Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-17
MAY SEND GERMANS
BACK OF S0MME
British Army in Turkestan Means
More Trouble for Hun
and Turk.

New York, Aug 1.-THE following,
| by noted war expert, gives his view of
| the war situation.
| Practically all of the fighting of yes
| tcrday centred about the semicircle
/ which envelopcd Roye. The French re-
ports of yesterday are rather vague and
| do not give nm exact idea Of Just what
was accomplished The last definite re-
| ports of the fighting we received showed
the most advanced line running through
the western edges of Goyencourt, Villers
les Roye, fEchcle and Armancourt
| But the French report of last night
seems to Indicate that the line now, in
stead of being such a pronounced curve,
| is practically straight, running almost
| due north and south along the western
limits of Goycncourt, st. Mard and
| IauCourt
This means that the curve has been
| punched out by n gam of nearly n mile
and half in depth Tilloloy is in
| doubt II may be in French hands or
not but if not it is fairly pocketed. and
must be evacuated before very many
days This, of course, will not change
the situation materially. II is, however,
| a positive indication that the battle line
is still moving, still being pressed east
ward toward the Somme Canal.
MAY FORCE HUNS AWAY RACK.
cit is a difficult situation 20 work out.
| All will depend on the ability of the
| Germans in the south to hold fast to
! their positions II this southern flank
can hold its own, if il can prevent the
| French from occupying the western side
| of the Oise bend the centre would seem
| safe for the moment But if this anchor
| in the south should be lifted, there does
not appear any reason why the Germans
| should not be made To go back OF the
Somme Canal
"On the other hand. there does not
seem to be any reason why they should
not be willing to do so unless it be that
positions which are being prepared for
them are not yet ready.
The country between them and the
canal is from a military standpoint
worthless The only thing the Germans
have 10 fear through such a retreat Is
the moral effect at home, and this has
been ignored so often 1t can hardly be
considered a controlling factor.
REBUILDING RUSSIAN FRONT.
"Thc interest in this particular theatre,
however. is but minor compared to what
IS happening IN the cast, and in the
present stage Is OF less immediate i'm
the situation in the west by rebuilding
the front in Russia has been mentioned
in these columns on several occasions.
In fact. il is exceedingly dubious
whether the war can ever be terminated
through o complete military decision
unless the Russians can be induced
again to play a military part.
They are ready to do so The Bolshe-
wiki regime is practically at an end. 1t
has been tried, weighed in the balance,
and found wanting The majority of
the Russians are ready and have been
ready for some time 10 look for succor
IN another quarter The majority do
not and never have favored the Boil
shevist brand Of socialism That Is the
reason the Versailles conference desired
military intcrvcntion-to provide the
nucleus about which a new Russian
army could be gathered
but here the unity Of control and of
command broke down because We did not
consider ourselves bound In fact, we
announced just the opposite policy from
that which the majority OF the conference
desired
FORCED LENINE : HAND.
Instead OF a military force we favored
sending on what was really a military
mission, force OF Red Cross and Y NJ
G. A representatives and a corporal
guard to protect them But if We did
not see the situation squarelv, Lenine
aid Seeing that the Russians had dis
4. ,crct Tie clay feet Of their god know
u. tat lr WAS practically AT the
ed q, te~ power, 10 r.ade one last et-
for il bl declaring war on the
All.t> s. + scr has apparently
proved i >, Il alicnalod even
more H., -.~ anu rst,tc ~
situation c>cn r,tl- t.atl -~ lc1 .,r
we will or u.j tIcr .c ms t.t yd
vantage ot the -l,a,lon vim Il Ia has
created
The British have a,c;.,, taI,u !,ne
strides in thus direction lagl ting at
| Baku. there has tcori IA "rnv III tr-
1nenians and rcHnau'- = tie tn.fS-
caucasian army which n.}e' d~'"' d"d
In full For the mort ct.cet. tte.3I
Britain decided to assl>' lis t.r,r. ..l.d
accordingly has detachc. lsft ~:
/ McsbpotamIan army from T." - Il
front and sent II up throulu ,ls... )
! Turkcstan and across the ,-~It It.;... ~.
where 1t has joined the AIn.eni.,..> u
Bahu
BRITISH ARMY IN TURkESTA>
This Is one Of the most amazu.- IN
cidents Of the war, as II had been a.
ceptcd as a fact that Russia had Leon
/ completely cut off from the Allies cx-
cept at the seacoast. But on the heels
Of this information We are furnished
with even greater surprises 4 British
army from India OF size unknown has
crossed Beluchistan and Persia, and has
appeared in Turkcstan IN support of the
force at Baku This promises trouble
for both the Turks and the Germans,
while opening to the Allies "a vista into
a land which for over year has been
considered absolutely CLOSED