Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1915-12-25
WITHDRAWAL FROM SUOtAANp
AND ANZAC HAS BEEN ACCOM-
PIISHED WITH SUCCESS.
GREAT UNDERTAKING FAILS
Forces At Tip Of Peninsula to Remain
Under Protection Of W3rsh'ps.
Bulgars and Greeks Have SkIrm-
ish-Othcr Fronts. Etc.
Latest News From Battle Fronts.

those from which more than lOoooo
troops wcrc announced Monday TO
have been withdrawn arc To b" con
tiuucd The withdrawal was effected
without knowledge of the movement
ON the part of fine Turks, it Is declared.
Thus the long drawnout and costly
efforts Of the French and British
/ forces 10 reduce the pardancll"S forts
and break their way through To con
stantiuople apparently have como to
| an end for although 10 is believed the
! tip OF Gailipou peninsula will continue
| to be- held by the allies, mo- offensive
/ movement of any Importance can now
/ be- made against the Turkish dolcnSes.
| and the opinion is generally held that
the Dardancllcs campaign has virtual
~ been concluded.
Persistent reports of Greco BulEa
rian encounter resulting from a BulGa
rian surprise attack have been cleared
up by the Greek statement that the
encounter took place in Albanian ter
ritory No one was killed and few
were wounded. order was restored
promptly and an amicable inquiry is
proceeding.
II Is announced from Paris that no
enemy detachment has yet crossed
the Greek frontier Meanwhile work
on the defensive lines around Saloniki
is being actively pushed and the
Greek villages in the neighborhOod Of
the lines are being evacuated by the
population.
Greek military circles at London de-
clare they are convinced that the
forces opposing the allies will not at
tempt to cross the frontier. the Bull
garians because they realize the dan
ger of provoking Greece. the Germans
because they realize the tremendous
cost which the enterprise would en-
tail
In the western theater of the war
the British front has been the scene
of heavy bombardments. both sides
using their big guns at long range.
In addition. engagements between air
craft have been feature OF the fight.
ing. no less than forty combats in the
air having taken place on Dec. 20.
two of the German aeropianes being
shot down and others driven off in a
damaged condition, according to the
British report. and one of the British
machines being recorded as missing.
The possible prelude of a strong
German offensive movement in the
western front, where the Germans
are reported to have received large re-
Inducements. occurred early this week
against the British line to the north
east of Ypres. To the accompaniment
of heavy bombardment the Germans
directed clouds of gas against the
British, who. in conjunction with the
French batteries, turned their guns on
the German trenches engaged in the
gas operations
The British official report says that
most of the German infantry were
prevented by the gun fire from leav-
ing their trenches. while other de-
tachments were driven back before
reaching the British line.
On the other war fronts there has
b'Nh btttt ttEHtiHE vi tHtbbftdHtt.
For the present the campaign in the
Balkans. except for the pursuit of the
Serbians in Northern Albania and ac-
tions between the Bulgarians and Mon
tenegrins. is virtually at standstill
The Bulgarians are still standing
guard at the Greek frontier. where
the AnglOFrcnch forces crossed to
make their way back to Saloniki.
Along the AustroItalian front snow
in the mountains and rains are ham
pering the Italians in their operations
against Gorilla. Near Monte San
Michele an Austrian trench which
formed salient in the Italian line
was taken by surprise attack.
Only isolated fighting, in which no
important result was obtained by
either side, has taken place on the
Russian frontier. Artillery lombard
ments of Turkish positions by entente
warships are reported from the Gal
lipoli peninsula.
A second note from the American
government to the Austro- Hungarian
government in connection with the de-
mands for disavowal of the sinking
of the steamship Ancona. punishment
OF the submarine commander and the
payment of an indemnity has been
sent to Vienna. The new note is un.
derstood to be a reiteration of the
original demands and to intimate that
1t is the final word OF the United
States
The German Field Marshal Won der
Goltz is reported at Aleppo forming
an army with which it is purposed to
operate against the Suez canal.
Field Marshal Sir John French has
relinquished command OF the British
forces in France and Belgium to Cen
eral Sir Douglas Haig. In an order
OF the day he predicts victory for the
entente allies arms.