ANTWERP'S DEFENCES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 93, 16 October 1914, Page 7

ANTWERP'S DEFENCES

NOT PLANNED TO COPE WITH GERMAN ARTILLERY CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY (Times and Sydney Sun Services.) (Received October 16, 8.30 a.m.) ' ' ' LONDON, 15th October. A correspondent who escaped from Antwerp says that the defences, especially the arrangement of the outer forts, had not been planned to cope with such artillery as the Germans used, but were defended with conspicuous gallantry. With anything like an approximate equivalent in artillery, the Nethe might have been held indefinitely. Neither the Belgians nor the British, he says, need have any feeling but that of pride in the courage with which they clung to a desperate, forlorn hope. Both failed only because the task was one beyond human capacity. Both deserve nothing but honour and admiration. Another correspondent states that the Germans entered Ghent unopposed, the Allies retiring in order to prevent the bombardment of the city. He adds that-Belgium is becoming a skeleton country. The land is empty, and the towns, villages, and fields in ruins. (Press Association.) THE DEFENDER OF THE CITY AMSTERDAM, 14th October. German newspapers state that General de Guise, the defender of Antwerp, has been taken prisoner, and is now at Aix-la-Chapelle. SHORTNESS OF FOOD (Times and Sydney Sun Services.) LONDON, 14th October. The German commander at Antwerp informed a Dutch journalist that the forty-two centimetre guns were not used, and would only have been employed if the city had not surrendered. The journalist accompanied the commander through the streets, and saw no sign of Belgian life. The city was little damIt is stated in Amsterdam that the Germans lost 45,000 men in the attackl on Antwerp. . \ (Press Association.) LONDON, 14th October. The American Consul at Antwerp is proceeding to London to obtain provisions for Antwerp, where the position is grave, owing to the ' Germans seizing all the stores. HUNDREDS OF WOUNDED LONDON, 14th October. Hundreds of wounded Belgians have arrived at Folkestone, ahd have been distributed among the hospitals. Many refugees have been despatched to provincial cities, and others have been drafted to private houses, of which 20,000 have offered accommodation. REFUGEES FROM OSTEND (Received October 16, 9 a.m.) LONDON, 15th October. A further eight thousand Ostend refugees have landed at Folkestone. Many are starving and half-clad. Thirty thousand were camped out in the Ostend docks on Tuesday night, and eight thousand at the Central Railway Station, including a thousand wounded soldiers. There were frantic rushes on Wednesday for the boats going to England. There were pitiful scenes as the last boat left, fifteen thousand remaining on the pier. \ One hundred and fifty fishermen's wives and children crossed to England in open boats and fishing smacks. WHAT WILL THE UNITED STATES DO? NEW YORK, 14th October. Mr. W. H. Page, the American Ambassador in London, has impressed President Wilson with the immediate necessity of sending food to Brussels. President Wilson declines to act until Germany assents, as Brussels is German territory. Germany has not replied to Mr. Wilson's request on the subject.