The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-16

The German crown princess army hns
 apparently paused to take breath or bring up endorsements for n contfn-
 uance of the advance against the ver- dun fortress and it's outlying defensex
 Meanwhile the big guns are exchanx-
 ing shells at various points along the entire line from Belgium to the yosre.
 mountains.
 The latest assault by the German in- fantry between Bethincourt and Cumieres resulted in the winning of important positions, but by counter attacks the
 French succeeded in retaking a portion
 of the ground and according to the of-
 ficial statement of the French war of- flee, hold Bethincourt, the height of Le
 Mort Homme and the village of Cunaieres
 and the southern boundary of Cunrieres
 wood all positions of great strategic sDas purtance.
 To the east of verdun there had been considerable activity around Vaux and { Damloup, and fighting at close range is still in progress around the eastern slopes of Fort vaux, which for days past has been the object of some of the hardest fighting
 FRENCH CAPTURE TRENCH
 The French have taken German trench south of St. Souplet, which indi- cates that in the Champagne region the contending forces are still endeavoring to take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen their lines.
 Advices from Petrograd describe rs- rarlSable progress in Persia Of the Rus i sian troops, who are moving swiftly over 1 difficult roads and in the face of con- {, siderable opposition towards the Mesopo- tamia frontier, where shortly they ex- l pect to be in touch with the British forces at Kut Fl Annara and the reliev- ! ing column under Generals Lake and ! Aylmer. The Russians are now said to l be within 50 miles of the last difficult pass which will place them In the rear
 of the Turkish Bagdad army, ana tneir object is to cut the railway to the north,
 thereby preventing the Turkish army from receiving supplies. and Cooperate With the British against Bagdad 3
 RUSSIANS TAKE TURKS i Tn their advance against the Turks along the Black sea littoral toward Tre- hizond, the Russians have captured addi-
 tional Turkish officers and men and two
 machine guns. A British column has at- tackled an advanced position of the Turks l in Mesopotania, bayonetted a consider
 able number of the Turks and captured others. ! In the Austro- Italian zone the Italians ere vigorously shelling Austrian positions and here and there throwing their in 1 fantry into the fray. No marked changes ! in the line have occurred, however. l The British have captured the port of 1 Sollum in West Egypt from the Senussi tribesmen, led by Turkish officers, with
 only slight resistance. Afterward they
 pursued the fleeing tribesmen and cap-
 tured officers, men and guns.
 In East Africa the Boer, General Smuts,
 is actively pressing the Germans. who
 are reported to be retiring sournwards [ along the Tanga railway.
 A semi-official dispatch from Berlin ! says an investigation by the German ad- 1 n,iralty has disclosed the fact that no German submarine sank the Norwegian 1 bark Silius on which there were num- ! Ter of Americans, in the Havre roads. 1 During the illness of General Gallieni. ! the French minister of war. his post will
 be filled by Rear Admiral Le Case. min | ister of marine