Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-16
Great Battle Raging
in Lens Outskirts

Continued from Page One
pressed in the most determined manner
The Third Bavaran Division was again
hurried as a reinforcement to the
German line and ordered to retake
Monchy at all costs. It's losses like
that of other German troops, was eX-
ceptionally heavy.
Estimate Of the booty captured at
LEVIN and along the Souchez River Is
not available yet, but 1t was exceed
ingly large, including n number of six
inch naval guns and many thousands of
rounds Of ammunition of all calibers,
as far as eight.inch guns.
our booty includes quantities Of
trench mortars. bombs. grenades truck
loads of new tools, many lengths of
tram lines with trucks complete and
two large engineer dumps. More than
one-thrd of our prisoners since the
9th were Bavarans
DIXMUDE MOVE SIGNIFICANT
Occupation of Dixmude by Belgian
troops. without opposition from the Ger
mans. gave hint to experts here today that
the Germans may be planning a retirement
on a vast scale on the west front. Some
believed this retreat might even carry the
Germans back to the Belgian border,
Such maneuver would greatly shorten
the Gernan line and therefore release a
mass OF men Tor DEFENSE against the SMASH
ing British and French attacks.
Battlefront dispatches today revealed the
wild haste of the German troops to with
draw great supplies of food. ammunition
and guns out of the doomed cities of Lens
and St Quentin. Flames were TO be seen
in both towns from the British lines now
holding the suburbs of both cities-forty-
five miles apart
just such attacks as those on Menchy
In ta1 hn .nrpop N
the whole British oifense front. Unable to
stem the powerful tides of the British ad-
vance at the two pivotal cities in their
line-[.ens and st. Quentin--the Germans
were apparently concentrating big forces
for counter-attacks at immediate points
During the last twenty-four hours the
thunder of battle has rolled increasingly
along the 1OO-mile front from Loos to the
Aisne River.
The weather has cleared but the mud
remains At some points the British and
Canadian soldiers sank in mud to their
hips when they advanced across the open
toward the slag-heap Notifications Of the
Germans in the Loos-lens sector.
Lens. the gateway to the big industrial
belt and the coal and ore fields of north
ern France lies nine miles northeast of
Arras. sixteen miles southwest of Lille and
eleven miles northwest of the railroad CEN
ter cf Douai Being the center of mills
and furnaces the Germans utilized the
great Stag heaps in the construction of
fortiflcations These. however, have been
demolished by the terrific fire of the Brit
iSh artillery.
PARIS. April l6.
Violent artillery firing along almost the
whole of the French front, with vigorous
French offensive raids at half a dozen
places penetrating the German lines in
Alsace. were reported in today's official
statement.
The artillery combat was particularly in
tense on the front from scissors to Rheims
All night between St Quentin and the
Disc the French artillery poured destruc-
tive fire on German positions.
South OF the Disc River. the statement
said further progress was made to the east
by the French forces on Barlsis plateau
and Quincy Bassee.
In the Champagne east Of Aubrves, two
German attacks were checked.
Following a tremendous artillery prep
aration in Lorraine and Alsace. French de-
tachments entered German trenches at sew
eral places" the War Office asserted
'In Alsace" the report continued
French detachments reached the second
German lines at six different places"
BERLIN, April 16.
Repuse of more British attacks was an
nounced in today's official statement The
statement said:
The British were repulsed along the
northern bank of the Scarpe and north
east of Croissille They were also
driven back at Lagnicourt and Bour-
sizes,