New-York tribune., 1916-05-28

be brought up by rail has caused tho
present lull And the fact that in ad
6ition TO the main railway to the grea'
Metz base the Germans have some
twenty-five light field railways servinl
the Nerdun front, gives some idea OF
the enormous scale on which the as
ssult has been conducted.
Sharp Fighting in Champagne.
The official French communication to-
night reads;
South Of the Somme the concentrat-
ed fire Of our batteries destroyed sew
ersl shelters Of the enemy and damaged
his trenches.
'1n Champagne both artillery forces
were very active in the sectors OF Nllle'
Sur-Tourbe. Tahure and Navarin. About
6 o'clock in the evening the Germans
directed an attack against our posi-
tions 20 the west Of the road from
Navarin and gained footing IN several
small posts Of our advanced line. from
which our counter attacks drove them
out completely.
"On the left bank OF the Meuse there
was lighting with artillery and trench
guns in the Avocourt Wood and IN the
sector Of Hill 304. 10 the southwest
Of lie Mort Homme we captured several
sections Of trenches and made about
fifty prisoners.
"The number of prisoners captured
in the course Of our attack on CumiereS
has reached about 100. Two machine
guns remained in our hands.
ION .hc right bank the bombardment
has been maintained with intensity IN
the region Of Observation-Disclosures.
In the underground passageways to
the northwest OF the Thiaumont farm
we made appreciable progress IN the
course OF the day
French Retske Cumieres.
The early French statement said;
con the left bank of the Meuse our
troops yesterday evening attacked the
village of Cumieres and the German
positions to the west. After ferocious
struggle we penetrated the eastern part
of the village and occupied several Ger
man trenches to the northwest oi
Cumieres. A violent counter attack by
the enemy did not result in dislodgng
US from the occupied positions.
"To the east Of Hill, 3O4 french
forces. using hand grenades, made
some progress during the course OF the
night. -. -
second German attack upon our
trenches in the vicinity of Fort Douau-
mont was delivered with energy yes
terdav afternoon at o'clock. THIS
movement was completely repulsed.
The German official statement says:
"North of La Bassee Canal one OF our
patrols penetrated an enemy position
near Festhubert. where some prisoners
were taken, the patrol returning with
out loss.
IN the Argonne there have been
lively mining operations. during whlch
enemy trenches were destroyed over
great width. The French suffered nu,
merous losses in dead and wounded, ana
also some prisoners were taken.
"On the left bank of the Meuse lNer-
dun front the French succeeded tenn
porarily in penetrating the southern
part Of the village OF Cumieres during
stubborn midnight attacks. In clear
ing them out we took siXty-three prls-
oners.
"On the right bank of the Meuse we
succeeded in advancing as far as the
heights in the region southwest OF
Thi;umont Wood. A French attack
arairst our advance was stopped al
the very outset by our artillery.
1.-TWO enemy attacks against our
newly captured positions south OF
Fort Douaumont completely failed In
engagements southwest of this fort
me Nav % we have taken prisoner
for,yeeieht officers and 1,943 men,