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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. A dispatch of yesterday from London says: French troops holding the fortified village of Reth-incourt. ten miles northwest of Verdun, are three-fourth surrounded by the Germans and under terrific bombardment from German rtillery. It is believed they will evacuate the position before many hours. The French position on the west bank of the Mouse has again become serious. French successes in the fighting around Vaux village yesterday were important, but did not offset the German gain on a two-mile front northwest of Verdun. Following the French retirement to the south side of the Forges brook, the Germans are laying Beth-incourt, the important communication point of Esnes and the Rourrus woods, under heavy fire. The whole sec-tor northwest of Verdun witnessed a great artillery battle from dawn to sunset yesterday. For nearly a week the Germans have been shelling hill 304. the keystone of the French outer defenses in this region, day and night. Steady streams of shells have been playing upon the slopes and summits, wrecking French trenches and searching out French batteries. There is every evidence that the Germans plan to take Bethincourt, smother the French lines to the southwest under a mighty attack and drive- the French back upon the first permanent fortifications of Verdun, near Esnes. French gains in yesterdays fighting near the village of Vaux have confirmed the belief of English military nun that the crown prince will never win Verdun from the northeastern front. Since the capture of Douaunioiit fort and village the Germans have made no important progress on this front, though they have sacrificed thousands of men in attempts to take Fort Vaux. News of the presence of large-German fore-es on the British front in Flanders and northern France, re|»orted in todays dispatches from correspondents at the front, confirmeel previous reports from Dutch sources. Since the beginning of the Verdun offensive the Germans, though stripping their lilies elsewhere, have held large forces opposite General Haigs army, fearing a British offensive. A dispatch of Monday afternoon from Paris says: By successful counter attacks French troops gained ground last night in the Caillette woods, southeast of Fort Douaumont. the war office announced this afternoon. The counter attacks were of great violence and brought to a halt the German offensive delievered in this region by a force estimated at 20.000 men. The Germans apparently were attempting to drive southward, planning to surround Fort Vaux. which has resisted successive massed attacks by the Germans sine-e the early elays of the Verdun fighting. On the west bank of the M.-nse the Germans ! omharclc-cl I luuconrt and Esnes throughout the night. The French guns on hill 304 replied ene-rgetic-ally. In yesterdays fighting, the Germans advanced on a front of nearly two , miles. The whole sector leetween the ruins of Fort Douaumont and the Vaux brook was the scene of desperate fighting. By hurling mass after mass at the French trenches, tin- Germans force-el their waj across the Vaux -Douaumont road. Then, sln-lt -ered from machine-gun fire by a slight rise they advanced into the northern fringes of Caillette wood. Farther south, near Vaux village, the German charge was met by a sheeted fire that broke the gray ranks in confusion. The French shattered the German front with artillery and machine-gun fire from behind redoubts on the highway leading we-stwurd from Vaux. In the Woe-vre region the night was calm. In Lorraine a German reconnaissance was repulsed. A German war plane fell behind the French lines near Moyen and its oe-e-u-pants were captured. Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge of the British navy, in a report on merchant shipping losses, gives the following statement of total losses to shipping from the l eginning of the war to March 23: Losses to belligerents, steamers — British. 379. of 1.320.0H tons; French. 41. of 140.000 tons: Belgian. 10. of 30.000 tons; Russian. 27. of 42.000 tons: Italian. 21. of 70.000 tons; Japanese. 3. of 19.000 tons. Sailing vessels— Rritish. 31. of 19.000 tons. French. 12. of 1S.000 tons: Russian, S .of 7.000 tons; Italian. 6. of 3.000 tons. Trawlers — British. 237; French. 7. Belgian. 2. Losse-s to neutrals. steamers-Norway. 50. of 96.000 tons; De-nmnrk. IS. of 33.000 tons; Sweden. 35. of 42.000 tons; Holland. 22. of 74.000 tons: United States. 6. of 1 . HH tons; Greee-e, 11, of 22.000 tons; Spain. 4. of 9.000 tons; Iersia. 1. of 750 tons; Portugal. 1. of 625 tons. Sailing vessels — Norway. 22. e»f 20.000 tons; Denmark. 10. of 1.6H tons; Sweden. 7, of 2.0H tons; Holland. 2. of 225 tons; United States. 1. of 176 tons. Trawlers — Denmark. 1: Holland. 7. The loss to British steam shipping, says the rejiort. is less than 4 per cent of the total number of vessels under the- Rritish flag and slightly more than 6 ]»er cent of their total tonnage. Says a dispatch from San Antonio yesterday: With the dispatch of the- remaining detachments of the Fifth cavalry and Twenty -fourth infantry from Columbus. General Funston has sent -into Mexico all the troops immediately available. The actual number of troops oiierating in Mexico has never been made public, for military reasons, but army officers regard the number as altogether inaelequate. Staff officers exjdained today that, since the beginning of the chase, the situation had been so altered that it has become imperative that a short e-ut to the field of operation be made, or that the roundabout road now fcdlowed be guarded by a much heavier force than that already along the line. Villas flight south from Columbus caused General Pershing to move almost directly south to Guerrero. If it is true that Villa has gone south of Chihuahua. Amerie-aus will have to swing their line of communication sharply to the east, and then