St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March 27, 1918

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LOMIC PAGE MARCH 26, 1918, 2: 7 “THEIR Lucie. 'SALWAYs i SUMP a | [4 Ye é ’ ‘ it i iM vil} UH yy | \ | \ ALWAYS TALKING PEIN C Ag+ ight. 1918, by H. Mark Reg. UV. Cc. Fisher. S. Pat. Office.>. ¥ USELESS / wot 2. oor * Lieut. ey, . =} , _. Circulation Biggest Ever © he circulation of the Daily Post-Dispatch in st Louis compared season by season is greater than ever before'in the history of this newspaper. This js also true of the Sunday Post-Dispatch. “Cir- culation books open to all.” “First in Everything.” he Only Evening Paper in St. Louis T.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH With the Associated Press News Service NIGHT T N —— “VOL. 70. NO. 216. 7 ST. LOUIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1918—22 PAGES. St. Leuts aad Suburbs, Ose asi Elsewhere, Two Cents. PRICE { — LLIED LINE HOLDS UNDER CONTINU Blow Weakens in North---Greatest Effort Still at Junction ZENE TODAY 1" EFFORTS 10 END ALL OTRIKES HERE Maj. W. C. Rogers Resumes At- tempt on New Instructions From War Department. Time to Counter Attack With Allied Reserves, Say Simonds and Repington British and French Commanders, English Critic Believes, Must Have Foreseen and Prepared for What Has Happened. By LIEUT.-COL. C. A. REPINGTON, Former military critic of the Lon- SILENT AS TO BASIS| don Times whose stirring articles in Refuses to Say if Change Has Been Ordered in Scheme to Continue Pre-War Policies. The effort to settle all the strikes now pending in St. Louis, and to pro- vide a future basis of adjustment of labor troubles here, during the con- tinuance of the war, was resumed today by Maj. W. C. Rogers of the Ordnance Bureau of the War De- partment. Maj. Rogers said to a Post-Dis- patch reporter in the afternoon that he had received new instructions by telegraph from the War Department at midnight. Acting on these in- structions, he said, he arranged two meetings for this afternoon—one with labor union officials at the Machinists’ Union headquarters, 810 Chestnut street, and one later with the employers affected by the strike, at the Mercantile Club. Maj. Rogers was asked by a Post- Dispatch reporter whether the de- partment’s instructions directed him to alter the basis on ‘which he has been trying to bring about a settle- ment, e has been urging that the Strikes“be settled on the basis of maintainmg former conditions as to the open or closed shop. Under the plan which he has been setting forth for several days, firms which have recognized labor unions would con- tinue to recognize them, and those which have not recognized them would not be asked to do so while the war continues. At the same time he has urged that the increased cost of living be fully taken into account by employers. Declines to Discuss Basis. . He declined to make a direct an- Swer to the question whether this program had been changed in the new orders received by him. He Said this question “hits at the heart of the matter.” Labor leaders believe that any al- teration which the War Department might make in Maj. Rogers’ program would be alterations in favor of un- ion labor. Maj. Rogers said his atric tions were issued after he had talked by long-distance telephone with certain of his superior officers. Maj. Rogers’ plan, printed in Sunday's Post-Dispatch, was approved by the employers, and Was referred by labor union offi- clals to Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of La- bor, for a reply. No reply has been received from Gompers, some of the Union men said today. NECESSARY TO SHORTEN TRAINING PERIOD, LONDON MAIL SAYS LONDON, March 27.—-Discussing means of replacing the man-power in France the Daily Mail Suggests it probably will be found hecesary to shorten the period of training for recruits and to send to the front the younger classes at an eariier age than heretofore. All physically able Russian sub- jects in England, this newspaper Says, are being called to the colors, the Pended the sumonin which was) losses of |. authorities having canceled the! anemy Feveent order which temporarily sus- | yr of these men. | GAVE LIFE TO SAVE COMMANDER won A. P.?}. ton. JESTER, Mass., March 27 (By, Corporal Homer J. taemanis sporting editor of the) Vorcester Gazette, who was reported | killed in action in France Feb. 27, according to a letter received from George A. Corbin of Whea- ton’s regiment. Lieut. Corbin said that Wheaton Picked up a German bomb thrown into an American trench, and was about to hurl it back when it ex- Ploded in his hand, killing him in- Stantly. Wheaton’s home was in Syr- acure, N. Y. GERMANY TO CLOSE FRONTIERS Dutch, Swiss and Danish Lincs to) Re Affected, Amsterdam Hears. LONDON, March 27 (By A. P.).— | The German-Dutch, German-Swiss, and German-Danish frontiers will; be cloced to international traffic on Wednesday or Thursday, according to a Central News dispatch from ‘aggerated than usual. Whea- | |' but both in France gave his life to save his commander, | but ' ; i the early part of the war on the short- age of high-erplosive shells resulted in a revolution in the methods of munitioning the English army at the front. LONDON, March 27.