Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-03-28
f|ERcEST PART
| IS YET TO CONE
Experts Believe That the Next Five
Months Of Fighting in Europe
Will be Bloodiest in
History. ri. H..
HEAVY TOLL WILL BE TAKEN
Wilbur S. Forrest, United Press Corr
respondent, Writes Free
man Tribune. ~ Y
HEAVY TOLL WILL BE TAKEN

AOuuoH, MdICH. 1o.--Meu WIZ
have been in closest touch with ev-
cry move of the world war to date
are beginning to forecast that the
next five months will bring an un-
paralleled burst Of battle, attended
by the worst bloodshed in the
worlds history. .~
The immense waste of human life
and materials before Verdun, great
err than that which shocked the
world at Liege and Namur, has
demonstrated, the experts say, that
tif this war goes on to the bitter end,
no phase of history, ancient, medic
val or modern, will compare with
the slaughter. One military critic
said today:
'The almost impregnable charac-
ter of the defences on the Western
front, which have been building for
eighteen months, make it suicide for
the first line Of any assaulting body
of troops. When a commander or
ders a battalion to the assault and
posts the reserves in the rear ready
to follow, he knows that the posi-
ton attacked will be captured by
the reserves, if captured at all.
. .
"He cannot help but know in adj
vance that the first line will melt
away before the fire of the opposing
|side. Before the reserves reach
their objective over the bodies of
their comrades, they too, may have
been decimated by the machine gun,
rifle and cannon fire which protects
the trenches on every mile of the
front that runs from the North Sea
to Switzerland.
mo one can blame the command
ers for the course they are bound to
take. 1t is war. The men, too, are
not unwilling to make the sacrifice.
Those in the front ranks know that
their chance is slim. The best they
can ask for is wound from which
they will ultimately recover. Months
of mohotonous trench warfare are re-
sponsible for this. The men are
willing and ready for anything that
means a diversion from the stale
mate of the past year and half.
what will happen on the West
ern front will be, repeated on the
Eastern, where both the Russians
and Germans have been working
feverishly for months .entrenching,
fortifying, constructing wire en-
tanglements and placing heavy ord
nance pieces sufficient to sweep the
ground for miles around
At Salonica, where the Allies hur-
riedly dug themselves in and have
gradually fortified their holdings to
almost impregnability, the cost of
taking the Greek port for the Cen
trail Powers would far exceed it's
military worth.
Throughout all the theatres, the
coming Spring will see the greatest
activity of the war, attended by the
slaughter which conditions make in
evitable, the military experts are
saying. .s ...
Nor will the slaughter be limited
to soldiers, some forecasts declare.
1t is believed in some circles THAT
Zeppelins will take heavy toll of CIV
ilian populations in many quarters.
Reports from Friedrichshafen, on
Lake Constance, say that the Zeppe-
lin factory there is turning out
twelve or sixteen Zeppelins month,
The German Parseyaf and Schultz
Lange factories, located elsewhere
also are reported active to an extent
|of ten times their normal output.
This great monthly addition to
the German aerial fleet, the experts
are inclined to think, must forecast
hitherto uneXampled air raiding ey-
'erywhere. The question of the air
defence of London, is being debated
in Parliament and with the appoint
ment of Lord Derby as Air Minister,
the public is beginning to have con-
fidence in the ability of the aerial
defenders to deal with the Zeppelin
menace. Steps in the right direc-
ton have been taken in many places.
The renewed activity of the Ger
man submarines, it is admitted here,
means toll of non-combatants
probably exceeding previous losses,
but there is genuine confidence that
the navy will meet that problem too.
The greatest man killing. Nhowev-
or, will be confined to the various
armies in the field.