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C GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY j v f i From ■ Nm yesterday a dispatch said: [gaaeio Enriqucz. civil gOTCtaaJ of the State of Chihuahua. ml ■ tetegiam to coaaal Garcia at El Paso yesterday, declaring that ecu. Luis Hetrera, ft— ■■inline tlic karris. M at Chihuahua City still was loyal to tin* first chief, aad ii"t tn credit reports of his defection to Villa. Consul Garcia made public a message from governor Enriquez. which reads: Your ssesaage referring to the press repot to regarding lim. laiis Berrera received. I have .iust shaken liands with Cen. Herrera. and he is loyal to the legal him lassial of Mexico. Do not Rive credit to reports in this matter. Heports of Jen. Horreras revolt were heard at army headquarters yesterday and from private advices received here. They were teas rally credited, but an absolute confirmation or denial of the report was lacking. Whether or not the report of llerrera*s defection was correct it was obvious that in military circles much apprehension was felt over the situation at Chihuahua. Brig. Ceil. Hell said he had been advised everything was quiet hi Juarez and while his reports indicated there was a Villa sentiment in Juarez, he regarded the situation as satisfactory. The yen-oral said every precaution had been taken to meet any possibility of an uprising in .luarcz. Gem. I.ell said that he had no information regarding a vague report that Gea. Pershing had taken over tlie Mexican Northwesters railroad south of Caaaa C ramies and that troops were being moved south from that point by railroad. The general did not know where tin- report came from. The military base at Columbus had not heard of the reported seizure of the railroad. Gea. Bell added that Maj. Cen. Funston had not advised him concerning any change of the army base from Columbus to Kl Paso, but that the transfer could be quickly effected. Villa is said to have sent agents among Die populace in the mountain districts urging them to support him against the Americans. The outlaw is repotttd to lie equipping his men with arms aad ammunition which he has had cached for some time. He has pleat? of good mounts, and once his command is ready, villa will be in a position to start a guerilla campaign against the American army. There is no confirmation of a report that Col. Cano of Carraasas army has joined forces with Villa. All was quiet in .luarcz early today and street car service, which was suspended last night lor fear of Irouhle in that Mexican city, was resumed this morning. The railroad bridges arc-still under guard. Says a dispatch of yesterday from London: "Half n million well-equipped Bussiaa troops, under direct command of Coneral Kuropatkin. are now assailing von Hindenl.urgs line on a. front of 150 miles. The Hussians. it is officially announced at Petrograd. have dented the Cerman line at a half dozen places. Unofficial dispatches today reported the battle raging with great fury forty miles south of Dvinsk. The Slavs on this sector are driving westward toward the Yilna-Dvinsk railway. Whether Kuropntkins heavy blows are the beginning of a great offensive or merely an attempt to lift the pressure on Verdun, it is too early to determine. The Petrograd correspondent of the Morning Post cabled today that "the great Russian move lias begun." pointing sat that Kuropatkin is employing large forces. Other dispatches from Petrograd described the Russian offensive as an attempt to batter in the dangerous Cerman wedge in the Dvinsk regioa, removing the threat of a Cerman offensive on that sector when weather conditions arc more favorable. This is the view held by the majority of London critics, who believe the weather in the Dvinsk region will not be seasonable for a gr at offensive for at least a month. Northwest of Verdun the Cermans are striving desperately to capture a dominant height in the Avocourt region, from which to bring gunfire to bear upon the French positions. Emerging from the Avocourt woods, the Bavarian regiments found themselves upon an open plain, raked by the fire of scores of French guns. The Gersaaa attempt has met with some aaccess. The official statement from the Frein ii war office last night admitted that the Germans gained a foothold on Ilaucourt hill, between Avocourt and Malan-court. One of a series of fires which have caused millions of dollars worth of damage in the last few days in the south and southwest swept through ten business blocks of Augusta. Ca.. anil twenty adjoining residence blocks Wednesday, and before being got under control had caused damage estimated at ,000,000. No lives were reported lost in the Augusta fire, although there were scores of narraw escapes and several firemen were severely burned. The flame-swept area covers something like one and a quarter square miles, and in it were the citys largest office and business buildings on the north side of Broad street. Warehouses on historic "Cotton row," containing thousands of bales of cotton, and some 000 homes, many of them in the citys most exclusive residence section. Among other structures destroyed was St. Pauls Episcopal church, built 135 years ago. The losses are apportioned as follows; buslf SS and office buildings and contests, ,000,000; cotton warehouses and contents, si. r.Mi. 000; reside aces and household goods, ,000,000; various other structures. 00,000. Hotels and heases in the sections not reached by the fire were thrown open to those whose residences were burned, and steps were taken by local authorities to give relief to the 3.000 persons who had lost their homes. Warm weather saved them from serious suffering. Perfection of an emergency lighting system for Steamships was announced yesterday by the Cnited States bureau of Navigation. The invention is the work of H. Y. Cadmus, a radio inspector at Balti-more. It is designed to light vessels so that no accident can leave a ship in darkness when passengers are to be removed. The system is operated by the auxiliary power for the wireless apparatus. The general lighting plant in a sinking ship is submerged soon after the craft begins to go down and many passengers have lost their lives because they wire unable to find their way to the decks quickly enough when a vessel began to sink. Lifeboats often do not serve their purpose when lowered in tic darkness. The new system is so arranged that, although the lower decks may be submerged, the top decks are still lighted and remain lighted until tiie ship disappears. Emergency lights are placed in the main passageways, in passageways leading to