—Yesterday was a particularly critical day for the allied armies in France, and if Sir Douglas Haig’s report of last night shows us that our troops have come through the ordeal without serious loss of ground, there is good hope that the steadily accumulating allied reserves may alter the for- tunes of the battle. Arrangements for mutual suppor: long since had been made by Gen. Petain and Field Marshal Haig, anc the particular case which has arisen is necessarily one of those which has been studied. Relief by the French of a part of our forces at the southern end of the battlefield will greatly lighten the task of our fifth army, which has a very hard time, available to meet the northern ai- tack and stem the German tide. which flows so strongly westwar i through Combles, Bapaume and Pe- ronne, which have fallen into Ger- man hands four days after the Ger- man, scheduled time, and there is ev- ery reason to hope that the flood may be stayed and turned back. The combatants in the important central sector of the battle front are now fighting on the well-known and wholly devastated area of the Somme battle. Further west are our old trenches, occupied for so long before July, 1915, and before the re- tirement brings our men to these), trenches such a strong line of troops should be formed that further prog- ress of the enemy will be arrested. British Outnumbered. There fs no doubt that the enemy has throughout the battle, so far as it has gone, greatly outnumbered the two British armies which hitherto alone have been engaged. Out of 96 German divisions on our front, not less than 73 already have been identified in the battle line or im- mediately in the rear of it, and while we have never had less superiority against us than two to one, it has often been the case that the enemy's preponderance has been three or four to one. (A German division is composed of about 12,000 men). Thanks to their suverior numbers | first of all, and then thanks to good arrangements’. for concentrating masses on the front attacked, the Germans have been able to provide the superiority which theory pre- scribes for an attack on positions, and they have been able also to bring into actfon an immense mass of artillery, greater in fact than ever before. Against the formidable mass men and guns our valiant soldiers fought with a vigor and tenacity be- yond all praise. Large Reserves of Guns. There has been no weakening any- ot where and every foot of ground has been contested with the vutmost bravery. Thanks to the steadiness of the troops under an unexan:pled strain and to the coolness of 12!1 the commanders, the British line al- though pressed back, has nowhere been broken, and from. north to south of the immense battlefield the is met everywhere by firm resistance. We have no reason to suppose that in a contest of this character the capture of prisoners and = guns ecluimed by the enemy is more ex- On the whole the total casualties on our side, far as unconfirmed reports go, | much less than we should have imag- ined. The loss of guns grows heavy, and in England there are large reserves of guns an‘ | our losses can be replaced. More) serious may prove the loss of war. material which will not easily have been carried back in time, but our stores of munitions far behind the front, and these re- serves can also be drawn upon. Thus, although the necessarily one to cause anxiety and the consequences of the preliminary success of the enemy cannot yet ful- ly be estimated, we must all contin- ve to preserve that entire faith in our men that their past deeds have merited. tf they are “planning te buy a home” they will eventually decide upon places first brought to their at- | tention through advertising—and they are readers of the Post-Dispatch Want Ads, ¢ ¢ Germans Have Come Upon the Field of the Second Marne Well-Nigh Exhausted, Writes Post-Dispatch Critic. By Frank H. Simonds, The Post-Dispatch Military Critic— Author of “The Great War.” While there has been no major change in the situation in the last 24 hours, three circumstances of real importance are to be noted. First, the battle to the north of the Somme, between Arras and the old Somme battlefield, has more and more tend- ed to stabilize itself. : | su i are | are echeloned | situation is} Second, there has been a marked increase in the intensity of the Ger- man effort south of the Somme, be- tween that river and the Oise, par- ticularly in the plain to Santerre, east of Chaulnes and Roye, where Castelnau won the great battle of Roye in. September, 1914, after the Marne. Third, the position of the British and the French, who are now prac- tically back upon the lines from which they began their attack in the battle of the Somme, and the hints coming from British headquar- ters in France both seem to indicate that the moment for the counter of- fensive is at hand. Now, examining these three cir- cumstances in detail it is essential to recognize at first