Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-10
FACTS AND COMMENT

Russian forces after a bloody battle. Evidently the extraordinary German demands aroused unexpected opposi- tion from the hitherto docile Russians, and the small numbers of the occupy ing forces were unable to stand their ground Germany had apparently de- manded S5 per cent, of the grain and town and country the spirit of resist ance had burst forth in the face of these high handed acquisitions so out of keeping with the mild terms speci- fed in the treaty.
 In Trans-caucasia, too, the Arme- nians, indignant that their country should have been handed back to the tender mercies of the Turks. havf rallied to its defense, and aided by the Russian Trans Caucasian forces
 have again captured the fortress city of Erzerum, which the Turks had re- occupied on the collapse of Russia One of the mysteries of the war ir this far away region has been ths utter disappearance of the Russiar
 army with which the Grand Duke Nicholas had performed such won
 derg. This force seem now. to have reappeared, though it is not as yei
 known what leader it is following ol i to what government is owns allegi- | ance.
 Palestine and Mescpotamia also are l the scenes of Turko German defeats British troops are S5 miles north oa l Jerusalem at Essalt. Some detaeh' I ments have crossed the River Jordan and have succeeded in cutting ths
 railway. that runs south from Aleppe I into Arabia. This road has been tht Turks sole artery of communication with their own government and Ger
 many. On the Euphrates British l troops operating from Hit, 100 mile;
 west of Bagdad, have captured or de, stroyed virtually the entire Turkish force in that region. AS at Ramadit | last year, the British cavalry made I wide detour to the rear of the enem! l forces, and these when attacked fierce | ly by the main body of British in iron found their retreat hopelessly cut off l Three thousand prisoneRs, including 1 German officers, were captured ant | quantities of munitions, animals ant
 other booty. Thus once more tn l Turks find themselves assailed iron three sides, Palestine, Metopotami' and the Caucasus.
 The chaos that prevails in Russi; 1 is well illustrated by the struggle tha | took place in Irkutsk, an importan | Siberian city on the shores of Lak 1 Baikal. There was really nothing t 1 fight for, life was going on normal, | in the city and the unrest at the cap I ital was several thousand miles away Yet on a certain morning last Decem
 Der an ultimatum was presented to tn | nj d1U force of disorder, ten thousand in number including Red guards made up 0 workmen and the local garrison. O. the refusal to comply with the de mand to disarm, indiscriminate firin began by both infantry and artiller
 and the fighting continued day an night for week. Fires broke ou everywhere, 50 or more great build ings were destroyed. thousand peo pie slain and as many more wounded 1 When all the ammunition had bee shot away, peace" was declared an the government was re-established | 1 the hands of the former council. Tn material loss from that weeks dis order is reckoned at $50,000,000. Year of industry and self sacrifice will b required to made up for this one shor excursion into the realm of anarchy I coincident with the great militar T effort to break through the allie armies, the Germans launched tw separate attacks intended to brea their morale. One was a speeding U ] of the submarine campaign that re suited in sinking 2S British ships i a week, total that had not bee | reached since last September. Tn
 other was the bombardment of Pari with an enormous gun 70 miles an
 more away. The range is so grea that the enlargement was at frs deemed impossible, and the genera belief was that the projectiles wer some sort of aerial torpedo droppe
 from enemy planes. Later, howeYe
 a close examination of the shell frag ments showed that they were reall
 fired from a nine or ten inch gun. Tn
 construction of such weapon ha long been known to be possible, a ) that is needed being strength , withstand the force of the explosio l, and length to permit the gases to at long enough on the projectile to giy 1 it the required velocity. This particu lar gun is probably in the neighbo1 hood of 80 feet long. Apart from tf
 difficulty of transporting such cum bersome piece, its tremendous weigf
 would cause it to droop at the mug |, unless it were trussed or supported fe . it's entire length. This is probably tf case with the new German monste
 The fact that all it's shells have faiie
 in one quarter of Paris would seem indicate that it is embedded in COT - crete and that it's aim cannot
 changed. As a military success u
 great gun is therefore valueless; as af ic Aot fai l Its discovery to the world, coincidel
 with the great attack in Pieardy ws
 most certainly designed to break dow the French spirit of resistance and = hearten the German people with tf announcement that Paris was und4 ? the fire of the German artillery. Y
 the Parisians go their way undismaye
 by this new creation of "Schrecklicl g keit."
 s The great battle in Picardy will ha,
 been in progress three weeks tomo
 row. As at Verdun. the first gre r onset swept far ahead across the ol t posing lines, but then there came a pause until the artillery could
 brought up. This must have been z
 especially hard task, for the German
 in their great retreat of a year a, 5 had themselves thoroughly devastat, q the entire country over which tn e must now drag their heavy guns, al
 the British had completed the destru
 ton of every road and bridge. Wh, Fl at last the Germans were ready f strike again, their assault lasted bar . ly three days, and the ground gain,
 was insignificant in comparison wi
 the price paid. By all the principl
 of the German military school, SUI g an assault as was launched-ls men n the yard of front-should have carri o everything before it. That it did n