St. John's Daily Star, 1918-05-06

              the st john's daily star volume iv p 3.00 per annum newfoundland monday may 6 1918 price one cent no 102 italy to be next scene of a foe offensive germans and austrians mass troops b-ornew drive against positions of entente a v strian emberor present at front to watch opening of a ustro german a ssaults germans in peck of trouble in conquered territory in east drastic treatment of ukraine republic ifes take high-handed measure to secure supplies of foodstuffs clashes in capital of ukraine between huns and local forces tt hington may 6—an official '' tjerpatch from switzerland says tv central powers are preparing to istic steps in , ukrainia as a - difficulties of obtaining from that country and the ' teutonic rule the from uk of berlin and vienna rail oi a doubt but what ice to face with a coup the central powers the en by famine are ready y means to seize from i the resources which she still it i reported that blood has . been shed at kiev in combats ! he partisans of the new government and those of the former and thj koelnische zeitung follow gcrraan practice of attempt car itself before being ac is to announce the troops horn are not actively par ■.■ these combatr but the lite otherwise informed cir < . itzerland know il ignored that recently ron yon murrim and mar i chorn distributed arms tiooa lo their partisans and funds were distributed the general staff for the i'etat aper recognises that the rev now in ukraine is solely in uer.ee of demands of the ceo 1 ower which want food stuffs kcals ?.' a costs and which ' hesitate to do anything to ob iding to information received ich ombats took place at ekaternoslav kharkovat kherson and odessa between the germans and ukrainians in revolt deportations in to germany continue the commands of the ukraine militia have been re lieved by their officers and many thrown into prison in spite of all these measures cer tain german papers said it is feared the government at kiev can't fulfil the promises it made to the central empires in the question of food and supplies in declarable condition amsterdam may 6.—ln the course of a sharp criticism in connection with recent events in ukraine the vorwaerts of berlin states that af fairs in the east are in a deplorable condition the peace concluded there has become a peace calculated to scare away opponents still at war with us the newspaper says charged with 53,000 theft toronto may 4 before judge winchester today lewis m may nard former manager of a branch of the dominion bank formally pleaded not guilty to the theft of 53,000 it is understood now that the case will be disposed of by judge winchester next friday ■ ■ miss hilda brown formerly of bonavista has received the b a de igree at kingston university oit the police gathered in two drunks saturday night both had sipped too much florida water to the internal | organisms and were held in the cells v.ntil the effects wore off yesterday big ship built within 27 days rapid construction record made by american shipyard philadelphia may 5.—a1l records for the rapid construction of a ship were broken today when-the 5548 ton steel collier tuckahoe was launched at the yard of the n v shipbuilding corporation in camden n y the keel of this wonder ship was laid on april bth and only 27 days were required to prepare the hull for launching the boat was 90 per cent com pleted when it slid into the water and in 15 days more it will take its place in the commerce of the world complete and ready for a cargo gen french to ireland celebrated british officer succeeds baron wim born in important posit ion of viceroy much surprise at appointment london may s.—field marshal viscount french has been appoint ed lord lieutenant of ireland bit of a surprise london may 6—^the appointment o field marshal viscount french as viceroy of ireland comes somewhat as a surprise it was known that the government was experiencing consid erable difficulty in rinding a successor to baron wimborne and that this was the reason of the delay in announc ing officially the appointment of ed ward shortt as chief secretary which was known unofficially many days ago no one however anticipated such a purely military appointment as the celebrated field marshal his name certainly had been mentioned not only in connection with a scheme for placing the lord heutenantship in com mission as a way out of the difficulty and even in that case the name of general mahbn was generally favor ed as a likely member of the trium virate won't copy huns ways britain will refuse to give prisoners taken in war other than decent civil ised treatment more retaliation advisable tho i ondon may 6.—ln the course of an address delivered at newton lancashire lord newton assistant secretary for foreign affairs after re ferring to those who are dissatisfied because german prisoners of war in england are not employed under the ua me brutal and severe conditions as j british and other prisoners are in i germany said his experience was hat the best policy was to treat the • risoners well it would appear he said to be diotic not to retaliate when neces sary and during the last few days re taliation was put into operation at i certain german officer's camp in great britain because a corps com , mander with the tenth german army i persistently refused to remove griev ances complained of by our men if the question were left to me he , added in view of recent captures and > knowing what our men will have to 1 undergo i would be prepared to go | further than we have done , « t \ thursday next the feast of the • ascension will be observed by the • catholic pcopple of the city as a | holy day of obligation masses will , be said in all the churches at ihe • same hours as on sunday are advanced gains made between the somme and avre west of m^rlancourt gen haig reports london may 6 the british line has been advanc ed on the sector between the somme and the avre riv er west of marlancourt says the official statement from field marshal haig today the british positions in the neighborhood of locon and lawe river on the southern leg of the lys salient in flanders also have been improved as the result of local righting the text-ox the statement follows a successful minor operation was carried out by us last night between the somme and ancre rivers west and southwest of moraine ourt our line in this lo cality has been advanced on a considerable front in spite of strong opposition from the enemy whose losses were heavy over 1.50 prisoners two machine guns and a trench mortar were captured by our troops our own casualties were slight local righting took place last night to our advan tage in the neighborhood of locon and the lawe river our positions in this locality have been im . proved on the remainder of the front the situation is unchanged emportant gains made by british in the neighborhood of kemmel with the british armies in " france may 6.