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INTERESTING AND PERTINENT TOPICS OF THE DAY GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY British troops launched an offensive east and southeast of Amiens this morning says a state ¬ ment from Field Marshal Ilaig yesterday Karly reports indicate that the attack is progressing satisfactorily Tbe attack is under the command of Field Marshal Ilaig and is on a wide front the statement adds The troops engaged the British fourth army and the French first army advanced at dawn An attack southeast of Amiens probably is aimed at weakening if not to wipe out the German position In and around Montdidier where the battle line swings to the north The British troops hold a sector south of the Somme which joins up with the French lines south of Villers Bretomieux Late last week the Germans withdrew to the east of the Avre in the region west and north ¬ west of Montdidier Since then the French have been gaining ground on the same front A line from the Avre and thence south along the river faces fairly open country and portions of Picardy in front of it is part of the region devastated by the Germans in the retreat from the Somme in 3Iarch 1917 A break through into the Montdidier sector probably would have a menacing effect on the German lines from Rheims to Ypres Threequarters of an hour after the Britisli attacked the French took up the battle The attack must have taken tlie Germans by surprise as the weather has not been such as would generally be choseu for the commencement of new operations Tbe greatest secrecy surrounded plans for the attack During the night the Germans heavily bombarded the British lines but their shells were ineffective An extra ordinarily large number of tanks accom ¬ panied the storming troops clearing the way for them in the gray light of dawn and helping to over ¬ come enemy strong points pointsAccording According to advices received in London the French and British forces which attacked this morning in the Picardy sector have advanced at some points to a depth of more than three miles The British attacked over a twelvemile front on both sides of the Somme They gained all their objectives within four hours and have captured a considerable number of prisoners and guns French and Britisli tanks have crossed the AvreLuce val ¬ ley Tbe main weight to the blow was directed against Gen Uutiers eighteenth army A consid ¬ erable number of villages have been captured in the FrancoBritish offensive and substantial progress has been made according to news received here this afternoon The Germans having through local operations by the Australians British and French been forced to give up the idea of capturing Amiens had fallen back to better defensive positions and there the British and French fell upon them at dawn this morning morningExtension Extension of the draft system to the navy is not regarded as necessary at this time by the Navy Department Rear Admiral Palmer chief of the Bureau of Navigation told the Senate Military Committee yesterday the navy has practically all the men it needs and that enlistments would not be affected by changing the army and draft ages Enlistments in the navy now total approximately 430000 men said Admiral Palmer who represented Secretary Daniels before the committee committeeGovernment Government acquisition and control of all the principal stock yards cold storage plants and ware ¬ houses and both refrigerator and cattle cars is recommended to the president by the Federal Trade Commission CommissionReports Reports of the sinking of the American steamship 3Ienk 3Ui4 tons gross by a submarine Tuesday night off Cape Ilattcras were received in marine circles yesterday at New York YorkGen Gen Paul Pau hero of the FrancoPrussian war in which he lost an arm and prominent in the fight ¬ ing of the last four years arrived in Chicago yes ¬ terday
