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THE SUMTER WATCHMAN, Estab Consolidated Aug;. 2,1 BRITISH M0PP1NS UP. GREAT PROGRESS MADE LAST NIGHT ON FLANDERS FRONT. Many T6\vns and Villages Between Cambrai and Xpres Captured as Troops Press Forward in Pursuit of Germans. London, Sept 5.?The British made marked progress last night on the Flanders front, it is officially announc ed Ploegstrer village and Hill No. 63, southwest of Messines have been captured. On the Lys front the British hold the genera- line of Voormezele. Wulverghem, Ploegsteert, Nieppe Laventie and Givenchy. Eastward of Givenchy a section of the old Ger man line has been taken. In front of Cambrai the British have improved the position south of Mouvres, east of Hergies' and near the Canal du Nord. Further south they captured Nea ville-Bourjouval, east of the Canal du Nord. More than sixteen thousand prisoners and a hundred guns have been taken during the past four days. GERMANS FALLING BACK IN NOYON SECTOR. Paris. Sept. 5.?The German re treat before the French northeast of Noyon continued last night, it is offi cially announced. The French are pushing far east of the Canal du Nord and advancing north. The Franco-Americans have reach ed the cross ridge, dominating the Aisne. In the Nesle region the French have Crossed the Somme canal near Voyen hes. Just south they have reached the region of Hombleux, Eamery-Hallon and Flavy-le-Meldeux. Between the Ailette and Aisne the towns of Ciamency. Brayency, Braye. and Missy-sur-Aisne have been cap tured. On the Vesle the operations have extended eastward, and a crossing has been effected between Venteaux and Jonchery, on a two and a-half mile front. HUN LINES RE ADJUSTED. Indication That Germans Are Prepar . ing to Make a Stand South of Scarpe I River. With British Armies in France, Noon, Sept S.-y-South of the Scarpe a large portion of the German line is HUNS DESTROY MUNITIONS. i Hurried Retreat on Aisne Front Force Them to Explode Ammuni tion Dumps. With American Forces north of the Vesle, Sept. 5.?Violent explosions were heard along the German line this morning, observers reported. It is believed that the Germans are de stroying ammunition dumps. An aviator reported a terrific explosion at & o'clock at Villersen-Prayeres on the south bank of the river Aisne, di rectly north of Fismes. The base of the Boches at Fismitte was occupied by the Americans during the night, after it was evacuated by the Ger mans. ALLIES REACH AISNE. French and Americans Drive Germans From Vesle to Aisne. Paris, Sept. 5.? The Franco-Amer ican forces pursuing the Germans north of the Vesle river, have reach ed the line of the Aisne. according to advices from the front this morn ing. SEED PRICES FIXED. Average Recommended by Producers Adopted After Conference With State Food Men. Washington. Sept. 4.?The stabiliza-j tion of cotton seed prices at the av- | erage recommended by the producers has been adopted by the food admin istrator after conference with the! State food administrators today. The prices of cottonseed in South Carolina is $72 in car lots, $69 for! wagon seed. The price of meal in South Carolina will be $52. The food administrator has applied to the war industries board to re vise the price of linters and any in crease in prices of linters will be ap plied te reduction of meal. COTTON MARKET BROKE. Announcement That War Industries Board Will Take a Hand in Fixing Prices Followed by Panicky De ?<*Jine. New York. Sept. 5.?A heavy selling of cotton futures was gen eral on the opening of the market as the result of the announcement at Washington that the war indusries board has planned to bring about the stabilization of cotton prices. The first quotations were about five dollars a bale under last night's closing. GERMANS ADMIT RETREAT. War Office Announces Retreat Under Allied Pressure From Flanders and Roye Salients. Berlin. Sept. 5.?Between Ypres and LaBassee in th<? Lys salient the British yesterday pressed forward against the new German lines, the war office announced. Between the Somme and the Ois". tlnx statement adds, the Germans continued their movement out of the region of Roye. The re-.r guards which th<- Germans left behind to retard the French, fol lowed the main body Of the Germansj closely. 1 **ed April, 1850. ?