Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUMTER WATCHMAN, Estab* Consolidated Aug. 2,1 HUES PUSH F LEFT FLANK IN PICARDY SEES TOMMIES ADVANCE. German Attack North of Kimmel Re pulsed, "With Prisoners for Haig's, Men. I London, Aug. 11,?Further progress ?was made last night by the British on j their left flank in the Picardy battle front north of the Somme, the war] office announced today. Fighting con-j tinued at various points south of the river. On the right center the French have pushed forward on the south ? bank of the Avre to the outskirts of ] Le Eschell-St. Aurin, seven miles! northeast of Montdidier. A German local attack north of; Kemmel, on the Flanders front, was repulsed after sharp fighting. The text of the statement reads: "By a successful operation during the night we advanced our line north of the Somme on the high ground be tween Etinehem and Dernancourt. "South of the river local fighting is reported at different points. "The French troops made further progress along the south bank of the Avre river and reached the outskirts of Le Eschell-St. Aurin. "Early this morning the enemy launched a local attack against posi tions north of Kemmel. The attack was repulsed after sharp fighting, prisoners being left in our hands. "Hostile raiding parties, were driv en off north of the Scarpe.* "We improved our positions slight-j ly east of Robecq (Flanders front)." j _ i RETREATING ENEMY HARASSED.; French Scatter Terror and Destruc tion in Ranks of Germans Fleeing! From Montdidier. On the French Front in France,, Aug. 11 (Havas Agency).?When the French troops entered Montdidier at . 12.30 o'clock Saturday afternoon the Germans had not yet completely : evacuated the town, clinging to the] outskirts of the place with the help! of machine guns, some of which were! being served by the officers of the de-,i tachments, all the men having been killed or wounded. The French troops are pursuing! . their success and have now progress- J ed far east of Montdidier, gathering: up along the route thousands of pris- i oners, together with enemy cannon j '- and machine guns. Harassed by thej French cavalry, whioh had pushed fari ahc-ad, the Germans were thrown into! . ^reat disorder as they, sought/to faJlj came'\rm?re^ cars with automatic j guns which scattered terror and de-j struction amongst the retreating foe. j The enemy was engaged in a desper-; ate effort along the roads to the rear, I crowded with masses of men and ma ferial, seeKing to disengage himself! from the French pursuit. Farther south the French army on the right continued equal pressure, taking the heights of Boulogne-la Grasse. At the end of the day yester day, the French held the front of Orvillers, Boulogne-la-Grasse, La Poste, Conchy-les-Pots, La Neuville, Biermont, Le Plessier and Chevin court. The French artillery has under its fire important enemy concentrations of men and mate^&l retreating near Noyon and Guisecard. Everything tends to confirm the impression that z a great victory has been won. BETREAT TO AISNE IMMINENT. Allies Continue to Press Enemy Hard. London, Aug. 11.?The Allies con tinued to make splendid progress this morning along the whole front be tween the region to the south of Ar ras and the river Oise. according to reports reaching London this after noon. There have been large cap tures of guns and materials and the numbers of prisoners is increasing. The fall of Chaulnes is said to have followed a desperate struggle with I strong forces rushed up to cover thej retreat. The British encountered fierce op-! position north of the Somme, but they j are now advancing down the long: slopes toward Bray if they have not; already succeeded in reaching that town. Between Arras and Albert the ene my is showing signs of great anxiety and apparently is anticipating a wid? I extension of the fighting front to the north. On the Soissons, Rheims front, the; enemy is contesting every inch of ground along the Vesle river with the Americans, who are fighting with su perb heroism. The struggle can not last long, however, and a German re treat to the Aisne or beyond is "clearly imminent. FRANCO-AMERICANS RESIST VIG OROUSLY. Counterattack Discourages Infantry Attack of Germans on Vesle? Fighting for Fismette. With the American Army on the Vesle, Aug. 11, S p. m. (By the Asso ciated Press).?The Germans made two artillery attacks against th ? Franco-American troops on the Vesle. but the Allied troops counterattacked! so vigorously that the Germans did not launch an infantry attack. The struggle for the retention of Fismette. on the north bank of the Vesle near Fismes, has developed virtually into a continuous fight. The Americans, however, are holding tlv upper hand. notwithstanding