be prepared to move an indefinte elistance southward again. Ten persons were killed and eleven injured in Scotland in Sunday nights Zeppelin raid, it was officially announced at London Monday afternoon. There were no casualties in Kngland. The official statement says: It appears that altogether six Zeppelins took part in the rads of Sunday night. Thre-e raided southeast counties of Scotland, one the northeast -oast of England and the remaining two eastern counties of England. The vessels which ruidod Scotland crossed the coast at 9 p. m.. 9:45 p. m. and 10:15 p. m., respectively, and cruised over southeastern counties of Scotland until about 1:10 a. m. Their course gave no indication of any special loe-ality for attack, but thirty-six explosive and seventeen incendiary bombs were drop[»ed on various places, damaging some hotels and dwelling houses. Following are the casualties which are reported at present in Scotland: Killed, seven men. no women, three children; total, ten. Injured, five men. two women, four children: total, eleven. Refore the house naval committee, the Rethle-hem Steel company yesterday made a final report to prevent the recommendation of the government armor-plate bill. It pledged that if the United States became involved in war. or threatened with war. the plant would furnish every product it made "at any price the government chooses to pay:" and that the plant would run to capacity twenty -four hours a day. Further it agreed to manufacture armor plate for an indefinite jieriod at any prie-e the federal trade commission might fix. These were in addition to former offers to furnish armor for 95 a ton for five years. There was a serious question whether even these offers wonld save the e-ompany from government e-om] etitioii. President Grace said he made the offers as a matter of patriotism, and to save the ,000,000 invested in the present plant. The London Times military corrsepondent in an account of his visit to Verdun and the French front predicts the development shortly of a big battle on the Rritish front: "The Germans." says the correspondent, "have their army distributed in two great masses — one in front of the Rritish army and the other around Verdun. The first group numbers thirty -four divisions and the latter thirty divisions. The rest of the line in France is thinly held. From this distribution one must suppose either that the Germans intend to attnek the British or expect the British to attack them." Great Britains refusal to release the thirty -eight Germans, Austrians and Turks taken from the American steamer China near Shanghai was received yesterday at the state department and will be given out for publication later. The British note is understood to insist on the right of that government to seize enemy subjects returning to take part in the war. This, it is understood, the United States is prepared to vigorously dispute. The intention of the state department is to demand the unconditional release of the prisoners according to many precedents. Work of drafting the annual naval appropriation bill was begun yesterday by the House naval subcommittee following the conclusion of hearings before the full committee. Secretary Daniels, the last witness before the committee, completed thre e days of testimony late Monday. He made a final appeal in behalf of the administrations five-year building program. Provision in the bill for six capital ships, two dreadnaughts and four battle cruisers, may be made as a compromise between Secretary Daniels recommendations and those of the general naval board. The explosion of a powder factory in Kent, England, has caused the death or injury of 200 persons, it was announced officially yesterday. The following statement was given out: The ministry of munitions reports with great regret that during the week end a serious fire broke out in a powder factory, which led to a series of explosions in the works. The fire was purely accidental. It was dise-overod at midday and the last of the explosions took place shortly, after two in the after- noon. I he approximate number of casualties Is Lloyds reports at London that the British bark Rengairn had been sunk by a submarine. Part of the c-re-w were picked up. It is stated that the1 vessel was not armed. There were two Americans s in the vessels crew. They joined the vessel at Seattle. Wash., whence the ship sailed December 10 with a cargo of wheat. The American consul at Cork reiiorts that the ste-amship Bi-rwindvale. which was sunk off Ireland on March 16, had four Americans aboard. None of these Was hurt, but the- e-onsul nqtorts that the vessel was torpedoeel. The detachment of Villas forces defeated at Guerrero by American troops Wednesday was located Sunday near Baehineva. northeast of Guerrero, according OS General Pershing, who re-ported to General Funston. His report was sent Sunday. The remainder of the dispersed force, he said, was scattered through the region northeast of Guerrero and American troops are continuing their 0 pursuit. A Copenhagen dispatch to the London Exchange Telegraph Company says Norway has requested Germany to investigate whether German submarines were responsible for the torpedoing of the large number of Norwegian ships which hnve l»-in destroyed within the- last few days. If it Is proved that German submarines were responsible, Norway will demand full compensatlSBV The British aeronautical institute has asked the governments permission to undertake, at its own expense, the salvage of the Zeppelin L-15, which is lying in shallow water off the mouth of the Thames. The institute- believes "the Zeppelin can be saved, rebuilt and launched against the ene-my within three months." Germany has apologized to Switzerland for the bombing of the- Swiss village of Porentruy by German airmen last week, says a Renter dispatch from Berne. A promise to punish the aviators, who suppose-d they were over Belfort, has been made.
