peoples.  It had become a land of graves and trenches, of ruin and destruction on a scale that had been wrought nowhere else by the war.  Many of the abandoned trenches were the temporary “homes” of countless refugees, mostly women and children, who had been driven from their homes in the burned and ruined villages that dotted the land.  And there was little or no relief in sight for the stricken Poles, innocent victims of a ruthless war and pitiful playthings of Fate.

ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Artillery fighting with mortars and long-range cannon was a continuous performance during December and January in nearly every section of the western battle line.  Every day tens of thousands of shells, both high explosive and shrapnel, were hurled at the trenches and men were killed or wounded by the score at a time.  To the war-hardened men behind the guns on both sides this business of slaying and running the risk of being slain or crippled became so prolonged and monotonous that they thought no more of it than of cutting down a forest or building a pontoon bridge.

Early in January the city of Nancy, just behind the French lines, was bombarded for three days by German 15-inch guns.  Much damage was done and a number of the inhabitants were killed and wounded.  As a consequence there was an exodus from the city, safe conducts being issued to more than 30,000 persons.

Estimates made in Vienna of the total booty of the Teutonic allies during the first seventeen months of the war, up to January 1, 1916, were as follows:  Nearly 3,000,000 prisoners, 10,000 guns, and 40, machine guns, while 470,000 square kilometers of enemy territory had been occupied.

About the same time the German losses, as compiled from official lists, were estimated at 2,588,000, including over 500,000 killed and 350, taken by the Allies as prisoners of war.

CONSCRIPTION IN ENGLAND

After every effort had been exhausted in the British Isles to raise troops by voluntary enlistment, first under Lord Kitchener and then under Lord Derby, the British government was finally compelled to resort to conscription, although nearly 3,000,000 men had voluntarily responded to the call to the colors.  A bill was presented in the House of Commons by Premier Asquith on January 5, 1916, providing for compulsory service by “all men between the ages of 18 and 41 who are bachelors or widowers without children dependent on them.”  Ireland was excluded from the terms of the measure, which finally passed the Commons on January 20, the opposition having dwindled to a meager handful of votes.  Four members of the Cabinet, however, resigned as a protest against conscription.

BRITISH BATTLESHIPS SUNK

On January 9 the British battleship King Edward VII foundered at sea as the result of striking a mine.  Owing to a heavy sea it had to be abandoned and sank shortly afterward.  The entire crew of nearly 800 men were saved.  The vessel was a predreadnaught of 16,350 tons and cost nearly $8,000,000.  A week previously the British battleship Natal, a vessel of similar character, was sunk by an internal explosion.