigger efforts to gain success for russia and her allies in the war petrograd march 19.—with the final cementing of the elements con ceined in the construction of a new government upon the ruins of the o!c the new cabinet ministers are relieved from the heavy grind of the endless con ferences of the last few days in which they suffered many anxious hours and have assumed the posts to which they were assigned piofessor milukuff spent yesterday at the foreign office in the afternoon he recei\ed the diplomatic rep*esentatjve of the allies after which he entered up en a long cabinet conference one of the first acts or the minister was to send a series of cable messages to russian diplomats abroad to the effect that russia was united in the desire to fight out the war with the al lies and determined to continue the conflict until victory is achieved being stronger than ever the armies in the field being advised of the abdication of the emperor have enthusiastically acquiesed therein ac cording to the foreign office and offi cial telegrams from virtually all the commanders have beer received as suring support to the government and guaranteeing its advance by general michael alexioff chief of staff meanwhile last vestiges of the empire are disappearing portraits of the members of the imperial family once seen upon the walls of almost every government office have been re moved while the correspondent of the associated press waited in the ante room of the foreign minister's office an attendant mounted a chair and quiet jy took down the portraits of the form er emperor and empress the national colors with eagles have given place to plain red flags one of which floats over the famous winter palace the proper designation of the gov ernment appears to puzzle even the of frcials government constitute is the appellation used by the foreign office in despatches abroadf and while of a temporary nature is permanent com pared with the first duma committee which was hurriedly assembled it is contemplated the cabinet heads shall continue to govern until those elected by a constitutional assembly shall re place them i ihc asisn&ly which will fee *£&!«} by popular vote will be composed ap proximately of 500 members and it will be a business assembly to determine the future government and draft a new constitution confidence is everywhere expressed that under a direct new government the military and industrial forces of the country will be enabled to carry on op erations upon a much larger scale than before and considerably magnify the efforts towards a speedy termination of the war prcspero he d up the bowring coaster prospero should have sailed saturd y morning but was unable t oleave because the harbor and coast is backed with ice she will sail as soon as the ice moves oft greatest victory gainea by allies armies since the marne advantage scored by bri tish and french not merely a local success but veritable strateg ic retreat forced on the germans so paris reports daris march 18.—the 17th of march will remain among the most memorable days of the war in the o pinion of the french who regard the successes on the front from the ancre to the ouise as the greatest since the battle of the marne it is considered not merely a local success but a verit able strategic retreat forced upon the germans the full consequence of which probably will not be revealed for sev eral days the fact that the french at certain points went beyond the road from roys to noyon indicates that the german re treat will not end there the ger mans are still in noyon the favour ite phrase of parliamentary opponents of the government who sought to im press upon it the fact that the germans were only sixty-seven miles hem pans will now have to be abandoned tis hop ed as the town is expected soon to be in the hands of the fnench it would be difficult to say military critics assert where the germans pro post to establish a stable defence the retreat of modern armies encumbered with great supplies of material can be effected only with extreme sbwness which permits an active and resolute adversary to maintain contact unceas ingly this is the first occasion since the armies have been established on the french front that french villages occu pied by germans j*ave been occupied by french and english bapaume roys lassingy and a large number of villages picardi and artois wh'rh for two years have not seen french uni forms now can witness the tri-color of their country and the flags of their al lies the victorious entry of the french into roye on the keels of the retiring germans was marked by stirri ig inci dents in which eight hundred liberated civ nr participated regardless of the da %", the i habitants threw thern selve ront of the arriving french soldie ' shouting as they did so vive la france the women hugged them while old people grasped their hands tears were in the eyes of all when suddenly a twelve year old bey began singing the marseillaise which was tak en up instantly by the population the onrushing waves of soldiers joined m and it was to the strains of the national anthem that the french outposts left roye pressing the retreating germans the general feeling is that the ad versary has suffered a severe blow which may have still greater conse quences the french and british ad vance made over ground measuring ap proximately eighty kilos about fifty three miles may be extended at some points where artillery actions have been exceedingly intense the last few days members of russian duma ( who now hold firmly reins of government would create a republic decision as to ultimate form which the rus sian government will take is left to the six million soldiers of the empire—will be eith er republican or a limited monarchy events have crowded fast on each other since announcement was made of a revolution in russia only four days ago the romanoff family members of which have ruled the empire for over two hundred years have voluntarily relinquished the throne and the mem-1 bers of the russian duma have voted for the establishment of a republican form of government a manifesto em bodying this decision has been sent to the army who will have the chief say in this matter the czar in the manifesto announc ing his abdication of the throne dec i lared that his course was dictated by a desire to see all classes in russia united in a vigorous prosecution of the war not wishing to be separated from our well-loved son he continues we leave our heritage to our brother grand duke michael alexandrovitch following on the heels of this start ling development came the news that the czar's son was dead after a short illness from some disease relinquished regency the grand duke michael also re linquished the regency then the crowds in the streets of'petrograd set themselves to celebrate the passing of the autocracy and began to tear the imperial ensign from the windows of the winter palace and the front of the buildings on the main thoroughfares in short time all the emblems of the old empire literally lay in the dust in anticipation of the news bigger crowds than ever packed the haljs and ground s r • % the people to further pitch during the last forty-eight hours when the tidings at last leaked out from the committee rooms who had been haranguing the soldiers and workmen from the balcony of the palace suddenly interrupted their dis courses and shouted the news to crowds below them indescribable confusion seized the vast throng a roar of cheers such as had never before hern heard in these stately halls continued yntil the men and women were forced to cease from utter exhaustion duma new supreme just what form the new government will assume is indefinite for the mo ment entire authority rests with the twelve members of the duma executive committe and the cabinet headed by prince utoff who according to some forecasts will be president of the new republic « it is bei'eved that in the interim pow er will slowly pass into the hands of the new cabinet which will then present the anomaly of a new government without a supreme head professor paul n milukoff foreign minister of the new government rus sia's strongest man who has surround ed himself with an able cabinet is said to favor a limited monarchy based on d - j w#>ni as he best government for both the czar and his son relinquished the throne—grand duke michael gives up re gency—scenes in the streets of petrograd great britain foresee ing trouble tried to save situation are still engaged rounding up the police four thousand of whom have been cap tured or killed still other thousands are said to be in hiding arrests of individuals out of tune until the new order of affairs continue from day to day among the lastest ar rested was countess kleinmichael a prominent russian woman who is weft known in court circles for the dissem ination of pro-germon propaganda hitherto she has enjoyed immunity be cause of influential connections m soukhomlinoif former minister of war narrowly escaped lynching at the hands of angry soldiers when his id entity became known as he was con ducted before the dtima committee yes terday more than sixty trains were despatch ed over various lines for the purpose of bringing foodstuffs and other necessar ies to the capital the empress of russia is now safe in finland the emperor is at sttdta gorsky monastery at pskoff according to a cable*made public in new york by the russian-american asiatic cor poration received from their represent ative in petrogtad and which as trans mitted through the belgian minister fleet join duma the entire russian baltic fleet and fortresses at viborg and sveaborg have joined the revorulionary movement in ruesra paul m milukoff one of the leaders of the new government in outlining its acu r said made grand duke nicholas russ commander-in-chief appointment by the czar is popular with troops at the front petrograd march 18—after his ab dication emperor nicholas returned to the general staff headquarters the attitude of the armies at the front in the face of the new development is not yet known in petrograd it is generally believed that the ap pointment of grand duke nicholas as commander-in-chief will be received enthusiastically by the troops with whom he is extremely popular coatincd on page ») 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