cUhr Halbn lailtj pnapwrtm*
VALDEZ, ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1914. NO. 376.
VOL. 10.
BRITISH DREADNOUGHT IS SUNK
LOSS OF THUNDERER WAS KEPT SECRET FOR MONTH
HINDENBERG POUNDING AT RUSSIANS NEAR WARSAW
RUSSIAN FORCE NEAR CRACOW BEING HARD PRESSED
IM MEXICANS
WILL BE MOVED
Guetierrez Tells Administration That
Villa Fighters Will Go Back
From the Border.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—Provis
ional President Guetierrez has in
formed the State department that the
Villa troops near Naco will be mov
ed from the border at once and that
the trouble at that point will be stop
ped. The notification followed the
demand by the department that the
fighting troops be withdrawn at once
or the American troops would be giv
en orders to protect American citi
zens at any cost.
The determination of the adminis
tration to prevent the continued
shooting of Americans on American
soil by the fighting Mexicans has fin
ally impressed the Mexican authori
ties with the certainty of interven
tion as public sentiment in Arizona
and Texas was becoming aroused and
would have led to some overt act that
meant war.
The administration officials are
glad that the matter has been adjust
ed and hope that the fighting will
not take place near the border in fu
ture.
SEATTLE BANDITS
MAKE A HAUL
Blow Safe In Wing’s Cafeteria and
Secure $500.00—Make Good
Their Escape.
SEATTLE, Dec 21.—A number of
yeggmen blew the safe in Wing’s
Cafeteria here last night and made
good their escape with $500.00 which
was in the safe. The money had
been accumulated since banking
hours hours on Saturday and was be
lieved to be safe in the big iron box.
The yeggmen worked between mid
night and 5 this morning, when the
first of the employees of the con
cern reached the building. The po
nee were immediately nounea and
several detectives were assigned to
the case. The safe was in plain
sight from the street and policemen
were near the building all through
the night and to them how the rob
bery was accomplished Is a mystery.
The police believe that it was an
Inside job and have the employees
of the company under surveillance.
General Agent Fred Tracy of .the
Alaska Steamship Company Is mak
ing the round trip on the Alameda.
The Department of Justice has rais
ed the salary of Hilhard Bennet, clerk
in the district attorney’s office, from
$125.00 a month to $150.00. The raise
was made at the request of District
Attorney Spence, an uncle of the
clerk.
»
German Cruiser Reported Sunk Off Coast of Scotland—Russians Report Sortie
From Przemysl Repulsed With Loss To Austrians-French Admit Slow Pro
gress and Heavy Loss In Attacking German Entrenchments In France and
Belgium—Machine Guns Great Men Killers.
NEW YORK, Dec. 21—Word has
reached here that the British dread
nought Thunderer, one of the big
gest ships of the British fleet, had
been sunk by a German submarine
in the North Sea on Nov. 7 and the
news suppressed by the censors. The
information was brought in the mail
and is believed to be authentic.
The Thunderer was one of the new
est ships in the British navy and was
completed in 1913. She had a dis
placement of 23,000 tons, a speed of
! 22 knots, carried ten 13-inch guns and
sixteen 4-inch rapid firing guns.
The Audacious and the Thunderer
were sister ships. The Audacious was
lost on Oct. 27 off the Irish coast.
Hindenberg Captures Lowicz.
BERLIN, Dec. 21.—Gen. Hinden
beqg has captured Lowicz in spite of
the heavy reinforcements received by
the Russians holding the city. The
numerical superiority of the Russians
has helped them to delay the Ger
man advance, but it is slowly push
ing forward towards Warsaw. The
German lines are drawing closer to
Warsaw each day. The Russian line
has not been broken but the losses
have been heavy and the line is wa
vering. During the past month 100,
000 Russians have been captured by
the German army.
Russian Offensive In East Prussia.
LONDON, Dec. 21.—The Russian
offensive continues in East Prussia,
where the Russian line is constantly
advancing. The kaiser’s shooting es
tate is now held by the Cossacks.
The great majority of the Germans in
East Prusisa have left their homes
and have sought shelter in other parts
of the German empire. The Russian
offensive also continues south of Lodz
as far as the Carpathians. All along
the Vistula river, where the same en
ters Poland, and again at Thorn,
where it leaves, the Russians are on
the offensive and have forced the
Teuton allies to bring up heavy rein
forcements. In the center of the Rus
sian position the grand duke is fight
ing a defensive battle, satisfied to
hold his own.
Austrians Push Forward.
VIENNA, Dec. 21.—The Austrian
advance from Cracow continues and
the troops are pushing forward down
the Vistula with the objective point,
the Polish city of Kielce, a railroad
center of considerable importance.
