Massed i.o ops and Enormous Number of Guns U -W HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH M - ' . otar~3n&cjjcnseiit . W J LXXXVII— No. 7U 16 PAGES s, *TfkS?r ¥> HUNS BREAK BRITISH LINE A 7 ONE POINT FOR OPEN FIELD FIGHTING RETIREMENT TO STRONG POSITION IS ACCOMPLISHED IN GOOD ORDER Withdrawal Is Forced at St. Quentin, After Some of the Most Frightful Fight ing World Has Ever Seen BATTLE BEGUN AFRESH j WHEN NEW MEN ARRIVE Fresh Troops Brought Up as Fortunes of War Keep Surging From Side to Side With No Decision Berlin, March 23. —Be- tween Fontaine les Croisilles and Moeuvres German forces penetrated into the ( second enemy position and ! captured two villages, army headquarters announced to day. British counterattacks failed. So far the statement an nounces, 25,000 prisoners, 400 guns and 300 machine guns have been taken. The two villages taken on the Fontaine Moeuvres front were Vaul-Vraucourt and Morchies. (The former village is about 3 1-2 miles and the latter about 2 1-2 miles behind the former British front). By Associated Press • After two days' terrific battling ; in their great offensive on the western front the Germans'fir.-1 ally have succeeded in bringing! the action at one point on the front somewhat more into the open- Field Marshal Haig re ports that the British defensive system west of St. Quentin, near! the southern edge of the 50 mile front under attack was broken through by the great weight of the enemy infantry and artillery. The British here are falling back' in good order. That the yield ing of the line at this point has been by no means unexpected and possibly had been foreseen as ultimately inevitable is indi cated by the statement that the retirement is to prepare posi tions further west, across the devastated district. There is nothing in the report to indicate that this retrograde movement will affect the strong defensive lines to the north in any way seriously, as it is ex plicitly stated that these posi tions continue to be held by the British forces. Effect Not Apparent Just what the effect will be. upon the Entente line to the south is not yet apparent. The! British hold the front to a point i some fifteen miles south of St. Quentin, to the river Oise at j about the town of La Fere, I where the French line begins. No reports have been received j from Paris as to whether the French j forces have become involved in the j battle. From the nearness of the ! point of German penetration to their lines, however, it would seem prob- | able that they soon will be found j taking part In the struggle. There I Is another factor to be considered, | also, should The German thrust de- j velop more seriously. A Reserve Army There was created last winter by the supreme war council at Ver sailles an entente "army of man euver" understood to be made up of troops of all allies, which was de signed to be available for action at any point on the wide front from i the North Sea to the Adriatic, where ; it should be needed. It doubtless' has not been the Entente intention I to throw this army into action i hastily. Rut it unquestionably stands ready for uay in any emer gency, and might easily prove the [Collimed on Page 10.] Tired of Giving? You Don't Know What It Is to Be Tired I I _r' j F^' FIGHTING BAFFLES ALL DESCRIPTION Kaiser Pouring Powerful Army of Fifty Divisions Into Bat tle Where British Are Meeting' Tremendous Onslaught SLAUGHTER OF MEN REPORTED TO BE FRIGHTFUL l ! M.'saciateJ Press I.oiidon, March 23.—The Germans forced their way into Aiory, but a dashing counterattack drove them out, Reuter's correspondent at Rrit ish headquarters telegraphs. -\ large party was surrounded and probably was captured. There is reason to believe fifty German divisions are flowing iYito the struggle, the correspondent says, and probably half as many more are in close reserve. Under the tremen dous onslaught the British troops arc falling back very slowly and in excellent order. At many places they are withdrawing voluntarily so as to maintain an unbroken front. The Germans this morning were pressing hard the British forces de fending Hermies (about two and one-half miles back of the old line, 1 Attention of All England Centered on West Front By Associated Press Iut | everywhere there is tile same well i ordered