Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-08-28
RUSSIAN ARMY
STILL RETREATS
Germans Have Pushed Foe
Back Into Their Own
Territory at Last
Y,x7ArurATON Of RIG
tEVACUATION OF BIG
FORTRESS SUCCESS
London Doubts Accuracy OF
Story Concerning Turk
Bulgar Agreement

USrIin, aug. 'HS H~"
fortress Of Ollta on the Niemen
river, thirty miles south Of kovno,
has been evacuated. Official an
nouncement to this effect was
made here today.
In all the wide sweep Of Russian
territory south of the Baltic prov
lnces which has been covered dur
Ing the great Austro-Gerrnan Of
fensive movement, the fortress OF
Grodno is now the only strongly
defended position remaining In
the hands Of the Russians. OIita
was on the principal Russian line
of defense, midway between
I<ovno, already In the hands Of the
Germans, and Grodno. It is about
fifty miles southwest of the i'm
portant railroad center of wilma,
which is on the direct trunk line
to Petroarad.
OIita is the ninth important
fortress to fall before the invaders
In the last three weeks.
London, Aug. 27.-The Russians ap
parently have decided to evacuate
Grodno, the one important stronghold
on their principal line of defense
which they still retain. A message
from Petrograd to Reuters Telegram
Co. quotes the Russky Invalid as stat
ing that Grodno will be given up when
the retreat of the defenders has been
covered.
The message indicates that the fall
of Brest, ,Litovsk, announced in Ber
lin yesterday, was not known publicly
in Petrograd at / o'clock this after
noon, the time of the fling of. the
message.
Advance Continues.
London, Aug. 27.-The Austro- Ger
man invaders have not only pressed
their opponents into old Russia, be-
yond the political borders of ancient
Poland but have penetrated well be.
yond the district of Russia proper in
habited by the Poles. This enormous
advance has now reached state in
which the troops of Emperor Nicholas
are fighting for existence on the soil
of White Russia, which, for the first
time during this war Is feeling the
enects of invasion.
The main object of the German at
tack around Brest-Litovsk for num-
Der of days has been the railroad run
ming eastward from the fortress to.
ward Moscow This line, with a
branch running in a southeasterly d1-
rection, provided the means for Rus
sian evacuation Of the fortress. The
Austri- German advance against this
railroad has been so slow that it is
believed here the evacuation was ac-
complished successfully before the
fortress surrendered.
Serbias reply to the note OF the
uuadruple entente, which has not been
made public, although reported to have
been delivered, evidently is awaited by
the other Balkan states before they
take further action. Doubts are now
being cast on the accuracy Of the re-
port, which was accepted yesterday,
that a Turco-Bulgarian agreement had
been signed.
With $4,000 miners out in South
Wales, England again faces the posi-
bility of coal crisis.
Although the admiralty thus far has
not issued a report on the recent
bonn bardment of Zeebrugge, on the
Belgian coast, additional details of the
damage inflicted continue to reach
London. The latest dispatch states
that the harbor defenses were damag-
ed seriously and several submarines
were destroyed.
Transference of considerable bodies
of German troops from the eastern to
the western front is reported in press
dispatches.