Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1918)
- - : . - - " ; r - ' . -H - - -- - ; -r I ' ' : : ' ' : - ! . , 1 . t whatiikh. Showers: cooler east portion; fresh wi'lerly wind; continu ed cold east portion Sunday. DAILY EDITION I . .' '- - . . ,- ... . r ; - " . .i - - - - , , - , :j ' ' . J!!! HALKM. OUIXiON, WATtHIUY Mi)KM.(i, MHllh t.l, 10IM , ; , riUCB FIVE CEXTtT SEIZURE OF SHIPS IS ACT OF NECESSITY j Skip Shortage, Which Threat , ened to Postpone-' Victory for Allies, Led to Taking . Over of Dutch Vessels MEMORANDUM OF NOTE BY LANSING IS GIVEN 1 Germany's Menacing Action V Led to Demand Holland . Fulfill Agreement WASHINGTON, April 12. Amerl- tt' reply to the recent statement of Tbe Netherlands' government bltter- ly protesting against and denouncing the atcion of too United States In taking over Dutch sh.lps in Its porti, til mide public tonight in the form of a memorandum by Secretary Lans ing. copy of . which has been sent to The Netherlands' legation. Pointing out that -The Nether lands' government Itself . does not .question the legality of the act. Mr. Linsing, devotes himself to a dem onstration that It was an act of ne cessity reuniting , from Germany' menacing attitude - which prevented Upland from fulfilling her engago ments and that instead of an Injus tice the step results In real benefit to the Dutch ship owners and people. tTbe memorandum -follow: The Netherlands' government have Issued a statement relative to the recent action of the goverlment nf the United States In putting Into t Jt service for the period of the pres ent emergency certain privately own ed vessels of The Netherlands reg istry lying within the territorial Jur isdiction of the United States. While this action Is J-eferred to as being indefensible fytm the standpoint of . international law, the statement The Netherlands' rvvernment does not argue the question of legality. Nor is this government disposed to do so.- Legality Not LastHtep. 1 'Tha practice of nations and the opinions of Jurists on the right of a belligerent to utilize all vessels which come voluntarily and .uncon ditionally within its Jurisdiction are sufficiently well known to render , citation of precedent and of author ity unnecessary. But as The Nether lands' government themselves sug gest, our Anion must be subjected to a finer test than that of mere le- gallty. It matters very little that our act be legal, .If, as alleged. It violates traditional friendship and is . inconsistent with ideals of right and Justice. .' . "The Netherlands' government first declare that the very presence of Dutch ships In our ports resulted from our detention of them with an unfriendly hand. While our rlgnt to refuse bunkers and cargo licenses ,is conceded, friendship. It is said, should have led to the granting of special privileges In favor of the subjects of a friendly atjfe. Our 4wn supply of bunker coal "at sea bdard has been Inadequate for our -pressing national needs. The cargoes which were demanded were largely f grtln, of which onfwn reserves are all too low. The bunkers, if srttited, would have served to carry this grain to The Netherlands' where as events have demonstrated, J . was not needed and whereat would only have served to release equivalent foodstuffs for the enemy. S Such ac tion upon our parti whatever Its In tention, would in fact have been an ct beneflci.il to the nemy and hav ing no relation to our friendship to Tb Netherlands. On pern Ar rWlllIn. ; The owners of Dutch shins were. however, unwilling that their ships fhould perform any other services han those which It was clearlr-tm- Tmxlhl". ... f,.ltltil aWA the hlps of this maritime nation a: "M-dingiv fay Idle for many month-i "a nntil the conclusion on January 25. 1m, of the temporary shipping yrrcement which was proposed by The Netherlands' commissioners at 'ondon and accepted by the United States as a measure to restore the '"mediate activity that portion of TbftNejlv. Hands mercantile fleet ly IthI our waters.. "The I .'.nMement of The -Nether-n '"'-.-Jroverpment seevns to invply 1hl..thts vreement was In fact lived 9 io,uy, ,Tiw Netherlands' govern inlyb evidence to the contrary TOUTul in, th atntAtnent Itself which refers to the German objea i Hons m bavins prevented perform 'BCf by thst government of what 31 rroneouly referred to as Amerl demand, but what was In reality Netherlands undertaking, that ""n a Dutth shin left the United Etatci for The Netherlands rorre fondlng Dtitc-h vessel should simnl 'Jnpoumy if.ve The Netherlands for ttsl-nited States. r"Tfd not The Netherlands' gov 'mef,t, under Cerman threats of Jlience, which were, ft matter of '"mmon knowledge, felt unable to iTrr out th temporary shipping y cement, It is Inexplicable that the (Continued' on pace 6.) OREGON, IOWA FIRST TO GO OVER THE TOP Evidence Is Gathered to De termine Which Completed Quota First SUBSCRIPTIONS GROWING Rural Districts Get Into Cam paign Portland Wins Honor Flag; . WASiriNOTON, April 12 Liber ty loan subscriptions reported to fed eral reserve banks up to the close of business last night representing the result of five dys' canvassing, were $451,744,000, or. S175,82.",000 more than the total reported last night. , mis is just anout enough money to pay the United States war expenses for ttro weeks. - Only part of these pledges have been received by federal reserve banks In binding nrm, accompanied by initial payments, but it Is believed many millions of other subscriptions have bten slcrned and not yet re ported to local banks. v The Now York federal reserv dis trict continues to furnish almost hslf of the country's, total. In the Minneapolis district the loan cam paign will not really start until nest Monday, and no figures are reported from, there. Other districts' records as given today in messages to noid quarters here, are ns follows: Chicago. $5"., 210.000; Norton. I46.3C1.000; Cleveland. $33,989. 000: Philadelphia. $31,597,000: St. Louis. $29,268,000; Dallas. 81 T,, 847.000; Kansas City. $13,267,000; San FranclKCo, $11,420,000; Rich mond. $C. 916. 000; Atlanta., $3. 259.000. Rural communities ' rot Into the campaign In eanest tonight with liberty loan rallies at country school houses In practically every town slilo. A message vrom Secretary McAdoo was read saying: "I rely opon the faTmers. than whom there are no more vitally In terested In protecting America's fu ture and the liberties of ths world, to dp their utmost to heln In this great liberty loan work." - To celebrate Oregon's recrrd .of being the first state toliave Its clali of overTSubscfl bing Its quota recog nized. 100,000 Oregonians will hold a patriotic demonstration in Port land Saturday night. . Iowa also claims to have gone over . the top, and evidence Is being gathered by the Chicago federal re serve bank to show whether I)wa or Oregon offically reported tho ev-er-subscrlptlon first. Portland, Or., and Toledo, O. are the largest cltlf n reported today to have won honor flags. .. Treasury officials are genuinely pleased with the success of the lan in the first week closing tonight, but they display some anxiety over re ports 'indicating that communities, are over-optlmlstlc. To .make $3, 000.000.000 in four weeks. It is nec essary to rolt up $125,000,000 every working day, they said, and the total officially reported doea not make this average, i MRS; HAZARD IS DEAD, AGED 71 End Follows Illness of Week's Duration; Funeral Set ; for Sunday ). Closely following the death of J. yV. Rogers, fiymer president" of the United tuates National bank, comes the passing of Mrs. V. W. Hazard, wlfo of Edgar W. Hazard, cashier of the Institution and also a prominent resident. Mrs. Hajard died yester day afternoon at 1:40 o'clock at the family residence, 640 South Summer street. She was 71 years old. Mrs. Hazard had been an Invalid for some years but her recent Illness was of only a week's duration.' She bad resided In Salem for the last 14 years. Besides her husband, Mrs. Hazard Is survived by two daughters Mrs. W. W. Sawyer of Seattle, Wash., and Mlas Edith C. Hazard of Salem, and a son, Fred II. Hazard who has been living In Seattle. j i The funeral will be held Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from, the residence. Rev. W. C. Kantner of Portland, who is. the acting pastor of the First Congregational church In place of Rev. James Elvln, who Is in France, will conduct the services. Burial will be In City View cemetery. Minnie E. Hazard was a member of the First Congregational church. She was a devout wife, mother and friend. She waa Intensely Interested In moral and patriotic movement of city, state and nation. To such movements, she contributed much of her time and mean. She waa also a mejnber of the Order -of Eastern Star. . . , : IRELAND IS STEP NEARER HOME RUL E Convention at Dublin Submits Report to Parliament Show ing Basis for Agreement on Many Questions : IRISH PARLIAMENT PLANS ARE LAID OUT , Foundation Agreed Upon De . dared to be "Unprece dented in History' LONDON, April 12.Irtl.ind has taken a step nearer to home rute. The Irish convention, which met at Dublin for eight months considering the problems besettlns the f stand, have submitted to the P.ritlrh parlia ment a plan which, while not the unanimous decision of th conven tion, rewenents a basis for' nrrefc- ment on some of the question that in tne past nave prevented all the parties of lei land fnnu acting in harmony. . The plan calls for an Irish parlia ment modelled after that of tbe em pire, the authority of which would not bo diminished. An executive re sponsible to it and With full powers over Internal legislation, administra tion and direct taxation, also is pro vided. To meet with objections from Unionists, it is agreed a forty per cent representation in the proposed parliament will be guaranteed them by the dominant Nationalists. Pro vision also Is made for extra repre sentation from Ulster. ? Minority reports were submitted by the Ulster Unionists and the Bil norlty faction of the Nationalists. , i i lk LONDON, April 12. The Irish convention failed to agree upon - a scheme of self-government for Ire land but lajd a foundation for an agreement, "unprecendented In his tory." Sir Horace 'Plunkett, chair man of the convention, says In a letter to the prime minister, trans mitting a report of the proceedings of that body. j "A large measure of agreement has been- reached upon the principle and details of Irish self-government," he declares, "than has ever yet been at tained." It was not found possible. Sir Horace explained, to overcome the objections of the Ulsterites. The ma jority of the Nationalists, all south ern Unionists and five out of seven labor lepresentatives, howeVer, agree tabt the scheme set out in the report "should be immediately enacted in law." The difficulties of the convention, says the chairman, may be summed tip hi two words, "Ulsters and cus toms" the latter referring to de mand of the Nationalist 'for unre stricted fiscal powers. To this de mand the southern Unionists as well aa the Ulster Unionists wodld not agree, but the southern ITninnlafa and the Nationalists were willing, In order that anuria parliament be es tablished to postpone legislative de cision on tne question. ;i recognize," writes Sir Horaco. "that action in parliament on the re sult of our deliberations must d pend largely pon ptdjliq oplnhm." adding "that tho worx of n Irlab settlement is now felt to admit of no further postponement. In the domin ions and the United States, as well aa the other allied countries, the un settled Irish question is a disturbing ((Continued on page 6.) Crover Alexander Not Yet Called in Draft LINCOLN, Neb., April 12 A statement tonight from K. I). Ilahen sky, clerk of tho Howard county ex emption board, says that O rover Cleveland Alexander, star Cub pitch er, has not been notified he must en ter the scrvlQf of the government for war under the second draft. "The Howard county exemption hoard doo not yet know whether Alexander will be called, or for that matter who will be called," he said. House Favors Quotas on Registrant Basis WASHINGTON, April . 12. The war department's plan for basing draft quotas on the number of regis trants in class one Instead of upon population was sustained In the house tonight after an all-day fight' over the resolution passed by the senate authorizing the change. Opponents of the plan championed an amend ment by Representative Shallenberg er of Nebraska, to base the quotas on total registration and liability to military service, which was defeat ed, 244 to 118, Another amendment by the Ne braska member directing' that cred its on quotas be given for all volun teers in the military or naval, serv ice since April 1917, was adopted, 292 to 63. COUNTER! ACTION OF YANKS HOLDS BACK GERMANS Only 200 of 800 Shock Troops Able to Climb Out of Trenches AMERICAN FIRE DEADLY Enemy Is Chased Back-to Own Lines in Raid Carried Out Wednesday WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY" IN FRANCE. April 12. jln the raid car ried but by the Germans on Wednon day against the Americans northwest of Toul. tjio enemy Intended to pen etrate to tho third 1 lino jKjsltlons, according To Information obtained from a prisoner. This is corrobor ated by material found oh dead Ger mans. The enemy carried wire, dy namlto, entrenching tools and other Implements for organizing the posi tions. ' The Americans knew In advance of the proposed attack through In formation obtained a day or two pre viously from prisoners captured by the French on an. adjacent sector. The attack was made' by a special battalion of 800 shock troops, who had rehearsed the operation for two or three weeks behind the lines. As soon as tho German barrage began, the American batteries, without wait ing for a rocket slgnal.'lald down a counter-barrage, with the result that less than 200 of the enemy succeed ed In climbing out of their trenches and advancing toward jthe American line. The German officers; sent the men right through Hie barrage, but only two succeeded In reaching th front line and they were taken prisoners. When the German barrage started. the American outposts moved Into the first line, where with other Infantry men and machine gunners they wait ed for the advancing enemy. The Americans poured a deadly fire into the raiders,- then climbed out of the trenches and engaged with grenades and In hand to hand fighting the few Germans able to cross No Man's drove the enemy back to his own lines Land. The American t Infantrymen and, protected bvmachlne gun and automatic fire, dragged the German dead back to the American trenches for identification. The German losses were extremely heavy, as No Man's and was strewn wlthdead, and numbers of the enmy were killed by the artillery without being able to leave the German trenches. The French officers commanding units In the neighboring sector, com plimented the Americans' courage and gallantry displayed In the oper ation and the splendid work of the artillery. Some of the battery men worked in gas masks for several hours. New Crisis Has Come Says Major Maurice LONDON. April 12. A deflnlt crisis has again been reached. Major Gf neral F. It. Maurice, chief oi recto of- military operations at the war of fice, declared today. "The situation-Is undoubtedly un pleasant," he added. "The ehemv Is within a short distance of Ilalllenl which Is an Important railway centr for feedin gour Messlnes-Wytschaet" front. He H -also advancing In the direction of Hazebrrtuck. which Is a very Important railway center." General Maurice said that on the other hand, the Germans ire advanc ing on a very flat and Intricate coun try and have not yet gained any dom inating position. f Seventeen enemy divisions have fieen engaged np to the present and the enemy has lOBt very heavily. Paris 'Again Shelled v 11 Persons Are Killed PARIS. Anrll 12. For I the first fime Mnre tb long distance bom bardment of Paris German shell jrenched the Paris region Ifter sun set. A proleetlle struck pbmewhre near the city at 8:05 o'clock this evening. i In the Paris district t6day two persons wee killed and twelve were wounded by the hpmbardment. PARIS. April 12. Eleven person were killed and fifty inlured In Fri day night's air raid on Paris, accord ing to the latest official information. Czernin Says French I. Premier's Words Untrue LONDON. April 12. Count Cz'er. tifu. ths A stro-Hungarlnn, forelsn minister, on Friday Issued a,clrcula stating that-the Interviewed Emper or Charles and that he was convinced that the statement of tho! French viremler regarding the letter written by the emporpr was untrue, accord .c n ft dispatch to the jne'llner Tageblatt forwarded by tht Copen hagen correspondent of the Exchange Telegraph cocmpany. COUNTY OVER IN SALE OF WAR BONDS Quota Is Passed in Salem and in Territory Outside, Of ficial Returns From Locali ties Show CAMPAIGN GOES ON, COMMITTEES INTACT Number of Bond Holders In Community Increased '400,' Per Cent Hats off to the Cherry City aad Its battalion of Indefatigable Liberty Loan workers! Salem is "over Jhe top" and still going grandly toward a beautiful ovor-snbHcrlptlon! At 0 o'clock last night felicitations wer4elng tossed about at headquar ters as the totals were checked up. revealing the fact that Salem had rolled up an aggregate of $517, 600, passing the quota mark by a generous margin. And even while the story was being told, hundreds of 'dollars worth of bonds were coming Into the secretaries hands. Salem has' wiped out past deficiencies, and has redeem. ed Itself in this record of patriotism and generosity, and with other cities will be proud to float the "Liberty Loan Honor Flag" which has been Justly earned. r- Whole County Over. -t v: Along with the triumph' of Salem goes the gratifying fact that Marion county bus also passed Its quota of $829,000, some ot the smaller towns being the' first to win out and are still far in the lead In their propor tion of over-subscrlptlpn. In closing up five days of the most strenuous effort ever put forth for a public enterprise. Director Deck ebach of the county committee and "General" Steiner are constrained to express the highest appreciation of the hearty, whole-souled co-oneratlon they haveTecelved from the captains and personnel of the forty-one teams who have scoured the city of Salem and the rural districts with conscien tious thoroughness. To them they give the Tredlt for the success of the campaign, which in many re spects is without precedent.. And in turn; the workers are constrained to express their appreciation of the response made by the business men and the citizens generally to their appeals in behalf ot liberty and hu manity. . Hank end l-lli IlewponMihle. Incidentally It might be said that the campaign has been . marked throughout by , absolute good will and harmony, and the co-ordination of effort developed in the drive au gurs well for future campaigns. The fact has been brought out at headquarters that there have been at least 400 per cent more individual subscriptions enrolled In this drive than In any other effort. It Is a victory of the rank and file rather than of the monled class, though the latter responded in a most creditable manner. It may safely be said 'that there are more individual bond buy era to the population in tbls section than In any other part of the north west. Will Keen Team Intact. Having attained the desired results In the campaign, it has been decided that because of the perfect efficiency of the organization, the same teams and committees will be retained in tact for tho next drive whlch'will probably, come within six months. The commercial club will keep filet of all the records made -in this cam paign, and bya thorbugh card-index system the niinagers-will be able to ascertain six months from now Just where every citizen stood on this Is sue, and there will be no trouble la locating the man who could nd should have contributed this week; With the quota attained, the teams have no intention of dropping the work but will "carry on" until every person in Marian county has at least been seen and labored with a second time. One Hubwribtlon $5000. At the hour of writing a detailed statement of the results by districts was not obtainable. Statistics show that the following districts have eith er reached .or passed their quotas: Aumsvllle, Donald. Gervals, Mill City and Monitor! Mt. Angel, Stayton, St Paul.- .1 If time and space permitted, a mvltltudo of human Interest stories might be brought to light from 'the retitfns, for there were cases of op position that- were almost tragic, some that were romlc and others pathetic. Numerous cases might be clVd where people In humble clr cumstancea endangered their future prospects by taking bonds. The great majority of subscriptions have been for comparatively small amounts; the largest single subscription-v being S5000. It is estimated that over 90 per cent of the population are bond buyers. . HUNS ACTIVE AT NAVAL BASE OF " CITY OF KIEL Heavy Guns Recalled From Western Front to Join;! Austrian Help 1 BATTLE LINE SEETHING British Inflict Severe, Casual ties on Advancing Ger-j mans in North GENEVA. Switzerland, April 12. reat nctlvlty reigns at German naval bases, especially at Kiel. Coal and ammunition are being shipped to the fleet In large quantities, ac cording to Information received here this morning from a reliable neutral source. German navat conjt Ingents, with with heavy guns, were recently re called from the western front to join the fleets and .were replaced by Aus trian artillery manned by, land forces. Indications are that a naval raid of . great magnitude Is about to be attempted, (By The Aatociattxt Pre) WITH THE nRITI3H ARMY IN FRANCE, April 12. Throughout last night and this morning the north ern battle line has continued to seethe with attacks and counter-at tacks. From Glvencby to the Lawe river the situation remained un changed but further north the British withdrew somewhat from a point weft of Estaires northvard to tho region or teen were. Tnere waa desperate fighting about Vielle Cha pel Ie during the night aa the result of heavy hostll attacks. The famous fifty-first divlsloi stood Its ground in the face of vic ious thrusts by superior numbcspf the enemy and inflicted most severe casualties on the attacking forces. This morning the enemy was press lng hard in the region of Le IJecque, S teen were k nd Mervllle, while further north the eGrman gunners at 2:45 o'clock opened ft terrific bombardment of the much contested ground east of Ploegsteert. moMangle SHOWN IN CASE . . One Interpretation of Bishop Kay Action Is That Plain tiffWon On Thursday Judge Percy R. Kelly of the circuit court handed down a. decision in the case of Fannie Kay Dlshop .against her brother, Thomas' i. Kay, state treasurer. A Statesman reporter." in yester day morning's paper, tried to give the strictly news feature of the find ings, together with something of the facts upon which the contentions of the parties were based. Two paragraphs of the "Findings of Fact" make the case a rather re markable one. They aVe as follow! VH. That plaintiff (Mrs. Ulshop) disclaims having charged or Intend ing to charge -defendant (Mr. Kay) with dishonesty." ' "10. That the defendant, has strictly accounted for the assets of both estates." (Meaning the estates of father and mother of the parties to the suit.) . "i , Hut The Statesman reporter was In error when he stated that the case was dismissed. ' ' And one who has reviewed the findings declares? "An analysis of the -contentions of the parties to the litigation, ai shown by their pleadings, with. the decision itself; shows that Mrs. Hlshop. as the administratrix of her mother's estate, was sustained by the court In every particular, Mrs. Ulshop has for-many yeara contend ed that her father's and mother'! estates were separate aad ' distinct, while the defendant, Thomas H. Kay. has contended otherwise. This con troversy grew out of the construc tion of the will of the late Thomas Kay and the court sustains Mrs. Rishop's construction of this ! docu ment In every respect and .holds that (be tr estates should be separate, and that Mrs. nishop, as administra trix of ber mother's estate, could not properly administer upon that estate without a'n accounting -from her brother, Thomas 11. Kay. who -had bandied the funds of their, mother, for many years prior to her death. This Is exsctly what " Mrs. ; Bishop was. contending for. Prior'' to the time of the bringing of the suit in question she made a demand upon the defendant for this accounting. At that time the defendant rendered to her a sworn statement showing that there wal belonging to said es tate mor than $25,000. Mrs. Bishop contended that this was not correct and that It did not segregate the" two estates. Mr. Kay refused to give any further Accounting swj "apon this refusal Mrs. Bishop, .as the ad ministratrix of her mother's estate, commenced the suit in question, de- (Continued on Paga f) Troops Pushed Back in Con tinuous Fighting to Po:i . tions . in Neighborhood cf Bailleul : Railway; ; Other Points Are Maintained "THERE MUST BE NO . : , FURTHER RETIREMEIiT" Back to WallSayi'HaigBut French .. Are -Reported ts Coming to Aid; Great Bat tle Seems Approaching. - - ' "- -. . , (By TK Mtociated Prt$i) Great Britain's , armies stand at -bay lit France and Flanders. After three weeks , of. combat which baa eclipsed anything Ctat has raged during the entire four years of war fare. Field Marshal Hair has issued a command to his men to hold their ground 'at whatever . cost mnd fight with the -knowledge that, their blows are struck "for the safety of Jelr homes and the freedom 'of man kind." r '.. The end of he first phase of this giant struggle now may be consid ered as paased. ' "There .mast-be no retirement," Is Haig'i - admonition, which adds that the British now are flghtlngr "with their hacks to the wall." The withdrawal inv Plcardy was officially reported to. have been a part of the allied strategy but the period for' such tactics seemingly, has gone into history, j r " French Coming1 to Aid. - The order Issued by the field mar shal contains another sentence which may be pregnant with -significance. "The French army is moving rapidly and In great force to our support," he said. This is the first official in timation that the allies are ready to strjke back at the German Invaders.. This blow may not necessarily fill In Falnders, nor fn Plcardy.' bat may be aimed, at some patr of the line where Generalissimo Foch'may be lieve he can cut through the German, front and compel the Teutons to-relax their pressure against the British. . ..,'. ; The allies stand today on ft front' which has been dented and battered but which is Very- strong through out. Tracing this line from the south it is found to leave the old battle front at Braucourt. west. of, La on. From this point it runs to the west, passes south o! Couchy-le-Chateaa. and curves north until It reaches the Olse river, which It follows -nntil It reaches a, point south of 'Koyou. Here the line ruiyi just -north Of west to Mesnll; west of Montdidler. where It turns to the north. It is continued as far as Caatel, where it turns northeast to Han gar d and then by ft crooked line through Albert to ft point east. of Hebuterne. ; The line then runs off to the Y northeast through Bucquoy and Bolsleuz- to . ram poux. east of Arras.- J . V" Whole Line- A flam. v. , ! At this point It turns north to be yond Lens and then turns sharply to the northwest past Bethune entering the scene of the roost bitter fighting. It continues as far as Mervllle, which marks the farthest advance of the Germans in their 'present offensive, and then bends to the northeast to Passchendaele, north and east of Vpres. ' Here it curves to thft aorth west to Merckem, and thence north over the lowlands . of Belgium to Nienport to the sea. ? The capture ot Mervllle feature! the fighting during the list day but all aUng the line from, just north of Lens to Hojlebeke southeast of Ypres. there have 1 been tremendous attacks which have been met by sav age resistance. "The' hardest fight ing along ithls front -seems to have centered about Messlnes ridge, for which the Germans and British have struggled hand to hand. ' At last re ports the, Germans held 'tho eastern half of the ridge while the British were In control of the western slope. The Turks and Germant have been attacking, the British lines north of Jericho since April 10 and vntered British positions both east ftnd west of the Jordan, but, London says they were driven out by ft counter-attack. ' i - ' ; LONDON. April tl2i--Field Mar shal Halg's report from headquarter! in France tonight says: ' Strong pressure has been main tained by. the enemey all day south and southwest of Bailleul. Constant atfacks In great force were made in this firea and are continuing. , fOur troops have been pushed back slowly in continuous fighting to po- (Contlnued on page .)