Middletown transcript., 1917-10-13
news review OF
THE PAST WEEK
British Again Smash Germans
East of Ypres and Capture
important Positions.
ENEMY'S MORALE is BREAKING
Eustria's Warning to the Alltes-Re'
peated Air Raids on London Final
iy Determine England on Re-
prisaIs - Americas War
Il Tax Bill Now Law.
ey EDWARD w. PicKARD.

Field Marshal Haig began his week
b forward movement as usual on
Thursday, the advance being again IN
the district east Of Ypres on line
Mat seriously threatens Prince Rup-
recht's communications with Ostend
and Zeebrugge. This salient of the
British front has been giving the Ger
mans much anxiety, and all the first
part of the week they directed at 1t
furious though futile, attacks that
proved very costly.
By Saturday the British offensive
had developed into one of the most
pretentious yet undertaken and prom
ssed to result in a victory unequalled
since the battle of the Marne. On a
nine-niie front Haig's troops rushed
forward for about mile and a half,
and gained possession Of many Ger
man strongholds, including the ridge
between Passchendaele and Honne-
beke. Great numbers of Germans
surrendered.
The allies doubtless hope to cut IN
Between the submarine bases and the
nnin German army, but according TO
the belief of well-informed army men,
St is not their intention to force the
Germans back over any very wide
area, because the territory they would
be forced to abandon would first be de-
xastateti. Rather de the allies plan te
dernoralize the enemy with the contln-
nous bombardment by guns of all cali:
bers to which they have been SUD
1ecting them Of late, and most OF
Haig's advances are made for the pur-
pose Of gaining possession Of COM
manding positions, from which this
terrific gunfire may be directed. That
ahe morale Of the. German soldiers al
ready is beginning to break down is
evidenced by their readiness to surren'
der and the complaints of some divl
sions when ordered back to the front
after rest.
Germans Short Of Shells.
Reports from the front during the
artillery duel that preceded the Thurs
day advance were that the British free
twenty or more shells for every one
that came from the Germans. The al
Hes supply of munitions is now uniim
sted. and there is good reason to be
Eeve that the Germans are running
short of shells and guns, owing part
E to reduced productivity caused %!
the Door food of the wOrkmen, ant
partly to a shortage Of certain metals
The denial of General Schuech, th'
kaiser's new minister of munitions
that there is any such shortage, Is no
convincing. Copenhagen dispatche
saw the leaders of German labo
groups were called to main army head
quarters q few days ago, not to cele
brate Won Hindenburg's birthday, a
was intimated, but to discuss plans TO
speeding up the production OF mum
tions. Probably it was necessary, also
to take steps to appease the workmel
Of Essen and their wives, who held
.Yiotous meeting recently, DEMANDING
peace and better food.
InsFrankfort, too, an immense peac
meeting was held on Sunday. but tha
was engineered by political groups
and therefore may not have been s
Indicative of the sentiment of the pee
PIE.
czernin Warns the Allies.
In the way of peace movements. tn
most important event of the week wa
she speech of Count Czernin, Austro
Hungarian minister of foreign affairs
In which he threatened that unless tn
allies speedily consented to q peac
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