New-York tribune. [volume], April 25, 1918, Image 1

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
ii;il.^?Hl??^oJ-gneLway of helping the enemy than to refuse this
ALL MERCHANDISE ADVER
TISED IN THE TRIBUNE
IS GUARANTEED
Vol. LXXVIII No. 26,093
O ail?Mey er London
WEATHER
Fair to-day and to-morrow; not much
change in temperature; dimin?
ishing northwest winds.
ICopyrlg-hl 1?18_
The Tribune Aaa'nJ
Last? the Truth: News ? Editorials -Advertisements
Foil Report on Pas? 9
THURSDAY, APRIL .25, 1918
? * ?
Tivnrrvrc^Ia Greater Xew York and I
*wol'"a*T*lwlthto commuttn? distance |
THREE CENTS
ElaewhtK?
Germans Strike f
American Ft
Amiens on Wide
Battle
j
John D. Ryan j
Made Director
Of Airplane;
Production!
New Department of Aero-!
nautics Created, With ?
, Brigadier General Kenly
at Its Head
i
Coffin to Remain on
Advisory Committee
??#_
General Speeding Up All
Along Line Expected as
Result of Reorganiza?
tion of Bureau
WASHINGTON, April 24.?President
Wilson to-day appointed John D. Ryan,
Montana copper king, financier and
railroad man, Director of Aircraft Pro?
duction for the army. Simultaneously
the War Department announced a reor?
ganization of the aviation section of
the Signal Corps which relieves Gen- .
eral Squier, chief signal officer, from ;
further connection with military aero
Unties, which is placed in charge of j
Brigadier General William L. Kenly, as j
chief of a new division to control train- j
ing of aviators and military use of air?
craft
Major General Squier will confine his j
activities in the future to the signal j
branch. Howard Coffin, chairman of ;
the Aircraft Board, and under whose
direction the building programme has
developed to its present stage, retires .
from the board and relinquishes the ?
?bairmanship to Mr. Ryan. The Air
i craft Board itself, created by Congress, ;
will continue as an advisory body. '
Effects Concentrated Control !
Throughout all the agitation over
delays and mistakes in getting quan?
tity production of aircraft under way,
all critics have agreed that the great
fault lay in the absence of concen?
trated control. The power of Mr. Coffin
and his board was subject to the Signal
Corps, and this divided responsibility
has bepn blamed largely for the fact
that the programme is about three
months behind.
Mr. Coffin himself made the only of?
ficial comment on the reorganization.
He said:
"The appointment of a single in?
dividual with definite and adequate
;;o*ft-er to deal with al! aspects of army
aircraft production is a logical and
necessary step.
"It is necessary to get away fron,
-"?y Question of a division of responsi?
bility, either in fact or in the public
mind. The aircraft board remains, as
jnce it? creation in October, an ad
'.sory body; but under this new ar?
rangement, the chairman of the boaru
ojwomes also the supreme executive
?jfency for proper results, both the
power of execution and the responsi?
bility must be concentrated in the
.'ame hand?. The method of Mr.
?yan"?- appointment would s'.-cm to ac?
compli-? this result."'
Reorganization Long Predicted
This reorganization, forecast at the
War Department since before the Son?
st? Military Committee made its re?
port rof'.rring to the aviation pro
pammc ae a "humiliating failure," fol?
lows a preliminary report from a spe?
cial com mitte? of investigators ap?
pointed by President Wilson and head
H by H. Snowden Marshall, of New
York. The report never has been made
Public, but it is known to have been
submitted to Secretary Baker soon af?
ter his return from France.
Assistant Secretaries Crowell and
wettiniua and Major General March,
acting chief of staff, are understood to
*<ave worked out the new plan of or?
ganization. Mr. Crowell, as Acting
?"Wretary, it> said to have been ready
-o act without waiting for Mr. Baker's
>"*turn if the Marshall report had been
received.
The authority given Mr. Ryan cor?
responds to that given Charles M.
Schwab, as director general of the
Lmerger-cy Fleet Corporation. He ha?
