THE ENTRY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8216, 13 August 1915, Page 5

THE ENTRY.

GERMANS GRASP "AN EMPTY HUSK." ; - , ' ■' ' LONI)ON } Augus/llv Tho ''Daily Telegraph's" Rotterdam carrespondout states tnat the first G-er-mau descriptions oi tho entry into Warsaw betray the truth that tho victors ! grasped an empty husk. Everything of military value had been destroyed, leaving au impression of gaping emtiness. ■ A superior German officer describes the extraordinary character of the fighting, when the Russian rearguard with indomitable courage, harassed from Praga the advancing enemy. Motoring to Warsaw he passed scorched fields and burning farms, wrecked carts and fresh graves. He was compelled to stop to remove trees which the Russians had placed on the roadways approaching the suburbs.. Arriving in the city, ho found a fortress with earthen walls and antiquated 'defence' works. Endless streams of refugees were along the roads standing by 4he side to watch,the Germans marching in. Every window and balcony was occupied by residents eager to see the entry. Cafes were crowded, and shops open. Though the city was calm a few hundred yards away on the riverside, Germans were lying behind street barriers and hiding in corners, and houses were on fire across the river, where the Russians were entrenched. Machine guns, rattfed on bdth sides of the river, witr occasionally a louder gre<et-; ing from heavy guns. Black smoke rose beyond the river, where the Russians continue the work of destruction. Another officer writes stating that the population did not sleep on Thursday night. There were loud explosions, caused by forts being blown up, and military buildings and workshops were on fire. At 11 in the evening control of the city was given to the civil police,' and the troops began to cross the bridges in masses. At five in the morning the bridges were blown' up. At 6, automobiles containing the German officers arrived, followed by six lancers whose lances wore decorated with flowers, and who sang the "Watch on the, Rhine." Higher officers arrived in motor-cars at mid-day. Russian shell and shrapnel were falling. The town on the third day after theGerman occupation gave the impression, of a German town on a festival day, except that flags were abso'.'