Arizona republican., 1914-11-29
Official Statement From Pe- trograd Admits Germans Are Retreating, But Are Offering Desperate Resis- tance; Battle Still On.
GRAND DUKE SAYS
 PROGRESS IS MADE
Commander-in-Chief of Rus sian Forces Will Permit Himself to Say But Little of Status of Battle of Lodz Now in Progress.
ASSOCIATED PRESS DIsPArcHl


 LONDON, Sunday Nov 29-Reu- ter's Petrograd correspondent sends an official statement which warns the public to observe caution in ac- cepting rumors of the crushing Rus san victory The statement saN 8 the retreating Germans are offering desperate resistance and that the battle is not yet finished.
 We have succeeded in making progress at certain points is all that Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian Commanderin- chief. would permit himself to say of the battle of Lodz, in which. according to unofficial pul usually reliable sources, the Russians gained a great victory over the Ger man armies which made the third attempt since the war to advance to Warsaw.
 This brief statement coupled With previous reports is interpreted to mean that if the Germans are not all ready defeated. at least the Russians have drawn a cordOn around them from which they will find difficulty in escaping. Petrograd correspon- dents, quoting the highest military authorities, report this cOrdon is gradually tightening and that the Russian guns are spreading death among the armies caught in their grip. They declare the only hone for the Germans, reported to number 150,000. lies in rescue by two German q tA of -h,a are now seeking to break through the Russian lines which they are at tacking at Lenezyoa northwest of Lodz. That the Germans have not abandoned hope is shown by a Der lin official account, which says the Germans have recommended their a.- tacks and that fighting continues. General von Hindenburg, who has just been made field marshal by the kaiser. says the Russian offensive has been brought to a standstill
 Further south and west of Novo Radomske. the Germans also claim to have repulsed the Russians, wniI , for the armies advancing to besiege Cracow. the Russian headquarters announces "a decisive success"
 In the last few days fighting in this region the Russians are official ly reported to have captured 15.OG0 prisoners. forty cannon. twenty ma chine guns, and some general staff officers.
 In the west the allies are still waiting for the long promised new attack by the Germans
 Reports continue of large German forces moving westward with boats and bridge building materials. Paris announces the German cruiser Her tha sunk near Libauo. There arc also rumors that the German battle ship Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse was torpedoed in the Baltic Sea. Both reports lack confirmation
 The British admiralty believes it has solved the mystery of the mine sowing off the north coast of Ire land. The British ships arrested two trawlers, Norwegian and Danish yes sells, which made their headquarters at Fleetwood on the English coast of the Irish sea. They are charged with laying the mines so disastrous 70 British and neutral shipping. It long has been suspected that the mines were sowed by vessels flying neutral flags. but none believd thy made 2 British port thei headquarters.
 It is believed in London the next attempt of the Germans to get through to the French coast will be made or the South Franco Belgian border perhaps in the vicinity of Arras. This vicinity. it is consider ed will serve the purpose of the Germans as well as some point far ther north, 1t being argued that should the allies line be broken here they will have to abondon their po- sitions in Flanders In addition. with boats or without boats, it is thought that the inundated territory would prove an obstacle to the German ad