THE ITALIAN ADVANCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 4012, 19 August 1915, Page 5

THE ITALIAN ADVANCE.

SPLENDID PROGRESS CONTINUES. MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAIN WORK ENEMY TAKEN BY SURPRISE. (Received Aug. IS, 9.20 p.m.) HOME, Aug. 18. A communique says: In the rugged Or tier range between the valleys of the Adda and the Adige, one of our detachments marched from Japannasmilano in sections' roped together and crossed the Camoni Pass (3084? metres) uid Vedrctadi C’ampo and then scaled Burkett Spitz; (3160 metres) and surprised a party of the enemy. The detachment next dispersed the enemy on Hiekere Madatsch Spitz, and firmly occupied the crest. AVe have occupied Sotellmrg, westward of Pangelp. Our offensive in the Tolmino zone was dashingly carried out against the hills of Santa Maria and Santa Lucia, covering the position right of the Isonz,o. Our infantry captured -with the bayonet a line of solid entrenchments on the western slopes, taking prisoner 17 officers and 447 men and capturing four machine-guns.

IN A GERMAN PRISON CAMP AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT’S STORY. EVIDENCE OF BRUTAL MALTREATMENT. (Received Aug. 18, 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18. Mr Burke, the correspondent of the “Now York World,” who was a resident of Lille when the Germans occupied the city, was treated like ail ordinary prisoner and sent to Langesalza. Here passed nights, of agony lying in the mud. The commandant of the camp practised the extremest biutality, and Mi Buiko discovered that he was formerly in business in Nottingham. Belgian French, English, Poles, Arabs, and Negroes were twice daily subjected to drill in the German language .and manners with a view to “civilising them, and backward students were cuffed ami kicked, the Russians particularly suffering. One of them dropped dead. , , The English prisoners were sing loci out for consistent maltreatment and driven to desperation, because retaliation involved certain death. A Frenchman was also the victim ot senseless fury, and was knocked down and beaten unmercifully. Not live minutes passed without a repetition ol these brutalities. The English prisoners were mostly a battered crew, dressed in rags, and one was imaWc to distinguish their regiments. While one was waiting in. a queue at a canteen a sentry swiped him across the Ums with his rifle and deliberate!) stabbed him in the buttock. Complaint was useless. , v Two emaciated Englishmen lingering in a hospital between bfe and death were kicked out by a nej doctor. Both were half crazy. The) were clad in . cotton shirts. AA hlc twin rr to assist each other, the) u an<l neither was able to rise A French doctor ordered, them milk but the Germans refused it. , Smoking was prohibited, offenders being punched in the face and ied ■_ a post for hours even by the soldi ei. who sold them the cigarettes Victims of the biting cold, they 101 l help •• when released. , , . , Mr Burke petitions Washington demand redress for his sufferings.

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS. ANTI-GERMAN FEEL IN OS. (Received Aug. 18. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, Aug. 18. The Bakers’ Union is balloting on whether to work for German employers or with German employees. French war finance. TREASURY NOTES SCHEME. Financial opinion is favorable to the issue of 20-franc and. 5-franc Defence Treasury Notes with interest at 5 pe centum repayable at the end of the year They are likely to become popular among the poor and thritty. GERMAN FOOD SUPPLIES. R ETCH STAG- COMMITTEE’S report. (Received Aug. 18, 11-lo p.m.) V LONDON, Aug.lß. The Budget Committee of the Reichstag. states that owing to underestimate of stocks and stringent econ omy to the end of the harvest the year showed an unexpected abundance i-i potatoes for all purposes. Dm balance of grain from the pluvious crop was 7,000,000 doub’e kmidredweights. The meat proolem offers satisfactory prospects, and there nil bt no scarcity for normal oonsnmptlon. Sugar has been secured lor the Noa Year. DESTROYERS v. SUBMARINES. SEA WOLVES DRIVEN BACK. (Received Aug. 18,11.15 p.m.) AMSTERDAM, Aug. 18. German submarines attempted to leave Zeebrugge, but British destroyers drove them back, despite the tUY of the shore batteries. AUSTRIA’S AGED EMPEROR SERIOUS ILLNESS.

(Received Aug. 18, 11.20 p.m.) V ROME, A tig. 18. The Emperor Franz Joseph is worse, having been seized by locomotoi Jt Sonie of the most eminent physicians ir. tho Empire, have formed a con snltation council. A.di.C. AND WAR FUND. SPLENDID DONATIONS. (Received Aug. 18, 11-20 p.m.) SYDNEY, Aug. 18. The annual meeting of tho us “ tralian Jockey Club voted £IIO,OOO to the patriotic funds, and m tne tvon of tlie year’s profits exceeding £IO,OOO the surplus will be similarly devoted. This makes £20,000 the club has voted, besides being instrumental in the raising of an additional £12,000. ENGLAND’S VITAL §TAT2S= TIGS. SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. 'United Press Association- -uo-iyriglifc \ (Received Aug. 8, 11.20 p.m.) LONDON. Aug. 18. The birthrate in England and Wales for the June quarter was 22.9 per annum, the lowest on record, and the deaths were 138,579, the highest for ten years. .