Evening star., 1914-08-16
The Great Battle Front.

with immense armies assembling ano
n.n.uverine to gain vantage ground
In Belgium, France and Alsace. II is
,npossible that the nrst great connlct
NJ the European war can be long post
noned. Thus far. with perhaps the e1-
ceptfon of the unexpected check OF the
Germans at Liege. where an engage
ment of as yet untold casualties en-
dured for three or four days. and is
indeed not yet fully over, there nave
been only skirmishing encounters;
larger, 1t is true. than the ordinary
.kirmishes in previous campaigns, for
the reason that never before has there
been a war on such a vast scale as this
A statement just issued by the Frencn
war Office sets forth the conditiohs IN
a fair and comprehensive manner oD-
viously for the purpose OF preparing
the public mind against undue 1uoiia-
tion or disappointment as to the I'M
mediate results Of the general engage
ment when 1t has been fought. win q
line of battle extending from Basel In
Switzerland to Maastrich in Holland. q
distance of several hundred miles. WIFE
armies totaling two or perhaps three
millions Of men at grips on mountains
In valleys and on plains. 1t Is tncon-
ceivable that either side should gam
In this first great collision an unvary'
ing success. This means that there Will
probably be German victory here anc
anti-German victory there, with the
lines shifting according as the fortunes
on particular fields may turn.
1t is the general belief that this war;
thus suddenly begun and participated In
by so many nations and such vast moi-
titudes of soldiers, cannot last long.
Yet Lord Kitchener is quoted as ex-
pressing the opinion that it will endure
for eighteen months. This presents
prospect of prolonged suffering and tre-
meadous expense which is no~less than
appalling. Rather Is 1t to be hoped that
one side or the other will drive home Its
charge In shorter time. to bring about
speedily the readjustments necessarily
resulting and to restore peace to a trou-
bled world
Today there u keen expectation that
lighting ON q large scale Is about to
take place In Belgium. where the Ger
mans have been advancing steadily
from Liege until they have practically
come to the Lines Of the allies. WHOSE
positions and numbers have been KEEP,
a profound secret from the world. But
somewhere around Namur. somewhere
east Of Brussels and south Of Antwerp.
10 undoubtedly a very large force OF
Belgians. French and English. awaiting
behind intrenchments for the advance
Of the Teutonic army, greatly rein
forced since the check at Liege, and
desperately determined to push forward
IL possible at any cost
The official statement Of the French
war ONCE contains the admonition that
definite results must not be expected
for eight days, or possibly longer. Thia
must refer to the general situation,
along the entire battle front from Basel
to Maastrich. rather than to the Bel
gian field. where conditions would seem
to be such as to cause action much more
speedily. When once the kaiser's forces
have been aligned and the allies are
ready to receive them 1t will surely b<
policy to strike and not to wait for de.
velopments elsewhere. The censorship
may hold back the news Of this fighting
in the north for q time. but with de-
cisive results some tidings Of the actio,
must emerge from that side which 70
CARDS itself as favored by the outcome