the German attempts to dislodge them. Nebuchadnezzar had to eat grass. Is Hooverism really new? Many a beautiful Easter bonnet represents the milliner's unpaid bill. fcfeed April, 1850. "Bp JuJt ft 881. ST PROGRESS NQnTfToF SOME LONDON REPORT CREDITS HAIG'S MEN WITH ENTERING CHACLNES. Forces of Petain Continue to Advance | Eastward in Victorious March?To tal Number of Prisoners Taken in! Drive Now up to Thirty-six Thou sand. By Associated Press. The Germans have materially stif fened their- defense against the Brit ish, American and French troops of th< Picardy front, but they have been unable to stem the tide of advance against them. Although the forward push of the Allies has been slowed down some ; what, nevertheless they have made I further important progress from the j north of the Somme river where the i Americans and British are fighting to | geth^r to the northern bank of the I Oise where the French troops are en j gaging the enemy. The Americans and their British ; brothers in arms at last accounts ! were pressing closely upon Bray-sur Somme, aided by tanks and armored 1 cars, which inflicted heavy casualties I on the enemy as he advanced to re j tard their progress. Across the river the Germans heav j ily engaged the British at Lihons and I in its vicinity and at one point pierced the British line and gained the out skirts of Lihons. A counterattack, however, entirely restored the British line and the enemy retired to positions east and north of the village. Unoffi cial reports from London credited the j British with entering Chaulnes and British cavalry with a penetration of the enemy's territory almost to Nesles. j These reports, however, have received no official confirmation. 'ByrKT^r the greatest progress has been made by the French from the region imediatel^* so., hwest and south of Rove to the Oise river. Here they have driven their line well across the Roye-Compiegne road and at Cam bronne have, reached the road lead ing from Compiegne to Noyon. Since the capture of Montdidier thi French have penetrated eastward to Tillotoy. a distance of about seven miles, and to Canny-sur-Matz, jmore than eight, and a half miles and through the hilly region southward to the Oise have averaged gains exceeding six miles over a front of 12 miles. Th" stiffening of the German defense does not, in the minds of observers on the battle front, indicate the retreat of the enemy has ended. Rather it is ?to those carried' out over the Marne j front, when strong rear guards cov I ered the retirement of the Crown Prince's armies northward. The smoke of large fires continues to be seen far behind the enemy's I lines and. the movement of long trans i port columns eastward is considerd j evidence that it is the intention of the enemy ultimately to retreat to new lines of defense. 1 Aviators have destroyed all the , bridges across the Somme from thn J region of Peronne sotuhward and ? with the enemy's communicating lines j either in the hnnd? of the Allies or I dominated by their guns the re*ro ; grade movement necessarily must be : slow. ! Therefore strong rear guard ac tions are required to save large num ! bers cf mer and guns and enormous quantities of stores from capture. I The allied troops gradually are en circling Roye and its capture, which . now seems imminent, will greatly ; heighten the .difficulties of the Ger j mans in falling back. I . Intensive air fighting is proceeding I over the battle line. In Friday's bat ! tie 39 German machines were de ! stroyed and 22 driven down out of i control. The British war office : acknowledges that 22 British ma j chines are missing. I Reports bring the number of pris i oners by the allies up to 36.000 and j the number of guns captured to i more than 500. \ On the V?sle front the Germans on the.north side of the stream are re ported to be entrenching and string ing barbed wires over the territory where thev are facing the French and Americans. PERSHING IX COMMAND. Plan to Coordinate All American Forces in Fiance Now Under Way. I With the American Army in j France, Aug. 12 (By the Associated I Press).?The first American field; army has been organized. It is un der the direct command of Gen. John; J. Pershing. commander in chief of! the American forces. The corps com- ! manders thus far announced the Major Generals Liggett, Bullard, Bun dy. Reed and Wright. The creation of the first field army is the first step towards the coor- j dination of all the American forces in. France. This does not mean the immediate withdrawal from the British and, French commands of all American j units and it is probable that divi sions will be used on the French and j British fronts for weeks yet. Tt is understood that the policy oi i organizing other armies will be car-! ried out steadily. A man who is good enough to she 1 his blood for his country is good j enough to he given a square deal af terwards. A man may have plenty of money and yet he unhappy, but if r< h??? ter to be unhappy with money j than without it. A golden mirror makes a homely girl's face a thing of beauty. Y' ? nd Fear not?Det all the ends Thou 7mtep, s. a, wedn: III TO HIT HARD. *t be thy Country'* Thy God't m .y, august 14. 