The Cambria Daily Leader

THE CHANNEL FIGHT.. "The Germans seem to have scored on points, and we cannot pro- fess to be satisfied with the result. This is the ungracious note struck by one of the London journals to- day regarding the Channel sea fight, and it is scarcely justified by the few particulars the Admiralty have allowed to transpire. We have a destroyer missing, an empty trans- port sunk, and a destroyer aground as a consequence of the engage- ment the enemy has lost two de- stro.yers-" the rest driven off. "On points it may look unsatis- factory that we were not able to ac- count for the ten, but when we read, in t-he unofficial account to hand at the moment, that the Mirt, when last seen was attacking four of the s ships* it looks as if the little scrap is one that redounds to ] the credit of the Navy. j Hundreds of thousands of our soldiers have been taken across the Channel to France, hitherto without a man lost, and this in spite of the fact that for some time past, with torpedoes and mines, the U boats have done their level best to harass the cross-Channel traffic. Sir Regi- nald Bacon was able to record in his dispatch of July 27 that not a life has been lost in the whole of the vast transport operations. Now we have a destroyer raid—made by some of Germany's fastest boats, and heavily armed, according to a message this morning—and the re- sult of the unequal tight is most de- cidedly in our favour. The raiders came out from Zeebrugge with a de- finite object to achieve; they failed absolutely. The raid appears to be the sequel j to the cry in Germany for more I ^rightfulness. Major Moraht, the German military critic said two months ago that "If only we couid with all our forces at our command, succeed in menacing the British lines of communication, we could j then reckon on relieving our troops ion the Somme." The enemy has not succeeded, and will not succeed. It will take a very ingenious Ger- man dispatch writer all his clever- ness to make even a passable story that the raid has menaced our sea lines of communication. It is recalled to-day that the re- cent visit of the Kaiser to Zee- brugge was expected to be the pre- cursor of some further develop- ments of naval energy. Since this port was converted into a base the activity of the destroyers in the area guarded by the Dover patrol has been frequently mentioned in com- nluialque,3 and dispatches. Their enterprise has been considerable, and they even claim to have raided the mouth of the Thames. It is un- questionable that their successes have not been conspicuous, declares the naval correspondent of the Times," owing to the alertness and efficiency of tlie light cruisers and torpedo flotilla on that station, Nor should it be forgotten that in the strenuus task of protecting the flank of the sea transport in the Channel our Fleet has had the valued assistance of vessels of the French Navy. Further preventive measures are now manifestly called for in order further to curb the ad- venturous zeal of the enemy. On the Western front, Sir Douglas Haig has ha.d to contend with a battle ground likened to a sea of mud. But if progress is slow, we are still masters of the front. Igno- rant and unfair critics may declare in their impatience that we are only creeping on, but as the" Speetator" point6 out tpiday, it is a kind of creeping which would, if we were Germans, distinctly get on our nerves. There is something appal- ling in the inevitableness with which the Commander-in-Chief wOrks. Not only is his vigilance never relaxed, but the impulse of the push is con-! tinuous. If temporarily checked by some adverse circumstance like rain the energy may be quite truly swid only to accumulate. When the; weather lilts, our contemporary ventures to say, we shall find that! progress has in reality been going on, and that, in spite of there hav- ing been no sensational success, what has been done places us in a better position for fresh advances. The British communique reports unusual activity of the enemy's air- craft. It was not to be expected that the German would remain con- tent with his position of under-dog, and make no effort to gain the superiority. A war expert, writing last week in a German journal de- clared that our aviators have more and more won the upper hand on the Somme and are able to direct the fire of our batteries most accu- rately—a result which is due to our observers and to our brave fighting aviators. This is bunkum. We have very good direct evidence that the British are still the unques- tioned masters of the air on the Somme front, and that the appear- ance of enemy craft over our lines iv, a comparatively rare event. The tide of Welsh Nationalism was in the flood at Cardiff on Fri- day, and the ceremonies at the Oitrv Hall were full of deep significance iks to the past, present and iuture. Lord Ehondda, or D. A." as his friends still love to call him, the man who has done more perhaps than anyone else for the coal trade of South Wales and a distinguished citizen of Cardiff and the Empire, was admitted to the jealously-guar- ded roll of honorary freedom, next I in