Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-10
DEFENDERS HELD ON
LONG ENOUGH TO GET
AWAY WITH SUPPLIES
[Continued From First Pagel

dent that the doom of the town was
sealed. Toward the close of the de-
fense only a sufficient garrison to
work the remaining available guns was
left to hold Antwerp.
At midday of Friday the advance
force of the Germans entered Ant
werp and the full surrender of the city
evidently occurred at 2.30 o'clock in
the afternoon. Beaten back from their
last defenses, the Belgians blew up
their heavy batteries and withdrew
to rejoin their comrades who pre-
viously had evacuated their positions.
The forts around Contich, six miles
southeast of Antwerp, are said to be
still intact and the duel between them
and the German artillery is reported
as still proceeding this, Saturday,
morning. The outcome cannot be in
doubt, 1t having been conclusively
proved in the past two months that
permanent forts in an exposed situa-
ton stand no chance against modern
siege howitzers.
Cathedral Damaged
The real extent of the destruction
within the walls of Antwerp will be
slow in reaching the outside world
from bipartisan sources, for the rea-
son that communication with the city
is either cut or entirely in the hands
of military authorities. From The
Hague 1t is asserted that the cathedral
of Notre Dame has not been dam
aged. The museums and other pub
lies buildings also may have escaped.
1t is to be noted that the reports of
destruction have almost invaribly been
obtained from excited refugees and
telegraphed from points more or less
distant from Antwerp.
The strategic importance of Ant
werp to the Germans arose largely
from the fact of it's menace to their
lines of communication. With the
Belgian army withdrawn to position
half way between Antwerp and Os-
tend, the pressure on these lines will
be removed, at least temporarily. But
at the same time there would appear
to be little obstacle to the Belgians
effecting a junction with the allies
working to the northward in West
Flanders.
1t is assumed in London that If
Germany considers it convenient to
her plan of campaign she will not
hesitate to utilize the neutral waters
of the Scheldt. but, except as an air.
ship, and possibly submarine base,
it is contended that she can derive
no advantage from this waterway.
Antwerp HIS SuueTeu
OF one thing there is no doubt
Antwerp has suffered terribly from
the bombardment, and the losses
among the civilian population have
been heavy. The city was crowded
not only with its normal population
of over 100000 persons, but with
other thousands who had sought
refuge there on account of the Ger
man invasion. All stories coincide in
relating the terrible suffering and
mental torture of their unfortunates
struggling to leave the danger zone.
Many are said to have been marooned
by the destruction of a pontoon bridge
over the river Scheldt.
That battle line in France is now
so long-forming as it does a rough
curve of $50 miles-from Lorraine to
the Belgian fronter-that the battle
of the Aisne and the operations be-
fore Antwerp had become so closely
knit as to be. from the military point
of view inseparable.
The hope of the allies to deliver a
crushing blow against the German
arnlt In France before the occupation
of Antwerp by the enemy is now of
course thing of the past. The Ger
man right wing under General Won
Kluck apparently is still intact.