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INTERESTING AND PERTINENT TOPICS OF THE DAY GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY Weakened by the defeat suffered on the Soissons llcims front the Germans apparently are prepar ¬ ing to assume the defensive on the front from Yprcs to Kcims says an Associated 1ress dispatch of yesterday While continuing their retirement toward the Aisne the Gennans have abandoned good defensive nositions in 1icardy east of Amiens The movements north and south of the Somme have been only local in character but are an indication that the German command is aware of the danger of an allied attack north of the present battle field Hctwecn Soissons and Helms the Vesle vir ¬ tually has been cleared of enemy troops and Fismes is in the hands of the Americans having been car ¬ ried by storm West of Reims the French have made important gains and in the region of Soissons the French are north of the Aisne Enemy resist ¬ ance apparently has been growing stronger from Tisiiies east to Ucims However the Vcsle is in flood and as large swamps line its course west of Helms it is possible the resistance may be due to the inability of the Germans to move to the north bank bankOver Over English railroads in a country strange to them and under unfamiliar conditions American officers directing the transportation of troops to the front are making records surpassing the best that has Iten done in the states says the London Weekly Dispatch in describing the feeding and rail transport of the American armies arriving in Europe On July 7 nineteen trains with a total of 2 0 coaches carried 103JO men from an American camp in six hours Twentyfive thousand men have liceu entrained rnd transported from one town in less than five hyurs Seventeen thousand were cleared from a port of debarkation one afternoon recently and 7000 or 8000 followed the next morn ¬ ing The entire lot had been moved to a rest camp bathed fed entertained freshened up gen ¬ erally and put down behind the lines five days later laterCasualties Casualties among the American troops in the severe fighting in which they have been engaged since July la when the German offensive was launched and halted at the Ma me are now being retried in the daily lists from Gcu 1ershing though no estimate of the total has yet been received Yesterdays army list contained 407 names the largest number reported in a single day Of the men named 03 were killed in action thirtyseven died of wounds and 148 were wounded fortyeight seriously and 100 degree undetermined The missing in action numbered only three In addition to the army list the marine list today contained ten names nine killed in action and one died of wounds woundsMore More than 00 guns have been captured by one French army alone that of Gen Mangin since the l cginning of the allies offensive on July 18 says i dispatch from 1aris This army also took an equal number of trench mortars in the same period Each day adds to the booty captured by the allies It will be impossible to take full stock for some time but the booty includes a considerable number of 77 millimeter about three inches guns while 11 millimeter shells salvaged up to the present total 1500000 1500000Federal Federal indictments were returned at New York yesterday charging the Pennsylvania Hailroad Ar ¬ mour Co Swift Co and the New Jersey City Stockyards Company with conspiring to violate the federal statutes which prohibit the giving or ac ¬ cepting of rebates The alleged offenses have to do with the routing of traffic trafficThe The new administration manpower bill extending the selective service act to all men between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive and authorizing the 1resideiit to call such persons into military ser ¬ vice in such sequence of ages and at such times as he may prescribe was introduced today in both houses of Congress CongressWeekly Weekly registration of youths attaining the age of HI during the next few weeks was proposed by General Crowdcr as the only means of obtaining Jhe L00000 men to be called to the colors in Sep ¬ tember This could be done by presidential procla ¬ mation and would add about 80000 to the number of men available availableSinking Sinking of the American tank steamer O B Jennings 100 miles off the Virginia coast an ¬ nounced yesterday revealed the presence of at least two German submarines on this side of the Atlantic The second raider has been operating off the coast of lova Scotia and nearby waters for several days daysProvost Provost Marshal Gemnil Crowder in a statement submitted by Senator Chamberlain suggested Sep ¬ tember 5 as the date for a national registration of men within the proposed new ages agesA A dispatch from Paris yesterday says the long range bombardment of the Paris region was resumed this morning
