Middletown transcript., 1917-05-26


Professor AIilukoff was forced to quit
the cabinet and was succeeded as for
eign minister by TereschtenkO, while
kerenSky, who was minister of justice,
became minister of war and marine.
Generals BrussilOff and GurkO and
other commanders who had resigned,
were persuaded to withdraw their res
ignatiOnS, and turned their energies to-
ward stopping the disintegration Of the
armies.
All this sounds encouraging, and it
may be Russia can be held firm to her
pledges. If not, it means merely the
prOlongatiOn Of the war and the de-
ferring of the certain ultimate result
the defeat of the central powers.
The United States began giving con-
crete aid to Russia on Wednesday,
when Secretary McAdoo gave to its
charge d'affaires $1OO,OOOOO0 Of the
allied loan, with the specification that
the money be spent In this country
under the supervision Of the treasury
department. The American mission
to Russia, headed by Mr.. Root, was
given its instructions, but 1t cannot
reach Petrograd for about two months.
Belgium got share Of the loan
when Mr.. McAdoo handed its repre-
sentatives a credit for SAC, 100000.
Italian Offensive Begun.
With the passing Of winter condi-
tions Italy began vigorous offensive
on Monday, attacking the Austrians
along the entire Isonzo front. The
enemy fought back sturdily, but was
forced to give ground in the region Of
PLAYA, north of Goritz. In this Italy
is only anticipating a grand assault
which the Austrians had been prepar-
ing to make. The fighting continued
throughout the week with varying for
tunes, the Italians slowly pushing
their way toward Trieste, their OBJ
jective.
Released temporarily from the ne
cessity Of guarding strongly the east
ern front, Germany brought from
there to France a large number Of
comparatively fresh troops and threw
them into the struggle against the
British and French. General Haig's
men are now confronting greater en-
emy forces than at any time in the
past, but before the week ended they
were in full possession Of Bullecourt.
the village for which the Germans
fought so desperately because it pro-
tected Queant, the southern end Of an
important line Of defenses.
On the French front the most violent
fighting was about Laffaux mill, posi-
ton even more important than Bufte.
court. Again and again the Germans
made desperate attempts to regain
this ground, but the French repulsed
them with terrific losses.
Many burning villages behind the
German front north and south Of st.
Quentin indicated an intention Of the
Germans to carry out a further re-
tirement. ST. Quentin itself has been
burning for some time.
General Petain on Tuesday was ap-
pointed commander In chief Of the
French armies in France, General Nj
yelle was given command Of a group
of armies, and General Foch became
chief of staff of the war ministry. Pc
tain gained fame and high popularity
by his defense Of Verdun.
In Great Britain, too, there was a
shake-up, a general staff for the navy
being formed in response to the at
tacks on the admiralty. Admiral Jel-
lico heads the staff.
A gratifying decrease in the number
of vessels sunk by submarines, was
reported by the British admiralty.
Whether this is due to the increasing
attacks on Zeebrugge by sea and air,
or to the recent destructive fire at the
Wilhelmshaven wharves. or to the
large number of U-boats caught in the
British nets-reported to be between
so and 1O0-is not known outside Of
Germany.
One more nation was added to the
long list of the kaiser's declared enc
mics last week, when Honduras sew
cred diplomatic relations with Ger
many. Spain remained neutral, but
barely so.
Premier Lloyd George offered John
Redmond immediate home rule for
Ireland, excluding northwest Ulster,
or a plan for an Irish convention to
arrange plan. Redmond accepted
the latter suggestion.
The United States lost one of its
most distinguished and honored citI-
zens in the sudden death of Joseph
H. Choate, eminent lawyer and former
ambassador to Great Britain.