Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-10-03
OF NARR|NG
nations CONFLICT
WIDE VARIANCE IN OFFICIAL RE.
PORTS OF FRENCH AND GER.
MAN ARMY COMMANDERS.
DIVERGENT STATEMENTS
ENTIRELY iRREcoNciLARLE
British People Becoming ReconciIed to
Idea That Conflict Will Be Long and
Terribe-No Marked Change in Po-
sitions of Armies on French From
tier.

London, Oct. 3-Unusual activity in
the publicity department OF the Ger
man and Austrian headquarters has
furnished an account OF the results of
current battles differing so radically
from those of the camps of their op-
ponents as to render the widely diverg-
ent statements irreconcilable.
In regard to the battle of the Aisne
there is only single point on which
the French and German reports agree,
and that is that General Won Kluck
still is going northward tho at snaiFs
pace, and that he is so powerful that
General Joffries has been obliged to ad-
nit that the German commander has
been able to make a French detach-
ment debouching from Arras to fail
back
Farther south in the neighborhood of
Roye. according to the German staff,
the French have been dislodged from
their position. but the French comique
declares that all the German assaults
there were shattered.
Claims Are Contradictory.
Again the Germans assert they have
fought their way southwark and have
made substantial advances in the Ar
gonne district, and the French counter
this by claiming to have made progress
there, while on the far eastern end OF
the line around the river Meuse the
French claim to have driven the last
Germans back across the river and the
invaders there have defeated all t.
tacks OF the French in that quarter.
The first Austrian stan report with
any details issued by Field Marshal
Potiourek gives fiat denials to the Ser
VANS vivid stories of victory, but 1t is
only fair to say that the Serbs are
equally emphatic in giving the lie to
the Austrian claims.
According to Field Marshal Uotioxr-
Elk the process of clearing up the Ser
Wan litter in the province Of Bosnia In
progressing apace. while the Austrian
offensive In Servia Is praceedine sat
isfactorily.
The Servfans and their Monteneerfn
allies maintain that they have Sara
Jevo. the Bosnian capital. almost in
their grasp.
Russians cross German Border.
Ihe new army Of Emperor Nicholas
IS on the march and, according to
ene Petrograd general staff, the Rus
. SLAMS once more have crossed the Ger
man frontier at Szeczuczy and Graf
ewo. Russian Poland. This is conceiy-
ably awkward for the German invad-
ers who are said to be retreating from
the Suwalki district
from Petrograd there continues to
pour In uninterrupted claims of Rus.
sian successes on the frontier OF Po-
land; but from Galicia, where the
Russians and combined German and
Austrian forces are at death grips, be-
fore Cracow. has come nothing to in
dicate which side has taken the first
honors.
Long Conflict Now Conceded.
Tho the German right is less than
fifty miles from the Belgian frontier
never since the outbreak Of the war
apparently have the people Of Great
Britain been reconciled to. the Ida that
the struggle will be long and terrible
When the Germans first began to
retreat after the rush toward Paris
hope ran high that some master stroke
would bring complete rout to the in
vaders. Now. however many observ-
ers emphasize that even should the So
called battle line be terminated the
Germans would only fall back on
equally strong entrenchments
There is nothing from the French
battle line this morning to indicate a
marked change in the situation. The
fiercest fighting apparently still cen
ters on that part Of the battle line
stretching due north for about twenty
miles in an almost straight line from
Roye. The vicinity Of the little town
Of Albert has again been the scene Of
vigorous action, where the allies claim
progress and, tho it seems Incredible
the latest announcements assured that
the remainder of the vast line was
quiet with the exception of the region
around st. Mihiel. from which this
Germans were driven from their south
ernmost Judgement
Try to Break Thru Wing.
Commenting on the status Of the
battle in northern France. the corres-
pondent OF the Times at Paris sayss
"The violence Of tho battle seemed
to be concentrated for the moment on
the left wing. which has prolonged 1T
self to q point within thirty or forty
miles Of the Belgian border, south-of
Arras Thru this line the Germans
have attempted to break with the
object OF ::sc!st!nS :he forces rf the
allies in the north. The combats in
this region have been extremely vio-
lent but the allies hold the enemy we'll
in spite Of partial successes by the
Germans.
French Yield Nowhere.
"All along this immense battle line
Ito the right, the left and the center
tho enemy has tried to break thru in
vain. Nowhere have the French
yielded. on the contrary they have
steadily and methodically progressed.
especially on the right wing. New
progress has been made in the Argonne
region"
Germans Rspulssd Nsar Antwerp.
Describing the nghtins of FRIDAY
in the environs Of Antwerp the cor
resnendent of the Times says:
During the early hours Of Friday