SCMTEB WATCHMAN, EgttW Consolidated Aug:. 2,1 ?Ii -mil BRITISH ?ND HUNS ENGAGED captured Maineg.. southwest of Val-| = e*iciennes valley, it is announced They also captured Vendegies-Sur Eeaillon on the front below Valen-| -^clennes. A German counterattack! ""was repulsed early this morning. SERBIANS WIN YTCTORY. rinflict Staggering Defeat on Enemy,| Who Retreat In Disorder. London, Oct. 25.?The Serbians have defeated the armies of the ene my in the valley of the Great Moreva| river, the enemy retreating in disor der, says the official Serbian . an nouncement today. fS?\ AMERICAN NAVAL GUN] HELPING THE .FRENCH ON OISE. Sixteen Inch Naval Guns Used to De stroy German Positions far Back ol the Battle Front, fb Witn American Army in Franc? Thursday, Oct. 24.?American sixteen inch guns, manned by American Blu< Jackets, cooperating with the French j Pegau firing on German railroad cen ters back of the Serre-Oise fron! Wednesday. \ AMERICANS BEATING HUNS. .In Bard and Pers.stent Fighting Along: the Mease ^Pershtajr'9 Mer ive'-the Better of It. < ; Americano, North of Verdun | So, 1 p. m.?:Heavy Germai -rfeoontfer attacks east of the Meuse ; were thrown back early today 03 '-Americans holding Bellen wood anc the lines on either side. In the re gion of^ Grand Pre west of the Meusf the Americans' straightened lines and captured several important ridges. The American lines have extended be tween ?' Rappes. wood and BantheviK? Wo? to 50 miles away Crom it and' there is * the Scheldt River to be crossed. '?The victories of our soldiers prove t?ilay how right we were not to ?despair. .They-'are the, reward of a "faith which never weakened. You' hr.ve mingled with them, and you know they also kept their courage, un broken." "King Albert also spoke of the'giant; Cerman gun which bombarded Dun " kirk from Leugenboom and which 3yas captured Intact- j ' The king hais in. bis possession splinters of the last shell fired at Dunkirk. CHANGE YOUR C&OCKS. DayUght Saving Law Expires Tonight ?Clocks to Be Stepped One Hour at 2 A. M. Washington, Oct. 2fc?At 2 o'ciock tomorrow morning the United States wiiVrv^?mpIete its test of "daylight, ^viSas1." Cloicks throughout thee country will be stopped one hour. At" the same time all trains will stop by^ oxrder of Director Generai 3f<. and remain- motionless" fih and then proceed oi Bfidsh hi CONTACT ?feed April, iSSO. **Be fast au .881. St Bi6 QENERAL QOITS. GERMAX ARMY LOSES AH) OF: LUDENDORFF. Resignation of First Quartermaster General Accepted by Emperor? j Man Who Originated Hun March! Offensive?In Reality Chief of Staff. | Often Described as Country's "MJK-j tary Brain." Copenhagen, Oct. 27.?General Lu-j dendorff, first quartermaster general J of the German army, has resigned,; says a telegram from Berlin. In ac-! cepting his resignation the emperor has decreed that the lower Rheinsch j infantry regiment No. 39, of which j General Ludendorff long had been i commander, shall bear his name. In the resignation of. Gen. Luden jdorff, Germany loses what often has j been described as her "military brain.'r Unknown before the war, Gen.! Erich Lude.idorff sprang into promi- j nence in the fall of 1914 as chief ofj staff to Field Marshal von Hinden-! ourg then a general, in the operations j against the Russians. When von Hin- j denburg was given the chief com- j mand in August, 1916, Ludendorff | was appointed first quartermaster j general, but his position in reality has been chief of ?staff and collaborator with von Hindenburg. Soon after his appointment as first quartermaster general, Ludendorff be gan to be * looked upon as the real "boss" of Germany and was recog nized as the representative of the Pan-Germans at great headquarters. It was Ludendorff who brought about the retirement of Chancellor von Bethmann-Holweg, and he was reput ed to have been responsible for the appointment of the chancellorship ot Michaelis and Von Hertling, both of whom were described as stop gaps. General Ludendorff was reported tc have been the originator of the plan of the German offensive of 1918. The; plan called for offensive operations on the Western front which would split the British and French armies and compel the allies to beg for peace be fore the strength of the American army could be available to any great extent. It'was planned that if the offensive failed, then Germany would resort to a diplomatic campaign in or der to obtain peace. Since the death of the German of fensive and the successful offensive ot Marshal Foch, reports from Germany have been to the effect that Luden dorff and von Hindenburg were lcs ng their popularity in Germaify. As first; quartermaster general, Lu dendorff was responsible* for the offi cial statements issued from German general headquarters. He is the man who has explained to the German people how. the German troops during the last three months have carried out "strategic withdrawals." . TARDIEU RETURNS TO AMERICA. French. High Commissioner Again in Country. 