Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-11-08
WARSEND Still
FARINDISTANCE,
SOLDIER thinks
by Associated Pressl

/ LONDON, Eng.-s'You will have to
4 ask Germany. ..=: -. -.
4 This v as the answer Of distin-
cuished English officer recently back
I from the front when the familiar que.
! ~ was put 70 him: When will the
1 war end: HI. 49," ......
4 we know what We can give them,
! lie ccntiEued, but Ne do not know as
+ yet just how much they are preQared
Ito stand, or are willing to stand. in
( the meantime We will increase the
| pressure more and more until the
/ break comes - .-...- r..
1 With the turning of the tide on the
4 western battlefields there was natur-
ally disposition here TO feel that hos
( Titles soon would be over. The Off
/ GERS and men of the army do not share
/ these views however, and are con-
stantly cautioI!ng the people at home
I a gainst the idea that the issue viii be
settled within the next few months.
From conversations with scores of
officers familiar with the situation at
the trent Il can be stated that they do
not expect the war to end at the ear
j., Hest before next autumn. Thee are
many who believe there are two more
i years Of fighting before the Allied ma
+, tions ~ .a:'. 49, ..."...a-~
"%ye have a long way to 60. said
i Gen. Sir William Robertson, Kitchen
1 er,s. successor, a few days ago. And
I We must be ready TO go all the way,
! be added Fight to finish is the
order. There must be no slaekening
off. On the contrary. there must be a
| great tightening up"
More Predicts Definitely
No good soldier will make a defi-
mite prediction as to the end of the
war. -: =. ."a" .:.:. .>
| I'VE must be prepared to go on for
period of time which it is impossible
! TO estimate. said Sir William. And
! that. expresses the opinion of the
army. There may be various infiu-
! ences at work which they know moth
ing of there is the constant talk
heard here of internal troubles in Ger
many, but the army officer only '.looks
at the map" He still sees a long
read ahead before the victory he has
in mind can become a reality. The
military defeat of Germany, and that
| is the only defeat the army looks for
ward to. means an invasion of the Ger
man Empire Gen. Sir O'Moore
] Creagh, the distinguished Irish "
/ c." has said =...-.
The Indian LancerS may never ride
through the Brandenburg gates, but
! the end of the war will not come un.
| til it is possible for them to do SO.
Things are going so we'll at the west
ern front that it is difficult even for
any words of warning TO dull the
spirit of citation in London With
Germany on the defensive it is felt
! here that the enemy is no longer
! fighting to retain all he seized in the
| first great onslaught Of the war, but
/ is rather struggling to hold as much
as possible until peace shall come.
| There is the predicted shortening of
+ the western line" which Londoners
confidently look for from day to day.
Says Germany Tightly Held
On the othe. hand, is the statement
of Gen Foch the French commander,
who declares the Germans are so
! tightly held in the west it is impos-
/ sible for them either to advance or
| to retreat in any great number.
I'VE are on them: he says, like a
corrosive acid. We have eaten into
their flanks and they can't throw US
off. You cannot always see acid at
work but the disintegrating process
is going on all the time
The artillery of the Allies en- the
Somme, where the great armies of the
belligerents are massed, commands
such an overwhelming influence as
! to prevent a retreat, it is said. The
Smelling behind the German lines is
| Just as intense as it is in front. The
expenditure of English and French
shells has frankly amazed the Ger
| mans, the military critics here all
agree, and the artillery activity has
brought about a distinct new phase
in the fighting. 1t has driven the
once closely locked trenches further
and further apart 1t has solved the
problem of dealing with dug in
enemy. 1t has been discovered that
the way to successfully take trench
is to obliterate it, to fiatten it out
with shell-fire. Recent allied advances
have been bought with ammunition
rather than with blood. This has led
Georg Cheri, the German critic, to
write in the Berlinger Tageblatt:
German Fling at Infantry
Every German killed costs a for
tuEe to the. French. The enemy is
devoting all of his attention to artil-
lery The whole concentrated expe-
rience of two years finds expression
in shells and more shells. His infan-
| try is used only to test the bridge
made by Shells to the German trench.
es. Infantry fighting is no longer man
against man The trench is only
rushed by infantry when it has been
blown to dust. 1t is a confession by
| the enemy that his infantry is of
poor quality"
This fling ar the infantry, accord
ing to British officers, is merely put
in to cover UP the real tribute to the
artillery of the Allies The military