Evening star., 1916-05-04
FRENCH Continuing
COUNTER OFFENSIVE
Advance Northwest of Dead
Man Hill and ConsoIi-
date Positions.
CITIZENS EVACUATMG
METZ, 1T is REPORTED
Regarded as One of Strongest Fort
resses in World-Germans Report
Heavy French Losses.

LONDON. May 4.-The French arr
continuing their counter ofensiV'
movement near Dead Man hill. in the
Verdun region. Following their cap
ture of German positions northwest o
the height, announced last night. the,
continued their advance during thu
night, besides consolidating the posi-
| tions already taken, according to thi'
afternoons official bulletin.
Reuters Amsterdam correspondent
telegraphs that information which i
regarded as trustworthy has been re
ceived there that Metz is being evacu
ated by the civil population. Metz Il
the capital of Lorraine. is a city oi
| a bout $4,000. and is rated as one of TIL
strongest fortresses of the world. 1
is about fifteen miles north of the neht
ing line, and forty miles east OF Yer
dun.
AS consequence of the French ar
tillerv preparations at Dead Man hill
Yesterday. the French statement says
two Germans surrendered. stating they
were the sole survivors of the men II
their trench.
FL
was active fighting with artillery. Al
engagement with grenades occurred
in Avocourt wood.
In the region of NauX. east OF the
Meuse. there was an artillery encoun'
ter
French artillery destroyed a MUM
tions depot at Grande Dune, Belgium
Capture Teuton Position.
The official French communication
issued bv the war Office last nigh
reads:
West of the Meuse there was {
Avocourt. Toward the end of the aft
ernoon our troops by brilliant as
sauIt captured German positions north
west of lie Mort Homme. We tool
about hundred prisoners and foul
machine guns.
.On the rest of the front the artiI
! lery activity was intermittent"
| The Belgian official communication
reads:
! ARTILLERY duels continued all nigh
| in the region of DiXmude and wer'
! resumed with violence this morning
| The BON be rdment lost its intensit,
this afternoon. There is nothing tt
| report on the rest Of the front.
British Statement.
The following official communica tior
was issued last night:
Nothing of importance has happen
ed in the past twenty-four hours. The
operations on both sides have been con
fined to artillery actions, some of then
slight and some heavy. together with q
little mining activity. Today we blew
up three mines east of Souchez, and a.
bOmbarded
trenches in that vicinity.
There also have been fairly heavy
bomb a rdmentS by both sides from St
Eloi to the south of il on a front ot
about 1000 Yards. and also westward
of Angres
Yesterday our air craft carried ou-
a considerable amount of work in spite
of the thundery weather. Few hostile
craft were seen.
Suffer Heavy Losses.
BERLIN, May A German CORE
spondent on the Verdun front is quoted
by the Overseas News Agency today as
declaring that the French during the
last few days have been making vio-
lent local attacks on the German lines
before the fortress and suffering heavy
losses in their attempts to recapture
oDSerNatlon poSis tfldt Tue peTHldHs
had taken.
The Germans. the correspondent
points out, control a large area behind
their lines available for the disposition
of reserves and the bringing up of sup
plies. while the French are forced to
concentrate in dense masses in the sec
tors of a fan, the rim of which are
formed by the lines which the Germans
are attacking.
Thus every road and every camping
place, in fact, every foot of land is un-
der the German fire, while the French
artillery is forced to cover large area
seeking out spots where it is supposed
the German troops are located. On the
other hand, the correspondent de-
clares each German shot finds its mark
and the German heavy artillery causes
havoc.
Admits French Success.
1t is officially announced that the
French have obtained a foothold in one
of the German advance posts south of
quarters statement follows:
"In the sector between Armentieres
and Arras there has been some lively
fighting. Near Souchez and northeast
of Lens there have been some mine en-
gagements and similar fighting near
Neuyille Northwest of Lens an at
tempt by the English to advance fol-
lowing some mine explosions failed.
In the sector of the Meuse the artillery
fire on both sides increased. with great
violence during the evening and was
exceptionally violent in the night. A
French attack against our positions on
the slopes to the west of Dead Man
hill were repulsed. To the southwest
of the hill the enemy obtained foot