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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Unconfirmed reports thai the Russians have capture! llic ini|Mirtant Bulgarian seajiort .it Varna [ aroused tin- greatest excitement in London yesterday. Tbe reports, however, were accepted with the greatest reserve. No mention was made of the ; bombardment af Varna in tbe Petrograd official i statement telegraphed here last night. But dispatches from Berne, itouie and Athens reported that a large Russian squadron was shelling Varna and J J Creek report- said the fleet was accompanied by sixteen heavily laden trans| orts. The dispatch to tbe Loudon Chronicle, reporting the capture of f Varna. h;is tiled at Athens at noon Tuesday, one » day later than oilier press messages rei orting the e jKirt lieing shelled. It was stated that the city f :is laid ill ruins and the forts silenced. Russian - infantry and artillery were then landed. A V in-utral c.nisiil at Varna telegraphed the news to Athens, the LsMSB Chronicle corresponiletit wired. If the Athens reports are true, the Russians have lieguu the long-looketl-for invasion of Bulgaria by r a Hanking attack that may cause the immediate I withdrwal of t Ik- Bulgars from the Creek frontier. Such a maneuver would cause a radical change in i the Balkan lighting. imiieril the Teutonic communications - with Constantinople, and. if successful, end 1 tbe prospects nf a Ocrnian campaign against Egypt. - It is assumed here that if the Russians lauded troops at Varna at all. the force must have been 1 made up of at least 100.000 men. An army at least 1 that large would be needed to withstand Bulgarian attacks until a larger force could be transported " across the Black sea from the Odessa region. • Corporation Counsel Ettelson yesterday lamped the lid down tight on the citys New Years eve i- celeitration when be handed down several opinions s on the liquor question to Mayor Thompson and Chief of Iolice Iloalcy. It is lielieved that the i celebration of the New Years advent this time will 1 | I . [ ; i J J f » e f - V r I i - 1 - 1 1 " • i- s i 1 lie tbe "slowest" in years as a result of tbe opinions of the corporation counsel. Saloons will close sharply at 1 oclock as that is tbe law. nccord-i::L to the head • the citys legal department and the major has said he will abide by the law. "We will enforce and abide by the law." tbe mayor said some time ago when asked alioiit tlie- usual two or three hour extension granted for the celebration. "We have no right to do otherwise." The opinion means that every place where liquors are sold will be dosed tight after 1 oclock as far as the sale of liquors is concerned. Hotels, restaurants and other places will suffer to a great extent as a result of toe opinion. Private clubs Mid socials given strictly for their members by organizations are bard bit by the opini on. A strike of 4. ho switchmen employed on the railroads entering Chicago was averted yesterday by a settlement of the controversy which grew out of the discharge of E. K. Smith, a Pennsylvania conductor, when the general managers conference committee agreed in full to the terms of settlement laid down by the trainmen. The trouble over the reinstatement of the conductor followed closely upon the threatened strike om the Belt Railway Companys employes last week. Indications until yesterday threatened one of the biggest railroad strikes in the history of Chicago. The general managers, however, took the only action left open by agreeing to reinstate the discharged conductor, allow him thirty days back pay and furnish cabooses on all transfer runs. This accorded in full with the request of the trainmen. The German offensive on the Riga front has completely failed telegraphed the Ceneva correspondent of the London Daily Express yesterday. Field Marshal von Hlndenburg has been compelled to retire before Russian counter-attacks, after burying b!s cannon and abandoning an enormous amount of material. Tbe Germans, unable to cross the Dwina. have suffeerd heavily. Five German divisions have retreated on Tukurn. against which the Russians are advancing. A sanguinary battle is in progress near Uxliull. It is announced from Teheran, according to ■ dispatch received here from the Petro-gard semi-ollieial news agency, that the Russians have occupied the town of Kuni, eighty miles southwest of Teheran, after a great battle in which the op|Mising forces were completely defeated. Sarah Bernhardt is reported to be dying, says a dispatch from Paris to the London Telegraph. Mine. Bernhardt has never fully recovered from the shock resulting from the amputation of a leg last February. Reports of an improvement in her condition were invariably followed by others that her health was failing. On December I she became seriously ill. her physicians announcing she was suffering from congestion of the lungs. Mme. Bernhardt is now seventy-one years old. The record of the date of Mine. Bernhardts birth was destroyed in the flames of the commune in Paris, hut it is commonly accepted as October 22. 1K44. At twelve she was sent to Crand Champ convent. Versailles. where she made her debnt in a little miracle play. A Petrograd news agency dispatch says that an imperial ukase relieves General Ru7sk. from command of the Russian armies on the northern front, but continues him as a member of the council of the empire and of the supreme military council. A message from Petrograd to Renters Telegram Company of London says: The reason for General Ruzskvs reinovel is contained, in an inqierial re-» scrint in which the cmiicror commended the great work done by the retiring general and said that the diiiicult task of defending the capital had seriously injured General Ruzskvs health, which de-► manded a rest. He thanked General Ruzsky for the brilliant results obtained and said that he hoped soon to see him again at the head of his troops. A new crime crusade was launched in Chicago late vesterdav. Former Police Inspector Nicholas Hunt." who took the oath as the new chief of the detective bureau at 2:30 p. m.. liegan his gigantic task of ridding Chicago of crooks as he pinned on the start left on the desk last night by P. D. ORrien. There were tears in the eyes of Hunt as he stepped back into his old job. Determination was written in every line of his face. "I am vin-» dieatod at last." said the chief. "Now for the big work that the mayor and Chief Ilea ley have mapiied out for me. The chief and I are old friends. We always worked in harmony. With the states attorney and the mayor behind us, I know we are going to produce results." James OOradv. memtier of parliament for East Leeds and a member of the joint recruiting com-1 mittee. contributes an article to the Daily Sketch recording the progress of enlistment under Earl Derbvs scheme. Mr. OGrady says that the first week produced onlv 127 recruits. Matters slowly improved but eveu up to the end of November the response was not satisfactory. "We therefore re-1 solved." savs he. "to bring off a spanking rally, as tbe result of which the figures jumped from 74. HKt on one day to 330.000 on another, and dur-1 iug the last strenuous week 1,539.000 men attested. During the whole nine weeks of the campaign some 2.5"d.o io attested."
