Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-12-28

Germans on the west front did not de-
velop, but Won Hindenburg's concen-
tration of troops and heavy cannonad-
ing of the entente lines continued.
The British and French made all pos
sible preparations to withstand the ex-
pected attack and their commanders
seemed quite confident that 1t would
be repulsed. At the same time, the
seriousness of the situation Is not de-
MED. Though the allies are numer-
ically superior to the enemy there,
since they do not know In what sector
the blow will be struck they cannot
concentrate their strength in that re-
gion until fhe offensive has begun.
With the Withdrawals from the Rus
sian front and the calling out of the
younger classes of reservists, the
kaiser is officially reported to have 1914
divisions In France, only one division
short Of the force he massed there
last July for the great operations
against the French.
Italians Give Way Slightly.
Bloody fighting was kept up in Italy
and the Austro-G Germans made further
desperate attempts to break through
into the Venetian plain between the
Pfave and the Brenta, in the direction
of Bassano. They succeeded, at great
expense, In taking some positions and
1000 prisoners at Mont Asoleone, but
Mont Grappa, the key to the defense
In that region, was held tenaciously
by the Italians. The French and Brit
ish troops sent to that front got into
action and proved of valuable assist
ance. On the lower Pave the enemy
renewed his attempts to force a cross
ing, without marked success. The de-
~fensive system of the Italians in this
flooded region Is said to be very clever
and the pontoon bridges of the Aus
TRANS are destroyed as fast as built.
For months there has been moth
ing doing" on the Macedonian front,
but the recall of General Sarrail, com
mander of the allied armies at Salon
Xxi, and the appointment of General
Guillaumat, who led the French in
their brilliant operations In the Yer
dun sector last summer, may meal
that some interesting news from
Macedonia can be expected soon. The
Bulgarians. despite e%xtravagant peace
claims recently sent out, are about
ready to quit the war, and Austria
Hungary was tired of TT long age,
though somewhat heartened by the
drive into Italy. The Turks were hard
hit by the loss of Jerusalem, and al
together 1t would seem that a good
time is approaching for an offensive
In the Balkans.
British Public Angry.
Two events aroused the indignation
of the British press and public. The
first was another successful German
attack on shipping In the North sea,
in which one British and five neutral
merchantmen, a British destroyer and
four mine sweepers were sunk. The
convoy was on its way from Scotland
to Norway. The success of the raid
has given rise to sharp criticism OF
the naval authorities. The second
thing to ~exasperate the English was
another air raid Tuesday night. About
twenty German planes crossed to the
Kent and Essex coasts, In six groups,
and five of them succeeded in reach
ing London and dropping bombs. Ten
persons were killed and 70 injured.
Several of the raiders were shot down.
The American navy met with a pain
full loss when the submarine FL was
rammed and sunk by the submarine
F-3 in home waters during a fog.
Nineteen members Of the crew lost
their lives.
Secretary of State Lansing, in con-
junction with the Argentine govern
ment, gave out translations of q lot
more of the secret correspondence be-
tween Count Luxburg, former German
minister at Buenos Aires, and the Ger
man foreign Office. 1t shows conclus-
lively that Germany "a intriguing to
set Latin America against the United
States. 1t was expected in Washing
ton that this disclosure would result
quickly in a declaration of war against
Germany by Argentina, the congress
and people of the latter country being
not likely to put up much longer with
the o-Germanism of President ri
goyen.
The anti-liquor forces of America
won their greatest victory on Monday
when the house adopted the Webb
resolution submitting to the states a
constitutional amendment providing
for the suppression of the liquor traffic
n year after the ratification Of the
amendment by 80 state legislatures.
The senate already had adopted a SIM
liar resolution.