Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-12-05

German prisoners, cannon and
machine guns are being brought
into Lodz."
London Dec. "A few indirect ref.
erences in the shape of picturesque
sketches to the visits of Emperor Will
liam and King George to the respec-
tiYe battle fronts and the activities of
the prince of Wales in the trenches
constitute virtually the entire budget
of war news which has reached the
British public in the past twenty-four
hours, apart, of course, from the unil-
Illuminating reports given out at the
French, Russian and German head
quarters OF the details of the fight
ing with it's enormous toll of killed
and wounded the public hears nothing.
Tor the moment the dominating is
sue remains in the eastern arena of
the war, where the result of the great
clash of millions of men in Poland
will go far towards determining the
duration of the war as well as its
character during the next few months,
but those more or less behind the
scenes believe they see signs that
he deceptive interval Of relative calm
y.hie. has marked the operations in
Flanders in the last few days has
aiout reached it's limit.
Tho present activity of the German
artillery is believed to be prelude to
arcther formidable and concentrated
onslaught somewhere on the allies
line. This last, however, is believed
8, roth British and French experts
TO have been made impreganble since
the last German effort was SO nearly
successful in hammering it's way
through.
However this may be, it appears to
Re established that in these recent ar
ti''ery duels the allies have found
their heavy guns capable of overbear-
ing the artillery of the enemy. This
hes been emphasized in many of the
recent dispatches of General Joffre,
commander in chief of the French
forces.
Should the new German assault
meet the same fate as have previous
attempts to reach the coast of the
channel. observers in London expect
that it will be followed by general
advance on the part of the allies.
There are signs of approaching ac-
tiylty in Alsace, where the French re-
Gently have been improving their po-
sitions
At the same time the Germans are
said to have been heavily reinforced
in this section. General Joffre's re-
cent declaration to the Alsatians that
.we are back here to stay may soon
be put to the test.
Hard After Cracow.
The fighting in Russian Poland. in
the opinion of British observers, ap-
pears to have had no effect on the Rus
sian operations against Cracow, to stop
which has been the main object of the
Germans. In the possession of heights
within three or four miles of the outer
forts of the former capital of Poland,
the Russians appear to have the Cra-
COW fortress at their mercy. The very
fact that the Russians have been able
to get to such close quarters seems to
Indicate that the guns of Cracow are
not so formidable as has been common
ly reported.
II this city falls it is anticipated that
1t will have an immediate effect on the
campaign in Poland, it being argued
here that the Germans would then be
forced to double back to stem the in
vasion of Silesia, which would be the
Immediate sequel to the Russian, cap
ture of Cracow.
Learn of Disaster.
The first story of the loss of a Brit
ish superdreadnaught, copied from
American newspapers, is published
here today with the omission OF the
name of the ship and the locality
where the mishap occurred.
The reference in the foregoing dis
patch to the loss of a British super
drsadnaught is to the Audacious, which
went down off the northern coast of
Ireland, October 28, after having come
in contact with what is believed to
have been German mine. The Brit
ish censors permitted no publication
of this story in England, and they have
been severely criticized for the SUP:
preston of this news.