The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-10-03
TIE DEATH-GRAPPLE IN EUROPE


THE EATH-GRAPPLE IN EUROPE
The gigantic struggle of millions OF
armed men in Europe continues Win
unabated violence, eclipsing all form
/ or records for blood-spilling and de-
struction OF human life, and it is
| yet impossible to foresee the outcome
/ of the international death-grappie-
| Censorship CT news from the pat
! tlpfieIds has increased in severity,
milking it more difficult than before
IT, form even an Intelligent estimate
Of the progress and facts OF the
fighting. Such reports as are gwen
out from the official news bureaus OF
/ the contending nations are meagfe
and conflicting, colored according ~
their source and consequently talht-
ed with the suspicion OF exaggerat1oh
AMI undue partiality.-
s'or instance, reports from Petro-
grad chronicle total defeats and dls-
ruption of Austro-Hungarlan armies
every few days, creating the i'm
nression that the forces Of the dual
monarchy are all but annihilated;
whereas emphatic denials promptly
come from Vienna, accompanied by
accounts of the checking of the Rus-
sian invasion of Hungarian territory
and successful counter attacks upon
the invaders.
There is similar incongruity and
contradiction in the reports OF the
fighting in eastern Prussia, Servia,
Montenegro and Bosnia, but there
seems little reason to doubt that
the Austro-Hungarian have had much
the worse Of the struggle, taken as
a whole, and that the Slavonian al
lies are likely to prove more than
match-dGr th5ir Teut6nic ecponents
in t1nle eastern theatre of war lpIrtic-
ularly so long as the latter are COM
PEELED to keep a large proportion Of
their armies engaged against the
French and English allies on the
west
The battle of the Aisne, which be-
gan three weeks ago, is still raging,
day and night, with little apparent
advantage to either side, so far as
can be judged from the censored re-
ports emanating from Berlin, Lon
don and Paris. It seems reasonably
certain that the allies have gained
considerable ground against the Ger
man right wing, and are still hopeful
of the success of their attempted
turning movement by which it is
sought to double that end of the Ger
man line back on itself and sever the
communication between the German
forces in Belgium and France re-
spectively; but Berlin claims that no
appreciate benefit to the allies or
harm to Germany has resulted from
this maneuver, and that the long
German line is intact and imperV1-
Gus to the assaults of the enemy.
How much longer this terrific COM
bat can be sustained before one side
or the other gives way under the
fearful strain can only be surmised.
The toll Of killed and wounded is
indeed like to "stagger humanity
when the truth and sickening details
of the awful struggle are made
known.
Italy still keeps neutral "by the
hardest" but the tension Of the eff
fort seems to increase from day to
day. The Italian government has
protested to Austria against the plac
ing of mines in the Adriatic, where
the explosives are claimed to have
destroyed Italian fishing vessels, and
as Austria depends on these mines
to protect her navy and coast from
attacks by the French and English
fleets, she is not apt to accede to a
demand to relinquish such an essen
tial method Of self-preservation This
provocation is not unlikely to prove |
a potent pretext for changing the
neutral attitude of Italy and evoking
declaration of war from that coun-
try against Austria.
The Roumanian parliament was to
assemble this week to determine the
attitude Of that country in the pend
ing international conflict, and the
chances are considered favorable to
the participation of Roumania on the
side of the triple entente as opposed
to Germany and Austria Hungary.
The Japanese expedition against
the German concession in China has
been joined by an English force and
the allies have been victorious in
engagements. 1t is
claimed that the German stronghold
has been completely invested by land |
and sea, and that its subjugation
must soon ensue.
No important naval events have
been reported during the past week.
German balloons and aeroplanes |
have become increasingly active and |
have dropped a number of bombs in /
Paris, Ostend and other Belgian and
French cities
The Germans are preparing to be-
siege Antwerp.
FINE PROSPECTS FOR THE FAIR.