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ALL MERCHANDISE ADVER? TISED IN THE TRIBUNE IS GUARANTEED First to Last? the Truth: News - Editorials - Advertisements ?Iribimc WBAfPfrBH Local showers t?-day, aad wanner. To? morrow unsettled; moderate sooth snd southwest winds. FOU B-aport an race 7 Vol. LXXVm No. 26.125 The TMbnne Ass*****] [Copyright 191?? MONDAY, MAY 27, 1918 o o ? two reaere? *n ?nrme?mr View fork am? rwu OJD"w?wi?Mn eammntiac dista??* THREE CENTS Elsewhere Mc?doo Decrees Pay Raise of $300,000,000 And 8-Hour R. R. Day ?*8 Provides That Women; Shall Receive Same Wages as Men Board Created to Correct Injustices New Rates Affect All Re? ceiving Less Than $250 a Month WASHINGTON. May 26. - General p?y increases, for nearly 2,000,000 rail ? Tond employe? were announced to-dav by Director General Mc.Adoo, effective next Saturday and retioactive to last January 1, currying out substantially recommendations of the railroad wage commission. The aggregate of the i increase? probably will be more than | 1300,000,000 a year, half of which will ? ' be distributed within a few weeks as back pay in lump sums ranging from about $100 to nearly $200 each. The Director General departed from : the wage commission's recommenda? tion-? in the following particulars: The principle of the basic eight-hour | day is recognized, but owing to the , exigencies of the war situation hours of employment are not actually re? duced, and overtime is to be paid pro rata. Future adjustments of pay are to be made on the basis of eight hours. Equal Pay for Women In addition* to the ordinary scale of increase, day laborers, employed main? ly on track work, are to get at least 2-*2 cents an hour more than they re? ceived last December 31 A minimum of 55 cents an hour is established for the shop trades, includ? ing machinists, boilermakers and black? smiths. Women are to receive the same pay as men for the same work, and negroes are to get the same as white men for similar employment. To work out a multitude of inequal? ities of pay among employes doing similar work in different localities, and other injustices caused by varying rules of employment and conditions of organization, the Director General cre? ated a*- new board of railroad wages and working conditions, consisting of three labor representativea and three railway executives, which will conduct extensive investigation and recommend ware and other employment changes. All increases now ordered will be de? termined according to a percentage scale based on pay received in De? cember, 1915, and any increases which have been allowed within that time will be deducted. In many cases raises \n pay in the last two and a half years are about equal to the increases now approved, and consequently those em? ployes will get little or no more. Task for New Wage Board To cohect just such situations when injustices arc apparent will be one of ! the principal duties of the new wage lioard, whose creation was suggested by the Railroad Wage Commission. In no cases are wages to be reduced. Men working on the monthly, daily, hourly, piece work and mill basis will benefit by the liew allowances, and members of the four leading railway brotherhoods whose pay was raised through operation of the Adamson act ?re to receive from 10 to 40 per cent addition, a smaller increase than they asked of railroads shortly before the government took control. The wage order applies to all em? ployes ot the 164 roads now under federal management, but not to the so called short lines, unless they are re? tained by the government after July 1. It affects employe? of terminal, union ?tation, and switching companies, light? ers, ferries and tugs owned by rail toads, but not employes of railroad boat lines on the lakes, rivers or coast , w?w traffic. Although Pullman cars "ow are under government operation, Pullman employes will not benefit ?"?lese the railroad administration de? cides to retain management of the urs. forget Dissensions, Says McAdoo In announcing hia decision, Mr. Mc- | ?Moo appealed to railroad employes to 'orge*, disronaions and disappointments ?rising under private control and to ieaember that the success of the war depends largely on their service. To meet the expense of the wage in ?***??. the biggest ever granted to ra?road or any other class of employes K.0n?.tum>> the railcoad administration a** discussed raising freight and pas ?*nger rates. The percentages of wage increase 2??* "?m 43 for men who received ?ws month in December, 1915, down Vn&?^ttL?**6 ?,or th08e receiv-?? i?< 'mmW-i' and no more ,s allowed ?en who made S260 or more in 1915. *?Sltu5? addit'0n? run up to $34. wisn the exceptions of officers and ??M,...-??????ivhj vi winters ann >*?**K?*er Koy' undcr eiehteen, who >wfc*IT* "-"?ller increases, all employes ! XlJ?* ?ed ,Iess than *4* ? ??nth IrVeUJt tt? incr?*?e of $20, with the III ?tu **!?.** taboM? P?id by the WhS?11!?*1 * ?*?*???"? of 2% cents an nour shnvn ??.?. ..