The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-09-15
Great Steel Pinchers Of French
and British Armies Swiftly
Closing On Picardy Town Ger
mans Have Turned To Fortress
GENERAL FoCH'S TROOPS
CAPTURE LIE PRICK FARM
Beat Back Attacks Launched BY
Crown Prince Of Bavaria In
Effort To Regain Highway Be-
tween Peronne and Bathune

NASSoclated Press BY Federal WirelesB.)
n ARIS, September 15.-Combles
the little French city which the
Germans have turned into a yer,
liable fortress with machine guns and
big guns, is now between the jaws of
the British and French nippers, and is
fanked on the east and west by the
armies of the Allies which are closing
in tighter and tigher.
Yesterday the British drove forward
slightly in the sector to the north of
Ginchy, bringing their line more nearly
north and south and increasing the
British menace to Combles.
While the men under General Haip
were making that drive the French
under the command of General Foch
were assnulting the farm of lie Prick,
which lies 70 the southeast of the
fortress and about mile distant.
Garry Farm By Assault
The French have a, lbeen. making
steady gairs m this Vicinity for several
days and yesterday they launched an
attack which carried the farm, with
the outbuildihgs by storm. The Ger
mans had turned the place into a
small fort with trench mortars. ma
chine guns and vast stores of 2and
grenades. In spite of this they were
not able to check the French assault,
and abandoned the position after some
hand to hand fighting.
This not only brings the ends of the
pilnchers that are nipping CombIes
closer together but gives the French
advantage OF ground in other ways, the
farm standing on a slight elevation
that commands the country around
about for some distance. Incidentally
1T also broadens the French control Of
the important PerOnne- Bapaume. Be
thune road, cut by the French when
th"y took Bouchavesncs several davs
ago.
THe Importance of this road to tho
Germans in the Roye salient, to the
south, can be gathered from the des
Perate efforts they made yesterday to
recapture the positions around Boucha
Vesnes. Nainly they battered all day
yesterday against the newly won
french positions. Again and agair
they launched attacks against the nose
or the salient the Frcnc. lave driven
into their fanks there, only to be
thrown back by the French artillery
fire and infantry.
Talk Of Retirement
For some days back there has bcpn
talk Of general German retirement
from the ROye sectors, which lie to the
south of Chaulncs, and this has been
revived since the fall of Bouchavesnes
into French hands, for, although the
Roye salient is not dependent upon tho
PerOnne Bethune road for suDn;Ics. il
was one of the main transport routes
fn IN
upon which the Germans have been
relying for months. The problem. Of
supplying the southern salient becomes
vastly more difficult and uncertain with
that main highway in the hands of tho
French.
South Of the Somme there was the
customary artillery fire during the day,
save in the region south OF Brllny en-
S"nt"rre, where the French advanced
slightly after a bOmoing attack which |
succeeded
Verdun Attacks Repulsed
In the fields north of Ncrdun there
was resumption of the fighting in the |
vicinity Of Fleury, were the Germans |
have been again attempting to drive |
the French ont of the positions General |
Petain has recaptured from the Crown |
Prince. Yesterday the official accounts
told of number of German attacks in
that sector, which were rcpulscd with
heavy loss.
The Rumanan drive into the heart
Of TransylVania has been checked by
the Austrian armies, according to Of.
fetal dispatches from Vienna last
night. For some time there has been
talk of shortage of transport for the
Russian armies operating in Transyl-
vania, as well as q general stifrening of
the Austrian defensive, and unofficial
reports have revived this talk
Berlin officially declared that the
Germans and BuIgars operating in the