that the German attack has not been actually stopped at any point. It has merely slowed down, at least temporarily to the north, and this may or may not prove to be the prelude to a return to positional warfare, to the old trench deadlock. But from the start the German success north of the line of the Somme has been far less com- plete than in the south and British retirement in this sector has been conditioned upon the pressure fur- ther down. If the British have stopped the German attack to the north they wi!!l find themselves about in their old lines of- June, 1916. And a failure to hold these lines would mean the opening of a very wide bulge in their center and an immediate menace to Amiens, not much more than 20 miles behind Albert, which is now just behind the British left flank. Drive Weakens in North. Conceivably, just conceivably, the German thrust has worn itself out to the north. In that case there would naturally be an intensification of effort to the south, where the German advance is still steady and fairly rapid Then the decision would come between the Oise and the Somme, and in the plain of San- terre, about Roye and Chaulnes, which were both in German throughout the battle of the Somme It is clear now that the worst break in the British line was at th> extreme south, between the western /outskirts of St. Quentin and the bend of the Oise, in front of La Fere. y from the French, and they seem to have held them with insufficien’ force. In any event, the German advance here promptly smashed the British, and the Ilrench, in on the third day of the battle. the German rush, ‘Noyon and reached Rove. The occupation of Noyon is of lit- tle but sentimental importance: j was the only town left intact by the Germans when they retreated a vear ago, and it was the point in lines nearest Paris. sut the military position is in the hills west and south of the town, which French are still occupving. and yond these hills are other which constituted the French tion before the great retreat. Ribe- ‘court, on the river. was just inside ithe French line. ithe German push, therefore, hills and |'Noyon and Chaulnes Now it is necessary to face the sit- | uation that exists with absolute ‘frankness. So far the British retire- ‘ment has been in the main a straight- ening out of their front from the Oise | to the outskirts of Arras. be hills posi- must bh ‘north of these { and straighter than at the outset of ithe German attack, and since the French have held the | lengthened line south and east of the | Oise without difficulty, the conse- quences have not been serious. retirement north and west of Oise will lengthen their line; ichange from a straight front to a/§ ‘front badly bulging in. ‘the Germans will begin to drive a | broad and deep wedge between the | /main British armies west of the Oise,| 2 Tise of .l of a foot. | and the mass of the French armies’! from the Oise to Switzerland. As the British line bends it will lengthen ~~ Continued on Page 2 Columa 4. ALLIES PREPARE FOR A BLOW Al PROPER TIME French View Is That if Germans Are Held for 48 Hours Drive Will Be Checked. CLEMENCEAU CONFIDENT Franco-British High Command Said to Be Planning to Deliver Battles. PARIS, March 27 (By A. P.).— In conversation with Deputies this morning, Premier Clemenceau de- clared that never was’7 confidence more justified than now: According to the latest news from the front, the force of the German attack seems to have been dimin- ished. by the deadly struggle of the last few days. Yesterday’s onslaught was far from having the same vio- lence as those which preceded it. The Franco-British high com- mand is taking advantage of the re- spite to prepare for battles which the allies will deliver at their own time and _on the most favorable ground. Deputies who took part in earlier campaigns express the opinion that if the Germans can be held for 48 hours more their offensive will prove to have been checked. An official note issued today Savs: “The Cabinet met this morning, President Poincare presiding. - Pre- mier Clemenceau informed his col- leagues of the military situation. The Premier has just returned from the front, where he passed the day Tues- day with President Poincare Louis Loucheur (the Minister of Munitions). The Premier returned with a satisfactory impression.” Says London Times. LONDON, tion last night was undoubtedly more hopeful than it has been since the battle began,”’ says the Times today, “but it is still exceedingly grave, for although the enemy’s rush in the northern section is apparently held. there is clearly a race against time in progress in the south, and ev- erything depends on the next few hours. “We regard today and tomorrow as very critical. The enemy south hands | So me ' | ithe British held the lines just taken who came! have not yet been able to beat down. which has entered | their | real the | The real center of. between | Today the | ‘line west of the Oise is much shorter | somewhat | But any further British and French | : the: } it will: In a word, | ow south portion. | of the Somme has crossed the 1916 | allied line from a point near Bray to near Roye, but. southeast of Roye he is still well within the 1916 line. This is the point which gives the most anxiety, and also the most ground for hope.” -_- — Need, Says German Paper. AMSTERDAM, March 27 |P.).