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"1 GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY In tile face of unofficial reports that continue to claim a great victory for the Russians iu Russian Poland over tlie Germans, 1etrorail lias Issued an ollieial statement announcing that the Germans are holding the positions fortified by them between the Vistula and the W-arta. Defeat for the Austrians, however, was reported in the vicinity of Cracow, where it was said they were driven back toward the fortress. Heavy losses have been inflicted on the Germans, it is announced, in the stubborn liglil-ing in the regions of Strykow and Zgier. Semi-otlieial reports from Ietrograd declare the army of General Mackenzenas has been cut in three parts by the Russians. All three parts are said to be making a desperate struggle to cut their way through the Russian lines and unite in the vicinity of JahIz. From Geneva comes a report that the iermans are rushing reinforcements to the Kussi-iu battle zone and that on Nov. 21 and 22 110 trains, each composed of lifty cars, conveying artillery and cavalry, passed through Luxemburg from Flanders. Berlin otlicially reports the situation iu the east, on the right bank of the Vistula, as unchanged. "Russian advauces iu the neighborhood of Lodz were checked, and were followed by successful counter attacks by our troops," continued the report. Nothing of importance was recorded from southern 1oland. It is otlicially announced at Berlin that GTi.OOO Russians, including two generals, were captured by the Germans at tie battle of Kutuo, 1oland. The Russian ollieial communication follows: "Between the Vistula and the Warta the enemy continues to maintain the position fortltie 1 by him at Strykow, Zgierz, Szadek and Zdunska AVola Russian Poland. The lighting has been very stubborn in the regions of Strykow and Zgierz. We captured at these points cannon, rapid-firers and several hundred prisoners. Our troops have taken part in an engagement along the front, comprising Glowno, IMejawy and Sobota. Along the left bank of the Vistula the Germans carried out a counter-attack. "According to prisoners the German losses were enormous, many battalions losing all of their officers and the companies being reduced to from sixty to eighty men. On the Czonstochowa-tracow front there have, been no Important engagements. The Austrian army which defended the approaches east of Cracow, on the Schreniava and Raba, were defeated Nov. 0, being driven back to the region of the fortress. In the Carpathians on Nov. 27 we took l.LOO Austrians. The troops of the enemy have retired precipately from Bukowina. We have occupied Czemowitz. In the region of the Mazuriau lakes hast Prussia and the Angerap river our troops have thrown back the Germans in several districts from their fortitied positions." The Germans in Belgium and France, except for some minor infantry actions, have of late confined their activity to bombarding the allied positions, but with somewhat lighter guns than they have been using. This may meau either that the Germans are sending troops and artillery to the east to use against the Russians, or that they are preparing a new attack against the allies. That the German enterprise in Flanders will not be repeated for the present seems probable, as the allies have been allowed to capture some points of vantage around Ypres. which were previously considered necessary to the German plans. There has been a minor attack near Arras, but not in strong enough force to suggest that the Germans have decided to trv to get to the coast by direct route from the cast. The allied lines are now being advanced south of Ypres. It is declared in Paris that a gradual withdrawal of the Germans is evident. British and French troops are pressing forward, occupying the abandoned trenches. South of Ypres, which is in ruins from the German bombardment, tlie allied advance has been cautious. Heavy artillery lire has been directed against the Germans, i under cover of which new trenches were occupied, but a general offensive has not yet been developed. The ollieial statement issued by the war office in Paris Sunday says: "On Nov. 120 the enemys cannonading was more active, but carried on chlelly with seventv-seveu millimeter pieces. This heavy artillery has made itself felt little. Under these conditions the artillery struggle has turned particularly to our advantage. In Belgium our infantry captured several supporting positions to the north and to the south of Ypres. In the country to the north of Arras one of the enemys attacks, undertaken bv nearly three regiments, has definitely failed after several counter attacks carried out in all directions. Between the Somuic and Chaulnes we have made perceptible progress. In the neighborhood of the village of Fay our troops came into contact with the wire entanglements of the de fense. In the region of the Aisne between Vailly and Bcrrv-An-Bac a group of machine guns and a cupola foundation for thirty centimeter pieces were destroyed by our shells, one of which caused an explosion in one of the enemys batteries. In tlie Vosges three counter attacks undertaken by the Germans for the purpose of recapturing ground previously taken by us in the Bau-de-Sapt region wero repulsed." Unofficial reports say that the chain of battles in Poland is being turned by constantly increasing Russian forces into one decisive operation. During the lighting which culminated iu the present situation, and especially last Thursday, the Germans suffered what Russian headquarters described as enormous losses. They left many thousand dead near Glowno, midway between Lodz and Lowic-, after a series of cavalry charges by the Russians. Gombin has passed several times from the control of one side into tlie control of the other. Scarcely a building remains standing. In the battle before Cracow the Russians claim last week they took 30.