Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1917-12-08

who have not yielded to the dictation
Of Lenine and his b0lshevikists. More
over, the immense gold reserve Of the
Russian empire, which was removed
from Petrograd to THE Kremlin in 1913,
has been taken still further into the
interior and is out \of the reach Of the
maximalists. Whether Kaledines and
the Cossacks viii chose to support the
social democrats or will aid in a res
toration Of the monarchy is not clear.
But sane friends Of order, democracy
and freedom feel that anything would
be better than the reign of anarchy
and civil war that threatens Russia
now.
The soldiers who remain at the
front are wailing bitterly because Of
the shortage ofafood. and there is a
fine prospect Of hundreds Of thousands
Of these fighting men turning back in
to their country half-starved and
ready to pillage and ravage it without
restraint.
ItaIys Danger Lessened.
The heroic Italian troops having
demonstrated their ability'to hold back
about four times as many Teutons
along the Pave front. the fears of a
more extended invasion OF Italy and
of the capture of Venice are lessening.
During the week great mum pers of re-
endorsements arrived from The British
and French armies on the west front,
many of them having marched eight
days through the mountains. They
brought with them ample artillery and
supplies. Italian reserves in great
masses, young, well-equipped and full
Of spirit, also moved north to relieve
those who have been combating the
invaders, and in some places the Ital-
ianS took the offensive. The fighting,
especially between the Piave and the
Brenta, continued fierce and undated
throughout the week, and the losses
on both sides were heavy, but the Aus
tro-Germans made no further gains:
Down toward the Adriatic they made
repeated attempts to cross the river
| and the flooded lands in pontOOns, but
were completely routed by the Italian
artillery. AS the week closed the stu
alton in Italy was still serious, but i'm
proving each day.
Gen. F. B. Maurice, CHER director
of military operations in the British
war office, was especially well salts
fed with the weeks developments in
| Italy. From the fact that Germany
had not brought up vast REINFORCE
ments to follow up the initial success
with a decisive blow, he concluded
| that Germany was unable to send
| them. 1t is now time, he declared,
| to say definitely that the crisis in
Italy has passed, this being due en-
| tirely to the efforts of the Italian
army. "Anglo-French troops are now
| available in sufficient quantities to
| satisfy us that the situation is Sc
cure" he concluded.
| Hard Fighting Around Cambria.
The war has seen no more desperate
| fighting than has followed on the heels
of General Byng's sensational thrust
toward Cambria. Crown Prince Rup-
| precht seemed determined not to let
that city fall into the hands of the
British, or at least to make it costly
prize, and his constantly REINFORCED
troops were sent against the British
in Bourbon wood again and again and
in the village of Fontaine, which
changed hands several times. Byngs
| men held on tenaciously and usually
! had the best of it in the hand-tO-hand
| fighting as well as in the artillery COM
bats, and the tanks continued to play
! their part. These monsters often
| cleared the way for the infantry, and
| in at least one instance, when they
were themselves held up by superior
| forces, the British airmen, flying dar-
ingly low, routed the enemy with ma
chine gun fire and permitted the tanks
to go on. Altogether, it has been the
| most spectacular battle Of the war, and
it has cost the Germans a great many
| Of their best men.
General Byng last week seemed to
north of Cambria, a movement that
| probably would cOmpei the enemy to
fall back on wide front. Cambria it.
self seems doomed to destruction.
General Pershing last week sent
over his second casualty list. 1t gave
the names of two privates who were
killed in the trenches by German ar
tillery fire and of five severely
wounded.
U. S. Supreme War Council.
While urgently advising upon our
allies more unified action in the prose-
cution Of the war, the administration
is not overlooking the need for similar
co-ordinated effort at home. On Tues
day a great step toward centralized
control Of all the country's resources