--The German newspapers |already counting the German gains. “It is self-evident,” says the Co- 'logne Volks Zeitung, ‘‘that after what is now ‘conclude peace on the terms which 'we were ready to accept a week ago. |The enemy must be brought to a sub- missive spirit and forced to ‘everything we need in the future, es- pecially in colonies and raw ma- terials.’’ : PARTLY CLOUDY: ABOUT (By a TEMPERATURES. > a. mm. . 1 p. IT’S A LONG WAY BACK TO BERLIN High, m. Low, midnight. 18, for St. vicinity: cloudy and Not change perature. Missouri: settled tonight and morrow; ably showers extreme and west cooler Partly tomorrow. to- portions; in south Lilinois: Fair | tonight and to- /morrow, except probable showers in Cooler in /extreme south portion tonight. Stage of river at 7 a. m.: 11.8 feet. To find a buyer for that automobile and | or motor cycle, use the POST-DISs- PATCH want columns, * THE SAME TEMPERATURE ~ i “ { id, fit =) TP. ; at} Official forecast | Louis and | ‘ ot ifk tonigtit | ‘nounced today had confessed that he was sicaeahielld m uc fh in tem- | |}explosion . Un- | in weather | | Started it accidentally. prob- | in| and | Today and Tomorrow Very Critical, March 27.—‘“‘The situa-! Von Ludendorff Discusses Battle---“ Victory but Can’t Foresee Result---Now War of Movement” AMSTERDAM, March 27 (By A. P.). GREAT battle has been fought and victory has been won, A but nobody can foresee what will result from it.” said Gen. von Ludendorff, chief aid to Field Marshal von Hindenburg, in an interview with the correspondent at the front of the Tages Zeitung of Berlin. The General praised the Brit- ish for their tenacious resistance, and continued: “The British be- lieved they could rely on the strength of machinery. The em- ployment of tanks and _ great numbers of machine guns is typ- ical of their methods of war- fare.”’ Men Had One Night’s Rest. The German infantry, the General added, had only one night’s rest during five or six days of battle. “In a battle like this,” he re- marked, “the infantryman, must risk his life not only once but continuously from trench to trench.” In an interview which is pub- lished in the Volks Zeitung of Cologne, Gen. von Ludendorff says: ‘“‘The course of the battle goes exactly as it was planned, and as was hoped it would go. The infantry has completely main- tained the spirit with which it entered the war in 1914, and this will bring further successes, al- though the enemy is still strong and fights with determination. British Riflemen Skillful. "We have succeeded in chang- ing the fighting from position warfare to warfare of move- ment, although the attacker had everything against him and the defender had strong defensive means in his favor. Undoubted- ly the British use machine guns with much i For instance, they construct subterranean cor- riders, starting from trenches, in which machine guns are planted. Such installations can- not be observed by our artillery and in foggy weather especially cannot be reached. Our infan- Trench Warfare Believed to Be Definitely Passed Zone of Open Warfare Continues to Enlarge —Germans Rapidly Throwing in Their Reserves. -_— Haig’s Order of Day Says Germans Aim at Destruction of Army LONDON, March 27. IELD MARSHAL HAIG has issued the following spe- cial order of the day, dated March 23: “To all ranks of the British army in France and Flanders: We are again at a crisis in the war. The enemy has collected on this front every available di- vision and is aiming at the de- structron of the British army. We have already inflicted on the enemy, in the course of the last few days, a very heavy loss, and the French are sending troops as quickly as possible to our sup- port. “T feel that every one in the army, fully realizing how much depends on the exertions and steadfastness of each one of us, will do his utmost to prevent the enemy from attaining his ob- ject.” Eee . >. NR et tll tli i lll ti -__—_ _— ———— Neer gg gy a ee try had to take all these ma-- chine gun nests, scattered ev- erywhere over the battlefield. “Our men advanced with great elan, so that it was diffi- cult to follow them with tired horses and damaged carts, but the spirit of the men is splendid. “The preparations for the bat- tle meant two months of stren- uous labor. In the beginning of February the order was given and on the night of March 20-21 the attack was begun, right to the minute. Everything was ready. We see the result.’ a ae eee LONDON, March 27 (By A. P.).