The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1918-08-09


ed by the Germans and the British
have pushed forward and occupied
this ground:
Following the withdrawal OF the
Germans in the region of Albert, the
bridges across the Ancre in the reg
ion covered by the retirement have
been destroyed. The Germans are
still holding the river crossing in the
village of Albert. South of the town
the line now runs from Dernancourt
to Meaulte, about two miles to the
northeast. and thence to Albert. This
new line is under heavy artillery fire
from the enemy guns.
Further south. along the Avre
River, where the Germans retired
from their positions on the west bank
on Saturday. all the bridges across
the river have been destroyed and
the roads leading to them have been
,dynamited.
At the moment. therefore, IL would
appear that the Germans do not con-
template any offensive on these parts
of the line, at least for some time to
come. The German troops released
by the shortening of the line may be
destined to be transformed Srom the
armies of Crown Prince Rupprecht
to those OF the German crown prince.
Incidentally. 1t is reported that an
other division from Rupprecht's
forces was identified yesterday in the
fighting south Of Scissors.
Germans Are Depressed.
Documents OF the most significant
character. indicating that recent
events have brought about an ex-
'tremely marked state of depression
in the German army. have fallen into
the hands OF the British. Most sig
nificant of all, perhaps. is an extract
from a German officers diary In
which he relates he had been asked
by the divisional headquarters wheth-
-er the troops in the line favored peace
or a continuation of the war, his an
swer being:
Immediate peace or an immediate
decisive battle"
This entry was dated before the
German drive for the Marine began.
Hardly less important is a letter TAX
en- from a German prisoner 1t was
written to him by another German
stationed along the Marine. 1t
reads:
"You will be in the thick of It
now. Shirk as much as you can. DO
not be stupid. We are risking our
lives only for big victories. Now
we are taking the offensive on the
Marne and we will never get out Of
this mess at all Our regiment has
been nearly wiped out and we have
not pushed far.
"The war is becoming a greater
massacre than ever. What is going
to happen / don't know. Germany
Is slowly crumbling to pieces.
Another prisoner just captured on
the British front says that the Off
cial figures show that $4,000 OF his
comrades were made prisoners in
the Champagne fighting, but that
rumor along this front is that co.
900 Germans and 500 guns were
lost.
Adding to the gloom of his divis-
ion, which realizes that Germany has
suffered a great defeat, the prisoner
said the food given the men was
very poor. He said that poor rations
had been especially noticeable for the
last three months. The only time
that good food is served, he said, is
before the Germans are to partici-
pate in an offensive.
The Official statement reads:
1--WE captured few prisoners dur
ing the night in the neighborhood
of Neuville-Viatsse, southeast of Ar
ras.
1.-THE enemys artillery was very
active last night opposite La Bassee
and has shown some activity also
north of Bethune and at different