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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. The text of the official statement issued yesterday at the German army headquarters said: Western front — on the Langemarck-Ypres high road the English early in the morning attacked the trenches which our patrols captured April 19. The enemy re-occupied about one-third of the positions. On both sides of La Basse canal we exploded a few mines with good results. Enemy fire upon the towns of Lens and Koye resulted in further victims among the civil population. At Koye one child was killed mid two women ami a child were injured. In the ArgoniK we destroyed French outisist positions on the hill of La Fille Morte by mine explosions. We occupied an extensive crater l efore our front. West of th° Meuse tl e French repented their efforts in the region of Dead Man Hill. They twice bombarded with combined artillery and machine-gun fire both banks of the river. The third attack broke down with heavy losses before our positions Fierce hand grenade engagements for a trench section in the neighborhood of Calirettes wood resulted in our recovering this section towards evening. During the night the Ftciich again succeeded in obtaining a foothold in this wood. East of the Meuse at the Steinbruch stone quarry, south of Handle -inont and south of Fort Dounumont. there was lively artillery activity together with grenade and bomb fighting. The artillery continued, without inter ruption day and night, its customary local violence on the entire battle front in the Meuse district. n the region northwest of Fresnes-en-Woevre, prisoners were taken belonging to the 154th French divi-j sion. This proves that in the region between this ! town and Avocourt since February 21, thirty-eight divisions were employed, of which four divisions, after a long rest, were reinforced by fresh drafts taken chiefly from the recruits of the class of | 1916, who were brought into the battle and beaten. Eastern theater — Yesterday southeast of Garbu- novka there were Russian attacks with sanguinary , losses in front of our entanglements. According to | reports from Geneva, says the Overseas News Agency. Great Britain has offered to Spain posses-. sion of Tangier if Spain will seize the German j ships in Spanish ports and will consent to the closin,; of the Straits of Gibraltar to all neutral J ships, except those flying the Spanish flag. ■ A preliminary report from Maj. Gen. Hugh L. t Scott, chief of staff of the army, on his confer-r ence with Jen. Funston at San, Antonio, Tex., regarding the Mexican problem, was expected i , yesterday by officials of the Washington govern-i ment. Gen. Scott was sent by Secretary of War i Baker to discuss the situation in detail with Funs-i ton. The next step of this government regarding the pursuit of Villa or the withdrawal of troops probably will not be taken pending the receipt of i a complete report on the situation from Gen. Scott. I This report is not expected until he returns to Washington. Before departing Gen. Scott an-; nounced that he would make his investigation and return as soon as possible. Meanwhile reports of i alleged moves on the part of Felix Diaz, nephew I of the former Mexican dictator, for a new revolution against the de facto government, are causing considerable uneasiness at the state department. I The movement is said to be backed by wealthy Mexicans, both in Mexico and the United States. It is learned that several Mexicans in this country are under close observation, and it is possible i that part of the anti-American feeling in Chihuahua state against the forces chasing Villa may be at-i tributed to the Diaz movement. Admission is made by Secretary Baker that American consuls in Mexico had been advised of reports to the effect that Mexican officers had warned Gen. Pershing not to proceed south of Parral before the clash : there. The secretary insists, however, that the warning had not caused any change in orders to the border forces. From Amsterdam a dispatch says: Baron Kolmar von der Goltz, commander-in-chief of the First Turkish army, died Wednesday of spotted fever at the headquarters of his Turkish army, according to an official announcement received here from Berlin. He had been ill ten days. Field Marshal von der Goltz was regarded as one of Germanys greatest strategists. He was 72 years old and fought on the staff of Prince Frederick Charles in the Franco -; Prussian war. In 1883 he was sent to reconstruct the Turkish army and remained in Turkey for thirteen years. In August, 1914, he was appointed military governor of the occupied part of Belgium, but in November of the same year he was relieved of this command and sent to Turkey. He was appointed military commandant at Constantinople and acting minister of war. He was instrumental in forming the strong Turkish defense on the Gallipoli peninsula. He received his command as chief of the First Turkish army in April of last year, when he succeeded General Liman von Sanders in command of the Dardanelles. Recent dispatches reported Field Marshal von der Goltz engaged in the operations in Asiatic Turkey. Before the fall of Er-zerum he was said to be bottled up in that stronghold with 80,000 Turks. The French official statement of yesterday says: In Belgium our artillery energetically cannonaded the sector east of the Ypres-Pilkelm road during an action at this point by British troops. West of the Meuse, the enemy during the night attacked our positions on the slopes north of Dead Man hill. The Germans, who had succeeded in gaining a foothold in our first line, were ejected soon after by a counter attack which won back for us all the terrain previously conquered by us. Another attack in which liquid fire was used was delivered against our trenches north of the Caurettes wood. It was completely repulsed. East of the Meuse, at the close of the day yesterday, following an intense lwmbardment of our lines from the Meuse as far as Fort Vaux, the Germans brought up large bodies of troops into their trenches on the front between the pond and Fort Vaux in preparation for an attack. Artillery bombardments immediately launched prevented an advance and caused serious losses to the enemy. In Le Pretre wood there was some fighting between patrols. On the rest of the front the night was calm. Uncle Sams gunners have set a new record in American naval marksmanship, according to information at the New York navy yard. The Atlantic fleet, which was recently engaged in battle maneuvers at Guantanamo, bettered all former marks for distance in long range target practice with the 12 and 14 inch guns by more than 50 per-cent. and incidentally surprised naval authorities by the accuracy they showed at the long distance. Former long range target practice usually has been limited at 12.000 yards, with most of it being at 8,000 yards with reduced loads. At the recent maneuvers the targets were put from 15,000 to 19,000 yards away. The incentive for the longer ranges came from reiwrts of various naval battles of the present war, particularly that about a year ago, when German warships, in a dash from Kiel into the North sea, were attacked by the British fleet. The Tiger and Lion were crippled and the Blucher was sunk. A Berlin dispatch of yesterday says: Germanys answer to the latest American note is likely to be delayed by some parleys and requests for further information on certain points, according to the Lokal Anzieger, which says it learns that the note is a decidedly long one and that it will be examined with German thoroughness. The American note is now in the hands of Euiperor William, Chancellor von Bethman-Hollweg and Gen. von Falkenhayn, chief of the general staff at general headquarters. A summary of the note was telegraphed yesterday to general headquarters, and a courier, bearing the full text and the appendix, was sent there by train. The deliberations of the emperor, the chancellor and the chief of staff will determine the future shaping of German-American relations. The note appears in the newspapers of this afternoon. All is calm here. Shipment of supplies from German sympathizers in America to the central iiowers with the aid of the American lied Cross, long a subject of diplomatic discussion finally has been halted. While Great Britain has not signified its intention to hold up all such supplies, the fact remains that the Red Cross officials have not succeeded in obtaining any permits to pass the shipments in question, with the result that this channel of aid has been closed. With tons of hospital supplies, clothing and other materials not so readily classified clogging the big Bush terminal warehouses in Brooklyn awaiting shipment to Germany, officials at the Ked Cross headquarters at Washington notified all Ked Cross chapters that no more consignments to the central powers could lie received. A message of yesterday from Torreon, Mexico says: Gen. Severino Coniceros and his command of Villa bandits have surrendered to the military commander in Durango City and have been granted an amnesty. Gen. Trevino has informed the local agitators who desired to make resistance to the advance of the American troops that the de facto government had the situation well in hand. The government does not need any private assistance. Gen. Trevino told the agitators, and then added that if they felt that they must fight he would find ihem places in the army where they could make war on the Villa bandits. The agitators lost their enthusiasm. The situation in Durango is steadily improving. The right of the city of Chicago to regulate and control the sale of newsnai»ers and magazines on all news-stands in the streets was upheld in a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court of Illinois. The opinion was written by Judge Dunn in the case of ■ the Cuitis Publishing company against the city, in which the publishers sought to enjoin the city from ; preventing the sale, of their publications on newsstands. The ordinance in question provides that ■ only local publications can be sold on stands. The Danish steamer Esbjerg, bound from Bor- deaux for Copenhagen with a cargo of wine, has loen seized by a German cruiser in the Cattegat and taken to Swineniueiide. Seven persons were killed and. seventeen injured as tin- result of a fire in au explosives factory at Croiist.olt. according to the Kiissi.-ui semi-official news agency. A Lloyds dispatch to London yesterday confirming the reiMirts of the sinking of the steamer Sabia said that the Sabia was torpedoed without warning ; und that she was unarmed,