—| time table, and having failed | | | Ienemy Must Guat Sieeevtieee We| | A. | fall back fighting under the enor- ar?; mous weight ! | British headquarters in his dispatch happening we can no longer | } grant | | 4 Pp olice Say Workman Has Admit- Yesterday: | | break through and begin rolling up } . | tactics. ; > rces | . s the Entente force The Germans are now pushing against the British line with the full pressure of their masses. The zone of open warfare is contin- uing to enlarge @ of the German num- bers, says Reuter’s correspondent at rapidly than they intended, clared, and are therefore themselves down, although they naturally tiring the defense in process. : The geceneral today. It is now clearly | adds, that the present offensive is | the great main effort of the Ger- mans and that it has not been as | successful as they anticipated, the | enemy being a long way behind his trench warfare are definitcly passed. a ) established, he | are feeling, ene ee eS FOUR TRAINLOADS OF WOUNDED MEN aaa nS eee OIGARETTE CAUSED BI JERSEY CTY EXPLOSION wds Cheer and Throw Flow- ers to Men Being Removed in Ambulances. LONDON, March 27 (By A. P.) loads of wounded officers the battle London ted Starting $1,500,000 Fire Accidentally. Four train and France 'As they n | ambulances crowds cheered ag ets flowers The wounded § re- sponded smilingly to these greetings. “What was it lke?” was asked of one wounded man. “~~ like a hafistorm, men from front in reached last nicht Mai ch Headquarters that Jacob E. Altn NEW YORK, Police were being transferred to and fire which caused the | the Jarvis warehouse | He said, | that he| the in City yesterday. the i police, ble for Jersey according to * Ss was the reply. GERMANS A ED ASSAUL oint PPEAR T0 RAVE LOST HALT UF TROOPS ENGAGED Hard Fighting Occurs About Albert and Farther South With Allies Resisting Stubbornly FRENCH BEAT OFF ALL | ATTACKS MADE LAST NIGHT French Troops Strongly Hold Positions on Oise —Germans Continue to Bring Up Fresh — Divisions for Attacks in Roye and Noyon Neighborhood BRITISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE, March 27 (By A. P.).—The Germans last night continued their furious on- slaught southward from Ham against the allied defenses in the re- gion of Roye and Noyon, having slowed down in their patent at- tempt to cut through the British line further nore where such des- perate resistance was offered. } Hard fighting occurred iast night about the town of Albert. Uarge enemy forces pushed forward toward the place, but at last accounts the British were holding them doggedly at this possible gateway to Amicns. The conflict in the sector around | Roye and Noyon appears to be of great importance from the many :ndi- eations that the German higher com- mand is attempting to split the ailied front there and start a rolling up pro- _ pit careas ages Sait to | They | have thrown in their reserves more | it is de- | wearing | tne | " late vesterdavy. the corre- | spondent reports, is that the days of) sent forward in a dense wave against | ports from this fighting zone merely | without indicating any change in the REACH LONDON had my’s gain further north have been Fritz just rained shells on ui. fending line thus far cess either way. | From the average of casualties ‘a 'the various German units as given by | prisoners one arrives at the conclu- sion that 50 per cent of these men have been-lost in the advance. The Germans have now reclaimed virtually all the territory they held iat the beginning of~the battle of the Somme in 1916. At some places they | ‘have not retaken all the old ground, | ' but at other points they have over stepped it somewhat. Fresh enemy forces were flung into shase of the offensive These reinforcements the southern incluciny with other picked the famous [Prussian troops, Guards, were 7; ae “an La] the allied deferders. The latest fered re- | chronicle a most sanguinary struggle war. The gallant sacrifice situation. At the latest reports the Germans no further attack against Albert, they attacked tn considerable st Aveluy Wood. The at the British line North of this point, tion is unchanged. Heavy just At the same time off an attack Auchonvillers made Bray. North of however renyti batti« The tacking the miu ‘h toward assault broke eotled, and re the situa masaces first day. the losses suffered. fighting oceurred late ves south of Albert, the Brit north of The ene terday about great Meaulte. ish drove Albert, at sult, have not yet been played, elasticity of the de has large, but the defeate:| vesterday said it had been by the allied troops to thy German advance constitutes one of 3 : he finest pages in the annals of the which those hardy wariors made in caver- ‘ing the withdrawal and delaying the German sweep forward undoubtedly will have an important effeet on the » final outcome of this greatest of all appalling slaughter o? the ont os Re aR lag Bibeter pipet w ‘ Se} er \ ide Soe er ° . i : ata ‘ ary Ree ty i Cre : & . - eauked i cilal te . isin ae © ! : ‘ 3 : a shes ni ha Ao fi ie : ms PO rR, EE Ae ce BY Lae Ri Saks hie Se eA * oe j ys, Sy ye ot * r f ater s ey x Myo ty ey SNS) OFS hx ie bee Be ai . i wero fee eh vs y cart ae 2 KS , * $175 ‘4 > ed ey 3h AS, Ob ipta aay“ ee y y : t% : De ot i ae : is nae > : g " 0 SSI t Aare Ce APR eT wd - ELPA wen + thine ab fe ota AD ie Vie ¥ r a EIRP fi : 4 “S:. ° ya "4 2 ‘3 Ahan, et de aie ies, ; ; , ¢ ~ c a He if. 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