*B? Just a .881. SB WILSON* TO APPOINT COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER STABILIZ ING PRICE. i _ [Chairman Barueh of War Industries Beard Makes Statement Concerning j j Staple?Short Crop Creates Prob- j > Icm. _. ] Washington, Sept. 4.? T ;e war in dustries board, with the o.oproval of j Fresident Wilson, is soon to appoint a committee to consider the dcsirabil j ity and feasibility of offering a sta-j [ bilization of cotton prices and other : matters connected with handling the ! crop. This was announced tonight by | j Chairman Barueh. i The announcement of another short, etop of cotton, said Mr. Baruch's statement, raises in acute form the problem of satisfying the heeds of I the nation as weli as those of the al j lies securing an equitable distribution j for the purpose of winning the war. ! Involved in the distribution is the J problem of bringing about a reason j able stabilization of prices in the in terest of both the producer and the consumer." , ? i Mr. Barueh said the committee to be appointed will study the present cotton situation, the problems of dis tribution, the marketing of low grade cottons and the desirability and feasibility of effecting a stabilization of prices." The committee, the chairman ad ded, will begin activities as soon as possible and will hold hearings at convenient points in the cotton pro ducing States and at , such other as may be found necessary, so that interested parties can present their views." Announcement by the department of agriculture yesterday that the se vere drought in July and August had reduced the production forecast from 15.235.000 equivalent 500 pound bales as of June 25 to 11,137.000 bales as of August 25 was responsible for the board's decis on. which was under stood to have been approved to the supreme war council. After the department's forecast i was made public, the price5 of cotton went up more than $10 a bale on the principal cotton exchanges of the country and the advance was largely maintained today. Proposals to fix zi< price of raw cotton have been advanced from time to time since the goverment under took voluntary ^price fixmg with rep resentatives with various industrials, [but strong opposition has been offer ers and members of . congress from eotton growing States. wilson commutes sentences. Negro Soldiers Conviccted of Par ticipation in Houston Riots Secure Executive Clemency. Washington, Sept. 4.?Death sen tences of ten negro soldiers who par ticipated in the riot at Houston, Tex as, August 23, 1917, have been com-] j muted to life imprisonment by Presi t dent Wilson. j \ ; In six other cases the president j i affirmed the death sentences because | j the condemned men had been found guilty of having deliberately and with j great cruelty murdered civilians, j This action, announced today by i the war department concluded the ' cases of 2i) negroes given the death ! penalty for their part in the riot. , Thirteen were executed and the pres ! ident-.was called upon to review the j findings in 16 cases. old draft rules apply. : Few Changes to be Made, Says Gen. Crowder. j Washington, Sept. 3.?No changes; I are contemplated in the basic rules! ' governing the operation of the draft; ; in the case of men included under the | j new age limits. This was indicated I j today by Provost Marshal General Crowder. who after a.visit to the I White House with General March. chief of staff, explained that the prin ! ciples which prevailed in the selec- j : tion of men between the ages of 21 and 31 would be retained in large j measure for the guidance of those ! operating the selective draft machin ! ery. j There will be some changes, how j ever, in the details relating to men j engaged in cer tain industries and more especially to men of mature age. j Just what these are the government ? is not prepared to announce. Generals .March and Crowder were i summoned to the White House by thej ?president, who wished to familiarize himself with all details of the man 1 power measure. When arrangements will be made j which automatically exempt railroad1 [men and coal miners as a body can not yet be stated. Director Generali .McAdoo is understood to be in favor: of providing some method other than; the dec ision of local boards for ex- j empting essential railroad employees.! General Crowder said that under! present plans the matter of exempt ing this class of workers would be in ? the hands of the district boards to be taken up by them after the question naires have been passed on by the lo- j cal boards, which he said are with- 1 out jurisdiction to exempt a regis trant on the ground that he is an es sential industrial worker. j Just what the changes in detail of selecting those of the higher ages will be. General Crowder was not prepar-j ed to say. This information will be forth coming later when all the ar rangements for making selections are promulga ted. Portsmouth, Ya., Sept. 5.?Forty men employed in the evacuation for the dry dock at the Norfolk navy yard were caught under n landslide this morning. Rescuers have ' recovered j the bodies of five dead. ' nti Fear oot?Liet all the en da Thon M _i MTER, S. c, SATURDj FRENCH DRIVE CONTINUES. ? ?? ? ? ? . Ml RX'NS BEING STEADILY DRIVEN BACK ON AISNE FRONT. Advance Last Night and Today Made Steady Progress With Important Results. i Paris. Sept. 4.?The French yes-f; terday and last night continued to:; j push back the Germans to the east of [ the Canal du Nord and between thev j Ailette and Aisne rivers, it is officially": ;announced. / | I The French took Capitre Wood.: 'northeast of Chevilly-. and approach' ed the town of Crosilles, three miles j north of Noyon. North of the Ailette they reaches j the outskirts of Coucy-ie-Chateau and| j Justencourt. j South of the river they drove east ward from Leuilly and attained th?