, 1916-02-23

Cholera farm on the enemy salient, a fire Of
destruction which had good resn Is. III up
per Alsace after Il violent artillery prepUlt-
ton, the enemy directed an attack against
our position to the north of Lur1itzou. The
Germans were able to gain i fooihold tor
some time in one of our trenches, but couu-
el-attacks promptly drove them Out.
Petro9rad, Feby. 17th.-(dela, edl The
latest repoEt received here from II Zerum
says tina, the amount of booty, incIu5 n&
provisions aud ammunition captured IN the
city by the Russians, is enormous. The
Turks evidently bad prepared for Il long
struggle, and turned Erzerum into the
main provisioning centre in Asin Vii
nor, In addition the city contained
countless art treasures of all descrp' Gus,
which were bequeathed by the auceut oi-
vilization through which it hnd passed.
The number Of guns taken at K zerum is
now estimale al 200, most of winch were
abandoned i'll the forts on along The roa Is
during the panicky tight Of the tn kian
garrison. The Russian Press believes that
the collapse of the Turkish del, nee in At
meuia will put m end to Germany 5 efforts
to inspire a Mussulman fanatical WI against
Russia, and will tend to turn them against
their German allies. 1t is pointed out also
by the newspapers that the fall of e. zerum
may bring about the collapse of the pro-
posed German campaign against the Nuez
Canal and Egypt. The evacuation of Ire
bi2ond, according to the newspapers, will BE-
one of the immediate results of the Russian
victory. Trebizond is regarded as b ing
no longer tenuble as the turkish Black Sea
base.
Berlin, Feb. 18th--The Berlin newspapers
this morning generally accepted as true he
announcement from PttrogIad of the cap
ture Of E,z erum although it has not been
confirmed from Turkish sources. The "Lokal
"Anzciger" says: The forts of EtzeIum
were old and probably continued no guns
that were not built more than twenty years
ago. 1t is pointed out that the mountainous
district to The west of Erzcrum makes pos
sible effective opposition 10y The Turks to
pursuing Russians. The "Morgeupost" SAYS
the Turks were compelled to yield to great
ly superior forces, 1t speaks oil the loss
OF Erzerum as regretable but not irreparablc,
The "Tageblatt" thinks the political results
may be more important than the military
consequences. It believes the effect on The
military situation viii not be great us the
fortress can serve the Russians for only
unimportant local operations.
London, Feby. 1Sth-Germany, firing of
the struggle which is producing hunger and
widespread disc intent AT home, has mace
Overtures to France for Il separate peace aud
these overtures have been rejected. Fur
thermore, the Government Oh every Allied
country has been approached by Berlin ennis
saries with u view 10 an early cessation Of
hostilities, but with what result is known only
in the case of Belgium whose reply WAS an
unconditional refusal. The offer to France
was made unOfficiaIly within the last fort
night. It was pressed rather more deter
minedly than in the cuses Of the other bel.i-
gerents, but it is said met with ~ success,
The French Government replied unoticIalIy
that it would not conclude Il separate peace
under any circumstances, and that when the
appropriate time arrived to discuss pence
terms France would insist on the restoration
Of Alsace-Lorralne. Germany offered to
withdraw her armies from France and to pay
an indemnity large enough to compensate
France for the damage wrought by the IN
vasion. British foreign officials are agreed
that small military gains by the Teutons will
no longer serve to divert the popular mind
from the financial and economic pains winch
the Central Powers are suffering, and that
unless the people can be encouraged by a
spectacular offensive of materlal advantage
Berlin must openly announce that it wants to
discuss the question of peace. From Paris