turn to another illustrious son of Wales, Mr. W. M. Hughes, the Premier of Australia. And the first act of the new freeman was to form-, ally hand over the beautiful array of Welsh historical statuary which adorns the palatial marble hall. When the veils dropped from the statues—says a poetically-minded observer of the ceremonies—it was, as it were, as though Dewi Sant, Ilarri Tewdwr, Dafydd ab Gwilym, j Williams, Pantycelyn, Sir Thomas: Picton, and the other glorious: figures in Welsh history, had come to life again and mingled with the memorable gathering in an era strangely out of keeping with their i own day and generation. But deepest of all in portent was 1 the fact that this was the first time. for Mr. Lloyd George to publicly ap- ¡I pear in the city since he became Secretary of State for War. The greatest living Welshman." as D.A." described him, by his pre- sence made the historic gathering complete. He did not say much upon the ghastly tragedy of war ex- cept to put in a very apt =d weU. timed plea for the little nations. But! he dwelt on a theme dear to his! Celtic heart-the glorious traditions of the Welsh peopie as represented in the figures of marble before him. As he held forth with true Celtic fervour on this inspiring subject the mantle of War Minister fell from his shoulders, and he was seen only as a great son of Wales, proud of his gallant little country. Later he passed a mild criticism on the Allies—that whilst fighting fer little nations they had never fully realised and recognised their value and potential strength. His point was that the national spirit in little nations was unquenchable. The Kaiser's exhortation at Cam- brai to his troops makes an interest- ing study in attitudes. The time was when he talked of the British force as a contemptible little army; '? ]- to-day he refers to British obstin- acy. There was a period when the Huns were sent forth, in the name of One who was claimed as Ger- many's exclusive possession, to sweep their enemies towards the sea; now a greatly chastened mon- arch speaks of determination to prevent the enemy from crushing us." and of the German nation, an iron wall standing against half the world." There is the usual blasphemous appeal to the Dietv, but the whole address gives the im- pression that the Kaiser realises his impotence and the approaching triumph of the Allies. 0 The German threat to re-open the submarine war may be the pre- lude to a still more inhuman cam- paign, since the German U-boats have been what Mr. Pollen calls "distressingly busy." The writer who wrote the long war review in the Observer" last week—and Sir W. Robertson Nicoll suggests that Mr. Winston Churchill was the author—said that our naval methods had been so successful in hoipe waters that the enemy submarines were no longer a grave menace to our trade, and that, thanks to the untiring work of our Allies, they had ceased to be formidable even in the Mediterranean, perhaps not a grave menace, but J would be folly to close our eyes to the. fact that the under-sea pirates are getting a fairly hoavy weekly bag." Mr. Belloc is of opinion that Mac- kensen's successful attack in the Dobrudja, the fighting in the passes, the stabilisation of the Russian front, all means the same thing. Munitions. Right away from Rigaj to the Danujbe the enemy's advant-l age is the advantage of munition-- ment and of heavy guns. Macken-i sen accumulated a great head 01! shell, submitted the entrenched line of our Allies to an intensive boin-j bardment, which they could not.j meet on equal terms, and broker through. I Twice in history Great Britain has been the sustaining power in alliance formed to destroy the spirit i of militarism dominating a Conti nental state. Two hundred years' ago it was Marlborough who united Europe against the menacing pro- jects of Louis, showing as great! genius in statesmanship as in war- craft. A century later this country was again the inspiring force against the aspirations of another military genius, Napoleon. Sir Henry Lucy the other day drew attention to" a letter addressed to the first Earl Granville by that shrewd observer of public events, Lady Bessborough. A fortnight after General Mack's capitulation at Uhn made Napo-i leon seem more than ever irresis- tible, she said: The Allied Govern- ments do not, I think, prepare enough for the disadvantage of fighting under leaders of dI-iferenti countries, often with jarring in- j terests, against one leader who has: the peculiar talent of knowing human nature, and has no one to consult but himself, with supreme, power to put his plans into execu- tion. Despotism, horrible in every other situation, is absolutely neces-I sary, I believe, for success of war. This passage, comments Sir Henry, "precisely describes a situation that for nearly two years of the present] war gave the Germans a priceless; advantage over the Allied Forces. A conference held in Paris last summer resulted in the establish-! ment of closer cohesion, fuller unity of purpose, among the commanders of the Allied Forces, with happy results that justify the prescience of Lady Bessborough."

