Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-09-08
Au American Troops in France Being Combined
conora March, Chief of American Staff, Says Ninety Dor Cent of Yanks are Now With "Black Jack''
 Pershing, Including the ''27th"
Associated Press

The Associated Press
 Washington, Sept. 7:-Concentra- wss" af American troops in the Ameri- on oa OactoTs in France is proceeding an :iIv H,d and General Pershing now has pIu.'b 9ar his direct command more than < 'usa nor cent of the troops who have ..rhed the ether side. :, say, %h;s was revealed today by General arch , chief of staff ,who said that srs sre than ninety percent of the r;cons 'o now are in the American ectors.
 Makes No Comment.
 cororal March made no comment to the purpose of this concentra- Ja. uo did say, however, that the GUS m m of brigading new divisions with m rFench and British forces to has, their preparation for front line tv had not been abandoned.
 "Rut as our men go over there now rettey we'll instructed" he added, her time they stay in the training mns over there is verp much less"
 "27th, Now in Flanders.
 General March announced also that e 27th division, previously training hind the Bitish lines, is now on the he in Flanders.
 This was interpreted to mean that e division soon would be withdrawn join Pershing's army.
 In his review of the battle situa on. General March pointed out that e Germans are retreating along a )O mile front from Arras- -Cambrai ctor to Rheims with French, British nd Americans in close pursuit.
 Sixty Miles From Paris.
 Official reports show that the ene- N now is sixty miles from Paris at closest approach to that city, Gen. al March added, while the old Hin nburg line, from which the greatest erman effort of the war was launch last March, stands ot the point of aximum distance only ten miles be- bnd the present active front.
 The pressure which forced this re- eat," General Marsh said, "came at To points; the British front between bras and Peronne and the Franco merican sector on the plateau of bissons.'
 Reviewing the progress in each sec (r, General March said the British rust toward Cambrai had paused ong the line of the Sensee marshes Id the canal Du Nord with Cambrai ly seven miles away and no natural staeles impeding the road to that jectiye
 In the meantime, however, the Brit crossed the canal further south I'd swept forward yesterday and to- y toward the Hindenburg line north St. Quentin.
 "Made to Fall Back.'
 On the thrust by the French and aerlcan forces, General March said: The Franco-American drive across E plateau north of Soissons direct agalnst the flank of the Chemin Dames, after week of severe ltlng forced the enemy to fall back tlout further resistance from the ese. ~ Uur allied forces crossed the Yes Aisne ridge and had reached the sne flver on a ten mile front last Drain on Hun Manpower.
 further evidence of the drain on iman manpower during the fight VI the last few months reached aSIlngton today in official dispatch numerous German battalions now Iuaposed of three companies in- @u o1 four, it was stated, as reser- were not available to keep four lp'ny units up to necessary streng- ~ c snls process of consolidation, for on e,aan regiments are said to have V "ipeQ out entirely.
 l. , Must Fill the Gaps.
 ~ c also Is stated that the men of mrman class of 1919 are rapidly ssppearlng and those of the 1920 TS. rs must be drawn on to fill gaps :, rae .e.! Dispatches note that the milf. ve,,, vI,iclency of the class of 1920 'urs una. low as the boys are exhausted s;n~ ;nn~"e;tleedlng. American troops ar. M fo ~ ,u Iuranch each month is equal nusl sy .uIly one half of the German casi !as recruitment. ''' s"sssl sts dssl March explained that com, m in tSsa tSa |, m each case will be includ.
 ' 'ae list of wounded, so that re.
 
 DILL KILLIFER WON
 UNUSUAL WAGER . Ih~