New-York tribune., 1916-07-03

which had been transformed oN Nuc
Germans into q veritable fortress. IN
the face Of FIRE from the maShlne
guns that had survived the bomoaro
ment, they rushed the poSl'lons .a w..
such irpetuosity that the gunners we're
canturea before they had time TO put
their quick -frcrs into action.
Fighting Furious.
Ir the streets OF the ruined village
there was furious hand-to-hand hght-
ING OF the German garrison defend
ING the town not one man got away
When II was captured. over l4O hodies
Law on the ground. The survivors were
The battle flag OF one regiment, rid
died with bullets. was carried lnto 'he
village at the head Of the hrst COM
pAny. :, .ho ree,on
rorth OF Somme went over three ,lhes
~ German trenches without hsi',
stopping only inside the village OF
Nontauban. where they put several
hundred Germans 20 the bayonet ana
tool the entire staff Of regiment prs
The British General Headquarters
official report Of tonight follows
Heavy fighting has taken pace 70.
dav IN the area between the AISie T;
and the Somme. especially ABOUT Fi'-
court and La Boiselle.
Fricourt Captured.
"Fricourt was captured by our
troops about p. m. and remains IN
our hands. and some progress mas Oeeh
made east Of the village. ,.
"In the neighborhood Of La Bolsele
Tho enemy is offering stubborn resist
ance. but our troops are inahihg saS'S
factory progress. consul saIio~
quantity Of war materlsi mas IaiIot
into our hands, but details are "o'
"O~ either side Of the valley OF the
Ancre the situation Is unchanged; Inc
cenersl situation may be regarded as
favorable. Later information OF the
cnemv's losses shows that our lis'
estimates were too low. -
yesterday our aeroplane3 were veg
active i'm cooperation with our s'VaVN
north Of the Somme and anoroeu va.
uable assistance 70 our operations
V,,,erous enemy headquarters and
railway centres were a'lseAeu wiz"
bombs. or.i,,
"In one Of these raids our eseoitlhs
scrorlancs we're attacked by twenty
Fckkers. which were driven on 4"o
crcrv machines were seen TO crssh 70
Garth and were destroyed.
Three Planes Missing.
"Some long distance reconnaissanees
were carried ont IN spite OF hume gus
attempts by enemy machines 10 ~ us
trate the enterprises. htee VI
aeroplanes are missing. Our kl'e pa "a;
looms were in the air the whoie uH!'
To-night's official French s'S'e'''e"'
north Of the Somme the battle con
tinucd all dav I'm our advantage IN the
region Of Hardecourt and Curlu. Esst
~ This latter village we carried
quarry which had been powerfully or
ganized by the enemy -
"South Of the Somme we nave Vor
tanned a footing in the second llne OF
the German trenches at numerous
places. Between the river ana ASse-
villors the village Of Frse mas isIIeh
into our hands. and also the MeIe@u
court wood, further east.
"The number Of unwounded prison
,r. centured bv the French soldiers
6uring the two days lighting is more
tban 6.OOO. OF which at least l5O are
oqiccrs. Some cannon and much other
roo+er;al also have fallen into our
hands Thanks 10 the very complete
sn6 very eficacious artillery prepars-
t;or and thanks also 20 the elan OF our
infsntrv. our losses have been very
small.
Afternoon Statement.
The French statement issued this
afternoon follows:
"North Of the Somme the fighting
was fierce during the night Inc Ger
mans launched violent counter-sttacks
against our new positions al the Hp-
nToscbes n Uardecourt. Our curtains
of artillery fire and infantry hre IN
ficted important losses on the enemy
who was forced 10 retreat IN disorder:
leaving in our hands 200 prisoners, OF
whom six were o'hcers.
pursuing our advantage on the
right bank Of the river, We captured
after spirited fighting the village OF
Curlu. which we have entirely oceu-
pied.
tanned all the positions conquered by
US yesterday and accomplished some
progress between Herbecourt and AS
sevilliers during the night
Five Thousand Captured Saturday.
"Tbe receipt Of new information
brings the total number of unwounded
Germans captured by frencn troops
Yesterday 10 more than FIVE thousand.
Between the Oise and the Alsne we
took prisoner a German patrol which
attempted 10 reach our lines near
Bailly.
"In the Champagne we effected nu'
merous reconnoissances on the enemy )
front. Several Of the recOnnoltering
parties succeeded IN penetrating the
opposing trenches. which they cleared
with hand grenades. We took fifteen
prisoners.
con the right bank Of the Meuse, a
German attack launched last evening
On our positions 20 the northeast Of
the woods Of Avocourt succeeded N
penetrating the advance elements OF
our trenches, but was driven back by
our counter-attack.
Coup Successful.
con the slopes Of lie Mort Homme
we effected an entirely successful coup
de main. In the course Of the fighting,
which took place IN the enemys
trenches, fifty Germans were killed, a
score were brought back into our lines
and two machine guns also were cap
tured.
con the right bank several feeble
attacks by the enemy on the Thiaumont
work in which we are established, were