—luck seems to go against the germans along the crucial northern battlefront sunday still found the prussian commanders working desperately to whip their organization into shape for a re newal of the delayed offensive while the allied forces aided by the weath er conditions made counter opera tions which are most disconcerting to an enemy playing against time it was quite apparent the ger mans intended another assault on the flanders front yesterday morn ing but the arrangements were up set by a combination of events they were he allied operations and a heavy rain which converted the ground into mud flats over which it was impossible to move either in fantry or artillery there was also confusion arising from wholesale re liefs and the arrival of strange troops in the german area the allied artillery has been main taining an incessant bombardment of enemy territory and friday night be fore the projected german attack the french and british gunners play ed havoc with the german prepara tions the allied troops also have been carrying out a succession of local operations which improved their lines and upset enemy schemes to a marked degree yesterday the allies occupied a j large number of important positions at various points along the front of 4,000 yards west of kemmel the british also made an advance of 500 j yards along the front of 1,000 yards | notthwest of locon thereby regain ing a number of positions which had been contested many days this morning the germans tried to regain some of these positions but were repulsed an enemy attack yesterday morn ing in the locon area under cover of a heavy barrage likewise was smashed on the southern battle front the british last night near cailly lesoc advanced their line in minor operations without casualties the german prisoners taken in all these local engagements make a con siderable total the spirit of the allied troops re mains at the highest pitch they know that every day's delay is in it self a victory for them each 24 hours that slips by makes america loom larger on the horizon and brings the much-needed overseas troops nearer the battle lines interesting comments by the ger man civilians have been furnished from an enemy mail bag captured by the british before it was delivered to the soldiers along a section of the flanders front almost without ex • ception references are made in the letters to the stoppage of leave and the parcel post from the front the tone is resigned rather than recalcit rant one letter from berlin dated april 25th said peace does not seem to be coming along as we fondly hoped all this fighting in the west is too wicked for anything four years of it now and no sign of the end we hope every day it will come to a decision and that the british will be driven into the north sea but they stand film we have such a scarcity of shoes in etlingen it is impossible to get them if there are any in belgium please send me a pair says a letter dated in etlingen on april 26th are you not coming home on leave soon how much longer is it going to last the third letter is a note from khunsfringe dated april 23rd and says the mustering of the 1920 class took place here last friday most of them accepted tenacity of irishmen saved british empire at st quentin general gough praises conduct of fifth army at opening of hun drive gelfast ireland may 6.���gen eral sir robert gough's first pub lic statement regarding the conduct of the fifth british army which he commanded in the retreat from st quentin comes in a letter to the lord mayor of belfast in which the gen eral pays a high tribute to the work of the irish troops the letter fol lows the fighting of the ulster divisions as indeed of all the di visions in the fifth army against the greatest odds hurled on any body of troops throughout this great war was magnificent the main features of * ( the situation to which the fifth army was exposed are known to everyone and to give some idea of what those odds were fourteen infantry di visions against forty german divisions on march 21st reinforced by some eight to ten more german divisions during the subsequent two days i can't speak too highly of the splendid calmness and doggedness with which my fellow-countrymen met and fought this storm and though many laid down their lives their splendid tenacity saved the british empire and france and permitted the arrival of reserves pope awaits propitious time for new suggestion of peace pontiff will take earliest available occasion of at tempting to end war dome may 4.—"lt is no secret replied the vatican authorities of whom an associated press correspon dent inquired regarding the report that the pope since the beginning of his pontificate has interested him self regarding three great issues con cerning the war first to maintain ab soiute impartiality second to limit as much as possible to the extent of the conflict and its horrors thirdly to wokr in every way on every pro pitious occasion to restore concord and brotherhood among the peoples given this program it is only na tural that should a propitious occas ion arise the pope would do his best to carry it out it is an easy task to prophesy from time to time within a few weeks or months some action on the part of the pope which may occur at any time if a favorable oc alies agree on programme inter-allied war council unanimous on their military policy paris may 6.—premier gemen ceau has asked the army commission tc hear on may 7th his report of the results of the recent meeting of the supreme inter-ailied war coun cil held at abbeville and the decis ion reached regarding the use to be made of american aid the supreme inter-allied council met on wednesday and thursday at abbeville it is announced officially that on thursday all military questions of mo ment were examined and settled in full agreement and that the results obtained were unanimously regarded as satisfactory no inkling however of he subjects discussed were given m the report of the meeting austria is out of food unable to feed her populat ion austria has to turn to the germans for as sistance means adopted are humiliating ondon may 6.