CORRESPONDENCE. j (Letters to the Editor should be brief, to the point, and about aoinethiug. Cor- respondents sboulu send tneir names aud addressee, not necessarily for oubiieationJ j MILK PRICES AT SWANSEA. To tne Editor.. I Sir,-Pleaae allow me c5 in your jour- nal to reply to tne '-LWx 01 6wansea Dairyman" in your come:roporary _and point out to him taat -?utferer ? ie  quite eo ioorant aa Dairyman would have his readers 'to believe. As a matter of fact. 1 have aold milk in Swansea, and knew something of the large quantities 01 milk sold to hotels, etc. 1 took "Dairyman" on his own ooiife-wion: that he was a wholesale and retail dairy. man. handling 150 eallons of mIlk per clay; and when he eftates that he h:t& to pay three men and has two horses and traps my personal opinion ia that there would not bo sufficient work to keep them all em- ployed. especially when only (leuling with 360 gallons of milk, the best pare of which is sold in large clus-rftities at wholesale prices to hotels, etc. .Nüw. as "the position of the farmers and retailers. In my last letter I purposely put in Dairyman's expenses L5 per week for wantages, which jftgure i? more than sum- cien't to make good the lose I wonder if "Dairyman has ever heard that butter can bo made with the milk he says he throws away! Butter is now 23 per lb. He also asserts th?t he hn?.to go ? the factories when short of ni; and pay 3a 2? 3d., and 28. 6d. per gtll?*,A:j -wh<)l& sale. Does he want the u"?lic to believe that! Why does he not sell his rounds aiM start a factory .J It would be more profitable than cartincr milk to the hotels, etc.. for i Is. 3d a gall=. IsI. f Dairyman" can afford to supply h"'te?*at )6. 8d. per aUon. the public sh Id demand i??t the same price.—Yours, et<v. SUFFERER.

Mr. AfJuith has informed Mr. D. Mason that Viscount. Grey's speech to neutral journalists represents the views of the Go.1I,t,

TMC PMU?! QD!???'Q R!f* THE GROWN PRINCE'S BIG DEFEAT. HOW THE FRENCH WON BACK LOST GROUND THE DEFENCES OF VERDUN "Times" Telegram, per Press Association (Copyright.) WITH THE IKENCH ARMY, Oct. 25th (received Saturday)* AU day long on Monday and until laca in the evening, a fierce duel went on, the French shells falling on the ridges north, and north-east of Verdun, the German inund the French batteries on the slopea of the ridges and in the valleys and ravines between. On those northern, heights, on and behind which half'-a^mil- lion German soldiers and what was left or the Crown Prince's military reputa- tion have perished, the continual roar of the guns and the flashes and smoke cloud of shells were both in themselves, and for what they might mean, a magnificent and, cheering sound and spectacle, and all the time overhead the aeroplanes—the splen- did, dauntless,- far-seeing eyea of the French Army-were calmly carrying on I their invaluable part of the common work, sometimes poised apparently with- 1 out motion high in places utterly disdain- ful of the black smudges of shrapnel burst- ing all round them as a German battery hurst into a furious rapid bombardment; sometimes whirring noisily as they darted swiftly towards earth to deliver their mes- sages. ATTACK MADE IN MISTY WEATHER On Tuesday, the day of the attack. th-a weather changed to the disadvantage of our Allies. The san was hidden by ai thick blanket of clouds, the air was thick and heavy with moisture, and a river mist added to an occasional drizzle of rain, < blotting out the outline of all bu t t'h nearest hillg. All the conditions seemed to be as unfavourable as possible to am infantry attack, and it seems to me more than probable that that was the view taken by the enemy, but this time them was to be no holding back. The attack wa-s carried out as it had been ari-LLnged. As the result, after seven hours' severe fighting, the French once more gained tha mastery of the fort, which had cost so many hundreds of lives, and undid tha whole of the work which the Germans i ha"e done since February 25. On the lefb of the five mile front, the attack began, from what was the most advanced and most northerly point of the French line at Cote Du Poivre and the Quarries of Hand- romont, about two miles east of the Meuse. at Vacherauville. CAPTURE OF DOUAUMONT FORT. Between this point and Thiaumont, at distance of aand a half, the first ad- vance carried the French infantry about 11 mile to the road running west from Douau* rnont to Bras, up the ravines of Gouleuvrtf and La Dame. In the next seotor troops starting from Floury moved almost ( directly north towards Donaumont, up and, to the left of the ravine Giiaxabitoux, and, took the Bois de la Cailette, eo that th. way to Douaumont was now open on both, sides, and further to the right the attack;' was pushed forward in a straight lane be,- tween Douaumont and Bourvaux till itr nearly reached the Fort of Vaux, mid way between them. As far as I can gather, the French generals themselves were aston- ished by the rapidity of the advance, 3n(li during the afternoon extended their objec- tive to include the capture of Douaumont, Artillery and infantry fought together in perfect combination with magnificent oourage and rmoluti%. TREMENDOUS BIG GUN DUEL. It was beautiful to watch the regularity of the advance. In all directions from be. hind and'in front, and from both flanks., batteries were pouring their hurrincan«» of etoei on thoee long, low hills in front. Gradually, as the afternoon wore on, er. plosions of French shells and of a double German barrage tire, upon or in front 06 the attacking troops, moved steadily, further and further up the slopes and ravines. On the oreets of further ridges huge pillars of black smoke kept shooting up from the ground, and two or thre» times a dense volume of white smoke, coloured red by flamc, shone out for eonnai jroe against the eky as a giant incendiary, shell &et on tire some explosive or iu- flammable material. And all the tim^ in the middle distance between the French batteries and the bursts that outline tha position of Douaumont and the retreating Germane, shell after shell churned up the ground over which the infantry: right was advancing, and filled the airt with yet other clouds of earth and stones and smoke. Steadily, foot by foot, and treneh by; trench, but with extraordinary rapidity, those splendid French infantry advanced, driving the enemy before them and taking 3,500 prisoners on the way, till at last, after a final struggle around Douaumont Fort, they shot all of its defenders whok ref used t oeurrender, and won it back fojj France. A FRENCH GENERAL'S VIEWS. I asked General Dubois to givo mo in » few words his own idea of the strength ( the place, and this i8 what he wrote:— The most striking thing at Verdun the pitiable and lamentable failure of the German effort against all the inilitaryl organisations of the town. Their present certainty that they will soon be definitely: compelled to retire—(thia was written. the day before the advance on Douau- mont)—leads them from time to lim. as has happened again within the last few days, to redouble the fury of theit bombardment. But it is trouble lost. During the eight montlis nothing ha4 given way, nothing hUlS boon serioulsy irL. jured in the vitals of the defences. Tha old enciento of Vaubau and the citadel itself are unharmed in spite of the storm of 3.80 shells and projectiles of other calibres which have been showered upoa them. Quite on the contrary, the whole of the time which has passed sinoe the beginning of the attack has been made wonderful u&e of in putting Verdun in a state of solidity of resistance of which tha Germans have no idea. This considerable reinforcement of the means of defence would have much surprised them if their assault had succeeded. Lastly, the bom- bardment itself, a detail which is nob without its piquancy, has on mcve than one occasion faeilita'ifrd the erection of important works. A 3.80 shell is some- times very valuable. It can do the work 01 50 men for eight days. That is the way in which the Germans, without suspect- ing it, have collaborated on the defence of the fortress. It is also one of t.ho reasons, and not one of the lea^t original, why they will never take Verdun. That was the spirit in which the Frenchmen who were in a position to know talked about Verdun before tlut taking of Douaumont.

LAN DORE. An Imaginary Mcct As furiously towards the shore A vessel drove—the gale before, The look-out" taw, as glared a lighli And forthwith shouted with delight: Taiido-re.. Talnant.

Mrs. West, wife of a major in West Monmouthfcliire Eegiment, was accidentally shot dwd while out with A j shooting party at Orfcord, Suffolk