-000 Austrian and German prisoners. This victory is taken in Petrograd to mean that Cracow will not bar the Russian advance in Silesia from the south, but that, with tlie Austrian army beaten, it will be necessary only to mask the fortress. The siege of Cracow lias begun, according to a correspondent of the Milan newspaper Corriere Delia Sera, who is with the Russian army. .lie wires that the Russians are bombarding the forts with their heavy siege guns and that one of the suburbs of the city is reported to be in flames. Reports that the German fleet from the Pacific ocean is in the South Atlantic appear to have liecn confirmed at Montevideo. It is also rumored that a powerful British fleet is near. Interruption of British shipping and the outfitting of German merchant ships with supplies were accepted as confirmatory of reports of the approach of the German fleet, which is believed to be off the mouth of the River Plata. The German steamer Patagonia is being loaded at Montevideo with provisions, the Sierra Cordoba with coal and the Mera with coal and water. Sailings of British steamers from Montevideo and the Brazilian port of Santos have been suspended. These reports lead to the belief that a great sea battle soon will be fought in those waters. The British fleet is said to number ten -warships, and that of the Germans six cruisers. The ollieial communication which was given out iu Paris yesterday afternoon is as follows: "In Belgium the enemy is remaining on the defensive. The artillery fire lias lieen feeble and we have made progress at certain points. In the vicinity of Fay we hold securely the positions we occupied Nov. 2S." In the region of Soissons there has been an Intermittent artillery lire directed against the town, in the Argonne several attacks on the town of Dagalelle were repulsed by our troops. There has been a heavy fog on the heights of the Mouse. In the Woevre district the enemy liombarcled the forest of Apremont, but without result. There is nothing to report in the Vosges." Field Marshal Baron von Der Goltz has been relieved from his position as military governor of tlie portions of Belgium under German control and Attached for the remainder of the war to the entourage of the sultan of Turkey. Gen. Freiherr von Kissing has been nominated as successor to Gen. von Der Goltz. It is said that Zekki Pasha, former commander of the Turkish troops, has been attached to the suite of F.niperor William as an expression of the present relations of Turkey and Germany. An interesting report from Field Marshal Sir John French, covering the period of the battle in Flanders and the days immediately preceding it. shows that this battle was brought about, first, "y the allies attempts to outflank the Germans, who countered, and then by their plans to move to the northeast to Ghent and Bruges, which also failed. After this the German offensive began, with the French coast ports as the objective, but this movement, like those of the allies, has met with failure. The Dutch government has categorically declined :ill offers of financial aid for Belgian refugees in Holland which were recently unotiicially offered by an American charity. While deeply appreciative of the- generous proposal, tlie government says it feels that it would lie incompatible witli the countrys honor to allow another nation or individual association to assist in tills work, and that Holland desires to provide itself for all those different neigh bors who are afflicted by the war. Three Japanese and one British warship and two .Tanauese colliers were sighted off Magdalenu bay. Lower California, last Monday, by the American freighter Aztec, at San Francisco from Iquinue, Chile. Tlie British light cruiser Newcastle, a sister ship of the Glasgow and the Jananese cruiser Id-7.11U10. both of which have long been patrolling the - Pacific coast, were recognized, but another Japanese cruiser and a Japanese battleship were unfamiliar to tlie Aztecs oflicers. Iu East Prussia the Russians made a sudden attack on the German fortitied positions east of Darke-mcn. twenty-four miles from the Russian boundary, i but were thrown back with heavy losses, Berlin reports. The greater number of tlie Russians escaped, but some of the officers and COO men were captured. South of the Vistula German counter attacks were made Sunday with considerable success. Eighteen guns and 4,500 prisoners were taken. At least twelve British warships are patrolling the Atlantic between New York and the Panama canal, sweeping the seas with their wireless, crowding ordinary commercial radios from the air and keeping close check on all forms of shipping-, according to wireless operators on the steamship Anton, which arrived at New York from Cristobal. King George left London for the front Sunday night. He is the last of the European rulers to visit their troops on the fighting line, with the exception of Emperor Franz Joseph. The czar has been to the front for extended periods. King Albert of Belgium is constantly with his soldiers, as is tlie kaiser. President Poincare has also visited tlie French troops. A news dispatch received here from Danzig, In West Prussia, says that Emperor William, in a telegram to General Mackenzen, expressed his great satisfaction with the successes achieved by that generals army in Poland. His majesty conferred on Jeneral Mackenzen the order of merit. Smyrna is crowded with Christian refugees wno have tied there as a result of threats of a massacre by the Turks incited by tlie calling of a "holy war." Two