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f ^fsBi Abbeville Press and Banner | rr^T^ Abbeville. S. C., Friday, Dec. 21, 1917. Single Copies, Five Cents. TSthYear^ ; J Established 1844. $1.50 the Year. [GERMAN U-B fAMPA VI All** ' ?British Naval Expert ! a Tells of Achievement j Tonnage Gains Edge PRODUCTION KEEPS ^ APACE WITH LOSSES' * i i Skips Being Built Faster Than They, p - *ri? .. . Are sudk?uivei ?? *= vU...? . I States Credit For Contributiog tall to the Reduction Of the f] ' / Lo"' firs , s hor New York, Dec. 19.?Arthur Pollen, British naval expert, who has j sailed for Europe after spending me six months in the United States, Set gave to tHte Associated Press a state- sav ment in which he said that the campaign of the allied navies against ] >the submarine has resulted in keep- Ws ing the world's ship tonnage from wil showing a monthly decrease or will enc | soon do so. Mr. Pollen gives credit ! 1 for this success to the change in the j. ' chief command carried out by the i Cai British admiralty last * spring and in the participation of the American j wh I 12-1. navy. j "si Mr.^Pollen pointed out that siX| s months ago the German submarines i 1 were causing a net attrition in [ res the world's tonnage at the rate of I *nv nearly 25 per cent, annually. While j s?l( the present rate of attrition is dif-1to ficult to estimate, it was stated that; last month Great Britain launched J as much tonnage as she lost, and ant within the next 12 months a sub- t^ie ; ^stantial part of the 6,000,000 tons'ele( f provided for in this country will undoubtedly be afloat. j re_( Great Britain's shipbuilding pro-; gram will similarly increase month t ^ by month, and moreover the cam- *>ia paign of the allied navies against p01 4the submarine will grow in value, week by week, he said. j nar German Effort Blocked. 1 _ j r 01 "The significance of this to the ti0i i " fortunes of war does jiot have to be \ pointed out" Mr. Pollen continued. j "It means that Germany's flankI me, nAmmnnipofiAnc V?^C ^ IClLU&UIV \Jl I aili^U WVUJUiUUlVMI/*WIIW MMW ^ JX16i failed and that there is no reason tur why, ultimately, the full military ver power of Great Britain, France- and tra * * Italy and-more important of all the i the United States should not be felt in! anc the Western theater of war. This is'the a tremendous result.' ]esJ Adverting to the recent North Sea raid by German forces, Mr. Pol- 1 j len sa^: Cit "The only remarkable things about iet \^such incidents is not their occasional j SUg occurrance, but their rkrity. Were! trie th* British or the American navv in I hm the position of the German navy I j not fancy they would be fare more fre-1 ha\ quent" Ad: \ Cit UNION SERVICE SUNDAY am NIGHT AT BAPTIST CHURCH eac \ The regular fourth Sunday union service will be held next Sunday night with the Baptists, Rev. J. L. I Daniel preaching the sermon. > me wo: POST OFFICE EXAMINATION. Cn V *> * j on There will be an examination us held here on Jan. 12th for Fireman- ?p( Laboror for this Post Office. The Spj( salary will be $660 a year. For in- ?r( . formation ask at the post office or ^ write Secretary Uivil Service, 3U4 sj.jj f Post Office Building, Atlanta, Ga. Qf > ? bei A DODGE AND BUICK 4. shi] E. H. Longshore sold two more / cars and delivered them Tuesday. 1 A Dodge car to Mr. Lewis Ramey, * ^ of Sharon, and a Buick Four to t1 JtfcAdams Brothers at Antreville. ^rhey are mighty well pleased with their cars. ^ , i IOAT IGN FAILS, GLANCE OVER THE COUNTRY R ews in a Condensed rorm to Be Read By G LUC uuojr iivauv/i The German Chancellor says that is entirely out of the question to peace to England. The Congressman who fired the | a t shot on the Austrians is coming ne. His hand is disabled. -w si Ml of the crews of the merchant- s< n in the convoy in the North E i attacked by the submarine were j e ed. \ V b Mexico's special enVoy leaves n ishington for Argentina where he fi 1 attend the Neutrality Confer- P le. He didn't even say goodbye. ^ ij rhe English speaking people of si nada went solid for conscription!n Canada. The German and French j" 0 are out numbered by the Eng- j ^ t were against it. n Texas one Sul Ludin was ar- j is ted and put in jail pending an! c< estigation. He had a German i ti jier's uniform and several toasts the Kaiser written in his trunk, j 1P Vndrew J. Peters, former assist- a ' ; secretary of the Treasury, is'a] new Mayor of Boston. The' ^ ition was sharply contested and j f, yor James M. Curley, who sought1 f, ^lection ran second. I sj ie Fudge W. C. Adamosn of Geor-; w , a member of Congress, was ap- w nted a member of the Board of 11< atoms appraisers