191j UTILE SPREADS SOUTH. GEN. MARCH REVIEWS BA1 REPORTS FOR PRESS. [ES DRIVING SOUTH OF RAS TODAY. All End of War Not in Sight But Now Have Advantage of Initial and Can Keep Enemy Guessing. Washington, Aug. 10.?The wl battle line from Rheims" to Fland? is being straightened out and t time has come for the greatest effb Gen. March, chief of staff, told newspaper correspondents at the s< weekly conference today. He said that any suggestion the end of the war is in sight sh( be discouraged, but the time had eoj to keep the enemy lunning and him hard. The greatest advantage to the lies is that they have taken the of sive and can kep the enemy gues instead of guessing themselves. Regarding the situation on the H Vesle line he said the French Americans have been nibbling* aid that line but had made no attem] advance up the slopes north of t river. The temporary stabilization:, the fighting on the Vesle was proi ly met by Gen. Foch by the Pic blow, where the events of the M battle seem likely to be duplicated VON KOTIER FLEEING. ich Capture Hundred More Guns lis Morning?Cavalry Nearing laulnos Where Germans Fight ^sperately to Cover Removal of tores. mdon, (From the Battlefront), :I0.?The Picardy battle is spread. ;to south of Arras, the Pall Mall ittc says this afternoon. One hun additional guns were captured by a French in this morning's fighting, te Canadian cavalry operating Chaulnes report that the Germans ^fighing strong rear guard actions irder to enable them to remove ?r stores, munitions and guns from town. te new attack by the French ex led the battle line some sixteen further southeast in the Mont ier sector. \n the British front splendid pro les is being made. The average pro forward by the infantry is 12 ies, with the cavalry; tanks and ar red cars well ahead of the infan The Allies are pressing the re tting enemy at all points. ADVANCE ON ROYE. j RETREAT OX MONTDIDIER-! ON LINE SHOWS UNDUE HASTE. INCH DRIVING GERMANS BACK ON IMPORTAXT FRONT. Much War Material Abandoned by treating Army?German Posit in That Sector Precarious. tish and French Lines Linked up >Hh of Somme River?German Hack Repidsed. Paris, Aug. 10.?The German at under command of Gen. von Hut is retreating from the Montdidiij Noyon line and the retreat shows;? idence of undue haste, much war tcrial is being left behind. Then treat would be cut off when the Fr* capture Faveralles and the Gei positions' along Montdidier-Roy r< are precarious. , The movements of Gen. Debei army have been lightning-like ancLj suited in taking prisoners numl several thousand. s mdori, Aug. 2.?The French have tnced nearer the important point Koye from the Southwest by the ture of the villages of Armancour: Tilloloy, it is officially announced. >uth of the Somme the British Hired two hundred prisoners, te British positions east cf Meri south of the river, have been ted with the British lines east of jfehm, and north of the river. A i attack on British positions th of Lihons last night was re id. AMERICANS LEADING ATTA! HUNS EVACUATE ROYE. With British They Are Driving Toward Bray. ; With Brjjti^|n M. says: Chipilfy Spur, north of Somme, was captured by the Ameri cans and British at 6 o'clock last night. The attack was supported by tanks and preceded by a heavy bar rage fire. The enemy were driven toward Bray. >riant Depot Abandoned by Huns ritish Tanks Operating East of; .16 p. m.?Official reports this afternoon state that the town of Roye, which the Germans have been defend ing so desperately, has been evacuat ed. British tanks have been seen op erating a considerable distance east of that town. \ FIGHTING IN AIR. Germans Lose Sixty-five Airplanes and British Fifty. London. Friday, Aug. 9.?Sixty-five German airplanes were destroyed by the British or driven down out of con trol in the fighting on August Sth? when the Picardy offensive opened, it is officially announced. Fifty British machines are reported missing. GERMANS RESIST BITTERLY. AMERICAN CASUALTY LIST. Ilard Fighting Reflected in List of Killed and Wounded. Bring up Reinforcements to Stop Advance of Allies. Paris, Aug, 12.?