1 JANUARY 1916, Page 9

The news from the Balkans is distinctly reassuring. Day -by

day the position of the Allies at Salonika, and in the lines, fifty miles long, which now surround it, becomes firmer and better. Probably these lines, bristling as they do with cannon of large calibre, are already impregnable, and they certainly will not grow less so if the Germans, Austrians, and Bulgarians simply sit stilt and stare at them. It would seem, however, that the idea of attempting- to carry them has been abandoned, partly owing to lack of sufficient troops, and partly also-to the condition of the railway behind them. Accordingly it is hinted from German official sources that the Central Powers will be content to dig themselves in and create a position analogous tothat in Flanders and in Northern and Central Russia.