Arizona republican., 1918-02-10
WAR REVIEW
OF THE DAY
Republican A. P. Leased Wirel

While it was only a routine item in
the German official statement of Sat
urday. the few words in which the
headquarters staff announced a minor
operation in Lorraine held American
interest to d far greater degree than
the other war news of the day. They
carried the news of q raid upon the
American lines and the capture of
American soldiers by a German recon-
noitering party.
@'NorthWest Of Toul,' said the re-
cent statement authorized by the
American censor as to the location of
the sector now being held by men of
the United States army. And 1t was
near a town northwest of foul that
the Germans announced having taken
some American prisoners" The town
is Xivray and it is situated about ten
miles east of st. Mihiel, indicating
that the Americans are holding a line
along the southerly edge of the famous
St Mihiel salient, in French Lorraine,
southeast of Verdun.
This raid by the Germans was but
one of several conducted by the vari-
Gus belligerents on the western front,
the most important of which appar
entity also was carried out in Lorraine
!
court The French penetrated a Ger.
man position here, cleared out the
trenches and brought back 80 prison
crs and 4 machine gun.
While these military activities were
in progress in tie west the Central
Powers were busying themselves with
their manifold peace negotiations with
various groups of more or less inde-
pendence on the eastern front, and an
nOunced they had come to a peace
agreement with the Ukraine, signed
at o'clock Saturda- morning.
This announcement, marking the
first peace concluded by any of the
belligerents, may turn out to be one
of epochal Importance. 1t has been
largely discounted, however, by the ap.
parent anxiety manifested by the rep
resentatives of the Ukrainian Rada at
Brest- -Litovsk to sign peace of some
sort with Germany and her allies, and
also by the uncertainty as to the real
ity of the peace which has been
achieved on paper.
Doubt exists as to the. extent of the
control exercised by the Rada over
the territory comprising the so-called
Ukrainian republic which it purports
to represent. That control is disputed
/ by the Bolsheviki, who broke with the
Rada representatives at Brest- -Litovsb
and appointed Ukrainian delegates OF
their own when they found the first
act of Ullrainians whom they objected
to as "Bourgeoise' secretly negotiat-
ing with the Central Powers. Bolshe-
wiki and Ukrainian troops are engag-
/ ing each other for. the mastery of the
1 territory. which includes some of the
! hoc in inc of
sia, and each is claiming success in the
operations. -
Germany and Austria are tacitly ad.
mitted to have seized upon the oppor-
tunity to sign a peace with the Ukrain-
ians in the hope that they would worl
their way commercially into the graiI
growing territory and thus secure sup
plies of food for their hungry people
4 Their own people seem to have bull
/ great hopes on the effectiveness O
this peace with the Ukraine, but ap
parently their leaders are none too
certain of the relief it will give-fo
one thing because of the uncertaint,
as to the security of the Rada's powe
in the territory. Thus they are re
ported trying to incite Rumania to joil
forces with the Ukrainians in an at
tempt to defeat the Bolsheviki and Il
be holding out to the Rumanians tn,
possibility of their taking portions o
Russian territory in Bessarabia as ;
reward, labelling the transaction a.
compensation for the loss of Dobrudj;
to the Bulgarians. The Ukrainians, i
has been reported, were to get par
Of Russian Poland for singing peace
The Spanish steamer Sebastian ant
the Italian steamer Duca di Genov;
have been sunk by German submarine
off the Spanish coast. Spain is re
ported to be contemplating a protes
10 Germany over the torpedoing o
the latter within a mile of the Span
ish shore following up her. recent pro
test over the sinking of the Giralda
Il Spanish coastwise steamer.