| j suburbs of Clamecy and Bray, j On the Aisne Bucy-le-Long w2 ! penetrated. Fifteen hundred prise j ers were taken. j On the Vesle parties of Fren< ! crossed at several points. BBITiSH GfiQSS^ B?MAL HOLD ON WEST RANK OP CAN Ali DC NORD SECURED TO DAY. British are Making an IrresLstil Advance Beyond Drocourt-Queani Line?Several Important Towns enpied. London, Sept. 4.?In the push yond Drocourt-Queant line the Bri1 have reached the line of the^Canal j Nord, says Gen. Paige's official stat I ment. North of the Arras-Cambi I road they occupied the towns ! Ecourt and St. Quentin. North ! Peronne the advance carried I British through Vaux Wood aboj j Meisland. Slight advances were sc j ed at other points. In Flanders j British are approaching Neuve Cl i pelle. Laventie. Neippe and Sail i sur-Lallys have been taken. CANAL DU NORD CROSS1 Great Ditch in Which Huns PI Great Trust to Check the BiitisI London, Sept. 4. 1 P. M.?The Br j ish have captured a hold on the w< j bank of the Canal du Nord, tal Ruamucourt and North Saiens-1 Marquien, say advices from the ba| tie .front. Further along: the j Inchy-en-Artois, Demiscourt and Hermies. Near the Somme the British cross ed the Canal at Haut-A Haines, more than two miles north of Peronne. I From Sermies southward the British line is indicated as running west of liuyualcourt-and a mile and a-half east of Bcrtincourt. Midway . be tween Nieppe and Sailly in the Lys salient the British captured the vil lage of Crbix-du-Bac. HUNS IN FULL FLIGHT. With British Armies,' France, Noon, Sept. 4.?British troops were report I cd this morning to have taken the \ town of Manoeuvres, three and a i half miles southeast of Queant, but the capture has not been confirmd. The Germans are in full flight in the region of the Canal du Nord and ap pear more than ever disorganized. A; thousand more prisoners were cap-j tured last night by Gen. Haig's forces. BATTLE IN MACEDONIA. London, Sept. 4.?The forces of the Central powers on the morning of September 2nd attacked the Allied troops under cover of an intense bombardment on the left bank of the Vardar river in Macedonia, the Brit ish official statement says. The ene my was driven back by a counterat tack. SUB SINKS SUB. London,. Sept. 4.?The sinking of a German submarine by a British sub marine on patrol is reported by the Central News. HON SHIPS SEIZED. GERMAN OWNED STEAMSHIP COMPANY TAKEN OVER BY GOVERNMENT. ' Germans and American Traitors Op erated Ships Under American Flag to Supply German Raiders and Sub nianies?Plot Finally Uncovered. Washington. Sept. 4.?On tho ground of German ownership, the American Trans-Atlantic Company, which until its shops were comman deered by the United States shipping board in October, l!U7, operated inj ocean trade of 11 steamships flying j the Stars and Stripes has been taken over by A. Mitchell Palmer, alien j property custodian. Richard G. Wagner, formerly of Milwaukee, an American bora citizen.) head of the concern for three years, j deceived the American government i "with truly Prussian arrogance." as well as British and French prize; courts as to ownership of property.: according to Francis P. Garvan, in vestigator for the custodian, who made public tonight a summary of Wagener's activities. The ships were in fact bought with i German gold and the company wasj organized ?dght months after the out-; break of hostilities with funds which Count von Bernstorff, the Herman ambassador caused to be sent for Wagener's benefit. Wagener, under! the examination of Mr. Garvan. pro-i tested the ships were American i owned until the last, but finally own-j L-d up before the weight of evidence. i at be thy Country'*, i Say God's 9 \ SEPTEMBER 7, 19: E. tTBETH BIVISION FIGHTING WITH GEX. ITAIG IX FLAN DERS. - is Division is Composed of South ^Carolina, Xortli Carolina and Ten ^nessee Troops?Huns Hear Deadly ^Rebcl Tell as They Flee. "ashington, Sept. 4.?The arrival I Major General Graves and staff atj idivostok to take command of all | lerican forces fighting on the new stern front was announced by in. March today. Gen. March stat that the total embarkation of terican troops for all fronts, in |uding the Siberian expedition, pass the million, six hundred thousand irk