The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-07
Germans Fire Towns as They
Retire From Lines.
Germans Are Withdrawing
After Hot Resistance.
LAON IS BURNING NOW
Was Stronghold of the Gers
mans in Southwest Line.
BuIgars Surrender and Tell
Central Powers To Move.

With the American FOrceS NOrtu~
west Of Verdun, Oct. 7.-General
Pershing's troops this morning att
| tackled the German positions on the
| left wing of this front The Amert-
cans made progress to a point corre-
spending with their advance late yes
terday in the region of Cunel woods.
on the right wing. The presence Of
| storm troops opposite the American
| center and the increased activity be-
| hind the German lines leads to the be-
lief that the enemy Is planning coun-
ter attacks.
| Paris, Oct French and Ameri-
can troops across the Sufppe river. on
a ten-mile front, are advancing north
ward toward La Neuville and Semide.
1 (La. Neuville Is fifteen miles north
| east Of Rheims semide is ten miles
east OF La Neuyille.)
| Despite their desperate resistance
| in this region and north OF st. Quen-
tin, the Germans are reported to be
! Withdrawing their material and de-
stroying that which is too bulky to
move quickly.
/ shorten west Front.
Captain Salzmann, writing In the
Vossische Zeitung. urged the German
high command to shorten the west
| front.
at does not matter II we make a
vast retreat, provided the front holds"
he declared. "It is vitality necessary to
hold the front at any cost
Capture st. Masmes.
Paris, Oct. French troops cap
tured the town of st. Masmes, north
east of Rheims and penetrated the
and north Of the Arnes river, the
French war office announced today.
Northeast of st. Quentin. the Ger
mans attacked several times in an eff
by the French. All the attacks except
| in the region of Tilloy farm were re-
pulsed.
Fighting in that region continues.
Britishers In Battle.
| London, Oct. Local fighting
north of st. Quentin and between Lens
and Cambria was reported by Field
Marshal Haig today.
'In local fighting in the neighbor-
hood of Aubenchel-Au-Bois "a mile
and a half north of lie Catelet) we
took 400 prisoners" the statement
said.
zone of our patrols in the Oppy Sec
tor brought in thirty four prisoners
and four machine guns.
During the night we established
posts at canal crossings north of
MISUNDERSTANDING, also northeast ana
west of Oppy.
"a German post east of Berclau was
captured. We made a slight advance
north Of Wezmacquart."
Laon Is Afirc.
Paris. Oct 7-Laon, the stronghold
to which the enemy has been clinging
as the keypoint of his line to the
southwest, apparently has been set
afire by the Germans. The town was
reported ablaze Sunday and fires were
still burning there today.
| Rheims has been finally and defin-
itely cleared from the menace.
Bulgars Surtepder.
| Paris, Oct. THE general in com.
mand of the Eleventh Bulgarian divi-
. | sion has surrendered his force to the
allied troops in Macedonia. The divi-
sion was composed of two brigades.
and with it a large quantity of war
material fell into the hands of the
allies.
Greek Troops Strike. =
. Athens. Sunday, Oct. 6.-Greek ana
allied troops, says the newspaper EN-
! bro, will yet strike into eastern Mace
! donia toward the Rhodope mountains
, and beyond the Nestos river.
: (The Rhodope mountains separate
3 eastern Macedonia and Thrace from
J Roumelia, Bulgaria.)
Promote q Serb.
Ell Corfu, Oct. 6--Prince Alexander of
Serbia has been promoted to the rank
E of general by King Peter, in recogni-
: ton of his victories during the Mace
: donian offensive.
3 Capture Debra.
. Paris. Oct. 6.-The town OF Debra
= on the Black Dvina river and forty
i, miles northeast of Elbasar. Albania,
e has been occupied by Serbian troops.
according to a French official state
q ment issued tonight
II Must Leave Bulgaria.
= Amsterdam. Oct. 7.-Bulgaria ON
= Saturday notified the powers with
= which she had been allied that they
E must quit Bulgarian territory within q
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