-.. ??_ ._.>_ Unk??. i*" ? mimraira or ?v? cents jan hour above the rate six months sgo. Summary of Increases (*!*? ^i* ot ??cresses, ss snnounced, ttsrawed for each dollar of wages re Continued on Poaje 4, Column ? I ? th Hour Plea Made To Aid Red Cross The second Red Cross War j Fund drive for $100,000,000 ends ! at midnight to-night. New York City's minimum" quota is $25,000,000. Twenty-four hours before the j end of the drive William C. Breed, chairman of the local cam? paign, said: "Reports indicate that the other sections are heavily over? subscribing their allotments. Our j committee will not be satisfied j unless New York maintains its position and gives one-fourth of the amount contributed by the entire country. That was the estimate of the measure of New York's patriotism and generosity, ? and we must not fall h?low the | estimation placed upo ; us. To attain this result our est efforts ? must not be relaxed one minute during the next twenty-four hours." Repressive Acts ByU.S.Causeof j Mexico's Break Capital Thinks Steps Taken to Check Teuton Agents Irritate Carranza 'Special Dispatch to The Tribune) WASHINGTON, May 26.?Restrictive measures imposed on Mexico by the United States and the Entente toblock and counteract German activity in Cen? tral and South America were the cause of the diplomatic break between Mexico and Cuba, according to prominent Cu? bans here who profess to know the present temper of the Carranza gov? ernment. The bi*eak in relations announced by Mexico City is considered generally here a slap at the United States. In support of this view it is being pointed out that General Candido Aguilar, Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his formal note announcing the break, refers to Cuba as being "now in an afflicted situation." This refer? ence is interpreted as a criticism of the present close alliance between Cuba and the United States. Fabela Affair an Incident The so-called Fabela affair is be? lieved to be only an incident, though it is known Mexico City was much ex? ercised about this affair. While it has been publicly announced that the lug? gage of Ysidro Fabela, the Mexican Minister to Argentina and Chile, was stolen in Havana, it is held in Mexico City, according to reports reaching Washington, that Fabela's baggage was seized and searched by agents of the Entente and the Unite?! States. If this was the case, it is thought the action was taken because the En? tente secret service believed that tho German Ambassador at Mexico City was employing Fabela to transmit com? munications to the German diplomatic representatives in the Argentine. One of the repressive measures im? posed by the United States on Mexico which is said to be particularly irritat? ing to that nation is the virtual cen? sorship of all Mexican mails to Spain. The United States will not provide bunker coal for Spanish vessels beyond Havana, and. in consequence, Mexican Spanish mails are transmitted via American Ward liners from Mexico to Havana. This enables representatives of the United States to enforce a censorship of mails from Vera Cruz and Tampico to Cadiz, Spain. Before the United States took this action, it is reported, the Entente registered repeated pro? tests that German agents in the United States and in Mexico were communi? cating without hindrance with Berlin via the Spanish liners sailing from Havana. The embargo declared on Cuban sugar to Mexico is said to be a further irritant contributing to the present strain which found expression in the Cuban break. There is little reason to support complaints on this situation, however, because the Mexican govern? ment could negotiate arrangements with the War Trade Board to provide sugar supplies adequate for her mini? mum needs, it is pointed out. Carranza Fears for Prestige Carranza does not like to negotiate with the United States, however, it is said, because such action would cost him prestige with those influences in Central and South American, to which he has sought to play oracle. This desire on the part of Carranza to as? sume leadership in Latin-America is said to have had not s little to do with his recent Cuban action, it being a feeler to determine the support he can command if he elects to take further action along the same lines. Inquiries made regarding the diplo? matic background of Aguilar, Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs, in an ef? fort to throw light on the recent un? precedented Mexican diplomatic action, to-day disclosed that Aguilar, before he became Minister for Foreign Affairs at Mexico City, was foreman of a dairy at Orizaba, in the State of Vera Cruz. Among Mexicans Aguilar has been regarded as a "pelada," or or? dinary individual, who possessed few attainments which commended him for the important post he now holds through his close friendship with Car? ranca. Nation Gives $ 112,097,304 To Red Cross Over '$18,000,000 More Ex? pected To Be Raised Be? fore Drive Ends To-day New York City Sets Mark at 30 Million Incomplete Returns Indi? cate Quota Already Ex? ceeded Here WASHINGTON', May 26. -With the American Red Cross second $100,000, 000 war mercy fund already oversub? scribed by $12,097,304, officials to-night were setting no limit to the outpouring of dollars on the closing day of the week's drive to-morrow. That the daily 'average of something more than $18, 000,000 would be far exceeded they had no doubt. On the face of returns at headquar? ters here to-night eleven of the four? teen divisions had oversubscribed, with the Gulf leading the home divisions in percentage with 210, but the foreign topping them all, with 300. The three divisions which had not attained their 'Delighted/ Says T. R. at Meeting Taft "Glad to See You, Theo? dore," Is Reply in Chicago Hotel I Silent on Subject Of Conversation I They Are Together Infor l mally for First Time Since Historic Break {Special Dispatch to The Tribune) CHICAGO, May 26.- Colonel Theo | dore Roosevelt and William H. Taft, chatting together like n pair of happy j schoolboys, was the picture late diners | in the Blackstone saw to-night. | ' The meeting of the two ex-Presi? dents, the first informal one since the historic break in this city six years ago, was accidental. Colonel Roose? velt, who had spent the day resting in the hotel dined late, as is his habit. Mr. Taft, entirely unaware that the Colonel was in the house, registered just after 8 o'clock and was on his way to bis room, when John Murray, an elevator runner, told him Mr. Cha?ges Sea Of Flames to Save Sailors U. S. Officer Drives Destroyer Through Mass of Muni? tion Ship ,Wreckage Fifty-eight Men Named as Heroes Acting Chaplain and Nine New York Seamen Among Those Commended WASHINGTON, May 26.?Stories of! the heroic darirtg of American naval i officers and men in rescuing thirty- j four of the seventy-five members of i the crew of the American munition ship Florence H., which caught fire and broke in two in French waters on April j 17, are told in the report of Rear Ad? miral Wilson, commanding American | naval forces in France, made public to-night by the Navy Department. Lieutenant H. D. Haislip, of San I Mateo, Cal., who at the risk of de? tonating his depth charges and de- * stroying his vessel promptly charged j his destroyer through the mass of blaz- i ing and exploding wreckage covering j the water in which survivors were ! GERMANY REWARDS NORWAY FOR REMAINING NEUTRAL quotas were expected to go over the top early to-morrow. The returns by divisions, with the quotas, follow: . Division. Quota. Returns. New England. $6,650,000 $6,457,000 Atlantic . 35,000,000 36,233,531 Pennsylvania _ 12,000,000 9,612.750 Potomac . 3,300,000 4,200,29o Southern . 2,950,000 3,701.100 Lake . 9,40(1,000 11,003,755 Central . 13,800,000 12,032,000 Gulf . 1.300,000 2,739,894 Northern . 2,200,000 3,905,337 Southwestern _ 7,250,000 12,000,000 Mountain . 1,300,000 2,135.241 Northwestern - 1,770.01X1 2,574,723 Pacific . 3,730.000 4,611.683 Foreign . 300.000 900,000 Totals .$100.000,000 $112,097,304 Philadelphia, with an allotment of $4,500,000, has subscribed $10,231,000.. Detroit has given $5,500,000, nearly four times its minimum. Pittsburgh has attained only 56 per cent of its $4,000,000, while Chicago has turned in only 47 per cent of its 57,000,000. Bos? ton is another of the larger.cities be? hind in the campaign. City Sets Mark Of 30 Million in Red Cross Drive ' It was impossible to tell just where New York City stood in the second Red Cross War Fund drive last night. William C. Breed, chairman of the local campaign, assumed ?that more than $25,000,000, this city's minimum quota, already bad been subscribed. On the basis of the daily returns, those most closely in touch with the drive estimated that the total would go to $80,000,000, which the leaders feel and hone the city will attain/ Mr. Breed, however, issued a state Contmued on Page 9, Column 1 Roosevelt was at that moment at din? ner. "I hear he's leaving right away," the boy added, in response to a ques? tion "Then I'll ask you to take me back downstairs," said Mr. Taft. Entering the dining room he saw Colonel Roosevelt sealed alone by a window. "Theodore!" he exclaimed, "I am glad to see you!" "Well, I am indeed delighted to see you," replied the Colonel, rising. "Won't you sit down??" Meantime the hundred or more din? ers in th? room, recognizing the sig? nificance of the meeting, were applaud? ing a bit more loudly than Blackstone diners usually do. Even the well trained waiters for a moment forgot themselves long enough to lend a hand while the word swept through the lob? bies that "T. R. and Taft are together again." Mr. Taft, who had come from St. Louis to attend a meeting of the War Labor Board here tc-morrow, had dined j on the train and so had to decline the Colonel's invitation to join him,' but the pair were rather too busy to eat anyway for the half hour they were together. Both Colonel Roosevelt and