Arizona republican., 1918-08-05
SALIENT |S GONE;;
 F|SMES IN FLAMES
 AS ALLIES G0 0N
Wagons of Retreating Huns Seen Toiling Over Muddy
 Roads Toward Aisne, Re ports Correspondent t
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1

LONDON. Aug. 4.-Telegraphing at 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon Reuters correspondent at American headquar- ters on the Aisne Marne front says:
 "The salient is gone. The allied troops already are holding the south bank of the Vesle river. Fishes is in flames.
 "The wagons of the retreating Ger man columns can be seen toiling over muddy roads toward the Aisne. Our cavalry patrols report only rear guard screens.
 "To have thus driven the enemy back as he was driven back four years ago is no mean achievement, but we must not overestimate it. That the enemy has been forced to retire bitterly agains his will. is obvious. I am prepared to accept General Ludendorff's statement that the retirement was decided on 15 days ago Aa9er General Petain's blow against the west side of the salient, and the Germans can pride themselves on having remained, to use Ludendorff's s phrase masters of the situation That is to say, they have been able to avert the collapse of the sides of the salient and the consequent capture by the all lies of all the troops within the salient.
 Masters Of Situation
 "To the extent tehy are masters of the situatiou-as the bankrupt may be so described who just escaped be- ing sent to prison.
 The American communication today describes the enemy as having been driven in confusion beyond the Vesle So far as l have been able to learn signs of confusion hitherto have been conspicuously absent Indeed I have | never followed any army's retirement which left so little evidence of being | forced, except in the matter of ammu milton.
 Enemy's Dead Unburied The enemy's dead are certainly un- buried. But who should have buried them? He left men behind him with orders to die. And died they have They lie in groups about their guns dozens here, dozens there-every onf with an American bullet through his brain or breast, or with the equally de- cisive stab of the American bayonet
 These groups are close together ir vital positions and amount to a tota of from two to three hundred men They give evidence of fine discipline and determination, and not of that sort of thing one is accustomed to find be hind defeated armies.
 Counted his Cost.
 So far as 1 can see, the enemy counted the cost of his retirement an( paid not man or a gun above hi: margin. As a soldierly achievement i moved one to admiration and, cheereC as one must be by the confession O weakness which the retirement i'm plies, there is nothing in the retire ment on which to build exaggerated hopes of the future. By far the mos hopeful feature of the whole business is the difficulty of explaining it or any other hypothesis than that thu Germans are much shorter of men thai we had supposed.
 Big Artillery Bluff.
 Their advance on the west O Rheims was a big artiler-- bluff whicl could only have been justified by tn success of the attack on the eas of it.
 ''Ludendorff calls the operation strategical success. No it is not that It is a great strategical failure. re lieved by various tactical successes and it may not be too soon to say tha the failure, even retrieved as it ha been, probably spells ruin to the Ger man offensive for this season at least against Paris.
 True they have an attack they ma deliver in Flanders almost any momen they please, if Grown Prince Rup precht's reserves have not been draw upon too largely in the German Crow Princes interest. But October is likel to be the earliest date for any vita operations here, and october mean some half million more of these ex cellent Americans in the line.
 Weakness Made Manifest.
 The extreme weakness or Luden dorff's strategical success was ex hibited yesterday. A great genera
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