Kovno, capital of the Russian province of that name, is on the right bank of the Niemen. It is a fortress of the first class. The civilian population of the city is more than 75,000. The important Russian fortress of Novo Georgievsk, the last halting place of the Russians in Poland, fell into the hands of the Germans on August 19, after a most stubborn resistance. The garrison consisted of 85,000 men and of these over 20,000 were taken prisoners. Over cannon were captured and a large amount of war ammunition seized. BATTLE OF THE BAY OF RIGA Russian naval forces aided by British submarines, in the Gulf of Riga won a decided victory August 18 over the German fleet which penetrated the gulf on August 13. The great German battle cruiser Moltke, one of the finest ships of its kind afloat, was destroyed in the engagement. The cruiser had a displacement of 23,000 tons and carried a crew of 1,107 men and officers. Its main battery consisted of ten 11-inch guns, mounted in pairs in five turrets. Its secondary battery contained twelve 6-inch guns. Twelve 24-pounders and four torpedo tubes completed its armament. The Moltke was 610 feet long over all, with a beam of 96-3/4 feet, and cost $12,000,000. With the Moltke three German cruisers and seven torpedo boats, all unnamed, were destroyed. The Russians lost the destroyer Novik of 1,260 tons, largest in the navy, and the gunboats Sivutch and Koriets, of 875 tons displacement. The Russian victory did not end with the defeat of the German naval forces. The invading fleet was accompanied by four enormous transports, all crammed with troops. These soldiers attempted to make a landing on Pernau bay, on the northeastern shoulder of the Gulf of Riga. They were permitted to land and were then attacked and exterminated by the Russian forces at that point. The loss was estimated at 6,000 men. WHITE STAB LINER ARABIC SUNK The White Star liner Arabic, which sailed August 18 from Liverpool for New York, was sent to the bottom by a German torpedo August 19 off Fastnet on the south coast of Ireland, not far from the point at which the Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine. Out of 429 persons aboard including crew, 39 lost their lives. Two Americans perished--Mrs. Josephine Bruguière, widow of Emil Bruguière, California millionaire banker, and Dr. E. F. Wood, of Janesville, Wis. Capt. Finch, who commanded the steamer, gave the following graphic account of the disaster: "We were forty-seven miles south of Galley Head at 9:30 in the morning when I perceived the steamer Dunsley in difficulty. Going toward her, I observed a torpedo coming for my ship, but could not discern a submarine. The torpedo struck 100 feet from the stern, making terrible havoc of the hull. The vessel began to settle immediately and sank in about eight minutes.