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j GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Reports received from German sources say that the kaiser has Issued., the direct order that, no matter what the cost, Calais is to be taken. It . is reported the kaiser was in Belgium on Sunday and listened personally to the reports of his officers. He is then reported to have stated that the occupancy of Calais and Dunkirk were vital points in the German strategical plan, but that this was especially so in the case of Calais. Therefore the order was issued that, no matter how much war material or how many men were sacriliced, the march to the chatinel must succeed. With a number of their heavy guns mounted to protect their front and with hundreds of light pieces and rapid-flrers deluging the allied lines with shrapnel and bullets, the Germans are continuing the supremo effort to win through to the coast from the north and east. The Germans continue to send large masses of troops to the westward and the southwestward. ac-cordig to a dispatch from Terneuzen, Holland. The allies, who approached Thiol t Saturday, were repulsed by fresh German troops. Sunday 10,000 Aus-triaps arrived at Ghent, whore only a few Germans remain. Au official statement issued at Berlin says: "The operations against Warsaw are highly successful. A battle is raging at the walls of the city. Heavy losses have been juilicted on the troops from Siberia and the Caucasus, who were In the ilrst lines of the Russians. Zeppelins and aeroplanes are bombarding the Warsaw fortifications with liombs and are causing great damage. The council of Warsaw has left the city and the inhabitants are leaving as rapidly as possible. In the western area the German successes continue. Verduu, which lias been fiercely defended for many weeks, has been cut off from help by the destruction of forts between that point and Toul. It will be imKissiblc for help to reach Verdun, and the surrender or destruction of that fortress is only a matter of time. Fighting is still in progress on the Franco-Belgian front. The forces that crossed the! Yser have repulsed numerous counter attacks made bv the allies. The Belgian army -has suffered so severely that it will be of no further help to the allies. Across the Yfer and around Lille our troops have advanced slightly, but progress will be made more rapidly now that our heavy artillery has been brought up. The British warships have been compelled, to withdraw from the Belgian coast because of the effective lire of our heavy guns." A dispatch from Berlin says that word comes from the front that Verdun is doomed and its fall is exacted by the German besiegers. This follows the report of last week that some of the outer fortresses had been reduced by the Germans guns and that the defenders of these outposts had withdrawn to the main stronghold. The Germans have had considerable difficulty bringing up their heaviest siege guns to bear on the French fortress because of the frequent sallies of the defenders and the main French army supporting them on one side. The announcement that capture of the fortress is imminent is believed to mean that thi great guns are now playing on the main defenses and that Verdun is to meet the fate of Liege, Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp. It is officially announced that the rebel Lieut. Col. Maritz and bis forces have been defeated at Kakamas in the Gordonia district of .Bccimanaland, by Union of South Africa troops. Lieut. Col. Maritz was wounded in the engagement and lied to German territory. It has been decided to send 15,000 more Canadians to Europe in December instead of 10,000, the number specified in the announcement of Premier Borden two weeks ago. Two thousand refugees, from Calais, fearing a German, advance, have ai-: rived iu Havre. Most of them have been distributed in towns in central and northern France. The French official announcement says that spirited fight ing continued between the mouth of the Yser am Lens; that iu this district the allies have not drawi back, and that they have continued to advance ii the region between Ypres and Roulers and else-where. The text of the communication follows: "The fighting continues to bo particularly spirited between the mouth of the Yser and the region of Lens. In this part of the front the allied forces have at no point drawn back, and they have continued to make progress in the region between Ypres and Roulers. In the general region between Soissons and Berry-au-Baa au artillery engagement resulted in our advantage and in the destruction of several batteries of the enemy. In the region to the east of Nancy, between the forest of Bezange and the forest of Panroy, we have assumed the offensive and driven the. enemy across the frontier." An official statement giveu cut at Vienna says the Austrian operations, the object of which is the clearing of Bosnia, are proceeding successfully. The Servians . Were driven back, to Yishnegrad, Oct 24 and the Austrian pursuit readied the Drina river Oct. 20. Eastern Bosnia to the Drina is cleared of the enemy. The authorities of Hongkong and of other British possessions ill China issued orders for the expulsion from British territory of Germau and Austrian subjects, except those of military age. who will le detained. Arras is being furiously bombarded by the Germans and is reported to have been .practically destroyed. It is of great strategic importance as a railroad center. The British ad-mlraltv Yesterday ordered certain chaunels of the Thames "closed to traffic and forbade all vessels anchored in certain localities to show any lights between 7 p. m. and 15 a. m. Throe hundred men were caught in the Mitchell mine near Royalton, 111., by a gas explosion as the day shift was entering the workings yesterday morning. One hundred men escaped, thirty or forty liodies were found by rescuers, and 150 persons were taken from the mine alive Eighty-live of those rescued had leen overcome b- gas. Two died at the top of the shaft. One hundred are known to be trapped behind the tlanies in the lower level. The French steamer Amiral Ganteaunie was disabled bv n mine explosion just outside Boulogne harbor. Twenty-live hundred French ami Belgian refugees who were on the ill-fated craft were transferred safely to the steamer Queeu. Despite the panic on board, the life loss was small, thirty persons only being drowned. The Standard Oil steamer Brindilla. flying the American Hag, whose seizure by the British .cruiser Caroniu was made the occasion of a protest by the United States to Great Britain and a demand for the steamers immediate release, was formally released by the Canadian authorities at Halifax, N. S., yesterday. The Greek goverment has auuounced to the powers its intention of provisionally occupying northern Epirus. owing to the necessity of suppressing the anarchy prevailing there as the result of the breakdown of the Albanian government and the flight of Prince William of Wied. Au attempt has been made to assassinate Gen. Francisco Villa by an agent alleged to have leen commissioned and paid by Gen. Pablo Gonzales, Gen. Carranzas staunch supporter. The would-be assassin was executed after making a confession. The steamer Manchester Commerce, en route from Manchester to Montreal, was sunk by a mine off the west coast of England. TlK. captain and thirteen members of the crew were drowned, while, thirty were saved. As a result of negotiations between Sir George Paish, representing the British treasury, and the American federal reserve lxianl an agreement hakj been reached whereby the United States will keep Its gold supply intact. President Poiucaire of France signed a decree modifying the moratorium proclaimed on Aug. 31. and providing for a gradual return to normal financial conditions. Switzerland has so far spent 0,000,000 iu maintaining its neutrality.