of the port o'f 0 iv York. W. C. Wright of New-ip i, Ga., was nominated by the irth District Democratic conven. w 1 to succeed him. o: I w ioover says to eat turkey by all, jj ans as that will conserve the red ^ ats. The old fashion custom of ? P key goose and vegetables is the. ^ y "things that the Food Adminis- J tion wants the people to eat as _ - ~ I 11 y conserve the wheat, red meats VI 1 fats which are so necessary to1 war foods. Tuesday is the meat-| s day. i j ir iiVestinghouse Plant at Jersey j .j y requested the government . to! p the mhave 35 pounds of brown. ^ ;ar. In the making of the elec-! p nlnhoc! o iron; email jimniint fl f . wn sugar is used and if they did; ; get that amount the plant would ^ re to be closed down. Fedeeral J ^ ministrator Fielder of Jersey:^ y gave assurance that the I ount would be made available! h week. j s< 1 Cl " I ? RED CROSS MEMBERS. I . j tl ip ?or the benefit of the Red Cross | b mbers and for those who have jj rked so faithfully in the Red j n )ss rooms, I have asked our coun-1 a papers to publish the remarks w the Inspection Sheet returned to tl from our headquarters in Atlanta jrmit me to thank you for your Bndid service in this great Red a )ss enterprise." Three other boxes have been pped since this one and hundreds O] garments have been cut and are ^ ng finished preparatory to a ^ pment in January. g Mrs. T. G. White, Chm'n. of Woman's Bureau. v v\ AVVVVVVVVVVVVVV " COTTON MARKET ^ S1 Cotton 30 c. V ^ Seed $1.05 V r< *>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>b 1EPARATE PEACE IF .1 BOLSHEVIKI RULE: i Separate Peace? Is In-H evitable Result of t Bolshevik! Rule USSIAN OFFICIALS AT j -] WASHINGTON DESPONDENT; I >ermany Hastening Negotiations ' So That Peace Can Be Concluded Before Fall of Lenine and | Trotzky. Washington, Dec. 19.?A separ- 1 te peace between Russia and Gerlany is inevitable and nothing less lan a miracle will prevent its conimmation unless Russia shakes her- j slf free from the stranglehold of lolsheviki, Russian officials predict- ( d today. . "The effects of a separate peace etween Russia and Germany can-!1 ot be overestimated," a Russian of-!1 cial stated. "Once a separate 1 eace has been signed, the action 1 rill be irreparable. Germany real- 1 ses this and will let no obstacle i' tand in her way. She will even |( lake concessions which she has no 1 itention of keeping in order to fur-!( ler the criminal actions of the Bol-J fieviki. Officials forecast at the embassy,( t that Germany and Austria will;' omply with Trotzky's "no annexa-j* on, no contribution and self-defin-j( ;ion of boundaries" demands. J5 The" Teuton foreign ministers, I robably will also agree not to use ny forces now on the Russian front j' gainst the allies?because,the Ger-i( lans no longer have a formidable srce stationed there. What forces; 1 srmerly stationed along the Rus- ( an front have not been transport-i d to other front, or replaced by j % eaker units, have mostly been I rithdrawn far enough from the line > place them out of the jurisdiction f the "joker" in Trotzky's peace j. rogram. , j1 "Conclusion of a separate peace, ^ rhich now seems inevitable,' anj< fficial said, "will be an irreparable t Tong to loyal Russia and her al-:( es. Once separate peace articles' ave been signed, Russia, will be | ermanently out of the war. The j s act that such a peace agreement) ? ill be illegal, having been consum- j a lated by an irresponsible power, t 'ill in no way mitigate its effective- 1 ess. Germany's Game. t That the Bolsheviki will continue; 1 power long enough to put over] leir peace program is predicted by ' .ussian officials. Latest reports in-1 ] icate that more than one-half of j ( .ussia territorially and numerically j j as repudiated the Maximalist regi- J j le. At the present rate of disinte- j} ration, their downfall should come! j ithin a month, it was stated; but . lis will be too late. ?I, i1 "German's game is to sign all *parate peace before the downfall.) i omes," a high Russian official said. | The central powers will not pushj j ieir demands for contributions at j resent because they know it will e virtually impossible to collect., t would make a separate pe|ce _ lore difficult. Germany also can fford to agree, in her hypocritical ray, to no annexations because Li- * lunia, Poland, Courland and Fin- c ind's insistence upon autonomy will " 4-V.