EVACUATED BY BELGIANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15737, 12 October 1914, Page 7

EVACUATED BY BELGIANS.

TO SAVE CITY FROM RUIN TERRIFIC SHELL FIRE. NO WATER FOR FIRE BRIGADE. CIVILIANS TO BE RESPECTED. GERMANS ROUTED AT LILLE. DRIVEN BY ALLIED LEFT.

VIENNA THREATENED.

Antwerp has surrendered to the Germans. A Berlin report states that they have been in possession 'of the city since Friday, and this is confirmed by other reports, including an official cablegram received by the Prime Minister of New Zea« land, which says the Belgian forces evacuated Antwerp and allowed the German forces to occupy it unopposed. The bombardment was carried on with terrific energy, and it is stated that the authorities regarded surrender as the only sane policy to save the city. Huge guns were used to throw destructive shells, bombs were dropped from Zeppelins, and fires were started in all parts of the city. The deadly shell fire soon drove the inhabitants to take refuge in their cellars. The, destruction of the waterworks deprived the citizens of water, and prevented the fire brigade from extinguishing fires. The Antwerp garrison included a British naval force of 8000 marines and bluejackets. The majority of them safely retreated to Ostend with all guns, but 2000 men of the first brigade were cut off by the Germans and forced into Dutch territory, where they surrendered. A report by Mr. Martin Donohue, the Daily Chronicle's correspondent, states that after two of the Antwerp forts had been reduced to powder, two columns of Germans who were flung against the breach met such a severe fire from the Belgian guns that they broke and fled, defying their officers. They suffered heavy loss. Another report states that during their advance to the inner forts the Germans literally filled the dykes with their dead. Owing to their close formation the Belgian machine guns went through their ranks like a scythe. The United States Consul had to shelter in a cellar with his family on the first night of the bombardment. He had dif* ficulty in reaching Ghent owing to the great number of fugitives on the roads. The British, French, and Russian Ambassadors also left the city before the surrender. The left wing of the allied forces has won a notable success in France. The steady northward movement of the British and French troops, which is apparently intended to encircle the German right wing, has been resisted by the Germans in a series of violent battles in the neighbourhood of Arras and Lilie. The allied troops gave ground at first, and the enemy swept around Arras and occupied Bethune; but the French at Lille, fighting with magnificent dash and courage, frustrated the Germans' attempt to take the town, and the main aiiied army finally defeated the German forces in the neighbourhood of Arras. The Germans retreated to the northcast, evacuating Bethune and the districts around Lille. This indicates that the allies arc continuing the encircling move« ment. Russian newspapers state that the Austrian Government is preparing to move from Vienna to Innsbruck. The Russians have again invaded East Prussia, occupying the town of Lyck, about nine miles north of the Russian frontier. A Russian army of a million men, which was mobilised at Warsaw, is reported to have advanced to within thirty miles of the German fortress of Thorn, in West Prussia, which guards the passage of the Vistula where the river enters Prussian territory.