1 ! _L_ An Atlantic Port, Oct; 27.?Andre Tardieu, French high commissioner to the United States, who was also recently appointed secretary for France and America war. affairs by Premier Clemenceau. arrived here or. a French line, suffering from a slight attack of -influenza. The bureau * of French information announced that! because of his illness, M. Tardieu J would spend a few days here before; proceeding to Washington. M. Tardieu's visit it was said, ofii- j ciariy "answered the same purpose as the visit-^of Col. E M. House to France," for "just as President Wilson thought necessary under the present circumstances to have-Colonel House, visit France,- s^ Prime Minister Clem encau r judged that the presence in America, of .-a member., of his govern ment could- only serve the necessities cf the situation." . It was stated that M. Tardieu would remain- in the United 'States j only a short, time. [ Andre Tardieu, French high cotn I missioner -to the United States and J head of the French ? department of Franco-American war" cooperation, returned to the United States on "a French Jiner today to resume his du ties. . M. Tardieu has been in France since May last . Among -the arrivals was Henri R4-: baud, the French conductor, engaged, to replace Dr. Karl Muck, the InternSil ed German, as leader of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. \' PARIS PRESS ^M3iENTS. Declares German Army. Lacks Means, to Continue Flghttnfr. Paris, Oc%26.?The fall of V" iennes is iniminent: ieacy occurred, fed Fear Bot?Dec ?13 the ends Thou Ate rMTEK, 3. C.v WEDNES TURKS OFFER SUBMISSION i PLEA FOR PEACE PRESENTED TO FRENCH AND BRITISH MIN- i ISTERS TO SWITZER LAND. - ?? :? The Pence Terms Asked Virtiiallyj Amount to Complete Surrender on The Part of The Turks. London, Oct. 26.?The Turkish j minister to Switzerland has handed! to the British and French ministers! to that country an offer of peace! virtually amounting to surrender, ac-[ cording to a Berne dispatch to Thej Daily Mail. T?RKS G?T OFF. GENERAL ALLEN BY'S FORCES CAPTURE ALEPPO, IMPORT ANT CITY IN SYRIA. Advance Northward Would Open Road I ti Send Help to Czecho-SIOvak Forces?Turks in Mesopotamia in Precarious Condition. ?. . Louden, Oct. 27.?The city of Alep po was occupied by British' cavalry and armored cars Saturday morning, savs a British official statement issued today on operations in Syria and Pal estine. The statement read?: ' '. ?' '?:>5 * "Our advanced cavalry and armored cars occupied Aleppo cn the mbrnmg of October 26, after overcoming^slight opposition." The fall of Aleppo to the British is the :-crowning event of the victorious] campaign of General Allenby im which he captured* Jerusalem and Damascus on his way northward through Pales-f tine and Syria.' Aleppo is 185 miles no:rth of Damascus and 70 miles east of the Mediterranean. At Aleppo the railway line froir Constantinople branches, one line go ing southward to Palestine apcl the other east and south to Bagdad. With Aleppo in the hands of the British the Turkish forces facing the British army in Mesopotamia are in a more, or less precarious position." The. rail road from Aleppo has been their] main source.of supply and the cutting of the line at Aleppo renders it use less to the Turk's. An advance north ward from Aleppo would cut off the Turkish forces in,Armenia and north-i ern Mesopotamia and wouhL jp>euv road over which to send help to <. the j Czheco-Slovak and other anti-Bolshe^ viki forces in Russia Aleppo has a population of about! 125,000. VICTORY IN MESOPOTAMIA. British from Bagdad Driving Forward to Join Forces With Allenby at Aleppo. London, Oct. 28, 12.15?The British: forces advancing in Mesopotamia' have cut the road from Sherghet to Mosul one of the principal lines of commu nication of the Turks. WAITIM6 ALLIES' PLEASURE. IH3BEIGN MINISTER. SOLF RE PLIES TO WILSON'S LATEST COMMUNICATION. Ansiver to President Sets Out 'Peace Negotiations Are Being ducted by Constitutional Power Whose Bands Rests Ai Make Deciding Conclusions. Copenhagen, Oct. 27.?Geram answer to President Wilson's communication says: "The German government ha en cognizance, of the answer president of the United States. "The president is aware of l] reaching changes which have] carried out and are being carri< in the German constitutioi iure, and that peace being: conducted ment, in whose ^ ?'t at be thy Country'*, i'toj uod't * DAY, OCTOBER 30, 19 IK ABJECT SUBMISSION. ! - AUSTRIA WILL MAKE PEACE OX WILSON'S TERMS WITHOUT REGARD TO GERMANY. The Ramshackle Dual Monarchy Which is Falling to Pieces Eager to