urbanization and quiet con fidence. | The weather is wonderfully fine, although visibility is handicapped | by local mists. j The most intense fighting appears | to have been around Roisel and Trin ! court. The l slaughter in the enemy • ranks was appalling. Twelve times, j every available gun in the area was j on solid, massed bodies j of enemy troops, while the airmen grew weary with emptying their ma | chine gun drums and dropping their j bombs into the dense gray crowds of troops and returning for more am -1 munition. Police Issue Warning Against Building Bonfires A lire started by a crowd of boys in the lot at Crescent and Berryhill streets, qt 11 o'clock this morning, spread until it threatened to ignite the railroad tool shanties built ad joining the lot. The Royal Fire Com j pany was summoned by telephone ! and extinguished the lire, j J-ater the police issued a warning I that bonfires must not be started by j boys in vacant lots. Householders burning refuse are also warned to be especially careful that the blaze does not spread and cause property dam age. SUED DESTROYED J(V FIRE Some old furniture stored in a I shed at the rear of the Kurzenknabe j j property, 1010 North Third street,! was this afternoon destroyed by lire, j The shed was also completely de stroyed. The furniture was the prop lerty of Everhart Mueller, of Camp I Hill. The loss is small. Adjoining is the garage of the Fleischmann Yeast Company which was saved by j I the special efforts of the firemen, [ who kept the blaze confined to the J I shed. The origin of the tire is un j known. J BATTLE GROWS IN VIOLENCE AS HUNS RUSH IN British Present Solid Front to Fiercely Attacking Germans; Great Lines Surge lirilisli Army Headquarters in France. .March 23, 11 a. m.—The British gallantly figmiug,, arc still presenting a solid front to the fiercely attacking Germans, although the de fensive troops have withdrawn their lines in certain places for strategic reasons. All day yesterday and much of last night the conflict continued to rage with increasing violence, as fresh Germans divisions were hurled into the fray in an attemp tto smash through the British defenses. More intense fighting Is expected. The operation is so vast and is changing with such kaleidoscopic lapidity as the line surged back ward and forward that it is impos sible to visualize the scene suffi ciently to give a connected and ac curate account of it at present. Forty-nine German divisions have been identified thus far on the battle front and prisoners have been, taken from eighteen of them. Some esti mates place the number of German divisions engaged as high as 90, but it is Impossible to say whether this is accurate. HOY SCOUTS arc going to ask you if YOU ARE SAVING and buying THRIFT STAMPS are you going to tell them! 1 TERRIBLE R AIN OF TEUTON FIRE ! ! BLASTS LINE ON A LONG SECTOR ! British Stand Up Well Under War's Greatest Artillery Bombardment and Furi-i ous Rushes of Huns i ENGLISH FACE HEAVY ODDS AT DANGER POINT Defenders Whose Trenches Are Blown to Bits Are Outnumbered by Massed! i Hun Aggressors I * I l.undon, March 23.—Tlie artillery j preparation of the Germans in the! drive against the British lines which i now is in progress is described by I ' those who took part in it as the most I violent they ever endured, according j to the Daily Mail's correspondent on ) the British front. "The thing that ! stands out as characteristic of the j lighting up to tho present," says the correspondent, "is that we did so | well under the terrific impact." Con tinuing the correspondent says: j "Upon one corps front there was la gun every 15 yards. The strength |of the mortars which the enemy j brought up. in such great numbers, i sent over such an overwhelming weight of iron and high explosives that in most parts of the front wire ceased to be an obstacle and trench es were obliterated. At the same ' time all of our known battery posi ! tions were drenched with gas, but ; their gas shells failed to reach all of our batteries, nor did they succeed I anywhere in breaking down our wire. Spot Reinforcements j "Our relaying corps did valuable ] work despite adverse weather condi i tions. One of our men in the early j morning reoonnalsance spotted sev eral thousand Germans moving west ! ward south of Bullecourt