The advance guard have reached the
Nida river, breaking down the Rus
sian resistance. Cracow is now out
of all danger from the Invaders. The
Austrians are also pushing forward
towards Przemysl. A rapid advance
towards the besieged city will not
only effect the release of the for
tress but will also cut oft the large
Russian forces operating south to
wards the Carpathians.
Hlndenberg 30 Miles From Warsaw.
LONDON, Dec. 21.—Gen. Hlnden
berg 1b now 30 miles from Warsaw
fighting desperately to reach the cap
ital of the Polish province. The Rus
sians hold strongly entrenched posi
tions. The greatest battle of the Po
land campaign is now being fought.
If the Germans win they will be at
the gates of Warsaw and if defeat
ed the kaiser’s troops must make a
hasty retreat to the border and will
lose heavily. The Siberian troops are
making great gains at every point
and the Germans dread the big Si
berians.
Russians Start Counter Attacks.
The Russians in East Prussia have
started a determined and terrific for
ward march to force the kaiser’s
army to send reinforcements from
Galicia to East Prussia. The pres
sure upon the Russian troops oper
ating near Cracow is becoming heavy.
If successful in drawing troops from
Galicia the Russians will push every
available man into tne Warsaw fight,
but at present the objective point of
the German campaign.
German Steamer Captured.
PORT SAID, Dec. 21.—A Russian
cruiser operating off the Syrian coast
captured a German merchant steam
er today and is bringing the prize to
this port.
Germans Resume Offensive In Ar
gonne District.
BERLIN, Dec. 21.—The battle in
France has been renewed. The Ger
mans in the Argonne section have
taken the offensive. The Bavarian
troops holding the line have made
material advances in spite of the fact
that the French outnumber the Ger
mans two to one. The big Krupp
guns continue to tear the French
forts and buildings to pieces. The
allies artillery has been outranged
and a number of guns destroyed by
the German bombardment.
Przemysl Sortie Repulsed.
PETROGRAD, Dec. 21.—The Aus
tro-German forces cooped up in the
fortress of Przemysl yesterday made
a determined effort to break through
the Russian line, but were unsuccess
ful. The sortie resulted in the cap
ture of thousands of the garrison and
the advancing of the besiegers lines
to the inner forts. The siege is ex
pected to end in a few days, as the
garrison is now fighting a last des
perate battle to hold the forts until
relief can reach them.
Warships Shell Germans.
LONDON, Dec. 21—The British and
French monitors today shelled the
German right wing along the North
Sea coast. The cross-fire from the
Allies’ field batteries and the big na
val guns resulted in heavy losses to
the Germans holding the trenches.
Dardanelles Bombarded.
LONDON, Dec. 21—The French and
British warships are shelling the
Turkish forts at the entrance of the
Dardanelles. The bombardment has
been In progress for several hours
and the forts have been greatly dam
aged. It is rumored here that troops
LAND OFFICE GOES
• TO CAPITAL CITY
SEATTLE, Dec. 21—The field divis
ion of the general land office will be
moved from this city to Juneau, Alas
ka, on Jan. 1. This move has been
contemplated for some time as the
work of the office is largely done in
the north and considerable expense
can be saved to the department by
having the office located at Juneau.
CHRISTMAS JOY
FOR THE ENGLISR
LONDON, Dec. 21—All the theatres
of this city will be open on Christ
mas to give .free pantomlne shows
to the public in an effort to lift the
war gloom which has settled upon
the city following the naval disasters
of recent date. The people are de
termined to fight to the end and are
expecting the Germans soon to give
the British fleet battle, when all past
losses will be forgotten in one great
victory over the enemy. The realiza
tion that the war is a matter of many
months has finally been driven home
to the public and as a result the en
listments are increasing and the best
young manhood of the empire is en
listing to save the country from the
Germans.
MORE VOLCANOES
IN CALIFORNIA
REDDING, Cal., Dec. 21.—Mount
Canaka, 30 miles west of this city,
has renewed its eruptions after many
years of dormancy. The mountain is
belching out fire, smoke and gas to
a height of several miles. Crowds of
people are arriving on every train to
go near the mountain and view the
sight.
COLD WAVE GRIPS
THE MIDDLE WEST
CHICAGO, Dec. 21—The cold wave
still continues over the central and
middle west states. Railroad traffic
continues but with great difficulty.
■The heavy drifts have forced the
roads to keep the rotaries at work
all along the lines. In this city the
police have been ordered to allow the
homeless to sleep In the public build
ings, which are kept warm for them.
Police stations are also open to the
homeless in case of need.