by August Cist. IpHe identified the American unit irticipating in the Flanders advance the Thirtieth Division, composed troops from Tennessee, North Car ina and South Carolina. mmw REVILES WILSON. DERMA X OF ILLINOIS FX DER PROTECTIOX OF SENATE ATTACKS GOVERN MENT. ^Washington. Sept. 3.?In a lengthy fjrepared address or. what he called inofficial and personal government." :ator Sherman of Illinois, Republi tn. made a scathing attack in the |nate today on President Wilson and \e administration, particularly Col. M. House, the president's personal ?nd and adviser. /With ironical reference to the Resident's recent statement that pol ls is adjourned, the senator assert that, having elected the president, dmost singlehanded," Colonel House id a coterie of Texas politicians, ire in the saddle and they are do politics in the si me old way." ider the pretense of war powers. said, the administration is placing witrol of the ^country in the hands a few politicians and labor lead to be used relentlessly for the Section of party candidates now and president in 1920. ?*T denounce," he added, "a politi autocrac ' covertly engaged in ien ibe nation is in the stress of undermining institutional civ Senator Sherman as "this alleged, un elected, unofficial assistant president." Secretary Baker was referred to as "one who thinks of the war as 3,000 miles away, talks glibly of quantity production of combat airplanes, de lays the draft lav.* amendment of 1918 three months, opposes universal training and says Washington's sol diers at Valley Forge were, drunkards and chicken thieves, only to be de clared by executive proclamation to j be the most capable official that dis tinguished functionary ever knew." Regarding Secretary Rediield, Sen ator Sherman said he had made ''some sparkling contributions to trade, including the shocking infor mation that the high cost of living waS caused by too many delivery wagons, an epic on fish and clams? along w;ih a sonnet cr two on sheep j killing dogs." Former Secretary Prynn. the sen ator declared, resigned when he had '"played second fiddle long enough and his power fojr harm had waned." Declaring the administration seeks even to dictate to Republican candi dates ir* Republican States, the sen ator said "Ford is to be made senator from Michigan by executive order." Senator Sherman denounced what he described as socialistic plans of "a coterie of politicians gilded and plated by a group of . theorizing, in tolerant intellectuals." When Senator Sherman began to speak, practically all the Democratic members left their seats and went to the cloak rooms. Most of the Re publicans paid close attention to the speech. TREMENDOUS WAGE INCREASE MILLION RAILROAD MEN RE- i CEIVE ADVANCE OF $25 A MONTH. Director General McAdoo Issues Or-, dor Affecting Mostly Railroad Em ployees Receiving Less Than Per Month. Washington. Sept. 5.?Nearly a million railroad employees, including, all clerks, track laborers, main-ten- ; ance way men to receive a wage in crease of $25 a month, the equivalent! of a dollar a day or twelve cents an hour over pay they received fast Jan- j uary ] under the new wage order is sued today by Director General Mc Adoo.. Advances are effective Sep tem her 1st. The order affecting half the rail road men in tiie United States and adding approximately one hundred and fifty millions to the payroll, is the second largest aggregate w:ige in crease ever granted in American in dustrial history .Most of the men covered by the order have been mak ing hss than a hundred dollars a month. McAdoo Stops GariiLshcciug. Washington. Sept. 3.?The garni sheeing of railroad employees' wages was forbidden tod iv by Dit*e< for Gen eral McAdoo as :i means of eliminat ing much legal work heretofore necessary. At tie- seme time it was made plain th:it employees who do not pay their bills will be dismissed. 1 m? Tratte'!.w THE TRCJ L8. PIMIC SEIZES HUNS. DRIVEN OUT Ol WOTAN LINE THEY FLEE IN CONFUSION. British Win Great Victory and Press [Pursuit of - Disorganized Ger jmajis With Utmost Vigor?Huns Trying to Save Some of Army to Make Stand Behind ( anal du Nord. i With the British Army in France. I Sept. 3, 4 p. m. (By the Associated I Press).?The British victory in the S tattle of the Drocourt-Queant line j seems complete. Without having de j Iivered a single counterattack and j staggering from the blows adminis tered to them yesterday the Germans j during the night and early this morn j ing were in full flight for the eastern) [ side of the Canal du Nord, j The enemy is trying to save what i men and material he can from the I wreck in and behind one of the most i powerful defense systems ever devis | ed. The much boasted Drocourt (jueant line, or, as the Germans call j it. the Wotan line, Is totally shattered, j