and anotli i er reported three thousand of the enemy in a sunken road in this area : waiting to advance. Few enemy ma chines were seen and they mostly Hew low, peppering our trenches i with their machine guns. ; "This is the tirst battle where Brit ish gunners had to serve their guns I in gas masks and it was a difficult i task. At llrst they did have a hard Ij job to meet the masses of Germans ' who came on in denser formation I than ever before, yet all reports show ithey fought magnificently, i Against Great Odds "South of St. Quentin one of our 1 I divisions had to bear tip against the | repeated assaults of no fewer than | six German divisions, possibly 90,000 j men, and only ' when the assaults j ceased with darkness did our troops I withdraw to strong positions behind ' the canal system between St. Quen , tin and Oise. j "it is estimated that altogether ! I nearly six hundred thousand Ger , I mans participated in the offensive. ! The enemy fought well and his gun ' ners did good service. The quickness with which tile guns were brought forward into No Man's Band after the infantry had advanced was : marked, lie had in many places the advantage over us in positions and he was at all points largely superior ' in numbers." > Paris Bombarded With Long Range Artillery, Says Official Statement i By Associated Press Paris, March 23.-—The Germans have been firing on Paris with long ' range guns. Since eight o'clock this morning . shells' of 240 millimeters have been reaching the capital and suburbs at intervals of a quarter of an hour, killing about ten persons and wound > ing about fifteen. The shortest dis ! tance from Paris to the front is over i 100 kilometers (62 miles). The announcement that Paris was i being bombarded was made officially ; this afternoon. Measures 6f eounter i attacking the enemy's cannon are •under execution. An air id alarm has just been given. The following official announce ment was given out: "At 8.20 o'clock this morning, a few airplanes, flying at a very high altitude, succeeded in crossing the lines and attacking Paris. They were immediately pursued by aviators of the entrenched canips of Paris, as i well as by those at the front. "The dropping of bombs at several ! points has been reported. There are ; several victims. A later announce i inent will give further details of tlie raid." (It is believed that the bombs drop ped from airplanes were at first mis taken in Paris for an artillery bom bardment.') GERMANS LAUNCH j BIG GAS ATTACK ON THE U.S. LINE? American Artillery Locates Hun Batteries Firing Mustard Shells DIRECT HITS RY (HNS Severe Explosions Follow the Shelling of Joli Wod by Sammees By Associated Press With the American Array ini France, Friday, March 22.—The Ger- ] mans launched a heavy gas attack! against a certain town in our iiaes , northwest of Toul last night. No wind was blowing and the fumes of I mustard gas from the shells hung! low over the lines for several hours, j The batteries firing the shells were I located to the right of Richecourt [ and our artillery was busy all morn-] ing with a retaliatory shelling. ' The town shelled in the gas at-1 tack contained a certain number of Americans. Our artillery to-day dropped a number of large shells in to Joli wood and after-firing a few minutes secured direct hits 'on the target causing a tremendous explo sion followed by dense columns of smoke as a big enemy munition dump blew up. The first explosion was followed by two others less se vere. Our shells also made direct hits in the enemy's first and third line trenches. Artillery Fire Accurate The Germans again have been given an example of the accuracy of the lire of our 37 millimeter guns. An enemy machine gun emplacement which has been annoying the Ameri cans for the past two days, was. lo cated and the batter of "the little fellows" as they are known along the front, got into action tiring rapidly. They put the emplacement gun crews out of commission. These small guns, which are about | the size of a one-pounder, are easily I moved from place to place even in ! the trenches. They also secured di | rect hits on the junction of com munication trenches as men were passing into the entrance of the dug outs in which a number of the enemy were seen to enter and from which smoke was