-Extremely bitter resistance by the Germans is being encountei-ed along the line on the Chaulnes-Roye-Noyon front. The enemy is bringing up strong rein forcements while the allies are pre paring for a further advance. TELEGRAPHERS' WAGES IN CREASED. Western Union Gives Loyal Employees Ten Per Cent Advance. i Washington. Aug. 10.?The armyi ! casualty lists issued in five sections | New York. Aug. 12.?The announce j total 516. Killed in action, 64; died j ment of a general increase of ton per of wounds, 28; died of disease, 3; j cent in wages of all employees of the died of accidents, 6; wounded severe- j Western Union belonging to the as-: j ly 102; wounded. 102; missing in oc- i sociation recently organized by com- ! j tion, 211; wounded, degree undeter- j pany was made here today. The order j j mined, Corporal Pinchard R. Carmine,: dates from July 1st and applies to ; j Yuincy, Fla., Corporal Joseph C. Hairej forty-five thousand workers. I of Graniteville. S. C. KiKe? in action. Paul E. Ragsdale. Pelzer, S. C. Marines Lose Twenty-Five. Washington, Aug. 10.?Marine cas ualties were 25. Killed in action. IR died of wounds, 5; wounded severely, 9. LENNTNE AND TROTZKY TO FLEE Bolshevik Government Going to Pieces and Premier and .Minister Plan to Quit Russia. I NO FIREWORKS ALLOWED. Council of Defense Urges all Towns and Cities to Forbid Their Use. London. Aug. 11.?The anti-Bolshe vik government in Russia is growing' rapidly, the Bolshevik soviet organi-! zation has virtually gone to pieces, and Nikolai Lenine, the premier, and Leon Trotzky, his war minister, in-; tend to flee to Germany should the; Columbia, Aug. 12.?Every mu-! si+uation become too serious, accord- ; nicipality in South Carolina is urged | ing to reeent Russian newspapers, the by the State Council of Defense to co- j Exchange Telegraph correspondent at operate with the organization by the j Copenhagen telegraphs. J adoption of an ordinance which will The Petrograd newspaper. Izvestia.; forbid the use of fireworks during! is quoted by the correspondent as the period of the war. A resolution j stating that at several points in that calling upon the municipalities of the j part of Russia not occupied by the State for such action was adopted at] enemy "counter revolutions have the last bi-monthly meeting of the broken out in a number of towns. Defense Council at the request of Wil- The Bolshevik Soviets have been over liam Banks, State Inspector of Explo- j thrown in those places and replaced sives. it is felt that, while fireworks) by councils consisting of representa are used only during the Christmas j tives of the Mensheviki, or moder holidays. as a rule, the present is the j ales." time to take action for the reason that j In the city of Kazan, the newspaper merchants usually make their pur- adds, the widely known Bolshevik chases of fireworks at this period of leader. Olschinsky, had been killed the year for the holiday trade. {while there has been great bloodshed amonsr the Bolsheviki in the Novgo rod district. AMERICAN CASUALTY LIST. Dealers in fireworks should, take warning and aet accordingly, as it i^ regarded as very likely that the sal of fireworks will not be permitted be cause of the waste of both monev an'' powder, both of which are needed to|T ^ ^ ^ ^ ThrCC Thm help m the winning ot the war. an'' the danger to persons and property in cident to the use of fireworks. FORTY THOUSAND PRISONERS. Allies Increase Toll of Men and Guns Paris. Aug. 2.?Nearly forty thou sand prisoners and seven hundred guns have been taken !>y tin- Allies in Picardy. according to reliable infor mation received here. died. Washington. Aug. 2.?Army casual ties, which were issued in three list--: today, total 305. Killed in action. 57: died of wounds, in; died of disease, 2: ?iicd of accidents and other causes. 4: wounded severely. 'IT: wounded, de ree undetemined. l"-S: missing in ac tion. 7; killed in action. Private Wil liam Morris, of Fort 1/iuderdale Fla. Wounded, degree undetermined, ?'rival.- Sidney X King, Bethune. S. C. id TmttW THE TRUE 5. Ti?D FRONT. GERMANS NOW FACING OLDJ DENBURG LINE. i A Victorious British Army Advances Many Places?Big Gains Made on Upper Sommc?Reliable Report.