Poland into which they drove the Russians back from Galicia, the AustroGerman armies are still surging forward, and if Warsaw can be denied them it will be almost a miracle.

This seems to be the opinion even among those in England who heretofore have been hopeful that the Russians would turn and deliver a counter-blow, and news of the evacuation of the Polish capital, followed by the triumphant entry of the Germans amid, such scenes as were enacted at Przemysl and Lemberg, would come as no surprise.

The German official statement, beginning at the northern tip of the eastern battle line, records the progress of the German troops to within about fifty miles of Riga. Then, following the great battle arc southward, chronicles further successes in the sector northeast of Warsaw, culminating in the capture of Ostrolenka, one of the fortresses designed to shield the capital.

The acute peril to Warsaw is accentuated by the Russian official communication which says that German columns are within artillery range of the fortress of Novo Georgievsk, the key to the capital from the northwest, and only about twenty miles from it.

Immediately southwest of the city, seventeen miles from it, Blonie has fallen, and further south Grojec, twentysix miles distant, while German cavalry have captured Radom, capital of the province of that name, on the railroad to the great fortress of Ivangorod. The Lublin-Chelm Railway is still in the hands of the Russians, so far as is known, but the Russian Commander-inChief has issued, through the Civil Governor, an order that in case of a retreat from the town of Lublin, the male population is to attach itself to the retiring troops.

The belief is expressed in Danish military circles, according to a Copenhagen. dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph Company, that the Germans intend to use Windau and Tukum as bases for operations designed to result in the capture of Riga, which would be used as a new naval base after the Gulf of Riga had been cleared of mines.

OSTROLENKA FORT TAKEN From Berlin on July 20 came this report from the German War Office:

Eastern theatre of war: In Courland the Russians were repulsed near Grosschmarden, east of Tukum, and near Gruendorf and Usingen. East of Kurshany the enemy also is retreating before our attack.

North of Novgorod, on the Narew, German troops captured enemy positions north of the confluence of the Skroda and Pissa rivers. Fresh Landsturm troops who were under fire for the first time especially distinguished themselves. North of the mouth of the Skwa we reached the Narew. The permanent fortifications of Ostrolenka, on the northwest bank of the river, were captured.

South of the Vistula our troops advanced into hostile positions to Blonie and Grojec. (Blonie is seventeen miles west of Warsaw, and Grojec twenty-six miles south of the city.) In rearguard fighting the Russians lost 560 prisoners and two machine guns.

Southeastern theatre of war: German Landwehr and reserve troops of the army of General von Woyrich repulsed superior forces of the enemy from their position at Ilzanka. All counter attacks made by Russian reserves, which were brought up quickly, were repulsed. We captured more than 5,000 prisoners. Our troops are closely pursuing the enemy. Our cavalry already has reached the railway line from Radom to Ivangorod.

Between the upper Vistula and the Bug we are following the retreating

enemy.

A bulletin, issued early on July 20, had announced the capture of the Baltic port of Windau, thus bringing the Germans within a few miles of Riga, seat of the Governor General of the Baltic Provinces. It read:

German troops occupied Tukum and captured Windau. (Windau is a seaport in Courland on the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the Windau River, 100 miles northwest of Mitau.) Pursuing the enemy, who was defeated on the Aa River at Alt Autz, our troops yesterday

reached the district of Hofzumberge and northwest of Mitau, where the enemy occupied previously prepared positions. East of Popeliany and Kurszany the fighting continues.

Between the Pissa and the Skwa the Russians evacuated a position which had been penetrated at several points by our troops, and are retreating toward the Narew. The German reserve Landwehr, fighting in this district of woody and marshy ground, which is extremely favorable to the resistance of the enemy, accomplished notable deeds.

The army of General von Gallwitz, advancing further, is now standing with all its troops on the Narcw line southwest of Ostrolenka and Novo Georgievsk (about ten miles northwest of Warsaw). The Russians who did not find protection in their fortifications and bridgehead positions already have retreated across the Narew. (The Narew joins the Bug at Sierock, eighteen miles north of Warsaw.) The number of prisoners taken by us has been increased to 101 officers and 28,760 men.

In Poland, between the Vistula and the Pilica, the Russians are retreating castward.

In the southeastern theatre: The enemy, defeated on the 17th by the army under General von Woyrisch northwest of Sienno, attempted to arrest our pursuit in his previously prepared positions behind the Ilzanka sector. Yesterday afternoon the Silesian Landwehr stormed the enemy advanced positions near Ciepilow. The same troops during the night entered the line near Krasanow and Baranow, which also is wavering with a decision imminent.

Between the upper Vistula and the Bug the battle of the allied troops under Field Marshal von Mackensen is proceeding with unabated violence. At the eruption point near Pilaskovice and Krasnostaw the Russians made desperate efforts to avert a defeat. Fresh troops sent against ours were defeated, however.

Further east, in the Grabovetz district, allied troops forced a crossing of the Volitza. Austro-Hungarian troops advanced across the Bug to a point north

of Sokol. Under pressure of our pursuit the enemy retreated during the night on the entire front, stopping only at the eruption point near Krasnostaw, where he attempted some resistance, but suffered a severe defeat.

German troops and the corps under the command of Field Marshal von Arz captured, from the 16th to the 18th, 16,250 prisoners and twenty-three machine guns.

According to written orders which have come into our possession the com

anders of the enemy were resolved to maintain, without regard to losses, the positions which we now have captured.

RUSSIAN NATION IN PRAYER

A Petrograd dispatch to The London Times reported on July 21:

Novo Georgievsk, one of the greatest Russian fortresses, is effectively sentinelling Warsaw from the northwest. The range of its great guns attains the Bzura line and the German advance column on the Narew. The fight for the possession of the right bank of this river is expected to take some time.