The British are driving far through it and the Germans are hurrying east I ward, leaving behind only pockets of i machine gunners and even resistance j from these is gradually melting away. I Strong British forces are now fight ! ing their way down the Hindenburg line itself and are cleaning it up as they go. Meanwhile, a little south I from here, another force is driving I on the Hindenburg line frontally. } The Hun has tasted disaster in the Drocourt line battle and now his dis organized and his badly depleted forces are working fast to prevent an j even greater catastrophe overtaking j them. The British are rapidly ap ! proaching and are close to the Ca.nal du Nord, the territory behind which } is even now under heavy fire from many British cannon. The foe knows well that this move I ment contains a grave menace to some of his forces and orders appar ently have been given to get them out with all haste. The Canal du Nord, where the Germans are retir ing, is simply a canal under construc tion and contains no water. It is lik? a railroad tunnel with the top off. It is SO feet across and CO feet deep, with its sides, for the most part, granite walled, sloping slightly in ward toward the bottom. There may be as hard fighting here as there was j last year. It was early in the morning, after a n;ght in which a most stubborn^ bat tie was fought, that the Germans be gan to show real. s;sns of. generally les-Prez, on the extreme flank was taken, and the troops moved east ward. But they did not go far as the Germans in desperation had dammed the river Scarpe at Vitry-en-Artois jj.d flooded the lowlands in this lo cality. Patrols entered Biache-St. Vaast. which soon was reported entirely captured. From thi:-- general locality j oh the north the British pushed sharply forward. Early in the fore j noon airplanes reported no Germans j in any number west of Ecourt-St. j Quentir.. which is east of Recourt and J ?edomont. where the British were I pushing on and overcoming the di i minishing resistance. The first substantial indication that the Germans admitted defeat was when the British troops entered Re j court after having reached the out [ -kirts last night. They had been in I the town only a few minutes when I ?he enemy artillery began shelling it heavily from a distance. The British drove down the Arras ; -ambrai road with ease today. One j force, according to word received at [ neade,uarters. captured Inchy-en-Ar :ois: another occupied and cleaned up the entire Fuisy switch. While this was going on a squad ron of airplanes, discovering a largr group of the enemy some distance to :he east, managed to break through the protecting German planes and rained bombs down upon the masses, and this probably upset any idea the Germans had of making; a determined stand west of the canal. Since that time airplanes report only a few Germans visible for any, distance on the western side of the canal, end those ohservers flew over the whole region at an altitude of only L'Cn or 300 feet. During the forenoon the British in fantry moved forward so rapidly at many places that they completely outran their own artillery and press ed on with only machine guns pre ceding them. Since then, however, the guns have been brought up and are pumping shells at the far side of the canal, especially at the point when1 it is crossed by the Ai'ras-j Cambrai road, for here is a bridge and the concentration of fire undouht edly is seriously hindering the ene-1 my efforts to gei his transports and! his guns on the cast side. The men. of course, can cross by! scrambling down and up the sides.; and probably by a lew crossings that] have been thrown hurriedly over, al-J though at the moment the existence: o; such crossings is not known. It was after Tnchy was taken that the British forces, among them the; Royal Marines and naval battalions j :>? g:'n :i drive to tho'sowth past Moeu-j vres in an effort to reach the Bapa-j umc-Cambrai road before the Gcr-: mans Hoeing along it Pronville hav-; ing been taken during the night, thej British from here worked southeast ward and closed the valley of the Hirondelle River to Germans desir-l ing to retreal thai way. with the re sull that the enemy forces had to: swing southward. then eastward, probably along the direction of the; Papaume-Cambrai road also. Some idea of the German disor ganization may bo had from the fact] thai :i number c' crews of German j howitzers captured were standing' a SOUTHRON, Established Jod-, V Vol.XLVII. No. 7. BRITISH. FRENCH AND AMERI CANS CONTINUE MIGHTV OFFENSIVE. I Haig's Artillery Cuts to Pieces Col } umns of Retreating EiK'my and ; Lines Move Forward From Arras j to Peronne?Outskirts of Lens J leached?Franco-American Troops i Dominate Aisne Plateau. i From Flanders to Soissons the