Evening star., 1915-11-14
$4,000 Serbians Held
Prisoners by Invaders,
According to Germans

BERLIN, November IL, by wireless
to Sayville. \. Y.-The following state
ment regarding the situation in Serbia
was given out today by the Overseas
News Agency:
Dispatches from the Serbian front
give impressive description of the
breakdown of the Serbian military or
ganization. During the recent Austro-
Hungarian- German Bulgarian advance
more than $4,000 Serbians were taken
prisoner There were 10000 Serbans
already in Austro Hungary hands. The
Serbian army on a war footing num-
bered only 100000.
The army further lost AIS cannon,
while it possessed only 5l4 cannon.
Thus virtually all the artillery has
been lost.
200 Cannon Captured.
Among the captured cannon are
heavy French fortress and English ma
val guns, French field howitzers and
some krupp cannon which had been
taken from the Turks in the Balkan
war. The number of British and
French cannon captured is 200.
The victors. further, captured enor-
nous numbers of rifles, machine guns,
mine throwerS and searchHghts. as
-
clothing and several thousand railroad
cars and locomotives.
King Peter, fleeing in 4 dilapidated
automobile which stuck in the mud in
an impracticable road, continued his
fight in a country wagon, followed by
the crown prince and the members of
the general staff.
Decentralization Claimed.
The Serbian army is getting more
and more demoralized. Some regi-
ments mutinied and shot their own Of
fcers, others have disbanded, taken to
the mountains and opened guerrilla
warfare. Wounded prisoners for the
most part were left to their fate and
tended only by few Danish and
Serbian nurses and Serbian surgeons.
The desperate condition of Serbia is
indicated by the Corriere Della Sera
CRome), which describes the formation
of the battalion of death, comprising
women only. in which already $50
women are enrolled"
Papers More Deeply Impressed.
The American note to Great Britain
continues to occupy the attention of
the press Some of the newspapers
give evidence of being more deeply i'm
pressed by the document than in their
earlier discussions of ii. Thus. the
koelnische VoIks Zeitung, in second
editorial, says:
The note is an effective and eX-
haustive piece of work which does jus
tice to the Importance of the matter
in hand with scientific profundlty and
compelling diplomacy. 1t will occupy
a prominent place in the history oil in
ternational law.
Whatever may be the practical po-
liticaI effect doubts regarding Amer
iylTa
No American statesman would compro-
mise his nation with such a piece of
double dealing.
Sees Possible Cooperation.
IN the struggle for the freedom of
the seas, America and Germany can CO.
operate to great extent and it de-
volyes upon all neutral states to sup
port Americas action. They dare not
let this opportunity pass, lest civiliza-
tion in the world at large suffer"
The Frankfurter Zeitung also prints
a second editorial sa wing that the jur-
lists of the State Department without
doubt intended to draft u document
which would not only give expression
to the complaints of their own coun-
try but. beyond that, constitute ba-
sis for the regulation of maritime law
in the future. Referring 10 the clos
ing passage of the note and President
Wilson's expressed determination to
struggle to make international law the
basis of Intercourse between nations,
the newspaper says.
One would think that when Presi-
dent Wilson solemnly undertakes such
q duty II must mean more than a mere
gesture intended to satisfy those who
demand real neutrality and non-par-
tisanship from America The President
cannot recedS from the honorable role
which he has assumed OF protector of
the rights of neutrals without dero-
nf his country"