The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1916-07-01


sion Of millions of shells.
At dawn today the British bonn
bardment. which grew more intense
throughout yesterday. suddenly con-
centrated a terrific fire on the Ger
man line from the Arras south 10
the Somme For an hour and
half, the brief bulletins received In
London said. the German line was
under a steady rain of high explo-
sive shells that blotted out trenches
and human life.
The big guns lifted their FIRE at
1870, AT the same instant rows Of
British troops sprang forward TO
the attack. They were seasoned
regiments who had been awaiting
eagerly their chance at the "Boches"
for many months. and new regi-
ments from "Kitchener's armies"
which had been held In reserve back
of the lines.
by $50 a. M" read one dis
patch. I'VE had occupied the German
front line. digging behind rows of
German dead. British casualties
thus far have not been heavy"
With full knowledge that London
had been waiting for days, tensely
eager for the beginning Of what
| may be the worlds greatest Often
sive. the censors fastened the dis
patch OF messages direct from the
| front TO the British capital. For
this reason men sitting quietly In
their clubs were reading at 1890
p. m. brief flashes. telling what had
happened across the channel in
France. as far south as the river
Somme. at $50 this morning. Only
| three hours had elapsed between
the clash OF Britain and Germany
under the screaming OF great shells
| and the time the news had reached
London.
Special dispatches from TIE fro'r
received here today left little
doubt that the big push" was not
far away.
IAN the horizon beyond the
ground where | stood today was
darkened by the fumes of Shells
wired the Chronicles correspondent.
mot a minute passed without the
crash OF high explosives.
Raids that followed this shell
fire at many points of the line killed
many of the enemy and brought
forth sufficient prisoners for tbs
Identification Of the regiments and
divisions confronting the British.
The effect OF the British military
work on the German troops seems to
have been deadly. Some prisoners
say they have had no food for three
days. owing to the barrage FIRE,
which prevented supplies reaching
them from communicating trenches"
The latest information received
here stated that about 100000 Ger
man troops were massei along the
British front from the Somme north
ward TO >Arras. with $4,000 Germans
In reserve.
Moving southwark from Arras, the
Germans face the British In the fol-
lowing order:
First Bavarian reserve division;
Thirty-eighth landstrum brigade;
One Hundred and Eleventh division;
Tifty.second division: Fourteenth TO
serve corps. and Sixth active corps,
which rests partly north and partly
south Of the oomme.
Behind the German front are the
following reserve units:
Twenty-second reserve corps. con-
centrated at valenciennes, the
First Guard Reserve division. north.
east Of Cambri and the Fourth
Guard division. southeast Of Cambri.
There II no way Of estimating the
number Of British troops opposing
the Germans on this front. Travel
ers arriving from France recently
have reported the country around
Amiens swarming with several hun
dred thousand British troops.
NY UNITED PRESS.
PARIS, July 1.-The crown prince
has resumed the drive on verdun
with the most powerful attacks on
both banks OF the Mouse, the war
once announced today. The most
violent fighting In many weeks has