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
I<oixlon, March 23.—The attention
of all England was centered to-day
on the westei-n front. There was no
boastfulness, but the feeling was!
one of supreme confidence and pride I
in the army which stands on the first!
line of defense between democracy i
and autocracy.
The newspapers warn against un
due optimism. But they point out
that the fighting instinct still lives
in the British breast, notwithstand
ing the long years of peace and 1
ignorance of military training and'
that when the fighting instinct dies J
the world will see the death of the!
British nation.
Since it has developed that this is
indeed the great heralded German;
offensive, the most collosal struggle;
in the world's history, the public and i
press are unanimously of the opin
ion that its failure will mean the end I
of the war.
HARRISBURG, PA.,SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1918.
iin the region southwest of Cam-
I brai j.
j Tlic settles of activity behind tile
hattlcl'roiit hurtle description, I>ut
| 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 *>
<s * *
T 3 lay's German official announcement, re-
t ceived here stater; Emperor William is : n command on the X
X westert-. front. * *
| OND SUCCEEDS HIS FATHER ] ]
*te London—Captain William Redmond- succeeds his #
eb * *
3 - father, John Redmond, the Nationalist leader in parlia |
* ••ittent. His opponent was Dr. White, a Sinn Feiner. ■ *
£ TAKE OVER DUTCH SHTPS . , |
* J London—lnstructions for the taking over of Dutch J *
i ships were sent officially to-day to all ports of the Unite ♦
*>
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<Mvn. nnil Illnnrlir K. Kanrtmhnrir '*"*
■toftrlklimni Mm l.llrln, rhiliirirlphlii. an<l Sunk Clomprra, liar
rtafcnrßi Kdnaril A. tinder* nnU Catherine McMullen, HarrUbors.
a***
HOME EDITION
ARCHBISHOP OF
YORK IS GIVEN
WARM WELCOME
Primate of England Is Guest
of the City and
Stale
RECEPTION IS CORDIAL
Message From King George
Rrouglit in Person by
Head of Church
• | Simultaneously with the news of a
• I German triumph in the trenches the
■j city of Harrisburg to-day turned out
! j in many thousands to greet the ppe
| cial messenger of King George in
M the personage of the Most Reverend
ij Cosmo Gordon Dang, Lord Areli
■ bishop of York and Primate of Eng
i! land. The arrival of this distin-
I guished churchman, representing au
thoritatively the great nation whose
;j brave men are falling at this very
i\ moment in desperate struggle to
make the world safe for democracy,
; stirred Harrisburg to its depths,
iYoung and old realized the signiti
•{ canee of this personal messenger
j from the English nation and every
■ one who could secure a British flag
■ displayed it eagerly. It was some
• thing to be proud of that Harrisburg
[Continued on Page 10.]