Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1917-05-11
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NAlAA&% The Register Diary,
Friday, May 4

The full strength of the first war
army organized under the selectlye
draft bill will be 1880 officers and
62S, $50 enlisted men, making up Is war
strength divisions complete in every
arm and supplemented by Is regiments
of heavy field artillery, equipped with
large calbrc howitzers. Virtually every
detail of plans for raising, training,
equippng and organizing this force has
been carefully worked out by the war
department,
The Rockefeller foundation announced
that it had appropriated A75, 600 to be
spent in the United States for medical
research and humanitarian aid as the
beginning of its work in the war with
Germany.
Plans for a great national service re-
serve, made up Of men not subject ia
draft into the army and of women al
ready approved by the war department,
were submitted to the council OF
national defense at a conference Of the
council with state governors and repre-
sentatives of any state defence councils.
Members of the reserve would be ready
for any service they could perform for
the government.
Announcement was made in the
Canadian Parliament by Sir Thomas
White, the minister of finance, that
plans are under way for JOINT action by
Canada and the United States to reduce
the price of wheat.
Saturday, May b
United States Treasury was buried
under an avalanche of subscriptions to
the Liberty Loan. Money coming in at
the rate of $40, 600, 900 an hour, indicat-
ing that loan will be oversubscribed by
enormous sum.
French won ten miles Of German de-
fence on Craonne plateau, taking 1890
prisoners, and also advance in Cham
payne. German counter attacks on new
French lines at Craonne broke down, and
three attacks against British south of
Bulecourt also failed,
Nathan Straus announces he will
finance the journey of all Jews who de-
sire to return to Palestine when Allies
return Jerusalem to Zionists
In addition to detachment Of Amer
lean troops on the western front, France
has asked America for 10000 railway
workers of all kinds to man her trains
and take over the handling of her trans
portaton to relieve the shortage of man
power, and for 500 miles of railroad
track. The United States can furnish
the men and the material, and the pro-
posal needs only the final approval of
the President to be carried out. In order
to furnish them, however, American
railroad schedules will have to be
drastcally curtailed.
Sunday, May 6
If Colonel Theodore Roosevelt sue
ceeds in getting the required authority
to raise division of volunteers to 90
quickly to France for active service on
the fighting lines with the Allies he
will have at least 200, 900 men to choose
from, for there are about that many
enrolled already at his recruiting head
quarters, No. 1853, Fifth avenue. He
will not only have enough men for
division but enough for full army
corps of picked men, and if permission
is obtained to raise such corps he can
have it modified and ready to 90 to
France in six weeks from the time he
gets the authority. That statement is
made on authority and is based upon
the records now filed at the recruiting
headquarters.
Monday, May
French guns have battered down the
back door to Laon and General NeviIle's
army is now only six miles from the
German stronghold. One formidable
barrier lies between them and their
goal-the Athletic river-but from the
captured heights the French guns over
look the stream. Laon will not be
captured except at heavy price, but
the French victories on the last week
have brought its capture appreciabIy
nearer.
Startling reports come from Aus
tria in regard to conditions in the
Dual Monarchy and apparently Count
Tisza and his fellow reactionaries have
the upper hand and are determined to
crush the party of democracy with the
same ruthlessness as heretofore. There
are rumors of martial law in Hungary
and Bohemia and the suppression of
newspapers, but for month or more
no reliable news has reached the outer
world as to conditions in the Austrian
empire. The Russian riddle remains I'M
solved but for the time being at least
the provisional authorities seem to be
safe. Reports of decentralization in
the Russian army receive uncomfortable
General Gurko, commander on the
eastern front, ordering the soldiers to
stop fraternizng with German troops.
Hearings on the proposed Is per cent
freight rate increase were begun before
There are thousands of