issuing. None of the enerfly was seen to come out. Inter mittent artillery duels had been in progress all day, both on our Toul front and in the Luneville sector where American troops are in train ing. Three of our pr.trols reached the enemy's line early to-day but in the brilliant moonlight they were dis covered and were driven out by brisk machine gun and automatic rifle tire. Drive OIT Patrol Our infantry discovered one enemy patrol inside our wire. These Ger mans were driven off and it is be lieved they suffered casualties. There was increased aerial activ ity to-day. The weather was warm and it was generally clear except for a haze which obscured visibility above the low ground. One machine with an American observer at Its gun emptied a stream of bullets into a German airplane, which was ob served descending rapidly, as though in trouble, behind our lines. Ten German machines crossed our lines last night and circled around apparently seeking out targets which they intended to bomb, but Ameri can anti-aircraft guns kept the enemy so high that no explosives were dropped. Rev. Mr. Pyles May Be Transferred to Sunbury to Be a Superintendent By Associated Press * Williamsport. Fa., March 23. —The part of the laymen in the advance ment of church work was em phasized in strong addresses before the Central Pennsylvania Methodist conference to-day. In a Joint session of the ministerial body and the lay men's association, the latter pledged more faithful support to their pas tors during the coming year. Five young men were admitted to the conference and five old ministers were retired at the morning session. When appointments are read on Monday it is believed Edwin A. Pyles, of Harrisburg, and Edgar R. Heckman, of Altoona, will be made superintendents of the Sunbury and Altoona districts, respectively. The place of meeting In 1919 will be between St. John's Church, Sun bury, and the First Church, Clear field, with sentiment favlng Sun bury. 1 THE WEATHER] For llarrlnburK ard vlrlnltyi Fair, continued cool to-ulltht, With lowext trmprraturr about 3J dritrrmi Sunday fair and tiomr what warmer. Trmprraturri H a. ni., 30. Sum Hlar*, SiStl a. m.t net*. UilM p. ni. Moon I Fall moon, Murrk 21, 10t33 a. m. • River Mtanei 7.4 feet above law* water mark OSI.Y KVl'iMKti AS&OI'I \ l'l£l) I'lll'JSS MCWSI'AI'DU |,\ || AltltlSlilllM; LOCAL SOLDIER BELIEVED KILLED ON WAR FRONT I Name of Sylvester P. Sullivan Appears in Latest Casualty List WITH HA IN MOW DIVISION Relatives Think Name Is That of Ilarrisburger Who Is "Over There" While no definite advices have] yet been received from the War De partment, it is believed that Sy.'ves-I ter P. Sullivan, mentioned in this morning's casualty list, was a Har risburg boy. Sullivan was in the Rainbow Division, and since he was the only private of that name in the division, his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Sullivan, 520 North street, be lieves him to be tlio one mentioned. The casualty list as issued by the War Department states that he \\us killed through an accident. In Machine Gun Company Sylvester Sullivan was a member of the One Hundred and Forty nintli Machine Gun 15attalion, Com pany I?. He was a member of the Rainbow Division. He enlisted here several days before registration day. [Continued on Page 2.] 4 t + f FRENCH REPULSE ATTACK X 4 • 4* tt .; J J ri 2* 4 L $ || • I $* 4® PATROL FIGHT IN ITALY S * ( Numerous patrol encounter: *§* s * t 4 T* | 1* * I 4 rON,AWAITS BATTL 1 *v*s A J „a 4 -All official Washington turned its at> t j jj * *' |* :he£ telling of .pent e Brit * , X ish defensive system, the retirement of British troops, Jjj ! | * * ie Germar jmbarding ) t riis st the hitherto unheard of range of about sixty- ▼ ~U les came as one surprise after the other. > 4, T 4 * + KAISER IS IN COMMAND *> i | Kingdom. Between twenty and ,twenty-five ships aggre- | J gating about 30,000 tons are in United Kingdom ports. * * < FRENCH. ARMV NOW ENGAGED * ' *2* ♦ < i London—Throughout the night the battle front f t | : tended southward and it-was reported this morning tk> * * the French army now was engaged. * | Logdon—Newton D. Baker, the American secretary | * • of war, visited King Albert of Belgium and the Belgiar • ► * front yesterday. „ , i 1 i- MARRIAGE I * Ain 11. I.rlimnn. Ilitmni<-lKt