?-he task of speeding up production in
*H of the manw plant? working on air?
craft for the army and is given full
Power in that respect. In the matter
*f designing and engineering author
'**.apparently is divided between the
division* of military aeronautics and
Productions.
Amply ??quipped for Job
Mr, Kyan heretofore has taken an
active part in the work of the Bed
Cross War Council, and thos<* who
*n?w him declare he is amply equipped
?or the big job now intrusted to him.
?resident Wilson is said to have ha<l
' hand personally in the selection.
Born in Michigan fifty-four years
SKQ, Mr. Ryan has had a busy life a?
*? industrial leader. H? is now pri-tt
?wit of the Anaconda Copper Com?
pany, of the United Metals Helling
Com ?any and ot the Montana Power
?ompanj. He is a director of many
?adustrial ?tnterpri*?* and bank? and
*" the Chicago Milwaukee A St. Paul.
I On? of the big thing? in which he
?a? played a part, was the ?lectrlftca
t'on of th* mountain division of the
? bleago. Milwaukee & Ht. Paul, prob
**??/ >h? greatest undertaking of th?s
fWM wer attempted.
1,811,086 Tons of
Ships Lost in the
Last Three Months
LONDON, April 24.?The Admiralty
has announced the cessation of the
weekly return of shipping losses.
A monthly report, on the Thursday
following the 21st of each month,
will be substituted.
The monthly statement will give
the gross tonnage lost and the ton?
nage of sailings to and from ports
in the United Kingdom*
A table issued to-night gives the !
losses of British, Allied and neutral ;
merchant tonnage due to enemy j
action and marine risk since the be- !
ginning of 1917. The losses for the ?
quarter ended March, 1917, were:
British, 911,840, and. plus Allied and !
neutral, 1,619,373. For the quarter
ended in June: British, 1,3(51,370, j
and, plus Allied and neutral, 2.23R,- j
934. For the quarter ended Septem? i
ber: British. 952,938, and, plus Allied :
and neutral, 1,494,173. For the quar- ;
tor ended in December: British, ?.
782,880, and, plus Allied and neutral,
1,272,843. The losses for the quarter
ended in March, 1918, were: British, ?
(587,576, and, plus Allied and neutral, ,
1,123,510.
Clearance in and out of the ports I
of the United Kingdom were very
steady. The total for last March was
7,295,620 tons.
Jagow Admits
That England
Attempted to
Prevent Warj
-:- !
Former Foreign Minister in I
Reply ' to Lichnowskyi
Gives German Version-of
World Conflict
Prince Lichnowsky's recently pub?
lished memorandum throwing the
entire guilt for the tear on the Ger
i?an government has received an of- \
ficial reply in the form of a state- j
ment issued to the German press by j
von Jagow, who was German For-1
eign Minister when Prince Lie-Know- i
sky ivas the German Ambassador toi
London.
In his memorandum Prince Lich-\
noivsky makes the following charges \
against Germany:
That Germany had frustrated Sir j
Edward Grey's attempts to come to
a 'rapprochement with Germany be- \
fore the war.
That Germany's policy toward'
France had been provocative.
Thai Germany's Oriental and
Triple Alliance policy had forced
Russia to join the Entente Alliance.
That Germany and Austria want?
ed arbitrarily to change the terms
of tiic Bucharest treaty.
That Germany encouraged Aus?
tria to attack Serbia, although no
German interest was involved and
the danger of world icar fully ap?
preciated.
That Germany rejected all propo?
sals of mediation in regard to Ser?
bia.
That Germany had declared war
on Russia under a mere pretext.
That Germany wanted war with
England and France.
Conciliatory Attitude
By Grey Is Admitted
In his reply ron Jagow accuses
Lichnowsky of looking "on mat tern
. with London eyes," but admits that
Sir Edvjard Grey was conciliatory
and had "advised conciliation at
Petrograd." The German Foreign
I Minister further admits tlvat Ger
' many "could not agree to the Eng?
lish proposal for a conference, for
' it doubtless would have meant a
serious diplomatic defeat for us,"
und adds that "the best and only
possible alternative ivas the locali?
zation of the war" (an attack on
Serbia in which, Austria would be
\ unmolested), and that all German
energies were directed toward this
' end. A new diminution of German
'. prestige in tlie -world, would nave re
i suited from a diplomatic . handling
i of the situation, he says, and could
: not ?Have been alloivcd.