^rv? nncu uidtimo fnr flprtflfln I ^ IdlVC tliciu caoj Tivvuim *v* | ^ bsorption after the war." The Lenine-Trotzky threat of ter-l jrism to be instituted against their pponents is no idle boast, officials elieve. It has always taken an on hand to rule Russia, and the c olsheviki are not inclined to ig- c ore Kerensky's experience. They c rould inaugurate a reign of terror- \ m as readily as they are now in- s sting upon separate peace. But, J 1 the bloody excesses which are s ound to come, Russia will again e ;gain her sense of political equili- s rium, officials predict. r 10NGRESS IKING' CLEAN SWEEP OF II iVar Preparations of| Army and Navy Under Investigation TWO MORE PROBES ARE TO START FRIDAY; investigation of Sui;ai4 ? Situation j By Senate Committee May Be Concluded. Washington, Dec. 19.?War pre-j jarations of both the army and! vavy are under investigation by! Congress. While the Senate mili-j ;ary committee continued its inquiry into ordnance shortages the iOUSe naval SUD-commiuee iuua^ >pened hearings on the activities of ;he Navy Department. Secretary Daniels and Rear Admiral McGowan were the navy witi2sses and they told in detail and vith evident satisfaction the accomplishments of their departments in neeting the tremendous expension ind extraordinary acnvities requir;d by the war. Other testimony J jrobably will not be heard by the:ommittee until after the holidays. Manufacturers Heard. / * Private munitions manufacturers ><:cupied today's hearings of the Senate committee. They agreed ;hat there had been delays; at the >utset, but that production of rifles-:' ind machine guns of the finest! ;ype now was proceeding rapidiy. ) Investigation of the sugar situa-j :ion by the Senate manufacturers! :ommittee may be concluded to-1 norrow with the testimony of Food' \dministrator Hoover and Friday! >r Saturday the committee will; aunch its coal inquiry. 9 BRITISH REPORT SINKING OF SEVERAL VESSELS London, Dec. 19.?Fourteen British merchantmen of more i;han 1,600 ;ons and three under that tonnage i vere sunk by mine or submarine I luring the past week, according to! ;he admiralty statement, tonight.; }ne fishing vessel also waii sunk. / The shipping losses by mine or; submarine in the past week are' .lightly under those of the prvious^ veek, when fourteen vessels of more, ;han 1,600 tons and sevan under j ;hat tonnage were destroyed. ? VMERICAN BULLETS EASILY j PIERCE HUN'S ARMOR PLATE i With the American Army in i France, Dec. 19.?The German sol-, liers' armor will not withstand the lard hitting American bullet, it has jeen shown. A heavy breast plate j emoved from a German prisoner i 'or a test was literally chewed to! )ieces by machine gun fire and aj iflo millet- firorJ at n trmH ran CP! lad torn A hole in the armor as big-; is a silver dollar. Even the bullets from an auto-j natic pistol did the work it was ex-j jected they would in this respect. DISORDER IN PETROGRAD Petrograd, Dec. 19.?The execu;ive council of workmen's and solliers' has proclaimed a state of ;iege in Petrograd in an effort to epress disorders due to the lootng of wine cellars and shops. WARMER WEATHER. Yesterday dawned a dismal, iloudy day and the hearts of every me who had shopping to do sank lown deeper. As the morning grew lp into the day the sun came out ind the snow began to melt rapidly. Although the mud and slush is bad md disagreeable the air is warm ind everyone is rushing to get their hopping done. There is only two nore days after today to prepare. DRIVE ON n RENEW! DITDCAIT DI A MFH OUIVC/VU ULiniTlUL/ FOR SHORTAGE I Claim Millions Were Spent for Manufacture. / Washington, Dec. 19.?How ordnance manufacturers, anticipating the government's war needs, spent millions in preparations, on the chance that war orders would follow while the army ordnance bureau refused to act, was related today by manufacturers to the senate committee conducting the war inquiry. The manufacturers agreed, however, that the war department's decision to change the type of army rifle, even though it involved a delay in delivery, was a wise one, be- j cause it enabled the American army j to use a avery superior grade of ammunition. But the efforts of theN manufacturers, the witnesses said, to get the ordnance bureau to j*ive its orders for guns on the certainty that war was coming, were futile, and after the war was started delaying changes in specifications were made Vice President Stoddard, of the Marlin Arms corporation, declared! that when he offered to begin -^rki on guns on the certainty that war! was coming, Colonel Rice, of the; ordnance bureau, told him: "We're! not interested." "It was utterly impossible to | make the ordnance department real-! ize the possibilities of war," said Mr. Stoddard, "and we simply fold- [ ed our tents and went home." After the manufacture of rifles; began, it was testified, Colonel Thompson wanted to delay production several months