x"The Star and Stripes
Forever."
wen m mm
U. S. TROOPS HOT
ON TRAIL OF HUNS
WHO FLEE IN NIGHT
Retreat Marked by Sharp Encounters at Few Places;
Cramaille, Cramoiselle and Saponay Occupied;
Fires Tell of Destruction of Huge Am
munition Dumps by Germans.
BULLETIN.
Washington, Aug. 2. American troops pursuing the
enemy, whose forces on the Soissons-Rheims front began to
fall back this morning, have penetrated to a depth of five
miles and their progress is continuing, General Pershing
reported in today's communique, received late tonight by
the War department.
By Associated Press.
With the American Army on the Aisne-Marne Front, Aug.
2. The French and American troops north of Fere-en-Tarde-nois
advanced simultaneously early Friday, the French occu
pyingCramaille and Cramoiselle before 7 o'clock, and French
infantrymen entering Saponay at 8 o'clock.
i The Americans meantime kept pace with the French
through the forest of Nesles.
Several locomotives and 40 railroad cars were taken at Sa
ponay. The allies advanced under barrage, the Germans withdraw
ing northward through the valley stretching from Saponay,
feebly replying at intervals with artillery.
There were many fires behind the line, the Germans having
destroyed munition dumps before starting northward. The al
lies in this district encountered virtually no resistance. .
The French tonight are sleeping in '.' ' : "'' 1 r
saponay lor me nrsi rime in iwo.
-months.
Hard Blows Planned.
Plans had been made to strike hard
Wows against the resisting .German
reabutthe.German war council evi
dently had decided that the time was
inoppropriate to fight, for when the
allies moved forward it was only to
follow upon the trail of the retreat
ing enemy.
At a few places there were sharp
encounters, but they were nothing as
compared with the terrible engage
ments that previously had been
fought or; what was expected.
The French cavalry operated near
Dravegny, about two and a half miles
north of Coulonges. with the Amer
ican infantry close behind, while an
other detachment of mounted French
troops opened the way a short dis
tance to the west with French in
fantry and American foot troops close
up.
The penetration, by the French and
Americans to the region of Dravegny,
would place them only a scant eight
miles southeast of Fismes, on the
railroad line between Soissons and
Rheims.
To the westward the French
reached the southern borders of the
Loupeigne, Mareuil and Aiguizy
woods, and the French cavalry to
the southern borders of the Moines
wood.
Americans Move Cautiously.
Occasional bursts of machine gun
fire challenged the advancing line,
but it was apparent early in the move
ment that the Germany had gone. The
stiffest fighting encountered by the
Americans was in a little piece of
ground southeast' of Chamery, where,
according to the German newspapers,
the body of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt
was buried after his airplane had
been brought down early in the pres
ent operations.
Through wheat fields and over
wooded trails soaked with the rain
that fell almost all day, the Americans
moved slowly and cautiously, but al
'most continuously, over farms and
past villages, among them Coulonges
and Cohan, to the westward an
other force of
Americans also was
moving steadily through and around
the, Nesles woods and the rolling
country east of the Woods. To both
the east and west of that part' of
the line held by the Americans the
French were meeting with similar
success.
Few prisoners were taken during
the day. One, a captain, admitted
the German artillery had been with
drawn. His story confirmed tales
of other prisoners that the Germans
were determined to make their next
big stand on the Vesle,and not the
Ardre, and that their movements un
der way indicated the fortifying of
Fismes as the center of the next fixed
line of battle.
. With only a slight advance in ad
dition to that of today the heavy
guns of the allies will be in position
to shell Fismes and any part. of the
line the Germans may determine to
stand on could .be made uncomfort
able. . r
Edward A, Rumely
Life Story of Man Who Bought
New York Mail for the Kaiser
: on Page 13 of This Issue.
GET YOUR
UK
VOL48 NO. 40. trSttSftwXX. iSt OMAHA, SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 3, 1918. S.J''i.'a TVO CENTS.
GERMANS SEEK
TO AVENGE DEATH
OF VON EICHHORN
Stern Measures in Search for
Guilty Persons Demanded
in Note to' Minister
Trotzky.
1
BULLETIN.