-? From Front Tell of Disordered Flight Whipping Enemy. With the British army in France, ?ug. 11, (By the Associated Press) j 3.30 p. m.?The Allied forces con- j tinued their victorious advance all{ along the line last night and today, I pushing in the general direction of the j upper reaches of the Somme. Theyj were smashing the stiff resistance in- j terpesed by the rear guards of the re-| treating Germans, the. bulk of whom, j according to reports considered reiia-j He, are fleeing in disorder. British! cavalry are reported this afternoon j operating close to the town of Nesle. i (Nesle is six miles southeast of Chaul-j nes.) Many hours ago the British, French j and American troops had reached, roughly, the old line held by the Ger-j mans before their retirement to the Kindenburg line. They have now I pushed beyond in many places. Goyencourt, two miles northwest of! Rove, is reported to have fallen to | British troops four hours ago. Other j P-ritish forces were on the front of i Chaulnes-Hattencourt and vniers-les- j Roye. The Germans are retiring gradual-; ly everywhere in the face of the fire from the British guns, rifles and ma chine guns. The Americans and British north of the Somme had further hard fight ing and with fine spirit pushed on to ward Bray. They have traversed the northern spur east of Chipilly, and Etinehem is as well as in their hands Gressaire wood had long since been I cleared of the enemy, the Allied forces] passing around the wood which was j reeking with gas from many pockets. Here both British and Americans! were helped on their way by tanks. At one place a tank containing 1 volunteers rushed a strong enemy po sition. Scores of Germans were killed and seven officers and 200 men were captured. This permitted the infan try to get on to the line it was hold ing this morning. The Americans in the fighting of the past 20 hours had further casual ties, principally caused by machine gun bullets. But their casualties. were no more than could be expected among troops constantly delivering at any along the line, realizing, the im portance of the positions which are now in the hands of the American and British forces. ? A considerable ndmber of addition-; al prisoners were taken here and the! Germans suffered extremely^ heavy losses. Up to date 31 German divi- | sions have been in contact with the Allied forces. Of these, 21 have been j engaged between the extreme left of! the Allied fiank and where the French! join the British. A number of pris oners from these divisions have also' been captured by the French. Ten! divisions of Prince Rupprecht's re- j serves have been identified in the ! fighting. j Large groups of prisoners, hungry, j thirsty and grimy and appearing1 thoroughly disheartened, continue to! arrive at the collecting cages. Among j the capture were five regimental com- j manders and ten battalion com- j manders. Late today strong enemy forces' were concentrating east of Proyart; and apparently were making prepa-i rations to oppose a determined re-1 sistance. However, the German ob-j jective probably is merely to cover! the retreat of the large enemy forces. j They have the additional need of at tempting to take away a great amount of heavy material of which they re-i cently lost a large quantity, and feel j the military necessity of risking man! power in order to protect the remain ing supplies. The scores of Allied observers in airplanes reported that long streams j of enemy troops and transports were. J rushing eastward, including the vicin ity east of Bray. Great columns ofi Germans were crossing the Somme; River even by the bridges that had been badly damaged by Allied bomb-j ers who have dropped many tons of explosives at vital- points. The ene my bombers also have been busy and repeatedly were chased away by the British pursuit planes to prevent.' them from dropping bombs to hind-; er the advance of the troops. The Germans were reported to b^j retreating eastward past Peronne in' the greatest disorder. Many were said to be without arms, apparently hav ing discarded their weapons. Among them were many wounded men, stag- : gering along on foot. Reports from the south received here say that the French continue to push along the Montdidier-Roye road. Many fires and explosions are report ed within the German lines as their retreat goes on. Much of this de struction was caused by the Hermans themselves, but in some cases shells < from Allied guns struck and explod-! < ?d enemy ammunition dumps. Chaulnes was shrouded in clouds of smoke, shot with flame. Among other i ?uildings in the town, the railway sta- < :ion was reported as having been turning for many hours. ] The German resistance thus far ap- < >ears to become weaker as the battle ?> ?rogresses toward the center, espec- | ?illy opposite the positions held by ] he Australians. Here, for instance, he artillery of the Allies often was ?equired to lift the fire a thousand i rards at a time, so rapid had been the ( Ldvance of the infantry. All the coun- j era Hacks thai the enemy has been T ible to organize have failed, notab- \ y on east of Folies, where extremely j SOCTHRON, EKaMtebed Ions, 1* VoLXLVI. No. 62. FOOD CRISIS PASSED. HOOVER SAW UNITED STATES REACH TEX DAYS' SUPPLY. /ocs Xot Want . to Run Any Such Colossal Risk Again, However. Washington, Aug 10.?It is not gen erally known that Food Administrator Hoover was the winner this year in one of the greatest performances of "taking a chance" in all history. It was in connection with the . wheat crop. When Mr. Hoover left for Europe last month, he knew that there was only about' a ten days' supply of wheat left in the United States. If the general public had known this, there would have been a sensation, and a very panicky'one, too. Put Mr. Hoover also j&iew that the new crop of wheat, as* he had cal culated and hoped, was going to he larger than the usual one. and that it was going to be ready for harvest ing considerably in advance of the usual time. So, he went on his trip overseas with the assurance that the crisis was past,, that wheat conditions would improve instead of the contra ry, and that there would be no more need of wheatless days in this coun try. ? What Hoover had constantly had on his mind until the early maturity and large size of the new crop were assured, was that there might be a period of absolute wheat famine. If Mr. Hoover had not taken the chance he did as to the American stock cf wheat for home consumption, there would have been a serious wheat famine in all the Allied Euro pean nations which are fighting the Hun. That would have meant a loss of physical fitness and of morale in the Allied armies at the turning point of the whole war, and might easily have meant the Allies' collapse. The European is decidedly more de pendent upon wheat for daily nutri ment than is the American, though this great staple is undoubtedly the most important food stuff in all Cs5S*> casian countries and is not to be neg lected as a basis of American physi que and morale. But at the time when Hoover took his colossal'chance, it was upon European morale that; every thing depended in the world/ war. The European Allies had to'" hold on until Uncle Sam could get there with .his army in real force. A gap had to be bridged, and to bridge it in the face of the enemy's fire it was necessary to take a big risk, v as Napoleon did at the. bridge of Lodi. Or his deserts are "small. Who dares not put it to the touch To gain or lose it all." \ If the present wheat crop had been j a failure, or if its maturity had been later than usual instead of earlier, Mr. Hoover would probably have lost his enviable standing as a success in the food control of the side of hu manity in the greatest war in all his tory. He might have been the butt of popular wrath in his own country in stead of the object of admiration and esteem. Nevertheless, he had the chance to take, and as matters stood he would have been remiss in his duty if he had hot taken it and risk ed his own fame unhesistatingly on the venture. But it is a bad thing to have to take any such chance with a great nation's fundamental food supply. Nobody knows that better than Hoover himself. That is why he is providing against any future neces sity of such a fearful risk by plan ning to bui^d up an emergency re serve of wheat, out of the present abundant crop. ZEPPELINS BROUGHT DOWN. British Score Air Victory Off Dutch Coast. London. Aug. 12.?A German air ship has been brought down in flames north of Am eland on the northern Dutch coast, the admiralty announced today. It was also announced that six Brit ish motor boats have failed to re turn from a reconnoitering expedition carried out on August 11th along the west Friesland coast of Holland. heavy casualties were inflicted on the Germans. Tanks, both the large one and the "Whippets." again performed tremen dous service at a small cost to them selves all along the line. At one small town, south of the Amiens-Roye road the advancing French infantry sent word to the British that they could not get on because of heavy machine gun fire from the town. Five ponderous armored monsters went over and rolled directly into the place. Their crews discovered that the houses were crowded with Ger mans manning machine guns, princi pally from scond story windows. One tank leisurely advanced upon a house while a hail of bullets flashed off its metal hide. After reconnoitering a rloso rPngo the tank backed off and charged. Tts great weight crushed in ' the whole building and it continued forward until the structure was flat tened out. with the enemy machine srunners thoroughly affaced. After this success- the four com panion tanks engaged various groups ->! rh?" enemy and the house wrecking raehine ?>reer>eded to roll down and [fatten nine other houses. This tank iterativ crushed the entire village and il! the enemy within. When the French infantrymen who ;ad paused until the way was made dear for them by the British tanks >rocer>(ied on their way they met with io resistance. On the ether side of hi' town '".erman - who h->d witnessed ts demolition fled in terror.