The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-02-01

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days of fighting the bolsheyiki forces
had seized Irkutsk, eastern Siberia;
disarming she Cossacks and military
cadets. They also have occupied Oren-
burg.
Among the interesting reports that
came out of Russia was one to the |
effect that the former car and his
family had made their escape from
Tobolsk. Another story said the for
mer czarina has become hopelessly in
sane.
The abandonment of the Roumanian
front by the Russian troops led to q
nasty little row. Roumanians arrested
and disarmed several Russian regi-
ments, and the Russian government ct
once put under arrest the Roumanian
diplomats in Petrograd and threatened
war on Roumania if the Russian sol
diers were not at once freed. A strong
joint protest by representatives of all
the allied and neutral powers brought
about the release of the Roumanian
diplomats.
Then came an astonishing order
from the bolsheviki government for
the arrest of King Ferdinand of Rou-
mania and his incarceration in the
fortress of st. Peter and st. Paul. This
was attributed to the action of the.
Roumanians in arresting some Aus
| TRAN officers who had attempted to
pass through the Roumaniar Lines to
fraternize with the Russians.
| The British labor party came to the
front on Tuesday with a message to
! the Russian people announcing that
! the British people accepted the prin-
! cfple of self-determination of peoples
and no annexations for the British EN-
pire, especially in the middle East, At
RIGA and India. The manifesto con-
Guided with an appeal to the peoples
of central Europe to help end the war
by the defeat of militarism on both
sides, and not to drive the British peo-
Pile as they are driving the Russians,
into the terrible choice between con-
tinuing the conflict and abandoning the
only principles that can save the world.
-@-
There is not much to be written Of
the weeks fighting. The German pa
pers were talking openly of the COM
ing great offensive on the west front
. and asserted that a million more troops
had been sent into France, but Won
Hindenburg still delayed the blow. The
/ &c 10
and the allied flying men made several
successful bombing raids on German
cities, Karlsruhe especially being hard
hit.
In Italy the main event of the weeB
was a surprise attack by the Italians
supported by the French, by which Ger
tain important dominating positions or
Monte Asolone were wrested from the
Austrians and their observation posts
destroyed.
On Wednesday the Austrians made
a desperate attempt to recapture tn,
lost positions For four hours they at
tackled fierceIy and were stubborn!
fought off, finally retiring, leaving thu
field covered with their dead.
The German submarines have no
been very active of late, the weekly re
port of the British admiralty showing
only six large British vessels and fou
smaller ones sunk. One of the sub
mersibles, however. emerged off Var
, mouth and shelled that pretty Englisl
city violently. Three persons wer,
killed.
; Further evidence that the Submarine
service is most distasteful to the Ger
man sailors is contained in the repor
from Geneva Of another mutiny amoni
: the submarine crews at Kiel the Ger
? man naval base. Thirty~eight officer
! are said to have been killed The mum
e Der of U-boats returning to German
; ports is decreasing every month, &C
/ ""rdiug to the Geneva correspondent
France is in the throes of new Call
] lauX scandal. the former premier bein
2 now under arrest on a charge of trea
t son. The affair was brought to a crisi
{ by information supplied by Secretar
5 Lansing, for it appears that Caillau.
2 engaged in intrigues with Count vol
. Luxburg in Argentina in 1915 and wa
: in communication with the foreign OF
B flee at Berlin with the object of con
D Guiding peace. His plotting in Ital
also has been exposed and document
Z seized there show he planned to max
himself dictator of France and 20 with
q draw that country from the WA