Meanwhile the advance of the Teutons on the southern flank of the Warsaw salient is being warmly contested south of the Lublin and Cholm Railway. But here the assailants are believed to have reformed the phalanx which pierced the Russian line on the Dunajec and hope to repeat their exploit. It is difficult, however, to move huge forces and heavy guns without a railway, and here also the Russians are expected to check the foe.

Evidently the last word has not yet been said before the Russians withdraw from the positions guarding the Polish capital, but the public are prepared for the worst, and today throughout the empire millions of worshippers are joining. their prayers in intercession for victory.

The London Daily Mail's Petrograd correspondent, telegraphing on July 21, said:

Yesterday evening the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a

call to prayer for a twenty-four hours' continual service of intercession for victory.

Today, in spite of the heat, the churches were packed. Hour after hour. the people stand wedged together while. the priests and choirs chant interminable litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral here an open air mass is being celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd.

MORE TEUTONIC VICTORIES

The War Office at Berlin on July 21 gave out the following account of operations on the Russian front:

In the Eastern Theatre: To the east of Popeljany-Kurtschany the enemy is withdrawing before our advancing troops. To the west of Shavli the last hostile intrenchment has been stormed and occupied, and the pursuit continues eastward.

On the Dubyssa, east of Rossieny, a German attack broke through the Russian line. Here, too, the enemy is falling back.

South of the road of MariampolKovno we attacked and captured the villages of Kiekieryszki and Janowka. Three Russian positions lying one behind the other were captured.

Likewise attacks by our Landwehr against positions held by the enemy north of Nocogorod (on the Narew) were completely successful. The Russians retreated, leaving 2,000 prisoners and two machine guns in our hands.

Further south on the Narew River a strong outwork at Rozan was stormed. We took 560 prisoners and captured three machine guns.

The enemy endeavored to offer obstinate resistance on the Narew. His desperate counter attacks with hastily gathered troops on the bridgehead position of Rozan, Pultusk, and Novo Georgievsk failed. The Russian losses were heavy. We took 1,000 prisoners.

The Blonie-Grojec position offered the enemy only brief respite. Under the compulsion of our troops, who had been reinforced from all sides, the Russians began to give up their forfeited posi

tions to the west of Grojec and to retire to the eastward.

In the Southeastern War Theatre: German troops under General von Wyrsch yesterday reached the advanced bridgehead positions South of Ivangorod. An immediate attack brought them into possession of a hostile line near Wladislavow. Fighting continues for the adjoining positions.

Between the Vistula and Bug Rivers the enemy has again opposed Field Marshal von Mackensen's army.

Despite stubborn resistance AustroHungarian troops near Skrzyniec, Niedrzwica and Mala, southwest of Lublin, and German detachments southeast and north of Krasnostava, have entered hostile positions. The attack is progressing.

The War Office at Berlin on July 23 issued the following:

Eastern theatre of war: In Courland there is continual fighting. We are pursuing eastward the retreating Russians. Yesterday we captured three machine guns and many ammunition cars and field kitchens.

Our troops advanced closer to the Narew bridgehead position. Before Rozan we stormed at the point of the bayonet the village of Miluny and the fortification at Izygi. At the latter place we captured 290 prisoners. Night sorties from Novo Georgievsk failed.

Southeastern theatre of war: The west bank of the Vistula was cleared of the enemy from Janowiec, west of Kazmierz, to Granica. In the wooded ground southeast of Kozienca fighting is proceeding with Russian rear guards.

Between the Vistula and the Bug the Teutonic allies succeeded in breaking the obstinate resistance of the enemy at several points and forced the Russians to retreat.

Granica is ten kilometers south of Ivangorod.

An Associated Press dispatch from London, dated July 24, reported:

The Austrians and Germans are pushing their three great attacks against the Russian armies defending Warsaw with

To the Secretary of State for War, War Office, London, S. W.

My Lord,

I

HAVE the honor to report that since the date of my last dispatch (April 5, 1915) the Army in France under my command has been heavily engaged opposite both flanks of the line held by the British Forces.

1. In the North the town and district of Ypres has once more in this campaign been successfully defended against vigorous and sustained attacks made by large forces of the enemy and supported by a mass of heavy and field artillery, which, not only in number, but also in weight and caliber, is superior to any concentration of guns which has previously assailed that part of the line.

In the South a vigorous offensive has again been taken by troops of the First Army, in the course of which a large area of entrenched and fortified ground has been captured from the enemy, whilst valuable support has been afforded to the attack which our Allies have carried on with such marked success against the enemy's positions to the east of Arras and Lens.

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, June 15, 1915.

2. I much regret that during the period under report the fighting has been characterized on the enemy's side by a cynical and barbarous disregard of the well-known usages of civilized war and a flagrant defiance of The Hague Convention.*

* In a long statement seeking to justify the use of asphyxiating gases in warfare the semiofficial Wolff Telegraph Bureau asserted in German newspapers of June 25 that the Allies first used such gases against the Germans, and it cites French documents as proof that France in February, months before the German advance at Ypres, made extensive preparations for the application of gases and for counteracting their effects on the attacking troops.

After quoting the official German war report of April 16 that the French were making increased use of asphyxiating bombs, the statement says:

"For every one who has kept an unbiased judgment, these official assertions of the strictly accurate and truthful German military administration will be sufficient to prove the prior use of asphyxiating gases by our opponents. But let whoever still doubts consider the following instructions for the systematic preparation of this means of warfare by the French, issued by the French War Ministry, under date of Feb. 21, 1915: