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Allied Armies Sweep
On? No Hint of Armistice
Only Germans at Front, Slacking Before
Drive, Show Effect of Efforts to
Suspend Hostilities
Socialists Favor
Kaiser's AbdLtion
By PHILIP CIDDS
Special Cable to Evening Public Ledger
copvrioht, lilt, iu S'tw York Timtt Co.
Wllh the IJrUlsli Armies on (he West
ern FVont, Oct. IB.
There is no sign of an Impending
armistice on the western front, nnd
the only hint of Us possibility was
in the speech of German prisoners,
brought down by Allied troops In the
new attack launched in Flanders.
It was an International force be
tween Mentn and tho coast and above
all, it was Belgian. Once again the
Belgian army was in the field, in
spired with an ambition to advance
into their own country and to be the
first to carry the tidings of liberation
to their people.
To me, a spectator of the drama,
which Is intensified In Interest because
of the peace proposals, which promise
a swift ending to this war, It was
strango to be in Flanders again after
following the campaign down south by
Cambral and St. Qucntln.
I had an idea then that I should
never see the Flemlsn battlefield again
under fire, but I went out through
Tpres, as on so many days last year,
and saw again those ruins which are
built. Into the fabric of British his
tory and tho most tragic memories In
this war. and went across those fright
ful fields up through ZonnebeUc. past
Inverness copse and Olcncourse wood,
up to Brookselnde and tho crest tof
Passchendaele, still littered with tne
wreckage of GeYman pill boxes for
which the British fought So desper
ntely and still pitted with those shell
holes and craters over which the
British troops stumbled in bogs and
lakes on their way to the high ridges.
Time was, and not so long ago, when
one could not put one's nose Into
Tpres or out of It without having a
German 6.9 burst extremely close, nnd
when there was a fierce and terribly
harassing fire over all this vast bolt
of country beyond Ypres, ond when
British gunners below the rnllway em
bankment at Zonncbcko and In bog
holes below Abraham heights and Pas
. schendaale were, always being searched
for by high explosives.
Today, after the German retreat, this
country has lost Its menace, and there
are. few new shell crater among the
old ones, and thero Is traffic up roads
where men used to walk In single file
only under cover of night, and then
were In danger of death.
But they are the samo old roads In
tho same old Flanders mud and It was an
astonishing sight to see tho tide of war
streaming along these "trafllcs" and a
great army on the move across the rav
aged land where there Is no living tree
in tho charred stumps of woods nnd one
wide vista of Infernal chaos.
The sceno around Passchendaele and
along the whole sweep of ridges for
vmany miles Is the worst In the world
except the way to Bapaume. and In Its
old solitude It haunted one's soul with
Its foul aspect. But now It Is redeemed
by the mnsscs of men marching nnd
riding blltlicly through It nnd going for
ward to the flats, elated by, a sense or
Victory, a certain victory now of which
nothing can rob ttiem. and peaco not
,far away. Belgian and British gunners
Tjhtarcd,,the roads with their limbers and
transport.
Both flying meri nnd anti-aircraft
gunners had their camps among the Bel
gian camps, where men with tasseled
caps exchang'd cigarettes with them and
shouted out ""all 'goes well," as fresh
thatches of Oorman prisoners came down
the boggy tracks.
Belgian ambulances and ned Cross
cars, like thoso which years ago I passed
when Dlxmude was In flames, were es
tablished near the old German olll boxes,
for which English and Scottish and
Irish soldiers fought terrible battles not
, long ago. '
Go to ilm Victory
Troops were marching forward to
drlvoi further Into the German lines,
a,nd they hud that hard look of men
who have been through all the worst of
the war and now go to claim their vic
tory. I , .
"How far to the front?" asked a
colonel, leaning forwnrd in his saddle as
he passed me, and I said, "I don't know,
Mon Colonel, things move so quickly now
adays, and I hear that our men are go
ing on now before Lcdeghem."
"Nous les aurons." laughed a gunner
perched on' a heavy howitzer crawling
up the road, "wo Bhall have them be
fore ' they make this peace."
German wounded and British wounded
came back together In several ambu
lances. I saw Germans, Belgians, Eng
lish and' Scottish soldiers mixed up as
they had been picked up from the nd
vanced stations.
Slogging slowly through the muddy
tracks came utalklng somo. wounded Ger
man soldiers without escort, stumbling
Btlffly along as If weighed flown by tneir
heavy helmets, amid groups of Belgians
with bandaged faces and arms or coats
cut away, leaving them bare on one side
from the shoulder to the waist.
Groups of Jocks, lightly hit, supported
each other or sat down In the mud to
gether for a rest on the way back to
the casualty clearing stations or' dis
cussed their fighting with troops who
had been on their right by Moorseele and
down to Oheluwe.
All the Rni TU
Jt was all the same tale they told.
The enemy had put up a fight with his
machine guns and then surrendered. The
Scots, with Belgians on their left, had
gone fast, smashing through the first
line of the German resistance north of
Ledeghem to St. Peter and getting on
the high ground west of Wlnkel St.
Klol, and with the Belgians, going grandly
on' the left, and coming forward all tho
time.
The chief characteristic of this fight
ing, so far as the British were
was the strength with which the enemy
held his frontline during most of the re
cent fighting. He has defended his front
line without force, relying upon the main
line of resistance further back.
But .this time exacting an attack
he manned his front line quickly and
orders were given to his men to hold on
to tho death. Many of them fought with
extreme courage opposite the northern
portion of tho front. Their machine
guns rushed through the barrage to meet
the British In the open, Among those
who did so were the First Bavarian
Beserves, Infantry division, who fought
desperately between Ideghem and
Kazelberg. Their support battalion was
to have' manned the second line on the
Menln-Koulers railway, but the British
were too quick for them and got there
first
This strength In the front line was
general along the British" length of the
nttack, and It was not until this was
broken that the troops could get for
ward more easily toward the river
Hcule, near Courtral, where they are
confronted by a stream eleven feet wide,
held as a defensive line by the enemy.
In some places the German soldiers
did not fight well, nnd one of their of
ficers remarked. "What can you expect
when they look to an armistice In two or
three daysT
One German ofneer came over very
smartly dressed and said he was wear
ing his "peace clothes."
The Fifth Cavalry Division, which
suffered very heavily In the Cambral
fighting, Is engaged on this northern
front, and In spite of their losses In
prisoners are called "the war prolong
ed" by the Oerman line regiments -on
aecount of their morale, or stlmmung.
as they call It
The British troops attacking further
south along the line of I.ys met some In
the front line In the neighborhood of
Wcrvlcn. which I saw burning from the
heights.
Judging from thoso prisoners I saw
under escort, most of them were certain
that an armistice would be arranged
within a few days, and were rejoiced .at
tho prospect of peace. When some of
them were told that that means that
Germany Is utterly defeated and lost,
they said. "That does not matter so long
as we get peace, for otherwise we shall
be In a worse state."
There was a group of sixteen German
ofllcers In one batch, and I noticed how
smartly they saluted, nnd It seemed to
me with them, as with those, at Cambral
that It was the salute of men to their
victors, for never In the old days were
they ns punctual as this.
I do not know the exact success of our
Allies on the British left, but It is re
ported that they nre all around Boulcrs,
which they ure not entering yet because
of explosions, and they are making good
progress.
I know that the Belgians have taken
many prisoners, because I saw they were
escorting them back and counting their
birds In the cages.
For the Belgians, above all, It Is a day
of hope, because they see before them
a beckoning finger In the mists of the
belfry of Bruges, and they are on their
way home.
There Is an unconfirmed rumor that j
one of the British monitors has steamed L
Into Ostein! harbor, and Is firing across f
the dunes there. I
CentUnrd from Fixe One
day nnd, although he has attained more
fame In the short period of his eleva
tlon than any of his predecessors, h's
utterances cf pre-chancellor days don't
harmonize with the present setting, so
tho godfather of the Infant "democracy"
appolntod by the Kaiser Is rudely de
nounced as a slippery character by
the' members of the congregation during
the bnntlsm. Great turmoil ensues nnd
thero are demands for a new "demo-
I cratlc" godfather,
engaged, I rpt.,. -, nmmM in . i- Aan-nA
stage setting will hardly help convince
the Allies of the stability of German
"democracy" or belief In the sincerity
of the last German promise.
Ebert, Solf and Kuehlmann appear to
be possible candidates for the place, al
though the Tageblatt suggests Von
Payer. The Middle parties are willing
to forget and forgive Indiscretions after
the chancellor's explanation, but the
Socialists refuse to upport Prince Max.
The Tageblatt gives the new Govern
ment away by stating that Prince Max
Is not the only person In It who thought
and wrote differently a few months ago
This does not forgive the Prince, It
says, but the people should not have
too short memories. The paper points
out that the last note which was sent
to Washington was signed by Doctor
Solf, and not by Prince Max, and that
the letter to Prince Hohentohe dld not
have the sensational effect abroad which
people Imagined.
Although the Hohcnlohe letter Is given
ns the reason. It has been suggested
that the rumored abdication of the
Jfnlser would be facilitated wlth.Htrr
Rhrt or Doctor Bolf as Chancellor.
The conservatives are naturally mak-.
Ing use of the opportunity to sow dis
sension among the parties. Tho Social-
Ists Insist that the Government must
consist of men who have always adopted
the rame viewpoint on the question or
peace. The Frankfurter Zeltung, which
hon sunnorted Pslncc Max. expresses
great regret at the Incident at this crit
ical juncture.
, t -, -
CZECH FORCES IN PERIL
Allies Asked to Save Samara antl
Yekaterinburg
By the Associated Prtst
VUdlrontok, Oct 15. An appeal to
the Allies to avert the loss of Samara
and Yekaterinburg, ns well as to rlvlve
the morale of 'the Czecho-Slovak forces
fighting In Eastern Itussta, has. been re
ceived at Allied headquarters. The sit
uation there Is said to be serious.
Czecho-Slovak units which have been
fighting nt Yekaterinburg. Kazan. Sim
birsk, Samara and Orenburg are Imperil
led, 120,000 Bolshevik troops having
joined the Germans In opposing the
Allied forces In that region. News comes
from Tchellablnsk that the Czecho
slovaks are losing heavily and retreat
ing along the northern front. Ufa, which
Is one nf the principal concentration
points for Czecho-Slovak troops, Is
threatened and Its loss would bo well
nigh fatal to the Czccho-Slovaks at
Samara.
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