Mr. Taft declined to discuss the subjects of their conversation. ?'Just say we j talked patriotism and the good of the country," said Mr. Taft, parrying the question, "Did you talk politics?" "It is the first time I have seen the Colonel since he was sick," added Mr. Taft, "and I was glad to see him. He looks very well." Colonel Roosevelt said Mr. Taft's statement covered the meeting. Colonel Roosevelt and Mr. Taft met at the.Union League Club, New York, during the last campaign, and, accord? ing to some accounts, the meeting was extremely formal. Since the Colonel's illness they have come together much in the old way, a telegram of sympathy from Mr. Taft when the Colonel was in the hospital paving the way for s res] reconciliation. struggling, is recommended for com men dation. Gunner's Mate F. M. Upton, of Den- j ver, and Ship's Cook J. W. Covington, ! of Durant, Okla., are recommended for j Congressional medals of honor and gold life saving medals. They leaped | into the sea and rescued a man who, ! exhausted, was in the midst of explod ing powder boxes. Six officers who commanded life and motor boats which entered the wreck- \ age to rescue men who were being j badly burned about the head and arms, two surgeons and a chaplain and forty- j eight seamen who were with them are j mentioned for commendation. Admiral Wilson's Report Admiral Wilson in describing the | situation said: "The sea about the wreckage was , covered by a mass of boxes of smoke- | less powder, which were repeatejdly ex- j ploding, and among this wreckage were a number of survivors. .The wreckage was so thick that small boats J were unable to reach these men. The ? heat from the burning vessel in the j vicinity was so intense that the eon- I verted yachts present, with wooden up- j per works, could no,t safely penetrate ' (the wreckage. "Under these conditions Lieutenant j Haistip took his vessel at high npeed ipto the midst of the wreckage at a ? considerable risk of detonating the depth charges carried on his vessel j and made lanes through which the j small boats lowered by his and other I vessels could reach the survivors. "The dash, initiative and courage j shown by Lieutenant Haislip on this j occasion are in order with the best traditions of our service, and it is ] recommended that he be commended by the Navy Department." j The French Vice-Admiral command- I ing the district, in commending Lieu- ! tenant Haislip, said he pave "proof of ? Continued on Page 3, Column 1 Americans Rout German Patrols; Raid Foe's Lines; U. S. Wins Control in Air Greatest Air Fleet in History, 190 Planes, Bombards Teutons By Wilbur Forrest {Special Cable to The Tribune) WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES IN PICARDY, May 26?Proof of the Allies' superiority in the air and the growing magnitude of the sky activity is being demonstrated and carried out on this front. While the enemy 'planes seemed to be venting their rage by night raids on a hospital on the British front, a fleet of 190 Allied machines, a few with American flags painted on their taiis, gathered over Montdidier at a specified hour. . In broad daylight they started for the enemy's rear on a bombing expedition, defying the German airmen to come up and attack. Forty heavily loaded, though fast, bombing 'planes, each carrying half a ton of projectiles, were thus able to fly over the enemy's organizations, pick out clear military objectives in daylight and drop bombs on them. Form Battle Array They were accompanied by 150 fight? ing planes. When all had gathered in the sky at the appointed time, they fell into their places and, in perfect formation, and all working in complete , unison, this enormous fleet, probably ? the greatest in the history of aviation, ! calmly flew at will over the objectives ; previously planned by the high com- ; | mand. j They gathered in the sky like i I bees gathering at a hive. The vibr?t- j ! ing of their motors could be heard ! j farther than the eye could see. They i defied the enemy to attack, but the ! enemy declined to accept the challenge. Glimpse Into Future I Some day the enemy will probably : i be forced to accept a challenge in sim- [ I ilar circumstances and the world will . hear of a battle without parallel in ? \ warfare. The preliminaries now going on are | simply a glimpse into the future of ' air fighting. Experts predict that be : fore this year ends the fighting in the I air will have become the most spec ! tacular known. ; Two weeks ago The Tribune cor- j | respondent saw an air fight in which j ! fifty machines were engaged. At any | | time now a fight in which 400 machines ; | will be engaged is an actual prob l ability. Destruction of U-Boats in May Sets New Record French Marine Minister Says Allies Gradually Are ? Overcoming Menace PARIS, May 26.?As proof" that the Allies rapidly are overcoming the sub? marine menace Georges Leygues, Min? ister of Marine, informed the Army and Navy War Committees of the Senate