Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-12-02
YPRES is LEVELED
BY ARMORED TRAIN
Old and Magnificent City Doomed to
Destruction When Kaiser Finds
He Cannot Enter It.
PARIS WAR OFFICE REPORT
French official Statement Asserts
General situation Has Not
Changed Materially In
Last Few Days.


PARIS. Dec THE following official
.tntement issued here tonight;
"A few details,about what has occurred
IN the front from November q 70 Novem-
Ter q, inclusive:
The general situation has not ma
,orially changed in that period. The
enemy has worked himself out In partial
attacks, without result Our counter at
lacks have inflicted on him heavy losses
and have brought some gain to our
selves.
From the sea to the Lys the attacks
OF the enemy have been intermittent.
on the sd and 24th and the 18th the Ger
man artillery in general remained Silent
Ypreu Doomed.
The old and rnagnificent city OF Ypres
vas condemned to death en- the day when
the German emperor was obliged to give
up all hope Of entering It. The batteries
not being sufficient for that work of
destruction. the enemy took 20 Houthem
an armored train on the 22d and I'D
under the guidance Of a captive balloon.
This train kept up an incessant fire OF
explosives and incendiary shells. The
cathedral belfry and the market build
ings excessively collapsed. On the even
ing of the Sd the main square OF the
city was nothing more than a heap OF
ruins.
The firing was kept up continually in
order TO prevent the city from being
succored. but our sappers worked under
the shells and succeeded In rescuing
many Of the inhabitants. the city records
ans q few pictures in the museum.
Gain Held ON User.
ON the 24th and 25th we succeeded,
to the south OF Dixmude. in gaining
foot hold on the left bank Of the User.
In spite Of the enemy's fire our troops
held the ground without difficulty.
Further to the south a French army
corps advanced 200 metres all along its
front and has held its ground. The shells
OF the German artillery sometimes do not
burst properly Our infantry, in COM
parison with the infantry of the enemy,
are very spirited. They captured on the
25th before Festobert. three machine
guns, a light howitzer 16o men and three
officers
Situation Very Good.
ITO sum up, our material and moral
situation from the sea to the Lys lie very
good From the Lys to the Disc the
enemy has not shown greater activity
than on the northern section. There was
no attack by the infantry. 1he attacks
by the artillery were very Intermittent
ana were lacking spirit Our artillery
during that week maintained its sdvan-
tage. ..'- i
"on the I'D our heavy guns near La
Basse silenced completely the fire OF tho
German batteries. On the oath In the
same region the result was the same, On
the 25th we destroyed after our aero
planes had given us the range two ma
chine guns.
Our infantry has gained brilliant re-
suits. It is to be noted, that every ad-sl
vance It makes is at once definitely
secured by the establishment OF en-
trenchments. At LEVIN on the 21st our
infantry brought to a head an audaciouz
operation which had been prepared by
sapping.
Invade German Trench.
Our troops invaded German trench,
killed 200 of It's occupants and installed
themselves In the trench. after having
burned, in front OF it, two artillery OBJ
servation stands.
with reference to the district from |
the Disc to the Vosges; In this section, !
the enemy in his statements, claims to |
have given proofs of the greatest activity |
and to have gained most of his success. |
IN reality no has been a little more active !
than in other sections, except that he
never engaged more than one battalion
at time.
AS regards the results, he obtained
none. On the contrary. our artillery
made substantial gains
Some of the infantry actions are in
teresting' to note. On the 22d by a !
magnificent defense, We maintained all
our positions in the Argonne, as well as
at Aux Eparges, against four exceed
ingiy fierce attacks. Also ON the 18th
on all other points, it was we who made
progress.
Make an Advance.
"on the 21st to the south of Four-De-
Paris, We made an advance; on the 24th, |
one of 500 metres near Berry-Au-Bac;
another the same day to the east of
Rheimes and in the forest of Bolant, and
on the 18th still another near Souain.
In, upper Aisace and IN the Vosges, our
Alpine infantry has assumed a remark
able aseendancy over the enemy. When
they are confronted by the black devils
The Germans do not leave their trenches.
We have taken from them all those that
were impeding US.
In this region. as also in the vicinity
OF st. Mihel, our heavy artillery has
made nearly impossible the vietualling of