April 19—­A regiment of women is being formed in Paris; it is planned that they wear khaki uniforms, learn how to handle rifles, and undertake various military duties in areas back of the firing line.

April 22—­General Joffre retires twenty-nine more Generals to make way for younger and more active men; the Cabinet decides that children made orphans by the death in the war of their fathers should be cared for by the State; it is decided to appoint a commission to study the question and decide what steps should be taken; “Tout Paris,” the social register of the capital, contains the names of 1,500 Parisians killed in action up to Feb. 25, including 20 Generals and 193 men of title.

April 24—­The famous Chambord estate is sequestrated on the ground that it is the property of Austrian subjects; the Bank of France releases $1,000,000 gold to the Bank of England for transmission to New York to assist in steadying exchange; French official circles and French newspapers are pleased with the American note to Germany in reply to the von Bernstorff memorandum on the sale of arms to the Allies, and with the expressions of German annoyance resulting from the note.

April 30—­President Poincare receives a delegation of Irish Members of the British Parliament, headed by T.P.  O’Connor and Joseph Devlin, bringing addresses to the President and Cardinal Amette, and assurance of devotion to the Allies’ cause.

GERMANY.

April 1—­Circular of the Minister of Agriculture says that through economical use of available grain the bread supply is assured until the next harvest; it is decided to hold horse races this season, including the German Derby; 812,808 prisoners of war are now held in Germany, 10,175 being officers.

April 3—­It is reported from Koenigsberg, East Prussia, that along a line of 150 miles, and for a distance varying from five to fifty miles from the Russian border, there is nothing but ruins as the result of the Russian invasion; thousands of women and children are stated to have been carried off to Russia; it is learned that spotted fever has been introduced into concentration camps by Russian prisoners, but spread to the German civil population has thus far been prevented; skilled artisans, urgently needed in various lines of industrial work, are being granted furloughs from the front.

April 6—­Postal officials suspend parcel post service to Argentina and several other South American countries and to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italian colonies, and Dutch West Indies; Press Bureau of the French War Office gives out figures, compiled from official German sources, showing that the Germans have lost 31,726 officers in killed, wounded, and missing since the beginning of the war, out of a total of 52,805 who started in the war; General von Kluck is recovering from his wound and has been decorated by Emperor William.

April 8—­Germans are mourning Captain Otto Weddigen of submarines U-9 and U-29, it being now accepted as a fact that the U-29, his last command, has been lost.