yesterday that Great Britain and the United States alone had con? structed in April 40,000 tons more shipping than was sunk by the enemy. The minister pointed out the tre? mendous strides recently made by the Allies in repairing ships damaged by torpedoes or mines, and declared that coordination between the allied nations had become so smooth during the last four months that the.tonnage restored to the sea exceeded 500,000 tons weekly. Great Britain, he said, had re? paired 598,000 tons in one week re? cently, while France had. effected re? pairs upon 260,000 tons ih one month. The increased building and more effi? cient and speedier repair work was constantly bringing better results in the transport of troops and supplies. As to the increasing destruction of submarines, which was constant, said 'the Minister, the figures for April wer? excellent, showing an increase over the preceding months, but were" far surpassed by the results known to have been attained thus far in May. Allies Have U-Boats Completely Under Control, Says Raney (Special Dispatch to The Tribune) BALTIMORE, May 26.?The Allies ab? solutely have the U-boat under control, according to Dr. M. L. Raney, librarian of Johns Hopkins University, who has just returned from Paris, where he was the sole representative of the American Library Association Overseas War Service. Dr! Raney said: "The U-boat situation, according to Admiral Sims, absolutely is under con? trol. The construction of tonnage is meeting the destruction. Captain T. L. Wilson, commanding officer of the flag? ship upon which I visited vessels of the American navy in French waters, said that by the end of August we should have the U-boats completely dammed. "One of the most important arms of the American service in France is the hydro-airplane. Within two months the number of hydro-airplanes has been doubled. The submarine practically has refused to function on the French coast. The U-boat commanders have a wholesome fear of the American gun? ners, whom they know to be deadly shots. "The American navy has done and ?3 doing magnificent service in French waters and in every other section to which it has been assigned. Too much cannot be said in its praise, and if the facts were known the American people would be astounded at the ex? tent of their naval operations." Hindenburg Reported A Victim of Typhoid GENEVA, May 26.?Field Marshal von Hindenburg, chief of the Ger? man general staff, is in a hospital at Strassburg suffering from ty? phoid fever, according to reports from that city. These advices state that the report of von Hinden? burg'.* death is incorrect, but that his condition is critical. Typhoid fever is said to be spreading rapidly in the German army. Of late there have been various reports of the death of Fiejd Marshal von Hindenburg. Some of these reports were given on the authority of German prisoners on the Western front. ?Ameritan Found Germans' Spirits Buoyed by Fraud i Singer Was Forced to! Leave After Wilson's Note AN ATLANTIC PORT, May 26.?The j story of a starving, disgruntled Ger- j many striving to keep up the spirit of; its people by fraud and deception was ! brought to this country to-day by Miss Bonaventura Spink, a dramatic soprano of Indianapolis, who fled from Ham? burg on March 25, when the people turned upon her because she was an American. Miss Spink had been in Germany four years and four months, singing in Liepsic, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and other cities. Because of her art she managed to get along without trouble, but when President Wilson issued his | last note she was ostracized, denied ad- | mission to the opera houses and hotels, j and was forced to seek the intercession * of the Spanish Ambassador to get into | Denmark. She said that Germany was tottering, ? in a military sense, just before Ker- ? ensky was deposed, and that the so- ; called truce effected by Trotzky and j L?nine at Brest-Litovsk gave the army j a new lease of life by releasing troops from the East. Some of the German ? officers, she said, admitted that the ? British were unbeatable in Flanders, where the German arms had counted on a decisive victory. "The feeling for Americans," she said, "was not generally friendly, but within the last five months it has be? come exceedingly bitter, so bitter that it is impossible for any self-respecting American to live there. The few Amer? icans left are seeking to get away. "In all the big cities the military element is seeking to bluff the peoplo by lavish entertainment and merriment ': theatres, opera houses and restau? rants into the belief that all is going woll with the war. One can get plenty of food in the restaurants by paying high for it and Somehow the people accept this deception with the knowl? edge that there is scarcely any food for their own tables at home. "Grand opera is in full swing. Wag? ner, of course, predominates in Berlin; nevertheless they keep Verdi, Massenet and Gounod en