Evening star., 1914-12-23

uncut Dy the fact that valleys mort
anu in,a south or this region cut the troops
nassed front impossible.
me chief scene of the recent oper-
alons is about the mouth of Mesola-
boretz pass, which is trayorsed bv :,
double-track railroad from Momano
H..th With the nearest railroad to the west.
nity miles away. The nearest mass
70 the east is about the same distance.
eaiiu is held by the Russians
Hammering Away at Russians.
GEN MAcKENzEN's HEADoUAE-
TERs. Russian Poland. Saturday. De-
cember 10, via Berlin, The Hague and
London. December 23 delayed in
ransmission).-The Russians. In re-
treat before the army of Gen. Macken-
zen, are attempting to make a stand on
the strong natural line between the
bzura and the Rawka rivers. This line
had previously been fortified, and the
Russians are now. trying to hold IT,
The Germans. however. already have
broken through. and it is thought that
the Russians will be obliged to fall
back still farther. although they are
attempting to check the German ad-
vance by counter offensive
Ihe Associated Press correspondent
met 1900 prisoners this afternoon east
OF LoWlcz under n small escort, and
was informed by the commanding gem
eral that he regarded the situation for
the Germans as excellent He express
ed the opinion. however, that heavy
fighting would be necessary before the
russians would be obliged to retire
Lodz has suffered little through the
bonn bardment, but the unemployed
workmen are destitute.
Gains hx, A11;ae n.-:l
BERLIN. December 30. by wireless
Among the items given out for publ
cation by the official press bureau are
the following:
The order of Gen. Joffre for an Of
fensive movement has confirmed the
belief held here for some days that the
allies in the west were about to at
tempt an advance. Thus far. however,
their attempts everywhere have failed
and the situation seems little changed
An army headquarters report con-
cerning the operations in the east
makes mention of the continuation of
an attack. but whether this is being
made against the Russian rear guard
or the Russian main army cannot be
stated.
The situation In west Galicia is
cleayer The Russians there are hold
to Tuchow and another line extends
southeastward past Krosno. Heavy
nshting is proceeding on both these
lines and also in the Lupkow pass.
"A dispatch from Budapest says the
Austrians are preparing a Anal blow
against the Servians, but gives no init
nation Of what form it will take
The newspapers here publish an un-
official statement from headquarters In
answer to the Official French war bulle-
tin of December Is. The French report
asserted that several trenches had been
taken at Auchy, La Bassee, ST. Laurant
and Blangy. The statement from head
quarters says all these places lie in
the rear of the German positions
"A French report said the French
position near Albert had advanced be-
yond the entanglements Of the second
line of German trenches. The head
quarters statement admits that eighty
Frenchmen came this far. but that they
were all captured. The French claim
that the German attacks near ST. HUI
bert all failed is answered with the
statement that the Germans took 500
prisoners in these attacks, exterminat-
ing utterly the 9Th Battalion Of
French Chasseurs."