Evening star., 1916-01-07
VIENNA REPORTS LESS
VIOLENT ASSAULTS
Cars Present Position. Even
Though No More Gains Are Made,
Is Deemed Important.
sLAvs ACTIVE TO NoRTHWARD
Austrians Declared to Be Hard
Pressed. and Are Throwing
Reinforcements Into
Great Battle.

LONDON. January 7.-Ac-
cording to official advices from
Vienna, the fighting on the east
ern front has decreased in vio-
lence, the Russians having ceased
to attack with vigor between the
Prepet and the Bessarabian IRON
tier.
1t is believed that even though
no further gain should be made,
Russias s forces have attained a
position which will give the ma
'tion degree OF power in Balkan
affairs it has not had since its
armies were driven back from the
Carpathians.
Germans May Be Forced Back.
1t appears not improbable. according
TO acvices from the front, that the
Austro-German forces at the southern
forced back to the line running through
kolomea. Stanislaw and Galich in the
near future as the result of the steady,
continuous advance of the Russians be-
tween the upper reaches of the River
Stripa and the Rumanian frontier, Pc
rrograd advices say
notwithstanding the fact that the
Austrians are lighting courageousIy
the Russians. it is declared, have sue
tvNr II ysptr h eft
around Czernowitz that were recently
described in the German press as i'm
pregnaOle. Having cut the railway line
from ZalescZayki to Czernowitz, the
Russians are threatening communica-
uon between Czernowitz and kolomea.
Offensive Extends Northward.,
The zone of the Russian offensive is
extending northward, bringing into ac-
tion the left flank of the central front
From Olitza they have pushed out on
the railway line twenty-five miles to
kevertzi and are reported advancing
along the roads in the direction of and
close TO Lutsk, and also between Pod
cherevitchi and Kostuhova, three miles
north of the kovel- -Sarny railway west
OF the river Styr. These positions are
regarded especially advantageous
being fianked on the right by the Pinsk
marshes. precluding a serious menace
from that direction.
Austrians Hard Pressed.
Although the situation around Ger
nowitz has not yet been cleared up Of
fcially, it appears from advices from
Russian sources that the Austrians are
hard pressed over a long line of de-
feEse and are throwing huge reinforce
ments into the district. The Russians
here are expected to strike at the kolo-
mea Sta nislau HaIicz line. where pow
erful defensive works have been in
preparation for some time by the Aus
tro-Germans.
Meanwhile the Russian position $50
miles further north On the middle Styr
river has been greatly strengthened by
successful operations in the region of
the great marshes where the Russians
are beginning 10 emerge from the
marshes with prospects OF being able
TO use the roads leading either north
west. west or southwest Their ad-
vance here has not been the result of
an isolated battle, but of d series OF en-
gagements lasting over a considerable
period. In the capitals Of the entente
allies the opinion is expressed that the
Russian advance has completely upset
the plans of the central powers for an
inNdSlOH Ol SdlOUiki ana t-SSDl.
Ferocious Fighting Reported
PARIS. January Fighting on the
b Russian frontier is fast growing in in :
tensity and assuming great ferocfty.
says the Petrograd correspondent OF
the Havas agency in a dispatch filed
Wednesday. Dispatches from kiev de-
clare that the noise of cannon can be
hsa rA al az
miles. and that windows In all the viii
lases in this region have been broken
by the conclusions. The battle is rag
ing with particular fury on the Tarno-
pol l-Trembowia front where more than
100000 men. with $500 cannon. are
1ncessantly engaged. Long Austro-Ger
man Red Cross trains are leaving this
front daily Tor more remote and thinly
populated towns. where hospitaIs have
been organized.
Consequences Shown.
Wounded Russian officers report tina,
consequences of this battle already are
being shown in certain sectors by the
blowing in OF first-line German
trenches and the slow but irresistible
progress of Russian forces
The same officers tell Of enormous
difficulties the Russians have had Ia
surmount on this front, where entagIe.
ments of barbed wire are often laid
twenty-four deep and charged witt
powerful electric currents supplied
from stations especially erected.
Czernowitz Evacuation Denied.
BERLIN. January IA denial oi
news agency dispatches from Petro-
grad reporting that the Austro-Hun.
garians had evacuated Cznernowitz AM
of the Russian official claim to advances
Anear that city is made by the officia
press bureau in Vienna. the Overseas
News Agency announced today. Its
abatement says: