Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-10-06
GERMAN LOSS HEAVY
CROSSING NIEMEN
Russians Lead Foe Into Trap and
Now Down Soldiers by Thou
sands on Bridge.
EFFORTS TO CROSS FoILED
Twenty Thousand bodies Carried
Down River, IL Report After
Battle that wREcd Dcs-
perntcIy for Hours.


tho Illustration Of an attempt by the Ger
mans to cross the Nlemen river lie given
by the Daily Telegraph's Petrograd cor
respondent;
The Germans appear to have fallen
into Russian trap" the correspondent
says. ION September % the rear guard
Of the Russian General Rennenkampfs
army was transferred to the right bank
OF the river and the following evening
the Germans approached the stream. The
next day. seeing no signs of opposition,
the Germans proceeded to construct
pontoon bridges and completed this work
without molcstston.
CosSncks sabre Enemy.
LONDON. oct lin a dispatch dealing
with the fighting in the Russian prov
inces which border on east Prussia. the
Pctrograd correspondent OF Reuters
Telegram company says:
The recent German operations were
practically vigorous along the railway
line between Suwalkl and Olta. The
enemies intention was to reach Wilma
by a turning movement around Yovon.
The Russians began to fan back and then
made a fierce counter attack. The shock
was terrible The Russians made fire.
quent beyonet charges and drove back
the Germans. on whom they inflicted
enormuos losses.
IA regiment OF Cossacks made dash
ing raid on Petrokoff which the Germans
had occupied The Cossacks traversed
Petrokoff like a flash of lightning, sabrod
GOO Germans in the streets and dIsap-
peared"
1T was only when the troops were
pouring across the bridge to the other
bank in fancied security that a sound like
the roll Of thunder was heard and dozens
Of Russian guns. cleverly posted and
screened opened their concentrated fire
on the crowded bridges.
swept Into River.
Before the blast of shrapnel and ma
chine gun projectiles the Germans were
swept into the river by hundreds. Speed
! lily, however the challenge OF the Russian
guns was taken up by the German ar
/ tillery, and for long time the duel con-
tlnued, At last the Germans, thinking
they had got the measure of the Russian
gunnors. made another attempt to throw
their troops across the Niemen. But this
time also, they had no better luck, and
not one of tho soldiers who stepped upon
the bridges either reached the opposite
side or returned.
THE bodies OF the slain floated in hun
dreds down the yellow flood of the
Nicmen. Still the Germans vigorously
maintained their bombardment and about
6 o'clock in the evening made a last and
desperate effort TO utilize the bridges on
which they had spent such pains.
Moved Down by Fire.
Columns In close formation we're sent
forward to the crossings, but once again
every man was moved down by the
murderous fire OF the Russian machine
guns
with the fall of evening the German
batteries we're sllenced one after the other
by the steady ard well directed fire of
the Russian artillery. The enemy then
fell back eight miles, pursued and
harrassed by Cossacks who had crossed
the river on the German bridges
According to one account no fewer
than 5000 German corpses were carried
down the Niemen after this awful
carnage.
I'm tho fight at SrednilSi, on the Nicmen
September 10, the German casualties are
also said to have been large. An eye
witness Of the battle says that in the
river and on one OF Its banks no fewer
than 5000 Germans pershed. on the OPP
posite shore from the city the bodies OF
800 Germans were lying unburieG for
Isome days afterwards