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/ I C . GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY j r 1 , t T I J j i e j : j , | | | ! p [ ■ . . , . : - A dispatch of yesterday from El Paso says: "The report that the American troops and Car-ranaa forces had surrounded Francisco Villa and i his men and that a battle was imminent was the center of interest in the Mexican situation today despite lack of confirmation of the rumor. A dispatch from Columbus. N. Mex., said the armys wireless was in good working order, but no information of Villa being closely surrounded by American and Carranza troops was received. For several days General Pershing lias made no report regarding his movements to his superiors. Apparently , General Pershing is making his own plans of cam- , paign and executing them without reporting his every move to Major General Funston and the War , Department. Relief was manifest at army headquarters today when it was learned that Consul Letcher had sent to the State Department from Chihuahua a denial of the reported revolt of Gem. Luis Herrera. The report of the trapping of Villa was received by Mexican Consul Andres Gar-ii. The outlaws were said to be hemmed in at El Oso, about five miles south of Nainiquipa. where Villa had fled after a conflict with the Carranza forces at Santa Gertrudes. Villa, according to a dispatch from General Bertani. Carranza commander in the Held of operations, made a stand in the Santa Clara canyon near Santa Gertrudes, but was driven out with a loss of several men killed and 100 horses captured. The loss of the horses was a hard blow to Villa, it was said, as he depends on the high quality of the mounts of his men to execute rapid moves from place to place and thereby throw off his pursuers. General Bell received this report in silence. His only comment was that he would wait until he heard directly from General Pershing or General Funston before making any statement on the situation. There was frank skepticism among other United States army officers, although it was admitted that advance detachments of the American troops might easily have, reached Xnmiquipa by this time if they had maintained anything like the speed with which they had made the first hundred miles of their march. Carranza Consul Garcia, who made public Bertanis report, said there was no possible chance of Villa cutting his way out and that his capture was momentarily expected. Those familiar with Villas tactics and his hatred for Americans believe he will never be taken alive and that his entire command may be wiped out in the predicted fight. Garcia said Villa might try to escape by a surprise attack during the night. Bertani reported that in the preliminary engagement the Villistas retreated to El Oso, five miles south of Namiquipa. after losing several killed and about 100 horses captured. The American troops in touch with the Carranza forces surrounding Villa were believed to be either Colonel Dodds cavalry column or Pershings men who got behind Villa by a railroad trip from Casas Grandes southward." A dispatch of yesterday from London says: German troops have resumed heavy attacks against the French front northwest of Verdun, according to Paris dispatches today. Following a twenty-four-hour lull, the German batteries turned a terrific fire on the French positions south of Malan-court and around Dead Man Hill. French guns roared in reply all day yesterday. It is believed in Paris that the decisive battle on this sector has begun. By battering through the French lines in Avocourt wood the crown princes army bent the Trench front in the shape of a dangerous loop. German artillery posted on the ridge near Dead Man Hill on the northeast side is sweeping the four miles of wooded plain with a heavy fire. On the southwestern side Bavarian regiments are striving to cut through the intervening four miles, cutting off French forces holding Bethincourt and Malaneourt at the head of the loop. Dispatches from Berlin today declared the French were in an extremely precarious position. French artillery kept up a heavy bombardment of German positions in the woods south of Malan court last night, but the Teutons made no infantry attacks, the Paris war office reported here this afternoon. On the rest of the front northwest of Verdun the night was calm, the French report said. On the west bank of the Mense an intermittent bombardment occured around Donaumont and Damloup. In the Woevre region the artillery fire was the most violent near Moulainville .and Eparges. French troops occupied a mine crater near Hill 2S5, in the Argonne. Elsewhere there were no important actions during the night. An important Ietrograd dispatch of yesterday says: "Savage fighting is going on at Jacobstadt. eighty miles southeast of Riga, where the Russians, using liquid fire and gas bombs, are battering in the German salient. At the same time the Slavs are j attacking vigorously at Friedrie-hstadt, west of Jaeobstadt. and at Illuxt. to the south. General j Kuropatkins aim apparently is to squeeze von Hin-denburg out of this important salient by threats . of envelopment, forcing the retirement of the . Whole Gorman line from Biga to Dvinsk. on a front of 140 miles. The success of this offensive will remove , the German threat against Biga and Ihinsk . ! and handicap von Hindenburg in any aggressive Campaign he may undertake on the Russian front. Despite optimistic statements from some sources, best - informed critics here do not consider Kuropatkins attacks the beginning of a great Russian | offensive. Thi spring thaw, duo within possibly a i fortnight, is expected to impede artillery movements ; and force a lull in the fighting on the northern i front. When the ground becomes firm again, big | offensive movements by l otli the Germans and I Pus dans are certain to develop. To Improve his ; defensive positions to meet the expected German attack. General Knrepatkia is flattening out German i wedges in the Russian line .and moving to capture highway intersections and dominating positions. There will be no mobilization of the National I Guard on the Mexican border at the present time. In the light of reports received from American i consuls in Mexico and from army officials in charge ■ of the punitive expedition President Wilson and his ; cabinet yesterday derided there is no need at present either for a call for volunteers or for use of the : militia. The question of calling out the militia [ for patrol duty was gone into in detail. Members of congress from states on the Imrde-r had presented to the president and his cabinet their views that additional troops were needed on the line. It is possible that additional regulars will be sent to the , border, although Secretary of War Baker would not say today whether such orders are contemplated. He said merely he had as yet given no such ord rs. It is the belief in administration circles that were . the United States to mobilize the militia on the border at the present time it would seriously embarrass ; Carranza and make more difficult his task of convincing the Mexican people that the United [ States does not intend to make a campaign against the entire country. So far as actual conditions are concerned, great optimism was voiced after the . cabinet meeting. One official said that in the light of the official report submitted to the cabinet it was , evident a vast amount of misinformation had been ! sent out regarding true conditions across the border. From London yesterday a dispatch says: That the Gemma fleet, if it conies out to do battle in I the North Sea will be accompanied by scores of transports carrying troops for an invasion of England, was seriously suggested in an article appearing today in the Daily News and Star. The ■ News, which recently gare Warning that rumors of ! new German superdreadnoughts equipped with 17-incli guns, may be found to lie true, declared the war office fully realizes the dangers of such an invasion and is keeping a large force of men in England to meet the expected attack. There is a growing feeding that an attempted German invasion of our eastern coast during the next week or so is "quite on the cards," said the Star. There are many signs in Fast Anglia that the military authorities share this view, but these must not he ■ discussed here, and it is sufficient to consider the ■ actions of the enemy. The Star declared that the ■ Germans are torpedoing neutral ships in the North i sea solely to clear their coasts of neutral Skippers I who might report the assembling of German transports for invasion. Lieutenant Edgar J. GerreB, the army aviator, who. with his aeroplane, was lost from a squadron , of eight aeroplanes that left Columbus, N. U . Sunday for Casas Granites, has been found, lb had 1 spent eighty -four hours alone on the plains of f Mexico ten miles north of Aseeneiou, which i-; thirty-fire miles from the bonier, unaware that a , company of American infantry was less than twelve miles south guarding the line of communicat ion. Lieutenant Gorroll bad to descend Sunday for lack of gasoline. He waited two days, tlim walked t eight miles to the road connecting General Perata- ings column and the base of operations at CoilUB-bus. He wrote a note telling of his predicament, tacked it to a, post, then returned to his aeroplane. . i , , , j j . . , . ! | i ; i | I ; i I i ■ ; : [ , . ; [ . , ! I ■ ! When. Lieut. J. L. Parkinson of the Twentieth Infantry was traveling north along the road in chart.. of a train of empty motor trucks, he found the bit of paper. A halt was at once ordered and the rescue party hurried to the aviator. Gorrell obtained a new supply of gasoline from the trucks and proceeded to Casas Grandes. Two powerful bombs wrecked two motion-picture theaters on the South Side early yesterday, broke windows and aroused residents for blocks around and narrowly missed killing a man who was in one of the theaters. The places blown up were the Cosmopolitan Theater. 793S South Halsted street. and the Boulevard Theater, Ashland avenue and Garfield boulevard. Information given the police led them to suspect that the explosions were due to labor union rivalries. At 3:35 a. m. an explosion wrecked the Cosmopolitan Theater. At 4 a. m. an explosion wrecked the Boulevard, which is a new building and is owned by Henry Se-hoen-stadt. The latter explosion caused a hundred or ■tore neighbors to rush into the streets in their night clothes. Policeman John Mulligan was a block from the scene. He saw no one running away. The theater owner said he could assign no motive for the explosion. At the Cosmopolitan Theater. Lawrence Davis. 5717 South Union avenue, the theater watchman, narrowly escaped with his life. He was in the office of the theater, which is off the lobby, when the explosion occurred. The Hay army bill, first of the administrations big preparedness measures to receive the approval of either branch of Congress, was in the hauls of the Senate yesterday. It was passed by the House with only two dissenting votes those cast by Pep-resentatives Britten, Republican, of Illinois, and London. Socialist, of New York. The bill now goes to the Senate military committee for immediate consideration and report to the Senate. It wQl be taken up in the Senate .Monday. As it 1, ft the Ibaise the bill was in virtually the form in which it came from the military committee and would, among other things, increase the regular army to 140.000 fighting men. Efforts of Representative Kahn. of California ranking Republican member of the committee, to increase the standing army to 220. 