The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-04
|C0NFIRMATION COMES
 OF. GREAT LOSSES OF
 RUSSIAN GALICIA

Austrian German Victory Is
 Complete Along Battle
 front Extending 24 Miles
 Great Quantity of Stores
 Taken and Many Prison
 CTS Captured.
 Political Value of Victory is
 Considered of First Mag
 nitude in View of Critical
 Stage of Negotiations
 Between Austria And
 Italy.
 Berlin, May 4.@The Russians lost 24 800 prisoners to the Ger mans and the Austrfans in the recent heavy fighting in west ern Galicia, according to an of f1cial statement given out in Berlin to-day.
 This is the engagement in which the Germans and the Austrians claim a notable vic tory. In addition to the men captured, the Teutonie allies took 16 pieces of artillery, 47 machine guns and a large quantity of war material.
 The Germans yesterday took five positions in Flanders where the fighting has been hot for many months past.
 The same announcement sets forth that in the German inva- sion of the Baltic provinces of Russia the Germans have cap tured more than 4,OoO retreat ing Russians.
 Vienna, May 4.-War bulletins is- sued by the Austrian and German ar my headquarters and posted in vien- ] na, yeste4da5 and to79ay. 9rine news 2 of the Austrian-German victory over the Russians in western GaIicia I A large Austro-Gernan army has been steadily concentrating before
 
 ing the hour of making a new offen- sive movement f5ssavs5t | Newspaper ecoFFespOnden ents were | permitted to telegraph, that a new of fensive on the Russian front was in preparation and even to intimate that the blow would fall neither in -the Mazurian Lake region nor in the Car pathians. Closer Indications, of course, were out of the question.
 Final plans for this movement were rr1 T,., ,l,7 ro- lin April 23 between General Won F'alkenhayn, chief of the German staff, and Field Marshal Conrad Won Hoetzenderf, chief of the Austrian staff.
 Il A significant feature of the reports of the victory is the reference to the piercing of the front of the Russian army. The Russian commanders up l to the present time usually have been able to avoid a breach in their line by falling back before the line broke.
 The political value of this victory of the. first magnitude is regarded here as quite as great as the military It comes in the midst of the Austro- Italian negotiations and on the eve of the meeting of the Italian parliament and it coincides with the announce ment of new Austro-Hungaria loanss the success of which would be mater iaIIy affected by a victory ct this time.
 A correspondent of the Nieue Freire Presse of Vienna at the theatre of the war has sent in the following despatch concerning the battle of Sunday in west Galicia:
 '.The Austro-FIungaF1a offensive succeeded with Surprising rapidfty The Russians occupied naturally strong positions on the Dunajec and the BialIa, which had been strengthen ed with every imaginable method Of Notifications. They felt themselves absolutely secure After a searching artillery preparation, exceeding in in tensity anything which has occurred on the northeastern front, the Aus trians and Hungarians advanced Sun day on the southern wing. They stormed at with first attempt the Rus sian positions along front of more than 40 Kilometres CA miles) stretch ing from the Biala river through Cor I1fce far into the Carpathian Noun tains. Their assault was so fierce that the Russian line broke immediately. Many thousands of prisoners were ta- ken as well as an inestimab1e Quan- tity of equipment, supplies, cannon and machine guns.
 ''At the same time on the north ern wing another successful advance was carried out,'' the correspondent continues. At this point Austrian and Hungarian troops crossed the Dunajec in spite of terrific opposition stormed the Russian positions ans , took over 1000 prisoners.
 .tOther brilliant successes also are reported from the Carpathians,' London Newspapers
 T