I British, French said American forces j are keeping ui. v Uhout cessation ; their strong offensive tactics against ! the Germans, who all along the bat ! tie front are still giving ground, al j though at certain points not without i strong resistance. .Seemingly it is the j full realization of the peril he is in I now that is prompting the enemy to j put forth his every effort to avert j complete disaster. Additional areas of territory which long had been held by the enemy I have been restored; many thousands t of Germans have been sent behind the lines to swell the great throng al ready there in prison camps and ! many of the enemy's dead lying up | on the battlefield testify to his heavy casualties. Retreating columns of the Germans have been cut to pic-ces by the Brit ! ish artillery from captured vantage } points before which the enemy was j compelled to pass unsheltered from the fire of the British gunners. From the region around Arras southward to Peronne the British line has mov ed forward everywhere since the fa mous Droeourt-Queant defense line was overwhelmed and left .in the rear. Eastward of the Drocourt line the British are nearing the Canal du ! 2\'ord and Douai, Valenciennes and Cambrai have been further encroach ed upon by English, Canadian and Australian troops. East of Peronne ! the British line has been steadily pushed forward. Numerous towns and villages have fallen into the hands of Field Marshal Haig's men, notable among them Queant, at the j southern end of the Drocoui-t-Queant line. i To the south the French along the [Canal du Nord are giving the enemy [no rest and gradually are blotting ! out the remaining portion of the sa j lient north of Noyon while on the Soissons sector the French and Amer | icans now are in control of the en tire plateau dominating the Aisne, the Chemin-des-Dames and,the roads i to Laon and La Fere.^ j ' In Fian.de^s-the British have pene France and farther-north in the 1 salient have ' taken Richebourg-St; Vaast and established themselves on the line of the La Basse road and be I tween there and Estaires, having ! captured the last named place. Steen i werck and Wulverghem also are in j British hands and thus the great t salient is virtually wiped out. . Unofficial dispatches say that in ! the region east and southeast of Ar | ras the Germans are retiring to a new [switch line running from Brebieres, i five miles southeast of Drocourt, j southward to Moeuvres. where it j joins the Hindenburg line near Gra | court. If this should prove true the J new line already se-"ms menaced as j Field Marshal Haig's men virtually j are upon it at LeCItise and Rumau i court, southeast of Arras, and almost n breast of it at Barralle, three miles north of Mouevres. American Casualty List. Washington. Sept. 5.?The army casualty list issued today tota'is 373, as follows: Killed in action, 91; missing, 69; wounded severely, 150; died from accident jnd other causes, 13; died of wounds, 11; died of dis ease, 4; wounded, degree undetermin j ed, 32; died from airplane accident, 3: prisoner, 1. Wounded ' severely, Ernest L. Visanska, Charleston, S. C; John C. Ferguson, Jr., Abbeville, S. C.; Ed. Zeigler. Jamison, S. C; Al> ? len L. Mason. Arlington. S. C. Miss ing. Ivy W. Beverly, Conway, S. C. ! Killed, Landrum Allen, Gaffney, S. c -? I around their guns which they had j blown up. Others complained that j they had had nothing to eat for four ! days because of the great disorgan i ization at their rear. I The lack of German shell fire was j explained in many instances when j gunners captured say they had no j ammunition. Many times, they de i clared, they could have fired with j open sights into the advancing Brit 1 ish, but. they had no shells and could not get any. The fighting this afternoon seems to be more vigorous along the north ern part of the Hindenburg line than elsewhere. The British are sweeping along astride it from the point where it Joins the Drocourt line at Queant. 'onsider::i.le progress is reported and :arge numbers of Germans have been killed cr taken prisoner. Thousands oi prisoners are coming into the cages. One army had 6.000 Ger mans in its cages this afternoon. How many machine guns were captured will not be known tor many days, but there were thousands. The prisoners vvere of all sorts, in eluding cavalrymen, who had been dismounted and fought as infantry. The hard pressed German command ers took n eu from anywhere, no mat ter whit they were supposed to be doing, and put them in the line with rifles and machine guns in an effort to stem the tide. How many there are it is impos :ible 'o even estimate. The German formations which op posed tie British have been literally Lorn to pieces and the tearing still ?ontinms along the Hindenburg line uid to the north.