—the straits of which austria has been driven by he food situation is indicated in a despatch from vienna via zurich vhich says that dr yon seydler the austrian premier has been compelled 1c admit that austria is unable to feed the poulations of the northern fyrol and southern bohemia and that le has therefore consented that the former be attached for provisioning rurposes to bavaria and the latter to baxony this concession the despatch adds vas secured from him by leaders of he german parties after a conference asting six hours the austrian gov ernment yielded with the greatest re uctance for the political consequence sf this concession may be far-reach ing it is pointed out that it will accen tuate the feud between the german md non-german races in austria hungary since both the provinces af fected are german-speaking and will strengthen the agitation for the in corporation of austria in a german federation blow against italy is near g-ermans and austrians showing signs of de termination to strike blow in piave river and mountainous regions of italy emperor charles and officers reported on the italian front impending offensive due to political and eco nomic troubles in austria—fronts in france and flanders are still quiet london may 6.—over the battle ' lines along the piave river and in ihe mountainous region in northern it aly where the allied forces have been holding their positions since last no vember after the great italian re treat from the isonzo there is an in creased tension and the long-threaten ed blow at this front may be launched by the teutonic allies within a few days for many weeks the italian war of fice has been aware that the austrians have been gathering the legions with drawn from the russian and roumart ian fronts for a drive at the italian armres and it is believed that it will not be long before the central pow ers will make another try to reach the plains of venetia break through the allied lines and seek to bring a bout a decisive combat in that thea tre of the war emperor visits front emperor charles of austria accom panied by his chief of staff and high german and austrian army officers i is reported to be on his way to the italian front and the great movement j of troops in tyrol and trentino would seem to indicate that vast bod les of men are being taken from oth er fronts to be hurled at the italian lines the blow it is generally be lieved will fall somewhere in the mountain section of the front prob ably m the lagarina astico valley the sectors face the north and if broken would permit the foe to pen etrate into the lower foolhiils of the | mountains or even reach the plains if this should occur the armies along the piave river would be compelled to fall back probably as far as the adiage river this would entail the loss of venice and a vast expanse of the country to the enemy forcey by circumstances the decision to launch an offen sive of grand proportions against it sly was doubtlessly forced by the po litical and economic conditions pre vailing in austria an offensive cam paign that yields gains of ground might serve to still the elements which are seething throughout the dual em pire and would postpone the day of reckoning to the rulers of austria german domination of austria is be coming more complete as time goes en tyrol and bohemia have been an nexed for food administration pur poses to germany but this move in the great game of state craft has ser ved only to deepen the chasm be tween the racial factions of austria bohemian troops have deserted from austrian armies and if an offensive is not launched the demoralization of the austrian forces may come soon ' er than the outside world expects remained fairly quiet in the meantime the situation on the front in france and flanders has , remained fairly quiet there have bedn local attacks by the enemy here and there along the line but j nothing approaching p general battle ■ has been reported the allies have ' been improving their lines and are waiting for the germans to make the next move pope benedict hns served notice on the world that the vatican will not be a party to any peace offering at present it is bslieved berlin will seel o ! bring about a german p?ace and if its advances are repulsed to nerve the german people to a new bath of blood by pointing out that the allies desire to crush germany the popa has let it be known that he is desir ous of taking any steps which may tend to shorten the war but he does not see at the present time an reason to believe that an appeal would bring about the desired results ». , soon strike at italians emperor charles with high austrian and ger man officers proceeds to front vienna announces big movements of enemy troops reneva may s.—lt is officially an nounced from vienna that em peror charles the chief of the aus trian general staff and several high german and austrian officers reach ed the italian front yesterday this with the considerable move ments of troops in the tyrol and trentino reported from the interior is interpreted to mean that the long predicted offensive on the italian front will soon begin strong enemy fire rome may s.—an increase in the intensity of the hostile artillery fire along the front notably in the la garina valley and in the foss aha sector is reported by the war office today the italian artillery has also car ried out many bombardments and there have been numerous additional intensive activities by the capronis and briar planes during which eight enemy machines were destroyed and many tons of bombs dropped difference composed holland agrees to allow stated amount of sand and gravel to be trans ported will waive right of supervision the hague may 6.—john kheer ! * london dutch minister of foreign affairs informed the chamber today that the tension between germany and holland was ended he said that as germany had agreed to limit the amount of sand and gravel transport through dutch waterways to a maximum of 1,600 000 tons per annum an amount con sidered needful for the repair and maintenance of the belgian roads and had undertaken not to use the material for military purposes holland had withdrawn her de ] mand that a committee of control : i should be constituted in belgium to supervise the employment of the ma terials « ■ a foreign mail is due here this ai ; ternoon continued on page 2 i when you do 60 i overseas ! don't i : | leave to • i your fafiily j | the unpleasant luty ! f of explaining : 1 why j i you were i i forced to i i i go as a fynscr pt ! not go now i as a volunteer ? | , this space given by bowring bros ltd jgtj ;