staterooms. over doors leading to decks and iu the vicinity of lifeboats and rafts. Ike French official statement published yesterday morning sajs that during the night a violent bom- bardment took place to the east of the Mouse river. To the west of the Mouse the fire diminished in ■ intensity and the general situation is unchanged. The French war office yesterday afternoon gave out ™ the following statement: "West of the river hfeaae the lximbardiiK nt diminished last night. The enemy did not renew his attacks on the little hill of Ilaucourt about one kilometer southwest of Malan-court part of which we hold. East of the Meuse j the bombardment has continued with violence at several points on our front. In the Woevre there J has been no important development to report, with ■ the exception of an intermittent cannonading. ■ West of Pont-a-Mousson a surprise attack upon a ■ trench of the enemy in the vicinity of Fey-en-Haye resulted in our taking several prisoners. Tile night 1 passed quietly on the remainder of the front." Strengthening of the border guard was ordered d yesterday by Coneral Funston. The third battalion u of the Fifth Cavalry, now speeding to Columbus, will be immediately distributed along the border. and a portion of the Twenty -fourth Infantry not t required for protection of General Pershings line . of communication, will be utilized for additional [1 border patrol. The Twenty -fourth was expected ,j to reach Columbus late yesterday. One of the most t significant changes in disposition of troops, confirmed . yesterday, was the sending of the Fourth l Artillery from Mercedes to Drownsville. "where it r will be better off." There are already more than 5.000 Cnited States soldiers in the Drownsville district, but Matamoras, a Mexican city across the river, is a hotbed of Villa sentiment. Citizens and civic and church organizations of Nashville. Tenn.. yesterday were caring for 5.000 persons made homeless by the fire that swept Bast t Na-hville late Wednesday, destroying 000 residences, causing one death and a property loss of f ,500,000. National guardsmen, called out by V Governor Rye. patrolled the burned area to protect I property and prevent looting. The one fatality was that of a negro. Many other persons were injured, but none seriously. The blaze spread in two sections s — east on Seventh street and down Fifth avenue. An area of thirty blocks was swept clean, which k included many of the costliest residences of Nashville, - several churches and one charitable institution. . Three socialist editors. Messrs. Hoeglund, Olje-lund and Hedon. have been arrested on a charge of .- high treason in consequence of the passing of a ! resolution at a conference of the Swedish socialist organizations that a general strike and a revolution J be started in case Sweden enters the war. The arrests followed a demand by royalist newspapers J that the leaders of the conference be punished. A great sensation has been aroused over the incident, BS Mr. Hoeglund is one of the most prominent members of the Swedish parliament. At a meeting in Amsterdam, held under the auspices - of the sailors union, the crews of a half f dozen ocean-going steamships due to sail yesterday v resolved by an overwhleming majority not to join a their ships until more definite arrangements had 1 been reached with the government for the safety f of the vessels. This decision affected also the Holland-American - line, whose steamship Nieuw Amsterdam - was scheduled to sail last night. The London morning newspapers say that an ■ order extending the military age limit for both ! single and married men to 48 ye;:rs will be issued I this week. For the present the enlistment of men II over the age of 40. however, will be voluntary. All the newspapers declare that a general compulsion bill extending the application of the present law to 0 married men is being carefully considered by the authorities. The press association says the war r office officials believe that general compulsion is b es-cntial. A rush appropriation of ,870,094 to cover the f extraordinary expenditures of the expedition into , Mi sice, including the increase of the army to its full strength, was asked of congress yesterday by the war department. The amount contemplates 1 ,850,9/77 in consequence of the full enlisted ] strength and the balance is stated to be for "urgent . expenditures brought about by the extraordinary conditions prevailing on the Mexican border r and the complete fitting out of the expedition entering Mexico in pursuit of bandits." Pablo Villareal. the Villa bandit who recently obtained a ,500 ransom for Juan Bilboa, a cattle I buyer, has been arrested at Sanderson, Texas, by the sheriff there. Villareal took 1916.sh00 and a watch from i Bilbea and then got the ransom from Bilboas employers. Maple and Walz. cattlemen. Put a dispute with his subordinates over the money caused 1 the bandit to abscond across the Texas border, i where he was captured. Dr. Kaempf. speaker of the reichstag. has announced after a conference with party leaders that the members of the reichstag will not be allowed to . discuss the submarine question during the first reading of the budget, says a Reuter Herlin dispatch. The budget committee. Dr. Kaempf said, would discuss this question next week. Lieut. -Col. Samuel Be her, chief of the army aviation service, fell three stories in his home at Washington yesterday and was badly injured. He Mas removed to a hospital. Colonel Better was recently accused of incompetency and negligence in the Cnited States senate. He is a son-in-law of General Miles. Wireless communication with the expeditionary base at Caaaa Grandes was resumed yesterday when it was learned by Major Sample, commanding the army Station at Columbus, N. M.. that all the transport tracks and wagons with their drivers and guards were safe at the temporary base. General Harrison Gray Otis, editor of the Los Angeles Times, is seriously ill with pneumonia at a hospital there. His physician said today that General Otis condition was satisfactory, but that age and impaired heart action made the case difficult. General Otis is 7i years old. Six logbooks of the British cruiser Cumberland drifted ashore yesterday at the Chicomicomico light station on the North Carolina coast, leading to the belief that the Cumberland is in distress or has met with disaster. General Funston yesterday asked for eight more aeroplanes. He wants four to go to Columbus to fly witii Prig. -Gen. Pershings column and four others to be sent to his headquarters at Fort Sam Houston to be held for emergency work.
