New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-28
500 Yards Held at Vimy
and Melville, Despite
Counter Attacks.
ALLIED ARTILLERY
AGAIN SHELLS LENS
British, by Enemy Count, Fire
LOO Shrapncl and 700 High
Explosive Bombs in a Day.

London. Jan. 27.-Activc fighting on
the entire western front has followed
favorable turn in the weather Along
nearly the whole line the roar of ar
tillery is heard. but the heaviest fight
ing has been in the vicinity of Nicu-
port, TO .he north of Ypres, and in
the Argonne.
German reports are to the effect that
patrolling parties took back word that
artillery had done effective work
against trenches of the Allies near
Nieuport The British artillery. it was
admitted, was hardly less active" than
that OF the Germans. On one section
of the front. according TO this report
the British fired LOO shrapnel shells.
zoo high explosive shells and about the
same number of bombs within period
of twenty-four hours.
In another section near Melville the
Germans announce the capture of three
successive lines of French trenches
and the retention of these against
eight counter-attacks. 1t is aniImea
that these trenches are still in German
hands, although the fighting for pos
session of them has assumed the char
actcr of hand-to-hand encounters. The
Germans also claim good progress to
the south of Arras, through the work
of the sappers and miners.
Coast Positions Shclled.
To-day's official German report is as
follows:
The enemy's artillery shelled Ger
., ~
the sea coast. At the same time hos
tile monitors shelled the Westende
(Belgium) district. Both attacks were
without effect
After exploding mines, the Germans
made an attack on both sides of the
road between Nimy and Neuville and
and 800 yards long. They captured
one officer. fifty-two men. one machine
gun and three mine-throwers. Counter
attacks made by the enemy against
these positions and other trenches
AIKEN by the Germans during the last
few days resulted in spirited fights
with hand grenades. but were without
success for the enemy.
THE city of Lens was shelled heav-
lily by the enemy"
French Retake Craters.
The French War Office report is as
follows:
in the Artois district last night
there was spirited cannonading in the
sector of Melville st. Vast In the vi
entity Of the road from Melville TO La
Folie we continued to reoccupy pro-
gressively the listening posts and GRAFT
ers in which the enemy had obtained a
footing. We found there numerous
bodies of Germans and one machine gun.
We also took several prisoners.
an the Argonne district we caused
the explosion successfully of two mines,
one near La Haute Chevauchee, and the
other in the vicinity of Vauquois."
a later French statement says:
During the course of the day there
was considerable activity by our ar
tillery on the whole front. In Belgium
a destructive fire directed against the
German trenches situated in front oil
Boesinghe and between Steenstraete
and Het has caused serious damage TO
our adversary.
Counter-Attack Fails.
an Artois, 10 the east of NeuvilleSt.
Vast, the enemy attempted by coun-
ter-attack TO retake the craters from
which we drove him in the course of
the night, but was completely repulsed.
To the north of the Aisne our trench
guns shattered the enemy organizations
at La Ville-auBois.
an the Argonne mine fighting con-
tinued TO our advantage. Between Hill
2s5 and La Haute Chevauchee we ex-
ploded two mines. The enemy suffered
serious losses in the struggle which
followed for the capture of the crater,
one of the rims of which we hold.
zone of our long-range guns took
under its fire an enemy convoy which
had entered Mangiennes, to the north
west of Etain."
The following official communication
was issued by the British War Once
tonight:
Early this morning we exploded a
mine opposite Givenchy. Organized
bombardments have been carried out
on several portions of the hostile line.
The hostile artillery has been active to-
day east and northeast of Loos, south
of the Bots Grenier, northeast of Ar
mentieres and northeast of Ypres. Our
artillery retaliated successfully on the
hostile batteries and trenches"