End War Before There is a Comp lete Collapse. Amsterdam, Oct. 28.?Austria in her reply to President Wilson accepts all the views expressed by the president in his note of October 19th. Austria says she' is willing and ready, with out awaiting the result of other nego tiations, to negotiate peace, with an immediate armistice on all Austro Hungarian fronts. HARDEST OF FIGHTING. AMERICANS DRIVING FORWARD AGAINST GERMANS' STRONGEST FORCE. They Have Concentrated All Their' Best Troops m Meuse Region in Ef fort to Hold Open Lines of Com munication With Metz. With the American Army North west of Verdun. Oct. 27 (By the As sociated Press).?Natural positions for defense held by the Germans north of the American line are prob ably as strong as any along the entire battle front from Switzerland to the sea. These positions, which the Americans are now facing, are espec ially strong owing to the thickly wooded districts and series of hills ? and ridges. a Taking advantage of these natural* military positions the Germans have thrown in strong forces of men and brought up immense quantities of artillery of various cali ber determined to hold what has been called the eastern pivot of their de? fense line in France at any cost. From Grand-Pre pass, where there has been fierce fighting for nearly two weeks the Americans face the Bois de Burgogne and Boise de Eas, which really are a continuation of the Ar gonne forest. Back of these great woods is the Forest de Boult, all bf which forms a.splendid protection for troop concentration and concealing ammunition and heavy artillery. Here the Americans are preparing for the battle of Argonne all over again. ^ German prisoners report that the Bois de Bourgogne is literally' filled with, machine guns, many of them in hills.and ridges within the forest and even installed in trees: - Further east 'he Germans have taken advantage of the more wooded tracts of the Bois de Baric?urt ismd the Bois de Tailly tc the south of which is. the Freya 'Stel lung, which; has' been reached by the Americans west, of Ancreville. East of the Meuse the Americans have more wooded districts in view of the obseryers, the principalr one of which is the Forest de Wrevre, along the southern edge of which passes, the Jttf the south of the atre ^three. : series of directly" facing the I Freya Stellun Freya Stellun1 smaller lines Americans olra ie of which ; were pen ted i^Bihursday's fighting. .Ji ll oin THE SM >EY WITHOUT EF REQUIRES NO ; ad Track's." THE TB?i 18. BiG BATTLES PBEDiOTED MAJOR OFFENSIVE MAY FOLLOW I ITALL1N ^lOVE* Although Rome Seems Careful to Re-1 frain From Describing Attack as Drive Such Developments Would Not Prove Surprising. Washington, Oct. 25.?Tre sudden ilare of activity on the Italian front after months of almost complete quiet, attracted quick attention today among military officials here. It was noted, however, that first official re ports from Rome carefully refrain ed from describing the actions as a drive. The fact that nearly 3,000 prisoners ; were taken yesterday shows the sur prise nature of the attacks, and it may also indicate waning morale in the Austrian .army. Officers here would not be esurprised if the Aus trian forces, in view of the conditions i at home, shewed weakness under heavy assault. The place selected" for the attack indicates tha* the present operations j may be preliminary steps to a ma jor offensive. If the high ground be tween the Erenta and Piave Rivers is carried in sufficient force, observers here 'believe it might be possible for the Italian army, supported by French and British units and the artilleiy anc possibly by American troops, to reach the valley of the upper Piave and out flank the whole Austrian position on the lower stretches of the river, run ning from the Montegrappa plateau to the sea. Immediate withdrawal of the Austrian forces in this line would ! appear to be the certain result of an> striking Italian success on the lines r.ow under assault. The Piave forms a great loop flowing down toward the plateau from the northwest, then swinging sharp! j southeast to reach the sea. West o1 the Montegrappa heights which de fleet the river's course, the Brente flows down from the northwest anc bends sharply south about the easterr face of the rugged plateau. It is ir the territory between the two river; that the new attack has been launch ed. Aside from its military significance the operation in Italy is being watch ed closely by officials here as a tes of the spirit of the Austrian army; Re ports of disorders: and disaffection ii the dual monarchy have beeh by the rising \ waters cases* it : b;ecame nec< wagons' into the area out of-the" houses so ter rise, j?irohgs; of on the J&frn street bi hour tonight . I of water, that the vious rej Th<