New-York tribune., 1914-12-23
Troops from Poland Now
Congest Railway Line
TO Flanders.
ALLIES SMASHING
WAY ALONG COAS |
Mile of Trenches Captured, Says
French Report-Fleet Again
Shells Land Positions.

! London. Dec. 23.-"Ine Dally IA
press" publishes the following as
batch, dated ION the Belgian trontier'
| Dec. 22": .s,,..,,,,,,
Another great movement OF herman
| troops in the direction oil western
Flanders is now in progress, appar--
! emily in order To check the advance OF
the Allies, which grows increasing!
menacing. With this object ia E,e", d
portion Of the kaisers army III foIahI d
has been released, and a long llle oI
troop trains has been passing thIousH
Liege, Namur and Brussels since SAT
urday. , -,
Neutral travellers who arrived to-
dav at Maastricht from Germany
stated that Aix-la-C -Cnapelle was full OF
soldiers who had been Temporarily
halted for rest on their way to the
western theatre of war, and were
awaiting their turn 10 proceed along
the congested Belgian railway lne ie
first of these new reintOrcement5 nave
already arrived in Bruges and Gnent,
where they had an enthusiastic re-
ception bv the garrison because they
we're participants in the latest sup
posed victory IN Poland.
London. Dec. 22.-With the British
fleet again Joining the heavy land ar
tillery in pounding the herman pos
lions in Northern Flanders, the sus-
tained energy of the Allies attack pc
comes strikngly apparent. Reports
that the Allies have reached Ostend are
wholly unofficial. but military ooServ-
ers believe that the power Of their OIL
fensiye. on land and sea combined, Is
sucb that the occupation of that city
is very near. The latest Official reports
indicate that the allied infantry Is rest
ING in this region while the big guns
clear the path for its advance. Inc
Germans appear to be wholly on the
defensive.
Further south. however, on the line
from the Disc to the Meuse, the ilghting
is OF the fercest, and while the Allles'
offensive is much more general than
that of the Germans. the latter are at-
tacking at many points.
The gains claimed by the French
War Office are at widely separated
points. One claim is that the French
have occupied three German POSITIONS
representing a front Of entrenchments
almost a mile long. The Germans claim
no definite gains, and admit that the
Allies have advanced at some points,
particularly at Rochebourg, but they
say that the French and British both
lost heavily in most of the attacks.
While the progress of the Allies IS
extremely slow. it is the belief of mill
tary experts here and in France that
the gains which the General staff has
been able to report are disturbing the
Germans system Of fortihcations at
vital points. and will, If successfully
continued, compel a retirement by the
Germans from their present lines.
The British press comments to-day
on General Joffres order to advance as
cabled to London from Berlin. The
newspapers say that while they are
unable to vouch for the authenticity
OF this document, it certainly seems to
coincide with the pressure the Allies
are exerting all along the line. It IS
not believed in London, however, that
the real work of driving the Germans
out of Belgium will begin for some
weeks to come.