000 were defeated. President Wilson has let it be known that while he approved the ground plan of the Hay bill, he is not committed to its details. It is expected, however, that the bill as it finally comes from the conference of the two houses will be such as to meet with the Presidents full approval. South of Dvinsk the Germans are counter attacking vigorously. The onrush of the Russian troops has temporarily been halted by the enemys onslaughts. Both sides are battling for the possession of strategic railways of great importance in the expected spring offensives. Russian artillery is tuning up along the whole S00 mile front. On sectors that have been inactive for many months there are indications that infantry dashes similar to those now occurring in the north are about to begin, as a prelude to the later offensive. In the extreme southeast General Ivanoff is meeting with no serious resistance in his campaign to clear Austrian troops from the north bank of the Dniester. The official report issued at Berlin yesterday say-: •Continuing their advance to force the evacuation of French positions northwest of Verdun, the Germans have captured two more trenches in the Hau-court region. The Germans pressed forward south of Malaneourt. against the southwestern side of the French salient. The advance- further imperils French positions at Malaneourt and Bethincourt, In the fighting in this region French prisoners now total 88L Artillery duels occurred last night in the Champagne, the Argonne and west of the Mense." Confirmation of the reports that General Pershing obtained permission to use the Mexican railway line south of Casas Grandes was brought to El Paso yesterday by Americans arriving from Casas Grandes. Pershing sent two troop trains to Aguaje. Chihuahua, in an effort to cut off Villas flight southward. Aguaje is north or the destroyed timbres tunned. As the troop movement was made Sunday it is believed the troops have had sufficient time to reach a point south of Namiquipa. The submarine D-l is temporarily out of commission at the New York navy -yard with some of her plates dented and one of her armature shafts cracked. The repairs cannot be completed before several weeks. The D-l was rammed by a tug off New London. Conn., a few days ago and was ordered to the navy -yard to have her plates repaired. On the way the cracked shaft was discovered. In all five submarines are undergoing repairs at the navy-yard. The others are the G-l, G-2. G-4 and El. Albertas H. Baldwin, United States commercial attache at London, reports that during the Avar there have been 2.193 vessels destroyed or eap-[ tared, with a tonnage of 3.774.219. These losses are divided as follows: Great Britain. 48S -hips. tonnage 1,608, 115: France. Italy and B nutria to- aether, 187, tonnage 282487; Germany, 801, tonnage 1.278,500; Austria. 80, tonnage. 287,804; Turkey. 124, tonnage unestimated. Neutral ships have been sunk to the number of 730. with a tonnage of 441.172. The fourth German war loan has been a brilliant success, financial secretary He UTerich reported at Berlin yesterday. The subscriptions totaled more than S2. 000. 000. 000. This figure-. Dr. HeUferich said, does not include subscriptions abroad ami at home. The total of Germanys war loans now reach more than 17,000,000.080, he said, while- England has raise-el h-ss than 84,000,000.000, and France-• only a little more than ,000,800,000 by war loans. Parade- grounds and rifle rouges in Austria and all other lands set aside for military use- are- to be- devoted as far as possible to raising food. The- was soke baa directed that such ground is to be planted with oats, peas, beans, early potatoes and fresh vegetables. With the Hay army increase bill out of the way. the iiouse yesterday began consideration of the Burnett immigration bill, with its literacy tost pro-[ vision, under a special rule limit in debate on the? incisure. Prospects are that the bill will be- the-; subject of several days of lively discussions. The British steamer Fulmar. 1.270 tons, ami the Danish steamer Cliristiaiisund. 1.017 tone, have b i sunk. Fighteen of the Fulmars crew were saved. The crew of the Danish steamer, numbering twenty-two men. was also picked up. The Austro-Hungarian foreign minister has for- warded to the- neutral governments copses of tin official note- protesting against the- torpedoing of the hospital ship Elektra in the- Adriatic Sea. according to Vienna advices reaching Amsterdam. Lieut. Sir Ernest H. Shackleton has returned] to s. dney, Australia, from his antartie expedition. News of the ac-hieveiue-nts of tile expedition is withheld for the present. American Consul Letcher at Chihuahua yesterday reported there was no truth in the- reported revolt of Genera] Herrera and the Carranza garri- son at Chihuahua. The new Russian ince-mo tax bill, which is pi-nd-Ing in the- Duma, provides an assessment of six- tenths of 1 per cent, em incomes of 700 rubles, up to 12 1-2 per cent, on incomes of 480,000 rubles. A bazaar in New York for the- benefit of the- Teutonic, war sufferers, which began thirteen days ago. ended Thursday night with receipts estimated at 8750,000.