Following is the text of von
Jagow'ti reply to the Lichninvsky
memorandum an published in the
German papers just received here:
"When I was appointed Secretary of.
8tat? in January, 1913. I regarded a
(icrman-Knglish rapproachment as de?
sirable and an understanding ou the
point.? wh?r? our interests conflicted
a? attainable. At any rate. 1 desired
Continued on Page 10, Column A
German and
Dutch Envoys
Start Home
Difficulties in Negotiations
With Holland Reported
by Berlin
Hague Clinging
To Neutrality
Use of Railway Through
Limbourg Depends on
Germany's Intentions
AMSTERDAM, April 24.?The "Het
voll?' announces that the German
Minister to the Netherlands has left
The Hague for Berlin and that the
Dutch Minister to Germany is on his
way ?from Berlin to The Hague.
The Berlin correspondent of the
"Nieuwc Rotterdamschc Courant'' is
informed by a person in authority
that difficulties have arisen in the ne?
gotiations between Germany and Hoi
land and the negotiations are not
making headway.
The Hague correspondent of the
"Handelsblad" says that the question
of the transport of sand and gravel
and the use of the railway line through
Limbourg depends entirely on the in?
tentions of Germany. The correspond?
ent adds that the Dutch government
will firmly observe neutrality, what?
ever happens.
Germany Trying to
Force Seizure of
Dutch Colonies
LONDON, April 24.?Relations be?
tween Germany and Holland are still
discussed in special dispatches from
Holland with the suggestion that the
situation is extremely serious, but none
is able to give authentic details of the
alleged German demands.
The sand and gravel question' takes
a prominent place in all the reports,
but some of the correspondents write
of several others. The correspondent
of "The Times" at The Hague men?
tions, among other things, the reported
demand that Holland shall guarantee
to Germany a supply of raw materials
immediately after tho war, while a cer?
tain quantity of Dutch tonnage ?3 de?
manded for the same period.
It is further suggested, "The Times"
adds, that, the Germans expect to be
able to force Holland to accept such
conditions as would virtually compel
the Entente Aliies to formally occupy
the Dutch colonies, which would throw
Holland completely into German-hands?
There are no special indications of ner?
vousness noticeable in The Hague, and
the correspondent of "The Times" says
that reports such as the foregoing
emanate solely from German sources.
-m-.
Have You Bought Your
Liberty Cabbage Yet?
Don't lay yourself open to the
charge of pro-Germanism hereafter
by calling jt "sauerkraut," Refer to
it as "Liberty cabbage."
The pickle dealers add to this ad?
monition the earnest plea that people
buy it, whatever they call it. For
enough sauer?beg pardon.Liberty
cabbage is in storehouses here to
feed the whole German army for
several days.
Just because the food has a Cer?
n?an name true patriots are avoiding
it. Before the war it was selling at
; from $45 to $50 a barrel. It is down
1 to $14 or less now, with no buyers.
The pickle dealers :;ent a delega?
tion to the Federal Food Board yes?
terday to ask its cooperation in get?
ting rid of the supply of sauerkraut.
\ They offered to change its name to
1 anything the board might suggest,
\ and "Liberty* cabbage" was at last
selected.
Food conservationists arc urged to
adopt this slogan:
BUY, BUY LIBERTY CAB
BAGK! AND BYE-BYE SAUER?
KRAUT |
(Mole of Zeebrugge
broken?Ostend Harbor
partly blocked?Page 3.)
Think Capture
| Of Zeebrugge
Was Possible
U. S. Military Officers Be?
lieve Great Opportunity
Lost
Blocking Harbor
Only Temporary
Possession of Port Would
Have Menaced Hinden
burg in Rear
By C. W. Gilbert
WASHINGTON, April 24.-Criticism
was heard in military circles here to?
day over the ^eebrugge exploit of the
British and French navies. Whv was
it not mare boldly conceived? Why
was it not a bigger attack? Why did
not the Allies take Zcebrugge, for the
ease with which they entered the har
? bar ?-'hows they could have done ko.
