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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Revised regulations to govern physical examinations of men registered under the selective draft vvctrt! issued yesterday by .Surgeon General Gorgas of the army, and communicated to the governors of the states for information of local boards. The changes deal for the most part with questions of proportionate weight and height, but may result in the recall of some men rejected heretofore on physical grounds. The new regulations grant an underweight allowance of from five to six pounds Sor men between sixty-four and sixty-seven inches in height; seven to eight pounds between sixty-seven and sixty-nine inches; nine to ten pounds between seventy and seventy-four inches, and twelve pounds above "seventy-five . inches. The effect of the instructions is to reduce the normal weight requirements for tall men. An additional half inch allowance on chest expansion also is allowed to men above sixty-eight inches in height where there is no sign of disease. Men with poor teeth also will be more closely scrutinized hereafter. Where dental work will restore the teeth they will either bit" enrolled and the work done by army dentists or allowed time to have the work done for themselves. Recent reports that the present German offensive in southwest Russia is aimed at the capture of Odessa are strengthened by a dispatch to the London Times from that city saying the belief is growing there that the port is Germanys main objective, aiid that Bessarabia will soon become the principal theater of oierations as the enemy presses toward Odessa. The correspondent adds that the harvest is now being reaped in southern Russia and the .enemy doubtless will try to secure it before it can be removed. One of the most important conferences in months lias been called by the "kaiser at grand headquarters. Chancellor Michaelis has left Berlin for headquarters in response to a summons from the kaiser, reports received here today stated. Participating in the conference will be military, .governmental and diplomatic leaders of the empire. Those attending furnish one of the most imposing arrays of German leaders that have come together since the outbreak of the war. One million pounds of knitting wool to be knitted by American women into garments to protect American soldiers and sailors from cold this winter have been purchased by the Red Cross. It is to be distributed to Red Cross warehouses and sold to the chapters throughout the Unted States, the proceeds to be turned back into the treasury of the Red Cross and made available for other work. Ma jor General Pershing, commander of the American expedition in France, told the correspondents yesterd?iy it was highly essential that the men in Americas conscript army " should be in excellent physical condition well disciplined and capable of individual action. He added that the army organization must be built from the bottom up, each man hnd officer devoting all his energies to the work. "Russia will win!" says Elihu Root, newly come, from chaotic Russia. "The situation in Russia," he continued, "is not nearly so alarming as America seems to think it is. In fact, if you were to condense the reports of all the internal disorders in America, since the war was declared and send them across to Russia, the situation here would look Averse to them than theirs looks to us. British medical officers are trying to determine the nature of the new poison used, it is believed for the first time, by the Germans on the French town of Armentieres, near the Belgian frontier. The poison bore a certain resemblance to the gas which temporarily blinded a large number of British trooirs a fortnight ago, but its effects are infinitely more serious. In the region of the ridge o Chevregny and the Pantheon there was artillery activity last night, says the official report given out yesterday by the French war office. North of Vaux Les Palameix on the Aisne front a French detachment cleared a Teuton trench, inflicting losses on the Germans and returned to their own lines unhurt. Contracts have been let by the navy department for 4,500,000 yards of woolen uniform cloth at an aggregate cost of more than 0,000,000. This is the largest purchase of woolen cloth ever made by the navy and is one of the most important single contracts for textile goods placed in the history of the trade. Secretary Daniels has announced the letting of contracts for a million dollar airplane factory at the League Island navy yard, Philadelphia. The factory will be in operation in one hundred working days and will have a capacity of 1,000 small planes year. Two thousand pounds of cocoons will be produced this vear at an experimental silk farm in Texas. The "farm will be enlarged next year by planting 12,000 additional mulberry trees. Mechanical methods are used to handle cocoons and eggs. Eight thousand German miners attended a .recent mass meeting at Essen for the discussion of coal production, food and wanes. The meeting devel- oped into an impressive demonstration in favor of peace by agreement and democratic reforms. Approval by the United States government h:is been given to the conference of governors ami councils of defense from sixteen states called to meet in Chicago. August 16, to agree upon uniform action to control coal prices. Canadian conscription bill successfully passed its last legislative stage Wednesday night when it received third reading in the Senate. It becomes effective after the formalities of royal assent and government proclamation. Announcement was made yesterday that 10,000 pounds of ether arc to be rushed to France in response to an urgent appeal from Major Grayson M. P. Murphy, head of the Red Cross commission in France. Navy Department officials are worrying about the strikes which have assumed serious proportions in many of the shipyards of the country. There is fear in "Washington that the trouble may become general. The American army is 750,000 strong today. The regulars need 2,100 to fill their authorized strength of 300.000 men. The national guard, approximately 4-17,000 war strength, is all mustered in. Another gain of ground by French troops on the Flanders front, northwest of Blxschoote, is reported in yesterdays official statement on the Franco-Belgian front operations. Storages for wheat are to be built in the state of Victoria, Australia, at a cost of 3,565,000. After the war a complete system of grain elevators Is planned. -
