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i i " j; j , ; i Z 1 , , l j y t ij ! ? !, e u s a a i. e r ? of if GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. The German war oflice issued the following statement regarding the situation in Belgium: "The s situation in the west shows little change. The c remnant of the Belgian army Is opposing our Ant-werp army near the coast. The French and British ;E troops, apparently worn out by their efforts to K check our advance, are leaving the burden of the , contiict to the Belgians, who are showing great braverv. The enemy in this theater of war seems . to have exhausted his reinforcements and to have weakened his line, by extending it in the effort to keep our troops from the coast." In the east the Austrian and German forces are meeting with con- J tinned success against the Russians. The enemy J lias been unable to drive our troops back from the Vistula: river, and south of Przcmysl the Austrians J are flanking the Russians left wing. After several J weeks of desperate resistance our troops have cap- tured some of the forts surrounding Verdun. This -opens the way for an attack on the main fortifications and preparations for this are now being c made." It is frankly admitted 1 German officers that the long resistance of Verdun has interfered s with the German offensive campaign. The fall of that fortress will release a great force that has t been trying to effect its fall for many weeks. Though the lighting on the Western end of the u battle front in France has been most spectacular because of its proximity to Paris and the English coast, the grimness of the struggle that has been -going on about Verdun has been equalled nowhere , else. The French have struggled to thrust the Germans back and every inch they have gained has resulted in heavy loss, but the continuous -pounding at the French Hues is now said to have had its effect. The French official communication says as follows: "In Belgium, in spite of violent attacks on the part of the enemy, the Belgian army has held its iwsitiou on the line of the river Yser There have been other actions in the region of Ypres between the allied forces operating in this territory and the forces of the enemy. On our ; left wing, the Germans continue to hold strongly their advance posts around Lille In the direction of Armentieres, Foiirnes and La Bassee. On the Mouse the enemy has endeavored in vain to drive hack the advance posts of our troops, who have i " mitved out along the right bank of this stream in the peninsula of the Camp des Roulains. In East , Prussia and on the Vistula- river there is no change In the situation. The efforts of the Austrians to cross the river San have been repulsed. The battle south of Przcmysl . i continuing undr ; conditions favorable to the Russians." The Germans are building a Zeppelin shed at Liege and also are fortifying the town and cntrencliiug heavil-. Austrian losses In the actions against litis- : -siii, Servia and Montenegro until. October C are approximately estimated as. follows: Officers killed 435: wounded 1,530: men killed 4.334: wounded 23,272. Total 4,709 killed and 24,811 wounded. Only eight officers and 132 men are . staled to be missing. The number taken prisoners is not given. Shell fire from howitzers in the German fortress of Tsing-tao has heavily damaged the British battleship Triumph and compelled her to withdraw from the British-Japanese bombarding fleet, according to a dispatch to the . German embassy at Washington froth the far ; east. Ehibassv officials discredit reports that the Tsing-tao garrison is preparing to capitulate. Holland harbors 400,000 fugitives from Belgium. The navy department has announced the occupation for military purposes . of strategically important islands in the Marianne or Ladronc. Marshall, East Caroline and West Caroline archipelagos. A Rome dispatch says the situation in Constantinople is alarming. Tlie Russian ambassador has transferred the archives of the embassy to Odessa. The American ambassador, James S. Gerard, has arranged for the release and departure of all Englishmen in Germany over the age of 55. m- eluding clergymen and physicians. They will leave for England via Holland. It is reported that tne Holland-America line steamer Potsdam struck a mine in the North sea and was crippled by the re-i suiting- explosion. It was announced officially at -Berlin that the British new submarine E-3 was sunk Sunday, Oct. IS, by German warships in the North sea. The United States government for the present will recognize, the convention at Aguas Calientes. Mexico, as the governing power with which this government will deal. Geu. Villa has informed the United States government that unless something unforeseen occurs hostilities in Mexico are at ah oiid and that he will support any provisional gov-- -eminent set up by the national convention at. Aguas Calientes. Villa said he would not ac-J eept Carranza as provisional president, but was satisfied he would not be chosen. Gen. Carranza has received no answer to his telegram demanding of the Aguas Calientes convention an explanation of by what authority that body had assumed su-1 preme command of the government. The message informed the delegates to the convention that sole power of trovcrninent would rest in Gen. Carranzas : hands until the voice oC the. people decided other-; wise. Geri. Carranza has not yet. resigned as head of the government, nor will he do so, according to an . official statement issued by his private secre-1 tary. Germany will permit tlie shipment of raw sugar to neutral countries,, American Consul Donegan at Magdeburg, Germany, has informed the state de-. partuient at Washington. Ho says from 150,000 to 200,000 metric tons, of raw sugar is available and approximately OQO.QOO metric tons will be available later. Mr- Donegan advises tlie use of American vessels for cargoes of raw sugar of German origin. The German beet crop, he reports, is expected to produce a minimum of 2,500,000 tons of raw sugar. The Mexican consulate at San Antonio received a report from Mexico City that Gen. Francisco Villa caused a panic among the delegates to the convention of military chiefs in Aguas Calientes yesterday by moving an army of 18,000 nieii into position where he could; envelop the city and imprison the entire conference. Villas army is reported to be within an hours march of the city. To Oppose him there are Carranza troops at Monterey and Saltillo, but it would take from four to twelve hours to get them to Aguas Calientes. Seventy-four foreign-built vessels with an aggregate of 200,373 gross tons have sought protection of the stars and stripes by taking American registry since the European war began. Great Britain has been the heaviest loser, as sixty-two ; of the vessels previously sailed under the English Hag. Seven German and five Belgian vessels complete the list. The family of Venustiano Carranza, constitutional first chief, reached the. Mexican border yesterday. It was announced that they would make their residence temporarily at Piedras Negras, on the Mex? ican side of the Rio Grande. The move was renortod to be for the safety of Carranzas family in case of developments unfavorable to him. The Panama canal again was opened to traffic yesterday and ten merchantmen passed through the waterway from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Conditions at the scene of the recent slide north of Gold hill are reported to be excellent, the channel being probably 150 feet wide, with an average depth of 35 feet. Ten millions of barrels of apples over and above the available amount of last year are this year thrown onto the market in the United States. Carefully compiled statistics give the yield of this country as 40,500,000 barrels in 1014. while last years crop amounted to some 31,000,000 barrels. President Wilson lias under adylsement the question of asking congress to increase the size of the army and navy for the purpose of affording adequate protection to the nation from aggression by a foreign foe. 1 1 - ; r . : ; - ;