Opinion on the. exploit, was withheld
i yesterday until sufficient, facts were
I available for comment, But to-day
officers did not hesitate to say that
if the British and French had been
present in adequate force in other
I words, if they had conducted this of
? fensive as the Germans are conducting:
their offensive on the West front?
they would have, captured Zeebrugge
? and thus created a dangerous diver
j sion in the rear of the German army.
j , -Since their contest wijjh, the Und
guns at Gallipoli the British warships
i have been shy of attacking shore bat
I teries. Yet it is to be remembered
J that if the warships had persisted in
! their bombardment one day longer
I Constantinople would have fallen. This
, raid at Zeebrugge was, in this spirit
j of caution, conducted with ships that
' were "of little or no value to the Brit
i ish navy, obsolete cruisers that were
taken to Zeebrugge to be lost. Yet the.
only vessels lost were the ones delib?
erately sunk in an attempt to stop
the channel.
Cruiser Spent
; Hour in Harbor
The only cruiser not loaded with
; cement for sinking passed under the
I shore batteries, penetrated the harbor,
j spent an hour in it, ?came out under
I her own steam, although damaged by
I one shot from a 17-inch gun. Besides
I this old cruiser, destroyers entered the
j harbor and steamed about at will. Dis
! patches do not indicate they were in
j jured.
Summing it all up, these boats did
? the very things that we have been as
i sured were impossible. They went
! through many mine lields. They en
I gaged shore batteries. They made a
| landing and drove the enemy away
1 from his shore guns and departed in
I good order when they had finished
1 their job.
i There seems to be evidence enough
i here to show mat had the Allies been
I present in force they would now be in
! Zeebrugge, in the rear of Hindenburg,
j who would be hurrying back to drive
I them out. Had an attempt been made
; to take Zeebrugge some ships nfight
I have been lost, but in view of the ease
| with which the harbor was entered a
I great opportunity ^eems to have been
| overlooked from lack of faith in an
j enterprise which was worthy of the
best traditions of British sea warfare.
Had the Allies taken Zeebrugge they
would have disturbed seriously the de
i signs of Jlindenburp in the West. An
j enemy base in his rear would have been
intolerable. He would have had to
turn from his efforts to destroy the
? British ;n order to protect his own
rear. To retake Zeebrugge he would
have had to face the guns of a large
; part of the British navy, which might
then have been safely brought up to
j protect the party ashore and to main?
tain a hold upon the Belgian coast.
! Great Possibilities
I In Taking of Zeebrugge
I Great possibilities, both naval and
\ military, would have lain in such a sit
? untion as the taking of Zeebrugge
: would have created. If in the end the
hold upon Zeebrugge had to be relin
; quished as is likely, it need not have
| been relinquished till the Mole there
! had been demolished and all possi
; bility of using the harbor as a silbmn
j rim; base for many months to conic
' had been destroyed. On the whole, Zeo
' brugge will raiiK with Jutland, with
I Gallipoli, with the failure of the Ger
j mans to hold tho Channel ports, once
i they had them, as one of the loot op
! poi'tunities of the war.
What has been accomplished is, of
! course, much less. If the passage has
j been blocked by the sunken ships and
I there remains no way out among them,
: the obstacles can either be dynamited
[ and removed or a channel around them
I cut. At most tho use of the harbor by
j submarines has been only temporarily
i discontinued or impaired.
A more important result is the mili
! tary result of creating? adversi?n by
? an unexpected attack nwny from the
I main front. Apparently Germany has
drawn upon her nhore batteries ay?
' probably upon those of her ships of
Continued on Page .*?, Column 5
THE DRIVERS RESUME THE DRIVE
1919 Ship Plans
Call for Over
10 Million Tons
| Schwab, Hurley, Goethals,
Franklin and Guthrie
Hold Conference j
WASHINGTON, April 24.?The Ship- j
j ping Board has decided on a substan- S
? tial increase in its building programme j
I for 1919 over the tonnage planned for !
i this year, and indications are that the
increase will be continued in 1920.
Pians for next year were discussed
to-day at a luncheon attended by
Chairman Hurley and other members
of the Shipping Board, Vice-President l
Picz and Director General Schwab of |
the Emergency Fleet Corporation, P. A.
S. Franklin, of the international ship !
control committee; Major General ?
Goethals and other officials. Especial
attention was paid to the question of !
i passenger ships and refrigerator ships,
for which the War Department will j
mak'* increasingly large demands as
the war progresses.
For military reasons the exact size ;
of the future building programme was i
not made public. From previous state- j
ments of Chairman Hurley, however, it:
has been estimated that the construe- !
tion in 1919 will be in excess of ten
million tons, the largest amount ever !
built in one year by any nation. Be- ;
fore January 1 all the shipyards will
'be in full operation and " many old |
yards which have demonstrated their'
ability efficiently will be expanded.
Of tho total tonnage next year, ap- i
proximately S.OOU.OOO tons will be ?teel. '
It is expected that 2,500,000 tons of
wooden ships will be turned out next ?
year, virtually all on the Gulf and I
Pacific coasts. There now are 332 ways j
for wooden ships.
It was said that the conference was
the most important in'it-, bearings on
the shipping situation; which had been '?
held since the Shipping Board was or- 1
ganlzed. An international aspect was i
given to the deliberations by the pr?s- ?
once of Sir Cunnop Guthri-*, the British
member of the Ship Control Committee.
Mr. Schwab urged that a few changes
be made in existing designs of ships.
He said the Bethlehem Steel Company
could have turned out guns and shells
for this government more rapidly if it
hnd been allowed to manufacture them
aller British and French models, which !
the company had been producing in |
quantity for months.. Instead, new ma-?
chincry had to bo Built and delay re?
sulted.
All prescht agreed with the Director
General, who has been told he can
have a free hand in turning out the
vessels ordered by the Shipping Board.
Major Thaw Scores
Double Air Victory
Spurring Other American Fli?
ers On to Great Deeds
in the Air
WASHINGTON, April 24.?A dis
, patch from Paris to-day relating to the
? exploits of American aviators says:
"The 'Pfctit Parisien' gives dates con?
cerning the most recent exploits of the
American aviators. On April 20 Major
Thaw, commander of the Lafayette
Squadron, won a splendid double vic?
tory, bringing down in turn a Drachen
and a monoplane. These two victories
permit him to be enrolled among the
prize aviators.
"Since he assumed the command of
the glorious unit, he seems to have
particularly distinguished himself. Ma?
jor Thaw evidently wishes to set an ex?
ample, and many of his compatriots ;
will take thoir places within a short j
time among the air champions, notably j
Captain Biddle, Lieutenant Baer (ninej
victories, four of which were official in :
the space of forty-three days), and j
Sergeant Bylies. Meanwhile two
Americans already have taken prece
dence of them, Major Lufbery and Ma
jor Thaw."
PARIS, April 24.?Major William
Thaw, commanding the Lafayette Fly- ?
ing Corps, is now counted among the
"aces" in aviation in France, having ',
brought down his fifth adversary and a ?
captive balloon on the same day.
Major Thaw^within the past month,
has acounted for three opponents in ;
serial encounters. i
Senate Seat Offered
To Speaker Clark
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., April 24. - ;
Governor Gardner to-night tendered to
Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the appointment as
Senator to succeed the late William J. ?
Stone. .
Friends Believe Clark
Will Accept Senate Seat
[Staff Correspondence]
WASHINGTON, April 24. ? Speaker
Champ Clark will decide to-morrow j
whether he will accept the appointment :
as Senator to fill the vacancy made by '.
the death of Senator Stone.
"I just got the message from Cover- !
nor Gardner," Speaker Clark saitl to-1
night, "and I can't give yen an answer i
off hand on whether to accept the high !
honor. You can say I have the matter
under consideration."
Friends of the Speaker to-night' de- j
clared their belief that he would decide
to accept the seat in the Upper House,
recalling that he $ad once expressed
a desire for a seat in the Senate.
Rfrnembpr LIBERTY BONDS!?American'
Pencil Co. VENUS PENCILS.?AUvt.
German Blow
Aims to Split
Allied Armies
; Ludendorff Again Sends
! Hordes Forward on
Wide Front
By Arthur S. Draper
[Tribune Cable Service]
LONDON, April 24.?The gigan
| tic show is on again. After a pause
of three weeks the Germans have
resumed their efforts to uncover
Amiens and to split the British and !
French armies. All through the \
moonlit night the great guns boomed
| along the wide Picardy battlefront
and at daybreak to-day the enemy
hordes began their attack between
Albert and Avre, a distance of some
fifteen miles.
Simultaneously an onslaught on I
the British right wing between Giv- i
enchy and Robecq was made. Diver- !
sions also took place southwest o? i
Mount Kemmel.
Ludendorff's objectives might be
outlined as follows:
1. Capture Amiens, outflanking*
the British between Arras and Al?
bert. ' !
2. Capture Bethune and break
the British hinge at Givenchy.
3. Penetrate the Ypres defencea
by capturing Mount Kemmel. !
Since April 3 the Somme front has
been comparatively quiet, but during i
the last three weeks Ludendorff has
been concentrating huge force's of
men and guns behind the front at
Amier.s.
Hangard Appears Centre
A few days ago the,mighty Rieht- ;
hofen lost his life here in an effort to
break through the British aerial de- j
fence. Wherever Richthofen ap?
peared there was certain to be ac- j
tivity, and the presence of the Ger- ?
man rittmeister and his squadron on
the vrent at Amiens was a sure sign
Continued on Page 2, Column 2
Enemy, Using
! Tanks. Takes
Town From
Kaig's Men
I Teutons Are Hurled
I at Juncture of British
and Franco-Ameri
can Armies
Severe Fighting
Around Hangard
i _
r
! French Check German
i
Efforts to Straighten
Salient and Battle
Continues
j The Germans yesterday opened a
violent attack on a thirteen-mile
front east of Amiens. They failed
to gain ground except at a few
points. Heavy fighting continues.
American troops are engaged in the '
battle, Paris announces officially.
The communication says:
"An intense bombardment of
the Franco-American positions
south of the Somme and on the
Avre was followed by a German
attack carried out all along this
front by considerable forces at
5 o'clock in the morning."
The enemy has captured Villers
Bretonneux from the British. The
town is about, a mile west of the
former front and eleven miles east
of Amiens. The Germans also
gained a footing in the woods held
by the French northwest of Han?
gard and in the eastern outskirts
of this village. Everywhere else
the attacks were shattered with
heavy German losses.
The sector selected for attack covers
the junction of the British a-nd
Franco-American armies.
The Allies hold a rather sharp sa?
lient in the German lines on the
high ground around Hangard.
j This the enemy seems to be trying
to straighten out.
The first assault was delivered at
6:30 o'clock in the morning, after
a violent bombardment, and failed
completely. Later the German?
advanced again, and the fighting
from then on has been continuous,
often leading to hand-to-hand con?
flicts.
! The German advance at Villers-Bre
tonneux was led by thrse tanks.
This is said to be the first time
the enemy has used tanks in such
an action.
The Berlin official statement last
light ignored the battle, stating
rimply : v"There is nothing new to
report."
On the Lys salient the British have
captured a German salient about
a mile wide and a mile deep just
east of Robecq, and held it againsi.
a counter attack. The Germans
claim they have won Vleugelhoei:
Hill, southwest of Dranoutre, on
the north side of the salient.
The British early yesterday beat off
what appeared to be a heavy at?
tack just north of Albert. At sev?
eral points the British improved
their line in local actions.
British Lines South
Of Somme Attacked;
Enemy Using Tanks
WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN
FRANCE, April 24.?Hard fightirc
developed this morning on the south?
ern battlefront. the enemy attacking
south of the Somme along the line
of Villers-Bretonneux, Hangard ?n
Santerre, Hailles and Castel. Early
developments indicated that the Ger
Vians were trying only for limited
objectives.
On the British sector Villers-Bro
tonneux, which nestles on a ridge
overlooking the long stretch of the
Somme Valley, was the storm centre,
and here the enemy, for the fim