During the early days of July, 1916, a general offensive on the part of the Allies began. The French and British armies attacked on the Somme, taking many towns and villages and thousands of prisoners. The Russians continued their victorious advance in the Bukowina and began a tremendous offensive far north on the Riga front. The Italian troops attacked in the Trentino and captured important fortified Austrian positions. [Illustration] _THE DEUTSCHLAND DISPATCH_ "_Never mind, Mr. Wilson; it is only a little Lusitania blood on the envelope_" * * * * * On July 9th the German Merchant Submarine _Deutschland_ arrived at Baltimore carrying a cargo of 1,000 tons of merchandise, principally dye stuffs. According to a statement by Captain Koenig, commander of the _Deutschland_, she was the first of a number of similar vessels which were being built for the purpose of breaking the British blockade of Germany. It was stated at the time that the captain of the submarine brought a personal letter from the German Emperor to President Wilson. [Illustration] _BALAAM AND HIS ASS_ * * * * * What, German people, is your duty in this hour? The army wants no exhortations. It has fought superhumanly. It will fight until final victory. But the people at home--this is their duty: To suffer in silence, to bear their renunciations with dignity. THE KAISER, _July, 1916_. [Illustration] _TEAM WORK_ * * * * * The great armies recruited and trained by Lord Kitchener, with the mountains of munitions piled up by Lloyd George, have become a tremendous weapon in the skilled hands of General Sir Douglas Haig; and they are supported on the right by a French army under General Foch that has shown itself more than able to keep pace with them. It must not be forgotten that the battle of the Somme is a joint enterprise of close teamwork under the supreme direction of General Joffre. Thus far we have heard less of the French than of the English wing, but its achievement has been equally brilliant. The Germans caught between these Frenchmen and Peronne, like those caught between the British and Bapaume, have resisted to the limit of human endurance, but nothing human could survive the awful blasting of high explosives to which their first and second trench lines were subjected; and the Allies now have the shells and the men to keep up the pressure indefinitely. _Current History, New York, July, 1916._ [Illustration] "_I Hope, My Dear Friends and Allies, That I Have Been Able to Make You Feel Happy and Confident Again._" * * * * *