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EUROPEAN WAR DEVELOPMENTS. "1 German cruisers, swooping own upon the English const yesterday, made the must daring raid of the- war. bombarding the cities of Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby, on the North Sea coast. British warships then engaged the German ship and, according to a rejHjrt current in London, sank two cruisers. The official information bureau an-. nouneed that "the situation is developing," which is t.ikeu to mean that a great naval battle was in progress in the North Sea. The results of the raid -on the coast, so fat as known, ;may bo summarized as follows: Nine persons are reported to have been killed at -Hartlepool, and a number in-, jured. Three postollice employes are among the injured. One shell struck the iwstottice. The historic abbey at Whitby was partly destroyed. Throe churches in Scarlorough were struck and set .on lire, many buildings were damaged, two railway station platforms destroyed, and the Herniation, thrown into a panic which resulted in a wild rush for trains from the city. Eighteen persons were killed. There Were Tour cruisers in the licet that bombarded Scai-iKjrough. The fortress commander at West Hartl-i-pool roimrted that he opened tire on the attacking ships and that they thereupon withdrew. The carrying out of the long expected German attack was the first time that the British coast has been attacked since the American War of the Revolution, when John Paul Jones conducted successful forays into. English waters. Hartlepool lies in Durham, between 220 and 225 miles north of Ixindon, just north of the mouth of the river Tees. Searliorough lies in Yorkshire, about forty-live miles down the coast in a . southeasterly direction from Hartlepool. The point of attack lies approximately 400 miles from I he Kiel Canal, where the German fleet was con-, centra ted at the. outbreak of the war.. It was necessary for the German ships to steam clear across the North Sea, passing through mine fields and evading the powerful British patrol lleets stationed all the way down the cast coast of England. A dispatch from Redcar states that the forts at the mouth of the river Tees were boinb.irde.J also. The Yorkshire Evening News reports that two German cruisers were sunk in yesterdays engagement and that the British flotilla was damaged. It Is reported at Hartlepool that a llotilia of British torjiedo boat destroyers encountered three German cruisers eight miles off the English coast. The cruisers immediately opened fire. All infantry and artillery units in England have been called out at the .coast stations. Trenches on the coast are fullv manned. Several towns have been notified to cut off all gas in anticipation of an attack. Inhabitants of Tynemouth were ordered to remain indoors. A late London dispatch says that all the German warships engaged in. the raid are reported to have escaped and returned towards Kiel, with British warships in pursuit, . At Nottingham the national reserves were called out and preparations made to resist any possible attack. All along the line from the North Sea to the Vosges mountains the allies have moved forward with the; object of driving the Germans out of Belgium. The onslaught against the German in-trcnelniients is heavier than any offensive assumed by Hie French. British and Belgian forces shire General von Kluck was forced back on the Aisne. This is the result of a complete change of plan by General JolTre and Sir John French. It means that the campaign which was to be begun next spring is already under way. If this movement is successful, it is argued that the Germans should be thrown back on their second line in Belgium, a line from Bruges to Conrtrai. within three week.-. The commanders in the Held figure that Belgium will be freed of the invader by spring or the Germans will be forced to withdraw so inanv from tin; eastern battlefields that the Russians will have a good chance of advancing into Germany. The monster Cunard liner Transylvania, at New-York from Liverpool with .100 passengers, narrowly escaped destruction by a mine at 4 oclock tile morning of Dec. 0. During a storm oT the north coast of Ireland two mines were dashed together by the waves and- exploded about twenty -five fc-t off the steamers bow. A fragment of steel fnnn one of the mines shot across the deck of the liner and tore away a part of the railing. It then fell upon the deck and was picked up by one of the passengers. The force of the explosion, it was said, lifted the bow of the Transylvania sever U feet out of the water. An ollicial communication from Punta Arenas announces tlint the German cruiser Dresden left there Sunday evening. The British cruiser Bristol arrived at Punta Arenas Monday, the message adds, but departed immediately. The Dresden arrived at Punta Arenas In a