Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1917 — KAISER CALLS WAR CHIEFS TO BIG CONFERENCE [ARTICLE]

KAISER CALLS WAR CHIEFS TO BIG CONFERENCE

Crown Princes and Hindenburg to Meet the Emperor at - Brussels. BRITISH WIN BACK GROUND Hard Counter-Assault Is Launched by General Haig Near the RoulersYpres Railway—Americans Play Important Part. ' British Front in France and Belgium, Aug. 3.—America played a small but important part in the battle of Flanders. Several American “surgical teams,” which were brought .to the front from the base hospital by the director general of the medical service, worked side by side with their British allies In caring for the wounded. U. S. Officers See Battle. Paris, , Aug. 3—A large group of American staff officers is expected to return to the American headquarters from the Flanders front, where for sonje time the army officers had been watching operations in all the departments preparatory to the Franco-Brit-ish offensive. Amsterdam, Aug. 3. —Emperor William has called a war council of the high military and naval leaders in Germany to meet at Brussels, Belgium. Field Marshal von Hindenburg, chief of the imperial general staff.; General Ludendorff, the quartermaster general; the German crown prince, commander of the German forces in the Champagne ; Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria, in command of the Belgian front; Grand Duke Albrecht of Wuerttenberg arid Vice Admiral Eduard von Capelie, minister of the imperial navy, and others will be present. [ln view of the announcement it seems not improbable that the German high command is impressed by the force of the Flanders drive of the allies and is considering what further measures can be taken to meet it.] German Attacks Fail.

Paris, Aug. 3. —Bad weather continues in Belgium, says the official statement issued by the French war department. The Germans made two attacks east and southeast of Reims, a but both failed. On the left bank of the Meuse there was a violent artillery engagement. The Germans at night attacked in the sector of Avocourt wood without success and several attacks in Apremont forest, southwest of St. Mihlel, utterly failed. Win Back Ground in Belgium. London, Aug. 3.—British forces launched a counter-attack against the German positions in Flanders. Gen. Sir Douglas Haig reports that the British troops completely re-estab-lished their former line in the neigh-

borhood of the Rpuleres-Ypres railway, territory the Germans had regained. The British official statement reads: “A heavy, incessant rain has fallen throughout the iast 48 hours. v “In the neighborhood of the YpresRoulers railway, where the enemy Wednesday afternoon had succeeded at great cost in gaining a foothold In our advanced positions, our counterattack launched late in the evening drove back the German infantry at. all points and completely re-established our former lines. On the remainder of the Ypres* battle front there was no change. “On the right of the British line southeast of Hargicourt our troops successfully raided the enemy’s position and secured prisoners. “The number of German prisoners captured in July was 4,03 ff, of whom 85 were officers. These figures Include such of the prisoners as were captured in Wednesday’s operations, who reached the collecting stations by Bp. m. The captured material Includes eight field guns, 53 machine guns and 32 trench mortars.”

German Prisoners Are Dejected. ‘ Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons all have given of their number to swell the total and no more dejected appearing men have been seen In British prison stations since the beginning of the war. Particularly noticeable was the scarcity of veteran ■noncommissioned officers and the large number of youths from the 1918 class, who are nothing more than raw recruits. One veteran of many battles freely expressed his contempt of these youngsters, who, he said, lacked stamina to stand up under the hardships of war and could not be depended upon In a tight place such as they found themselves facing Tuesday.