Postal Inspector Alvah Eames ar
rived on the Alameda this morning
but continued to the westward on a
trip of inspection.
Subscribe for tne prospect or
have been concentrated at Port Said
and Cairo to land as soon as the
forts are demolished and take pos
session of the forts. If the Darda
nelles are captured Constantinople
will be bombarded.
Allies’ Attacks Repulsed.
BERLIN, Dec. 21.—The allies have
been repeatedly repulsed at Nieuport
and La Bassee. The enemy contin
ued the assaults upon the trenches,
which are protected by heavy barbed
wire entanglements and In conse
quence their losses were appalling.
The machine guns inflicted heavy
losses upon the attacking force.
Kaiser Back At Front.
The kaiser has fully recovered from
the cold which kept him confined to
the palace and today he left for the
western front to take personal charge
of the fight in France and Belgium.
Allies Progress Slow.
PARIS, Dec 21.—The Allies have
occupied the German trenches south
west of Loos, near Lille. The en
tanglements are delaying the Allies
advance. The German machine guns
are also holding back the French and
Br’tich commanders, who do not wish
to sacrifice the men. The field ar
tillery aif; continually shelling the
German lines.
Many Fierce Battles
Many fierce batltes have been
fought along the line. The advan
tage has been continually with the
Allies. The Germans have given
ground at every point attacked, but
the losses to the Allies have been
heavy.
Russians Check Germans.
PETROGRAD, Dec. 21.—The Rus
sians are holding the Germans at bay
along the Buzra river near Sochaz
zew. The Rusisan reinforcements
have had the desired effect and the
Germans have met a wall of men and
steel against which they have sac
rificed thousands and thousands of
men but have made no impression.
The German retirement is predicted
within a few days. The sudden concen
tration of tfoops from all points in
Poland to strike the Germans on both
flanks and all along their front has
given the enemy an opportunity to
push forward near Cracow but has
effectually blocked the way to War
saw.
German Cruiser Sunk Off Scotland.
LONDON. Dec. 21.—A German
cruiser has been sunk off the Scottish
coast by the coast patrol ships. The
cruiser . was approaching the coast
under cover of a heavy fog and had
almost reached the coast to start
shelling it when the British boats
caught sight of her when the fog
lifted for a few minutes and were
able to cripple and sink the ship.
The name is not given in the dis
patches and the admiralty has so far
made no official statement regarding
the sea battle. It Is feared by ship
ping men that the German commerce
destroyers will evade the North Sea
patrcfi and •escape to the Atlantic
ocean under cover of a fog and will
then capture and sink British ship
(Continued on page Z.)
THAW MUST 60
BACK TO ASYLUM
New York State Wins Long Drawn
Out Case To Recover Custody
of Harry Thaw.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—The Su
preme Court, without a dissenting
voice, today decided that Harry Thaw
must be returned to New York and
that the extradition of the murderer
of Stanford White must be granted
by the state authorities of New
Hampshire.
The case has been fought for a
year. Thaw escaped to Canada but
was not granted permission to re
main in the Dominion and when he
crossed the border into New Hamp
shire he was arrested and a legal
battle commenced with the attorneys
for the state of New York arrayed
against the best that the millions of
Mrs. Thaw could procure. The state
authorities granted the extradit:on
but Thaw appealed to the federal
courts and won in the lower court,
but lost in the highest court. In the
meantime Thaw has been enjoying
himself at a private villa under
charge of the state sheriff and the
federal marshal.
MOST GERMANS
FIGHTING ALLIES
.Paris Official Estimate Puts 2,080,
000 Men On Western Front,
860,000 On eastern.
PARIS, Dec. 21.—A semi-official
communication concerning the Ger
man armies in the field, made pub
lic today, says:
“Germany has at present at her dis
posal twenty-five and one-half army
corps, of which twenty-one and one
half are operating against France and
four against Russia. Of the thirty
three German reserve army corps,
twenty-two and one-half are now em
ployed against France and ten and
one-lialf against Russia.
“These figures show that there is
a total of fifty-eight and one-half army
corps, active or reserve, fighting for
Germany on the two fronts, and not
100 army corps, as has been erron
eously stated by the German govern
ment.
"If the territorial units (Landwehr)
of which nothing was said in the Ger
man official note are taken Into ac
count, it will be seen that eight Land
wehr army corps are engaged against
France and seven against Russia—
that is to say, in all, on the two
fronts thirty territorial divisions.”
According to this computation of
the French war office fifty-two of the
seventy-three and one-half German
army corps mentioned are fighting
the allies, and only twenty-one and
(Continued on page 2.)