Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-04-18

Continued from PAGE One
check and were driven back into
Chauffeur Wood, where they were del
uged with French shells. on April
Ii, they made an attack on Pepper
HILL" but were repulsed.
Thereafter General Petain, profit.
ing by the enemy's necessity of re-
forming his shattered divisions,
"gnawed" into the German lines,
Strengthening out the Douaumont
front and advancing into Chauffeur
Wood. The Crown Prince yesterday
ordered a great onslaught with the
dual object of smothering General
Petains forward movement and cap
turing Pepper Hill" through Chauf-
four Woods
Thrty-nve thousand picked Prus-
sian and Wuerttembergian troops
opened the assault They attacked
after the French lines had been
drenched with shells from dawn until
2p. m. The attacking front was four
kilometers (2.5 miles, long. For two
hours wave succeeded wave, but the
preliminary German bombardment
had failed TO silence the French bat
teries and their screen fire, combined
with most deadly machine gun and
musketry fire, moved down the Ger
mans by hundreds
Between Pepper Hill" and Hau-
dromont Wood the carnage was
frightful.
and down its slopes rolled the killed
and wounded until they formed great
heaps at the bottom.
West of Douaumont and near
Chauffeur Wood a most desperate
effort was made to carry the whole
French line, The Germans got a
strong foothold. but were thrown out
by bayonet attacks. retaining only a
small angle, which constituted their
sole gain of the day. The result Of
the attack left Pepper Hill" still
dominated by the French and Cen
eral Petain's progress of the last 10
days uncompromised.
The losses on both sides in the hand-to
land struggle in the shell-wrecked wood
we're very heavy. Unprotected by ravines
he attacking fore sacrificed men by tn
on small sectors of this front
The text of the official communion
follows:
on the left bank OF the Meuse there
was a bombardment of our first lines
between lie Mort Homme and Gu
mieres.
on the right bank the night was
comparatively calm.
1t Is now known from the latest
reports received that the German at
tacks launched yesterday against our
positions between the Meuse and the
region of Douaumont took on a char
acter of extreme violence. This Of
fensive action was conducted by the
troops belonging to five different di-
visions to the east OF the Chauffeur
salient The pnpDlV gIlCcaa1ed i'm mana
trating our first-line trenches, from
which he has been partly elected by
our counter-attack.
In the Woevre region there was an
artillery duel in the sector of Moulain-
vile.
South of Ban-De-Sapt German
reconnaissance party, which at
tempted to approach our trenches in
the direction of Hermanpere, north
east of ST. Die, was repulsed with
grenades.
On the night of April II enemy
aeroplanes threw seven bombs, one of
them incendiary, upon Befort. 1t
is reported that three persons were
killed and six wounded. The mate
rial damage was unmportant.
BERLIN. April 1S.-Capture of i'm
French positions north and north
asst of Verdun in the fighting yesterday
vas announced by the War Office thi
fternoon. The Germans took 1900 pris
ners.
The captured positions include tn
works south of Haudromont farm. nea
'epper Heights, and 700 yards of FrencI
renches ON the heights northwest o
rhiamont farm, near Douaumont.
French troops attempted to break ii