Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-22

Atl AAAit VI Ia A4NnNVujg MMAy ISr-@
Before eYacuatlng Windau the
Russians applied the torch to the
city and the harbOr works, accord
ing to adyiCes received at Libau.
The greater part OF the city Is said
TO have been destroyed. The Rus
sian troops also are reported 10
have fired villages and farm houses
In other parts of COurland, in ac-
cordance with the provisions of a
recently published army order.
Washington, July 22-The Ameri-
can consul at Warsaw cabled the state
department today that the Belgian CON
sui had left Warsaw and that the
American consulate had taken charge
Of the affairs of both Belgium and
Serbia there.
London. July 22-WhiIe prayers for
victory we're being said today through
out Russia. the Austrians and Ger
mans continued their drive at War
saw from the north, the west and the
south. Meanwhile they were reach
ing further north towards Riga, on the
Baltic, from which their advance guard
is no more than twenty miles distant.
The tone of dispatches from Petro-
grad bespeaks plainly thar tns country
is aware Of the gravensss of the mill
tary situation, involving not only the
fate of the Polish capital, but the in
tegrity Of the Russian army ia Poland,
the northern and southern sections OF
which might be cut in twain by a deci-
sive defeat along the Lublin-Chelm
railway 1t is along this sector that
the Russians are now lighting most
desperately. for this railway Is the
sole great artery of communication of
Poland with southern Russia. sweep
ing away from Lublin and Shelm to-
wards Odessa. Having several times
been reported within five miles OF the
railroad and now, according to Aus
trian claims. having pierced the Rus
sian front. this section Of the Teutonic
forces should be within rife shot of the
railway, but no claim has been made
Of having seized it.
Burn Bridges In Retreat
Northwest Of Lublin. however. the
Teutonic forces have pushed forward
TO the bridge head positions south OF
IvanRorod and thence northward.
Around the circle which is tightening
on Warsaw they have made steady pro-
gress. though meeting with serious op-
position along the Narew river, north
west Of the capital Elsewhere. gener-
ally speaking, the Russians are falling
back, employing the tactics with which
they harassed Napoleon in 1872. That
is. they are not only burning all
bridges and destroying roads. but are
laying waste the countryside with FIRE
and dynamite, removing such provi-
stons as they can destroying such as
they cannot take away, driving cattle
and other live stock before them and
leaving for the invader ruined and
desolate waste.
All Ccurland has been laid waste
and Windau, in flames, sent up a glow
visible many miles away
The British public is following with
keen anxiety the campaign in the east,
hoping that Grand Duke Nicholas may
stem the Austro-German tide or at
least extricate his armies and con-
tinue in further retreat, the cohesion
he has been able to maintain thus far.
Eliminating the stroke against Riga,
the operations in Poland occupy a
front Of roughly 500 miles, deyisible In
to three principal areas: the first.
along the Narew, north and west of
Warsaw; the second, the center on the
Vistula between Warsaw and Ivan
gorod; the third, In the vicinity Of Lub-
lin, where the Austrians and Germans
are fighting for the railway. The sit
uatlon, as the British press sees It, is
critical, and the papers editorially re-
mind Russia that as she checked the
Germans at the gates of Warsaw last
fall and drove them back when within
II miles Of LubIin. so she should now
hold them
Coincident with dispatches from
Russia saying the spirit of the army
is unbroken and the belief in ultimate
victory is strong, comes the report that
the feeling Is growing that Russia Is
doing more than her share in the war,
bearing at present almost the entire
burden. These complaints, according
to special correspondents, are not con-
fined TO the rank and file Russian
newspapers contrast the colossal bat
tie In which their nation is engaged
with the comparative inaction along
the western 'front.'