London, Aug. 3. The terrorist
campaign against the Germans of
the Russian social revolutionists of
the left includes an explosion at
Kiev which resulted in the deaths
of 700 German soldiers, in addition
to the murder of Field Marshal von
Eichhorn, the Copenhagen corre
spondent of the Daily Mail quotes
a leading member of the party as
saying.
By Associated Press,
London, Aug. 2. Dr. Karl Helf
ferich, German ambassador to Russia,
has sent a note to Foreign Minister
Trotzky demanding stern measures in
the search for and punishment of the
persons guilty of the murder of Field
Marshal von Eichhorn, the German
military commander in the Ukraine,
according to advices from the Ex
change Telegraph correspondent at
Zurich.
Dr. Helfferich demanded likewise,
it is stated, the destruction of "the
hotbeds of anti-German intrigue in
Moscow Sqd Petrograd."
Guerilla Warfare Incessant,
Stockholm, Aug. 2. Conditions in
the Ukraine before the assassination
of Field Marshal von Eichhorn might
have been expected to lead to some
i ... . ., , , r .1.. J-
suc." outoreaK, juag.ng ironi u,e ae-
senpuon given oi ineiu iy tciu
Hoeglund, leader of the Swedish so
cialist left, in an interview in the
Politiken of Copenhagen.
Hoeglund had just returend from
Russia and his account is largely a
report of conversations which he had
with Russians from the Ukraine. They
declared, he says, that the Germans
there were "living in 3 little hades."
that guerilla, warfare was constantly
in-progress, while occasional battles
took place, lasting several days.
Filled With-Hatred.
The peasants in one section of the
Ukraine have an army estimated at
25,000. These men he described as
filled with hatred for the Germans.
The peasants otherwheres are burn
ing their grain and destroying their
property rather than have them fall
into the hands of the Germans.
The Austrian troops are declared to
be at daggers point with the Germans
and to have supplied the peasants with
arms, including artillery.
Hoeglund's .informants considered
those disturbances only a foretaste of
what might be expected at harvest
time, when the peasants, it was pre
dicted, would do everything possible
to prevent the Germans from secur
ing the crops
WANT-ADS IN FOR
V1V1AJ1A JUAIJUI JDKK
TEUTONS HUSTLED IN
BY THREE VICTORIOUS ARMIES'
Whole Chaudun Plateau Abandoned to Allies
Who Have Crossed Valley of Crise; Enemy
Completely Destroys Country Evacuated.
By the Associated Press.
With the American Army in France, Aug. 2. Soissons has been retaken and
the valley of the Crise has been crossed. ' .
The allied line this evening runs from Pommiers to Soissons, thence to 3el
leau, the valley of the Crise, Chacrise and Arcy-St. Restitu'e through the center of
of the forest of Nesles to the village of the same name arid through the center of
the forest of Rheims to Lagery, Lheryd and Tramery. North of the last named
three places French cavalry has advanced about another mile to the Bois Le Moine
and Treslon. Broulit is still in the enemy's hands in flames, and further east,
near Rheims, Thillois has been retaken.
-S?
FOCM TRAP
CLOSING
Thillois, West of Rheims, Taken
Simultaneously With Cap
ture of Soissons; Armies
in Death Grapple.
By Associated Press.
Washington, Aug- 2. The
collapse of the German defen
sive positions just north of the
Ourcq was forced by the dash
of American troops in the cen
ter and the brilliant French
and British flank operations is
sweeping the enemy out of the
Aisne-Marne salient. The rush
came so quickly it was difficult
for army officials here to ap
praise the extent of the victory.
There was a strong possibility
the Germans would be unaole
!;o hold the Vesle line toward
which they are hastening and
would be driven to the heights
north of the Aisne.
Tonight's official report from Paris
carried the most startling message in
several days. Soissons, the key of
the German right flank in the whole
Aisne-Marne oosition. was again in
French hands. At the same time the
brief announcement that Thillois,
west of Rheims, had been taken
shows that the jaws of the great trap
created by General Foch at last had
begun to close.
Two Jaws Advancing.
The re-entry of Soissons is note
worthy. The French were forced out
of the city, the largest on that sector
of the front, in the first German as
sault on the Chemin Des Dames last
May. Its capture by the'enemy was
a long stride on the road to Paris, a
etriiti ihaf waa in (art flpfinitelv
checked only when the Germans met
American troops northwest of Cha
teau Thierry weeks later and were
halted in their tracks and hurled
back. To many officials here the lit
tle stretch of line, where the first two
American divisions came into action
(Continued on race Four, Column Two.)
Railroad-Ticket Scalpers
Ordered to Quit Business
Washington. Aug. 2. Notice was
served today on ticket scalpers by
the railroad administration to quit
business at once under penalty of
prosecution, through charges of con
spiracy. A special division of the
railroad administration has been cre
ated to direct this work, headed by
H. A. Koach of Chiicago, formerly
connected with the railway ticket
protective bureau;
Pro-German Pastor Found
Guilty on 'Disloyalty Charge
Bismarck. N. D., Aug. 2. Rev. J.
Fontaina. pastor of the German Evan
gelical chjrch here, was found guilty
of sedition by a jury in federal court.
Sentence will Je passed Monday.
JAWS
THE BIG S UNDAY
Trip rlav was nne of rnnfin-!j
ued success for the armies of
Generals Mangin, De Gouttc
and Berthelot. All along the
line the Germans have been
forced to hurry their retreat,
especially on the west and cen
ter of the salient.
Entire Country Devastated.
The enemy is completely de
vastating the country as he re
tires, carrying out the settled
German policy.
The Germans are in retreat
on all Bides of the salient be
tween the Aisne and the
Marne. On the west the
French and British troops, con
tinuing their push of Thursday,
have reached the valley of the
Crise, a little river which joins
the Aisne at Soissons.
The Germans, therefore, have aban
doned the whole of the Cfiaudun pla
teau between the Coeuvrcs and Crise
valleys.
This ground has been a desperately
disputed battle field for weeks. It
had been swept by the German heavy
guns from the north of the line and
from the cast and probably was flic
hottest sector of the whole battle
front.
Cavalry Reaches Nesles Forest.
In the center the French cavalry
are in the big woods called the Foret
De Nesles, a mile northeast of Fcre-en-Tardenois.
On the allied left the
troops are in touch with the forests
of the Ardre, two miles north of Vil
lers Agron.
The Germans, disregarding the mil
itary considerations which counselled
frank acceptance of defeat and rapid
retreat many days ago in order to
spare their men for a new attempt,
have been obliged to accept the in
evitable and are falling back, proba
bly to the Vesle river.
The German crown prince's offen
sive on the Marne has failed as sig
nally as that of von Kluck in 1914,
and the last word is with the allies.
Victory Or Destruction.
A copy of the Berlin Tageblatt re
ceived behind the French line con
tains the following article written re
cently by Herr Hegeler, its war cor
respondent: "From the strategical point of
view, the seven days' battle has been
'a complete failure. Nevertheless suc
cess has been gained which I can reg
ister today. A new part of France
has been laid waste. Everywhere are
ruined towns, villages and farms.
Fires light up the nights and all day
thick clouds of smoke, caused by vio
lent explosions, float over the ravaged
corn fields and destroyed-forests."
GUNNER DEPEW.
His story of experiences is for
the folks back homea stirring
appeal for those who cannot
wear the fighter's uniform, but
who can surely wear the fight
er's spirit for home sacrifices.
He is telling his story to ful
fill his promise to the starving
prisoners in the hell holes of
German prison - camps there's
more Americans there now than
then.
It won't cost a cent. If you
feel charitably inclined you will
have the chance to contribute
your mite to the Babies' Milk
and Ice Fund conducted by The
Omaha Bee. Admission is free.
BOYD THEATER. Sunday night.
BEE BEFORE 9 O'CLOCK TONIGHT
RETREAT
POSITION
Germans Facing West and Al
lies Shooting at Enemy's
Bfack and Enfilading Line
in Crise Valley.
- '
By Associated Press.
London, Aug. 2. The cap
ture of the Plessier Huleu ridge
by the allies Thursday was ex
pected to result, as it did, in
the rolling up of the enemy line
north of Soissons and get rid
of the Plessier wood, which
had been a great obstacle to
the allied advance.
The situation now is that the
Germans are facing west and
the allies are shooting at the
enemy's back and enfilading
him down the northern part of
the Crise valley.
It is believed that the enemy s re
treat will be continued and that he
cannot avoid an eventual retrograde
movement behind the Aisne or the
Vesle, which woul(l mean the col
lapse of the crown prince's offensive,
at least until September, when the
1920 class will be put in the field.
This class will yield 400,000 men and
possibly might help to bolster the at
present defeated Germans.
Allied Front Straightened.
"The advance on the front of Gen
eral Mangin's army continues," says
a dispatch from Reuter's correspond
ent at French headquarters.
"In the main battle sector, between
Hartennes-et-Taux, on the Soissons
Chateau Thierry road and Tcre-en-Tardenois,
we pushed forward along
the whole line of 10 miles. We oc
cupied Hartenncs itself and the wood
to the south and brought the line up
to Cramaille and Saponay, making an
almost straight front from Hartennes
to Fereren-Tardenois.
"In the f enter we have passed the
road running east and west from
Ville-en-Tarccnois to Coulonges,
north of the Ourcq valley, and are a
couple of miles beyond Sergy," the
dispatch savs. "In the central sector,
Kas is usual when the enemy is re
treating, his resistance is feebler than
on the flanks. On the eastern flank
of the salient our troops have taken
the wood a mile east of Romigny and
are within pistol shot of Villers
Agron, on the Ville-en-Tardenois-Coulonges
road. Our patrols were
able to advance a thousand yards
north of Ville-en-Tardenois this
morning.
Pressed On All Sides.
"The effects of the French victory
at the Marne and in Champagne, and
General Foch's counter offensive be
tween the Aisne and the Marne are
now being felt. The enemy, pressed
on all sides and with his communica
tions swept by our Runs has again
I been forced to give ground
HUNS IN
PERILOUS
jFOE DRIVEN BACK
ALONG 36
RAGING BATTLE LINE
Allies' Splendid Gains Foreshadow Necessity of Retire
ment of Crown Prince's Forces Beyond the Aisne;
Guns So Placed Enemy Will Suffer Severely
In Seeking Haven of Refuge.
By Associated Press.
The crisis in the allied offensive on the Soissons-Rheims
salient apparently has been reached. , . -
French troops have entered the town of Soissons, the west-;
era anchor point of what remains of the famous salient, and;
t.11 along the 36 miles of curving battle line from Soissons to? .
Thillois, which lies about three miles west of Rheims, trench, v'
American and British troops have pushed in the entire enemy
front and sent the Germans backward everywhere in retreat
Over the battle front the allies, by quick and forciole
methods of onslaught, have deeply indented the German de
fense line for splendid gains, which seemingly foreshadow the
necessity of the eventual retirement of the forces of the Ger
man crown prince. ' '. ' i
Country Dominated by Guns. ' . v.t.
The plains behind the northwestern portion of the battle
front are dominated by the allied guns; in the south the French
and Americans have negotiated almost all of the hill and forest ;
country and are encroaching perceptibly toward the Fismes;
railway, while in the east the British and French are almost
astride the Rheims-Soissons railway and have their guns now so"
placed that the enemy is sure to be sorely tried as he en
deavors to press back and gain a haven of refuge-along the
Vesle river. " r .
i Tu6t how far the retreat of the Ger-
DEPEW
AUDIENCE
TELLS
OF HUN HORRORS
American Boy Who Has Been
in Five German Prisons
Declares Atrocities Not
Half Told.
Gunner DcPew thrillel a Council
Bluffs audience last night and made
it realize some of the things American
boys and their allies are undergoing
at the hands of the Hun. He told
such a tale of atrocities that not to
hate a Hun would stamp the person
hearing it as an abnormal creature.
"I'm not going to tell what I have
heard others say or what I have read
about a few, very few, for it would
take a long time to tell all of the
things that I have seen arfd some
that I have suffered," said the Amer
ican boy. Then followed a recital
that made people lean forward and
half rise.
Unspeakable Truths.
"Believe everything you have heard
and all you have read and then mul
tiply it by 100 and you will still be
short of the hellish truth," -he said.
"Stories of unspeakable mutilations
of men, women and children, cruel
torturing of wounded soldiers and
starved and helpless prisoners came
in a perfect torrent of words, for the
gunner in venial action can only be
likened to a rapid fire gun operated
by Americans eager to get revenge.
"This is the foe your boys are fight
ing tonight and must continue to
light, for there is no improvement pos
sible in the moral makeup ot the nun.
I want you to get it out of your sys
tem that we are fighting the kaiser
and the war lords.
"I've been in five German prisons,
dragged fron one end of the sin
blistered country to the other and I
tell you that all are Huns and all
alike guilty of cruelties hat would
shame a savage.
"You have always heard of the cru
elties of the unshakable Turk, but
we met the Turk in the Dardanelles,
and he is so much superior to the
Hun in every way that there can be
no comparison. He's a fair fighter
and we never heard of one case of
cruelty to the wounded, but on the
other hand there were hundreds of
real kindnesses. They brought our
wounded close, to the barbed wire so
the stretcher bearers could get them,
and when we were suffering for water
they threw hundreds of bottles into
our trenches, and not one drop was
poisoned or fouled.
Heavy frax on Tobacco.
Washington, Aug. 2. Heavy m
creases in the present war tax on to
bacco, cigars and cigarettes were
agreed to today by the house ways
and means committee as part of the
new $8,000,000,000 revenue bill. The
tax imposes three times, the existing
rates on some items of the schedule
and is planned to raise approximately
$340,000,000
GUNNER
THE WEATHER V a 5
For Nebraska -Fair today
and Sunday; slightly cooler. '
Hourly TsmpcratorNt
5 a. m.
.71
1 p. Bl. ........... 87 i
J p. m............SS I
S p. m W
4 P. m v 1
5 p. m ft
p. m... 81 f
1 p. m... .,81 I
8 p. ra. ...... ..... .
A t, III.,
7 m. m . .
S s. m . .
a. m. .
10 . in. .
11 a. m..
1 m. ...
...70
...69
...71
...73
...77
...HI
...86
MILES OF
mans will continue cannot at present
be forecast, but with the southern line
swingmtf northward lit ' conjunction,
with that on the iist towards the Ves
le, and with the French dominating
the Aisne eastward from Soissons, it
s not improbable that the Germans '
may be compelled to take refuge north
of the Aisne. ', ; ' '
Ford Crise River.
Numerous towns and hamlets havt
been captured by the allied troops
duriug the latest fighting, and at some
points they have advanced from twe '
to three miles. South of Soissons thi ,
entire Crise river has been forded
by allied troops; northeast of Fere-en-Tardenois
the allied line has been
pushed welt to the west of the regioc
of Grand Rozoy and the town of Sa
ponay has been taken. In the center( r;
the Nesles wood is beinsr swept clear.
of Germans by the French cavalry
and American and French troops are
pressing the Germans hard north ol
Sergy and the hamlet of Nesles. ,v
Further eastward almost, to th
gates of Rheims, combined forces ol
British and French everywhere utt ,
sorely harassing the enemy. In this '
latter region, in addition to Thillois,
the village of Ville-en-Tardenois is ,
in allied hands and the French now
are on the heels of the Germans two
and a half miles north of the. Dor-'
mans-Rheims high roachover a front
of nearly four miles.
Complete Success in Sigfft.
Altogether, viewed from the var
maps, the situation . for the allied
troops at present is a most promising
one for complete success in ridding '
the .Soissons-Rheims salient of the
enemy.
Throughout the latter phases of the ;
battles the Germane have not shown
their stamina of previous days and:at;
some points the allied troops, parti-' -cularly
the Americans, were enabled
to make their way into German po
sitions with virtually no opposition!; . '
All behind the battle lines the smok
of burning towns is visible, which
seemingly would give weight to thtfi,
prevailing belief in the allied capitals '
that the Germans at the present are .
nowhere near the end of their re
treat. Aside from the Soissons-Rheims
salient there has been little fighting
in any of the war theaters. The Brit
ish are continuing their raids an?
the Germans at last accounts were
heavily bombarding the British souO "
of the Somme and near Ypres. j f
'Desultory Fighting,". J
German Description
Of Day's Operations
Berlin, via London, Aug. 2. "On
the battle front there has been desul
tory fighting," says the official state-
ment from general headquarters thi
evening.
The day's communication, dealing
with the fighting of Thursday, said ,
that the allies between Soissons and
Fere en Tardenois suffered complete
repulse and failed to gain territory.
British and French ranks which .
crossed the front German lines and
reached "the heights north of Beujf
neux were shot to pieces, according
to the report,