The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-10-07
Battle GOES ON
NEARING end OF Third WEEK
WITHOUT A DECISION
ALLIES CLAIM ADVANCES

ALLIES CLAIM ADVANCES
Terrible Hand to Hand Encounters
Have Been Brought about by At
tempt Of Both Armies to Outfank
the Enemy at the Same Time Over
the Same Ground-Losses Heavy.
The battle OF the Aisne, now near
ing the end of it's third week, soon
will outstrip in respect to time the
contest fought at Mukden nearly ten
years ago, but still no decisive result
has been achieved
The French official communication
issued late Wednesday, CONDENSED
into about thirty words, was one OF
the shortest given to the public since
the war began. 1t records that pro-
gress has been made by both right
and left wings of the allied armies,
but gives no details or the extent OF
the progress between the lines.
Military experts believe the great
claws, as they have been described,
continue to open to clutch at the
eutspread wings of the German army,
particularly the right, which forms
the upright portion of the L, and now
has its back to the east fighting with
desperation to prevent the French
left from encircIing or smashing 1t
along most of the front, estimated at
one hundred and eighty miles IN
length.
The artillery has played by far the
most important part in tho struggle,
but on the German right lighter guns,
cavalry and infantry are doing most
OF the fighting with stubboSnness
and disregard of life that people so
often have said IN recent years mod
e,n soldiers never would display.
There have been unprecedented ar
tillery duels between the Rivers Disc
and Aisne and between the Disc and
the Somme, followed by cavalry and
infantry charges, in which first one
and then the other side would gain
or be compelled to give ground:
8 Still they have held on the Ger
man wing being extended farther
porthward as the French made an
other move to work around 1t. With
an unlimited supply of troops this
might go on for an indefinite period
but with the forces at the disposal OF
the two stages the operation soon
must come to an end.
The German official account says
the Germans have defeated the
French north and south Of Albert.
This doubtless refers to an engage
ment in which the French admit they
suffered temporary reverse. but
later regained the ground. This bat
tie is described in another column
under head ..Rold Their Lines.
Wednesday night the French report
that further progress had been made
indicates that they have penetrated
north Of Albert.
Along the extended front on the
Disc to the Meuse, except the fighting
mentioned on the wings, nothing has
happened that the French staf con-
siders worthy of mention. It can not
be that the troops in these positions
are entirely idle. 1t is known that
an artillery duel is going on CON
tinuously, but probably neither side
has moved forward, while the infan-
try has been constantly on the alert
to meet attacks and counter attacks.
For a time the Germans had the
better of the artillery fighting, as
they possessed the bigger guns. This
situation now is said to have~been
overcome, for the French have
brought up additional artillery, in
cluding some big naval guns, which
are credited with being able to out
range the German guns by seven
hundred yards, and which are being
used to drive the Germans out OF
their strongly fortified positions.
Both sides appear confident. The
Germans, bringing up reinforcements
to meet the attempts to outfank
them, are in what appear to be al
most impregnable positions and are
fighting sternly.
The Allies, on the other hand,
place their hopes in the arrival OF re-
Inducements on their left and the
possibility of: finding weak spot IN
the German front. The Indian troops
should now be With the British army,
the Official bureau having permitted
the publication o. he fact that they
landed in France last Friday.
The recent terrible hand to hand
conflicts on the western and eastern
wings, arose from the attempts Of
the Germans and the allied generals
to execute fianking movements in
great force at the same time in the
open country. The lines of the armies
have been growing even longer in
the last ten days in a mutual en-
dea7or to overlap each other.
The wings have been heavily rein
forced, but the allies have been able
to bring greater power to bear and
not only have prevented the Ger
mans from breaking through. but
have gained ground steadily and now
have the advantage.
German prisoners taken in large
numbers on the western end of the
line show that reinforcements which
have arrived recently consist largely
of men nearing middle age. This
seems to indicate that many corps
have been withdrawn to meet the
Russian advance.
The German practice of maintain
ing an incessant offensive appears,
according to military men, to be
wearing out their human material.
Some Of their corps have been almost
wiped out. Fighting has been un-
ceasing previously un-
known in military history-and be-
fore this fight started many German
regiments had fought all the way