The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-05-01
Armed Steamer Vacuum Tor.
pedOed by Submarine Off
the Irish Coast.
SECOND OCCURRENCE
SINCE ARMING SHIPS
Expected Battle in Cham
payne Sector Starts With
Attack of French.

An American armed steamer--the
Uil tanker Nacuum--has been sent to
the bottom by a German submarine
md II Is feared that an American
naval lieutenant and some of his gun
crew OF nine men perished In the dis
aster, The captain and several Of the
crew are known to have been drowned
While returning to the United
states from a trip to Europe, the
Vacuum encountered off the coast of
Ireland the submarine, Seant details
of the sinking are available. and II Is
not known whether the Americans
were able to bring their guns into play
or IL the vessel was torpcdoed and
sunk unwarned.
This Is the second armed American
vessel that has been sunk in the war
zone, tho steamer Aztec having gone
to the bottom April /, as the result
of an explosion. Whether she was
the victim Of a torpedo. or submarine
has not been definitely established
one member of the American navai
crew on board the Aztec was lost.
The expected battle In the Cham
pagne region of France, following
days of acute gun preparation by the
French. which was answered almost
shot for shot by the Germans. ut last
has broken. Seemingly synehronizlng
it with the somewhat lessened activity
on the part of the British against the
Germans on the Arras front, the
French Monday eastward from Rheims
launched an attack over u front of
about four miles from the south of
Eeine to the east of Mont carnilict
and captured several fortified German
trenches.
Delivered at midday, the offensive
was sharp and Mt Its conclusion the
French line had been driven forward
into territory previously occupied by
the enemy to depths ranging relatively
from 500 to loo yards Smultane-
ousiy to the eastward Il thrust by the
French northeast OF Mont Haut netted
them Il gain of about two thirds Of IL
mile and placed them virtually astride
tho Moronvilieres- Naurov road. That
the fighting in this region has not
yet been brought to q conclusion Is
indicated by the official statement OF
the Paris war office. which announced
that artillery duels OF violence are
still going on. There also has been a
continuation of the great artillery ac-
tivity from st. Quentin to the Disc
and along the Chemin -des- Danes
northeast of Soissons.
Little news concerning the situation
along THE front from Lens to st.
Quentin, where the British for several
| weeks have made notable gains, has
:, been vouehsafed In tho latest official
communication London merely men,
| TONED the repulse Of German attack
east OF Arraa, between Monchy-le
Preux and the Scarpe river. The Ber-
lin communication dlsmisses the
Arras sector with the assertion that
Monday saw only an artillery engage
ment of varying Intensity. hut 1t goes
into considerable description Of the
sanguinary engagements Saturday al
oppy. which it Is asserted still re-
mains in German hands, and north OF
the Douai-Arras road The british
casualties In this fighting are de-
clared to have been more than 5000
whlln more than 1000 prisoners and
40 machine guns were captured and
10 tanks" were destroyed.
!
The airnen continue their spectac
ular battles In the air behind the
fighting lines Many gallant fighters
on both sides have been brought tc
earth in aerial fights. Berlin claim.
for one Of her fighting aviators a total
OF 52 aircraft shot down since ths
commencement of the war.