Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-04-20

"A score OF villages and
Monday when the great offe
The German losses have
TWO DIVISIONS WIPED OUT.
Two complete divisions 10000 men),
which made a counter attack on Juvin-
court, were literally wiped out by the
French artillery alone. Decentralization
among their officers.
Great masses Of refnforcements hur-
riedly rushed to the line are unavan-
ing in stopping the advance.
Tho battle is progressing favsr-
ably" IL the calm way in which the
French military chiefs regard the Of
fensive. "The results exceed the ex-
pectations." \\
French officers regard the advance
between the Ostel and Courtecamp a.
having reached the proportions Of a
great success. The utmost strategic
Importance Is attached to the formid-
able positions captured there.
BATTLE OF THE SHOWS.
It is the battle of the SHOWS that is
raging over 40 twisting miles today on
the great French offensive front.
French artillery fire turns the carpet
Of snow into oozy mud and red spat-
tered patterns through which General
Nivelle's men were advancing-always
advancing-today.
I succeeded in following the French
advance in this battle Of the SHOWS on
one nameless hill southwest Of Moran
villers. Trenches, dugouts, shelters ev-
erywhere were filled with German
dead. Dazed Germans were being haul
ed from dugouts where they had hid
den, burrowed deep in the piles Of
their own dead. Farther back where
French troops were cleaning the hor-
rors of the ground taken by the first
forward movement, had seen dazed
starving Germans staggering out OF
dugouts choked with their dead COM
rades 36 hours after those dugouts had
been taken by the French.
MARVELLOUS FRENCH STRATEGY.
Beyond the nameless hill the new
French and German lines were visible
Between them was an abandoned Ger
man battery, stark and bare on the
snow. As I watched. saw one Of
those marvellous bits OF French strat4-
gy executed.
French established lines to the tear
from this abandoned battery. They
were plainly put there to entice the
enemy to seek a recapture Of the aban-
doned guns. The ruse was successful.
As I watched, the Germans dashed.
Their horses were hurriedly hitched
to the abandoned guns. Then the
French machine guns suddenly spat
death. Horses and men. all except 80
Germans, were wiped out In q twink
ling.
The morale Of the French troops is
astounding. At o'clock Wednesday
evening. found the same troopsewhich
had seen capture the positions they
were then in on Tuesday morning, pre-
pairing for a fresh advance. The dash
was to start at 8 o'clock and the
French troops were jokingly clubbing
1t their "5 o'clock tea"
ADVANCE ALONGs ENTIRE LINE.
1t Is typical Of all operations along
the great French front that General
Nivelle Is not seeking to pierce the
German line at a given point. Instead
he proposes an advance along the en-
tire front by steady stages. 1t is not
How well 1t is working out
is evidenced by the fact that the
French have advanced more now, in
this new style of attack. than at any
time since the battle of the Marne.
The fighting centered in the Reims-
St. Souplet sector. The French ad-
vance was executed over snow clad
ground which aided them. The Ger
mans occupied a crest Of hills %
fortified that in the plain be-
low the French had heretofore not
been able to advance since the battle
of the Marne. But the French shell
was so destructive that
in Is minutes after leaping out of their
trenches, the French infantry had oc-
cupied the German positions on a front
Of more than two thirds Of Q mile, ad-
forward more than q mile and
a third in an hour
COUNTER ATTAcks REPULsED.
Paris, April 20.-Undiminished in
its force, General Nivelle's great Of
fensive today reclaimed more land for
France from the invader in fierce
at several sections of the 40
mile front.
Tn the regions of Laffaux and the
plateau of Vauclerc. the French fur
ther progressed" the war office st>~~n
ment declared. 'Tn the Champagne.
violent counter attacks we're repulsed
with heavy enemy losses. East of the
Loiure several lines of German
trenches were captured"