Imperial Valley press., 1914-10-06

the resumption of offensive move
ments on the part of the allies.
Apparently the intent now, military
experts feel, will be to attempt some
thing decisive against the German
right wing and if possible bring to
an end this contest which for magni-
tude and stubbornness is without pre-
cedcnt in history.
The series of highlands stretching
rorth and south along the allies left
are the master keys of the battle, and
a considerable force from overseas
and elsewhere will try to gain control
of them.
At Scissors some German trenches
have been captured, but the Germans
continue to fight fiercely and are still
attacking at this point, as elsewhere
along the entire line of battle.
The military critic, Lieutenant Col
onel Rousset, says that the battle still
can last for some time, pointing out
that modern encounters last now as
long as campaigns formerly did. In
1859 the Franco Austrian war was
settled in two months, while in 1870
the Franco-Prussian war-it took thir-
teen weeks, the fighting after Sedan
and Metz being merely contest for
honor.
The news that President Poincare
is on his way to the front has Great
ed good impression in all ranks of
the French army. The president, ac-
companied by Premier Viviani and
War Minister Alexandra Millerand,
left Bordeaux at noon yesterday. The
president is proceeding to the battle
line that he may personally congratu-
late the troops on the bravery they
have displayed in the long and stub
born fighting.
A dispatch from Antwerp says the
Germans are making apparently hasty
efforts to capture that city. The num-
Der of Germans killed, says the dis
patch, is estimated as high as 5000,
but The furiousness of their infantry
raids is unabated.
The German big guns are not be-
ing worked by regular soldiers, but by
men in citizens clothing, who wea.
only an armlet to indicate their mill
tary connection. These men are en-
ployes of the Krupp factory sum-
moned to replace the losses among
the regular gun layers. The heaviest
German guns are located north of
Vilvorde, where foundations of rein
forced concrete have been prepared.
The Germans have practically wiped
cut tie villages and hamlets in the
cutter circles of the Antwerp defenses.
Gar Nicholas arrived at the bat
tie front today to inspire his first line
soldiers in the onslaught on Cracow,
the capital of ancient Poland, where
e. huge Austro-German army has been
assembled to contest the Russian in
vasion of Germany.
1t is estimated at Petrograd that
100000 troops will engage in the
battle now opening.
Russia's advance guard is already
within ten miles of Cracow and the
siege of the city will be begun i'm
A statement issued at Pc
trograd says Germany's attempts to
delay the Russian advance by threat
ening march to Cracow have been
set back by repulse of the Kaiser's
forces along the River Niemen, where
the German dead, the statement said,
numbered 10000.
A spectacular and dramatic crisis,
since the days when Ma
| oleo1 at Austerlitz and Leipsic faced
nations in arms, is now presented in
the theatres of war in western Russia
and Poland. For the first time since
Alexander ii and the Czarevitch
watched the assaults of the Russian
guard on the Turkish redoubts at
Plevna has the sovereign of all the
Russias taken the field in person. The
significance of the present dramatic
far overshadows all opera
tions on any field in this war up to
date.
In Thorn, East Prussia, the Kaiser,
ir the midst of his troops, is issuing
appeals for the greatest
struggle between races since medieval
times. His speeches do not minimize
the vital Importance of the impend-
ing conflict; he makes it clear that
on the Dpndinp isSue binUec tho fin