the boards, which helps add to the whole scheme of deception. They aro even bold enough to stage new productions. "When the spring drive started word was sent back that the German troops were again close to Paris and that the whole offensive had been one round of Teutonic victories. "Word leaked into Germany that American troops were appearing in large numbers on the Western front, but this was denied by the. military leaders and the military newspapers, which declared that there were no American troops on French soil. The people have been forced to read edi? torials continually stating that it would be at least five years before ? American troops could be trained and j transported to France and that before '? half that time had elapsed the war ! would be ende ! by a glorious German ! victory. "British discipline was ridiculed and reports of British insubordination and mutiny in the British army and navy were constantly kept before the Ger? man public. "Throughout the land children are being starved that soldiers may be fed. The little ones are being kept from school because they have not the I physical strength to attend. The rail | roads have been in poor condition for some time and are gradually getting worse. "In Berlin butter is $3.50 a pound; sugar and flour cannot be bought; tea is $10 a pound, and such other foods as are obtainable are proportionately high." ? Allied Aeros Wreck Liege Railway Station AMSTERDAM. May 26?The "Rot? terdam Maasbode" reports that an Al lied air raid has been carried <**?nt over Li?ge. The Longdo : railway station was destroyed and twenty-six persons were killed. Allied Airmen Break Up Foe's Attempts to Mass for New Blow French Repulse Thrust in Picardy British Line Unshaken by Gas Attack on Front Before Amiens LONDON, May 26.?Although the lull in the fighting on the West front continued to-day, there is every indication that the Allied armies are not waiting passively for the coming German blow. By break? ing up every enemy attempt to con? centrate his troops and by effective? ly combatting him from the air Foch's army is slowly gaining the upper hand. Ludendorff showed no inclination to renew the offensive to-day. The violence of the German batteries along the valley of the Lys and south of the Somme increased no? ticeably, but the infantry remained idle. The enemy attempted a heavy thrust against the French line near Orvillers-Sorel, but was driven back with losses. Gas Attacks at Amiens In two sectors the enemy launched gas attacks against the British lines, Field Marshal Haig reported to-night, drenching Villers-Breton neux,~in the Amiens sector, Satur? day night, and the regior* west of Hinges, in the southern part o? the Lys area, this morning. In a, sharp fight in the Lun?ville sector last night an American patrol routed a German detachment, inflict? ing casualties on the enemy. The Americans had no losses. In the Toul and Picardy sectors also the American troops have fought with unusual brilliance recently, both in the air and in raiding operations. Americans in Silent Raid A silent raid by the Americans in the Picardy sector was reported by General Pershing last night. Six Germans were killed and one capt? ured. A semi-official statement from Berlin to-day said that American losses in the Picardy sector recently had been severe, and the statement issued by the Berlin War Office to night stated that American prison ers had been taken west of Mont didier. Observers report that, with th? superiority in the air regained an?i with increasing power through th< unified control of the armies, the Al? lies are becoming better prepare every day to meet the German blow when it falls. Everywhere there ii a spirit of growing optimism. U. S. and German Patrols Clash; Foe Is Driven Back I WASHINGTON, May 26.?Gen | eral Pershing's communique fo | Sunday, issued to-night by the Wa Department, tells how an Americai patrol of an officer and twenty mei in the Lorraine sector last nigh drove back and inflicted losses upoi an enemy patrol armed with ligh ! machine guns and assisted by ma chine gun fire from the enemy's line; Following is to-day's statement ! "In th? course of patrol encouri ters our troops drove back the em [ my and inflicted a number of ca? i ualties. Last night in the Lorrain ene of our patrols, consisting of a officer and twenty men, gained cor tact with an enemy patrol of abou equal strength, which was supplie I with light machine guns and assiste | by machine gun fire from its ow lines. In the fighting which ensue our patrol drove back the enenr killing several of them." The communiqu? for Saturda; delayed in transmission, says: "Yesterday in Picardy our troop executed a successful silent raid an inflicted on the enemy a number c losses in killed and prisoners. The is nothing else of importance to r< port." (By Th? AssoeiaUi Press) WITH THE AMERICAN ARM IN FRANCE, Saturday, May 25. American forces in tlie Montdidi? region carried out a silent raid upe