daninged.condition. The Chilean government refused coal because three months had not elapsed since the Dresden last coaled in a Chilean port. Arrivals at Warsaw from Cracow report that the civil authorities of that Austrian fortress have gone to Vienna and that the middle class population is fleeing into Hungary. Gangs of workmen and soldiers .are said to be busy preparing ia-trenchments and barricades of all kinds. - Art treasures have lieen taken to places of safety and the museums and schools have been converted into hospitals. The cost of the war to France for the first six months in 1015, is officially figured at ,1S5,SS8.573. or about 00,000,000 monthly. This total is in addition to the- usual expenditures of the-armr, but it includes 01,400,000 allowed to families of soldiers. ,000,000 to persons out of -employment, and 0,200,000 for the maintenance or persons driven from their homes. A Madrid dispatch says: "Reliable news . re-ceiyed here says that Emperor Williams condition, although recorded by the bulletins as improving. Is giving great anxiety. Ills doctors speak of a serious sore throat, following diphtheria, which the emperor contracted during a visit to the eastern front." Official announcement is made that Emperor Nicholas, having finished his tour of Inspection f the Russian army fronts in the Caucasus, left that region Dec. 15. A -communication from the staff of the Russian aimy in the Caucasus dated Dec. 13 says the recent engagements of the. Russian forces have been insignificant. Telegrams from Constantinople referring, for the first time, to the torpedoing by the British submarine B-ll of the Turkish battleship Messudieh in the JJardenollos December 1.!.. say that the warship sank at her anchorage and that parts of the vessel are still visible above Hie water. The Mes-sudiehs. crew was saved. Telegraphing from Petrograd, a correspondent .says: "Austrian columns are touring over the Dukla passes Carpathian mountains into Gallcia. Grand Duke Nicholas records this fact without -the slightest comment, and the concensus of military opinion here indorses, his attitude of complete equanimity." Berlin says that further progress has" been inade by German troops in the east, according to the ollicial statement, which says that several strong Russian positions have been taken and 3.000 more prisoners captured. In south Poland, it is said, the German and Austrian forces are gaining ground. Turkey has complied with the demand of Italy by returning the British consul at Hodeida. Ambit, to the Italian consulate, from which lie had been forcibly removed, and has made au explanation, with the promise of .punishment for those guilty of the breach of diplomatic relations. Further extensive preparations have been made to "protect Warsaw against possible. German attacks. Re-enforcements amounting to five army corps, or about 200,000 men, are arriving from interior points. -Many of these are first line troops, with a full contingent of artillery. King Peter and Crown Prince Alexander and Prince George have entered Belgrade at the head of the victorious Serviau army. Not one Austrian, a statement by the - Servian general start says, remains on Servian soil. Berlin admits the failure of the German northern advance against Warsaw and the retreat of th- Germans into. East Prussia. Adstria reports further repulses of the Russians south of Cracow and in the Carpathians. For fifty days NIeuport has been bombarded and the ancient towii is now a heap of ruins. Not a house Is intact. Entire quarters are lying in ruins and the streets are littered with wreckage. The French war office gave out an official communication which says: "In Belgium the town of Western, northeast of Ixnnbaertz.vde. has been violently bombarded by the British fleet." A telegram from Genera says a dispatch from Berlin confirms the. report that, the kaisers condition is quite -serious and that the crown prince will remain In Berlin for the present. . Two British warships- are pursuing the German cruiser Dresden, which left Punta Arenas on Sunday, according to an official telegram from the American embassy at Santiago, Chile. Berlin puts the Belgian casualties since the start of the war at 25,000 killed. 52,000 wounded, 25.000 prisoners in Germany, aiid 32,000 interned in Hoi-land. The number of prisoners that the Austrian-Hungarians hare left in the hands of the Servians since the beginning of the war is placed at 00,000. The Geruian war office announced that the total number of unwounded Russian prisoners, including officers, is now 475,050. Khedive Abbas Hilml of Egypt has gone Vienna for a conference with the Austrian authorities. A dispatch from Constantinople says that the tribes in northern Albania have declared war ou Servia. The Princess Royal, one of the new British battle cruisers, is doing patrol duty in West Indian waters. -
