Omaha daily bee., 1917-05-24
Won H|NDENBURG
WATCHES FRENCH
TAKE TRENCHES
Gauls FoIestaII German As.
sault and Capture Several
Important 0bserva-
ton Points.
| (From n staff Correspondent Of The Asso-
ciated Press.)

(From a Staff Correspondent Of The Asso-
ciated Press)
On the French Front in France,
Tuesday, May 22.-Von Hjhdenburg
himself is understood to have been
spectator of the defeat which the
French inflicted on the Germans yes
terday evening on the Moronvilliers
range, which resulted in the capture
Of several lines OF German trenches
and number Of important observa4
tior points.
The German commander is known
to have been just to the northward of
this section OF the front on Sunday.
His presence is supposed to have been
connected with an attack on the
French lines which the Germans in
tended to deliver on Tuesday morn
ing.
The French forestalled them, and
after demolishing German machine
gun nests and other defenses with ar
tillery, launched an assault which was
so brilliantly successful that more
than 1900 Germans were captured.
At the same time the French obtained
elbow room beyond the ridge for fu-
ture operations. y
Important Points Taken.
As outlined to the correspondent
today the operations in this region
developed into a struggle for "obser-
vation points" possession OF which is.
absolutely indispensable for success
under present conditions of warfare.
In their forward drive on the Nor
onvilliers range, the French captured
all those positions dominating the sur.
rounding territory. The heights of
Carnillet, Blond, Haut, Casque and
Teton and the Moronvilliers hills are
now indisputably in their possession
and from them they are able to watch
the movements of German supply col
umns and reinforcements and thus
harass them, making precarious the
German tenure of the Rheims plain.
Forti6cations Are Formidable.
The system OF Notifications en-
countered by the French in their ad-
vance was more formidable than they
had met before that time, but the
clever maneuvering of their infantry
and the pile driving OF their artillery
overcame these difficulties. Thus the
French were able to register a victory
at cost amounting to only one-hfth
that of the Germans.
James Hazen Hyde was permitted
to make fight over the lines in an
airplane before the attack. Two
French fighting airplanes escorted him
and held off German machines which
hovered above. Mr.. Hyde has taken
an official position With the Young
Mems Christian association, which in
tends to make arrangements for
American troops similar to those
which have been made for the British
along the lines. They are invaluable
for the men when they are resting
after trench duty.
Germans Fail to Stem Tide.
(Assoclated Press War Summary
The second phase OF the great bat
ties of Arras, the Aisne and Cham
pagne has ended in the failure of the
costly German efforts TO stem the tide
of victory now setting against them.
The net result OF Field Marshal Won
Hindenburg's supreme effort to re-
gain the initiative has been that the
British and French have tightened
their grip on the German line and
have placed in great peril the key po-
sitions held by the Germans in north
ern France.
The customary lull which separates
all major operations i'll modern var
ware has now come and the expecta-
ton is that it will be broken by a
British blow on a great scale against
the Drocourt-Queant line, already
practically outaanked. =,
In the meantime the usual crop of
peace rumors whichsmarks these lulls
has made its appearance. Reports
from different sources tell OF offers
from Austria to Russia. Germany to
Russia and Austria and Germany to
the collective entente powers.
The latest German-Spanisb ! crisis
has subsided with the receipt by
Madrid OF assurances from Berlin
which Premier Prieto announces as
satisfactory. Germany promises to re-
spect Spain's rights in its territorial
waters, but the text Of the commune
cation is not made public.