Christians were killed at the village of Olutsak on Saturday. It was announced at military headquarters in Berlin that 1-Tmperor William now Is with the German army iu the east. Including the latest ollieial German casualty list, the grand total of the German losses for the. war is now 027,073. The Turkish general staff declares that the Russian report that the Ottoman army is retreating in Erzerum is unfounded. Germany is reported to have paid an indemnity of ?37,r00 to the Duchy of Luxemburg. Mexico took a further plunge into disintegration Sunday when Gen. Pablo Gonzales declared himself provisional president, named a cabinet, and took up arms under the cry of "constitution and reform." Gonzales is the third of the trio of Carranza commanders iu the revolt against Huerta. Villa and Obregon were the other two. Villa was Carranzas commander of the north. Obregon commander of the west, and Gonzales the commander of the east. With Gonzales declaration the prophecy of many students of Mexican affairs that Carranzas military leaders would all split and fight for themselves lias practically come true. Gonzales is reported to be at Pachnca, forty miles northeast of Mexico City, with a force of 10,000 men. Tlie emergency war tax bill to raise .00,000,000 in revenue went int full effect at midnight. The provisions levying taxes oil tobacco, beer and wine went into effect Nov. 1. The other provisions include taxes on bankers, pawnbrokers, brokers, proprietors of theaters, including motion pictiire houses, owners of circuses and other shows; perfume, cosmetics, chewing gum and similar articles; commercial papers of all kinds, steamship ticket, parlor car seats and sleeping car berths, and telephone and telegraph messages where the charges exceeds 15 cents. Stamps in denominations from 5 to 1 cent are to be affixed to these articles. Japan is gaining in population by 1,12.",000 yearly, according to a reiiort just issued by the government bureau of statistics. Not counting the colonies of Korea, Formosa, Shaghalien and South Manchuria, the total papulation of Japan at the end of 1!13 was 51, 843,083, as against f0,295.279 in 1009. The yearly increase used to be 1,000,000, but since l.IOl it has leaped to 1.125.000. The population of the city of Tokyo is 2,033,320. Osaka is second with l,3S7.30o. Kyoto third with 50S,0GS, and Na-gova fourth with 447,051. Kobe has 440,700 and Yokohama 300,101. Thirty-seven deaths from hunting accidents in northern Wisconsin and Michigan is the toll in those districts, so far as known during the fall season, ending at midnight. Of this number twenty-four hunters were slain in Wisconsin three more than were killed iu 1013. In Michigan there were thirteen fatalities. It is estimated that about 15,000 hunters were in the woods of the upper peninsula of Michigan alone. Eleven dead hunters and twelve wounded Is the toll of the of the hunting season iu Minnesota. Ollieial dispatches received at Washington yesterday continued earlier reports, that Gen. Luis Ca-bellero, governor of Tamaulipas. lias joined the Villa forces in Mexico. As he is in control of Taia-pico, the peaceful entry of the troops that have been marching eastward from San Luis Potosi is expected. Cabellero has been claimed by- both the Carranza and Villa factions. Cabellero has telegraphed to Guiterrez his allegiance to the Aguas Calientcs convention. President Wilson has announced the appointment of Setli Low of New York, Charles W. Mills ol Philadelphia, and Patrick Gilday of Clearfield. Pa., as a commission through which future differences between operators and miners involved in the present Colorado coal strike may be settled. Tlie commission was not appointed to deal with tins existing differences which have caused rioting and bloodshed in Colorado. Representative Gardner of Massachusetts will call at the white house today to ask for an engagement witli President Wilson to discuss his resolution for an investigation of the military preparedness of the country. The president is expected to grant the interview, but is understood to be opposed to the investigation. President Wilson has declined to address the annual meeting of the national rivers and harlnii-s congress which will convene in Washington on Dec. J for the purpose of urging the passage of a tremendous river and harbor appropriation bill at the short session of congress. Michael F. Mallory, one of the last of the old-time Chicago gamblers, is dead. Mallory was an enmloyee of the Hankins Bros., Mike McDouald. ami others when Chicago was a wide open town. In the early 70s he conducted a saloon at Fifth avenue and Madison st. A mine with live contact points extending from it is afloat six miles west of Fire island light, according to Captain Davles of the steamship Etonian, at New York from London. Captain Davies said that he passed the mine about 10 oclock yesterday morning. That General Gonzales still is loyal to Carranza was declared by- advices received by the Constitutionalist agency at Washington. A report from the agencys consular representative at Laredo stated that Gonzales is in daily communication with Carranza. Increased passengers fares in Central Passenger association territory, effective Tuesday, anil increases in mileage book rates, effective Dec. 7, will not be suspended by the interstate commerce commission, ollieial announcement was made. Proposed increases in freight rates extending throughout the middle west and west, affecting many classes of freight, wero suspended by the interstate commerce commission, pending investigation. Archbishop Blenk of New Orleans, who has been seriously ill in Chicago for two weeks, has sufficiently recovered to leave the hospital and return to Louisiana.