by insisting on new standards, but the manufacturers appealed to General Crozier, chief of the bureau, and went ahead! with the work. All the witnesses agreed that the! new Browning machine' gun, now! being manufactured for the army,1 is superior to any other weapon of its kind in existence. Change Brought Delay. Several months' delay in supply rifles, ordnance manufacturers told the senate military committee today j resulted from the war department's] decision to modify the Enfield type.! Factory machinery changes, the; committee was told, reduced the | output of Enfields for England andj production will not return to maxi-j mum until next May. Delays in congressional appropriations, Kimball also stated, further delayed the output. His firm hesitated to take a contract in the absence of definite appropriations. The new modified rifle and also the American ammunition, Vice President Tyler, of the same concern, testified, are regarded to be superior to British types. After war was declared in April, he stated the war department immediately began negotiations with them to de-j vote their factories, engaged on a British contract for 400,000 Enfields, to make the modified American type. MR. HORTON HOME. Editor E. C. Horton, of The Medium, came home from Washington yesterday to spend the holidays in the city with his wife. He says he is getting on fine and likes his work. TELEPHONE OFFICE CLOSED As the custom ha.- been for the last twelve years or more the Telephone Office will be closed on Christmas Day from 8:30 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon. FALUNS ID BY HONS Kaiser Throws Masses ^ of Troops Against Defenders of Plains. SOME GROUND GAINED tH IN HARD FIGHTING Berlin War Office Claims Capture of Two Thousand Prisoners? Teutons Also Suffer?Decrease in British and French Loss- 7 es to Submarine. The Austro-Germans have renewed in great strength their effort to pierce the Italian line and debouch , upon the plains of Venetia in the re- \ '.v%8 gion of Bassano./ In fierce fighting ' $jj around Monte Asolone in which the enemy again suffered severe losses and several times was repulsed, reinforcement in large numbers -were ? ^' 1 brought up and the Italians were compelled to give grqund. The figfafc- ' v: ing lasted throughout Tuesday and, according to the German war of* 1 fice, more than 2,000 Italians were v' * 'S made prisoners;- < Likewise along the Southern reach es of the Piave River, the invadezs and the Italians are engaged is heavy fighting. A crossing of the . ^ old Piave on pontoon bjidge was successfully carried out by one enemy detachment, but later the Ital- w ians drove them^back to the water1* edge. ? The fighting on the other fronts still remains below normal, although* the intense artillery duels in various ; sectors, continue. The artillery activity between the French and Germans in Champagne and in the -V mountainous regions near the Swiss border is increasing in volume^ probably forcasting infantry at-' tacks at an early date. Again the losses to British shipping through mines or submarine* shows a decrease. According to the weekly statement of the British admiralty 17 merchantmen were sent to the bottom last week, as compar ed witft 21 tne previous weez. / French shipping suffered only the loss of one vessel during the week. . Little material damage was dose . by the Germans in Tuesday night?* air raid over London, Essex, and Kent. Ten persons were killed i* London and 70 injured. Outside the capital 3ve persons were wounded. One enemy machine was brought down. Another Spanish1 steamer, the Noviembre, has been torpedoed without warning by a Teutonic allied siihmarme. JOHN A. HOLLAND THE MUSIC MAH John A. Holland and his brother were in town Wednesday on business. Mr. Hollaid says that he u doing a big business with his pianos and organs and he is well pleased with the patronage that the people of this county have given him. He intends to do considerable adrerTirJfVl TllO PfOCQ QnH RimilfT next year. It will be worth the time of our readers to watch fcia ads. He handles a fine line of upto-date pianos and organs and he delivers them immediately, as he runs two automobile trucks. He sold a fine piano to Mr. and Mrs. Allen Hagen with which they are delighted. He also sold a fine piano to Mr. R. H. Stevenson for his daughter. It was loaded <m the truck at Greenwood and brought through Abbeville and taken to his home four miles out of town and put in Mr. Stevenson's home inside of two hours. Misses Sarah and Mary Haigler and Mary Milford are at home for the holidays from Coker College Hartsville. - . V' ? ' , M ^ / m }) , ". .. . .-.rirSa