New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-20
Lay in Army's Rear in
Advance in Belgium
Equipped for Sea.
BIG GUNS WRECKED
FORTS AT ANTWERP
Steel TurretS Shattered and Con.
crete Entertainments Pierced
Like Egg Shells.

Antwerp, Oct. 19.-0n his arrival in
Antwerp the correspondent of The As
sociated Press found guarding the city
bluejackets and marine infantrymen
from the German stations at Kiel,
Cuxhaven and Wilhelmshaven. They
were smelling the salt water after a
campaign of more than a month
through Belgium and awaiting further
orders.
Detacf ments Of sailors among them,
recruited from the German mercantile
marine, were armed only with cut
lass and revolver. They had lain sew
eral weeks behind the army, taking no
part in the fighting, and evidently are
destined for sea duty after the capture
of port.
The German staff officers assured the
correspondent that the German com
mander, General Won Beselcr, in his
campaign had found easy victory
where hard fighting was expected and
desperate resistance where little trou-
bic had been anticipated. The officers
said Antwerp had fallen eight days
earlier than expected, the Belgians
evidently being disheartened by their
nine weeks of defeat and also because
of the easy manner in which the forti-
fed positions behind the River Nethe
were carried on October 8 anc p
The artillery park of the Germans
before Antwerp was stronger than was
generally known. In addition to their
widely ,heralded 16-inch motars and n
large number of 12-inch siege guns,
they had two Austrian automobile bat
teries of twelve guns. which made the
victory at Antwerp an Austro-German
one.
The effect of the big guns at Ant
wcrp's outer Notifications was more
striking than at Liege. Two armored
turrcts at Fort de Wavre-Ste Catherine
we're put out of action with a single
shot, their steel beds being broken in
two and the heavy masses of metal
hurled five or six yards away In an
other fort the concrete embankment
was pierced like an egg she'll and the
steel turrot uprooted. Still another
turret was completely upended and lies
with its base pointing skyward and it's
gun buried beneath.
Behind Fort Waelhem, where a IL
inch she'll penetrated the magazine, n
heavy steam engine which furnished
power for the light plant was blown
twenty yards from its base. The en-
tire top Of the fort here was torn off
and sixty men Of the garrison are said
70 have been buried underneath the
debris.
German staff officers say that when
the River Nethe was crossed the Bel
gian defence virtually collapsed. The
Belgians abandoned their heavy artil
lery and machine guns while the Ger
mans intrenched themselves, expecting
q counter attack.
The officers say that after eighty
German shells had been dropped in
various quarters of the city of Ant
werp the white flags appeared on Forts
G and Of the inner girdle of fortifca-
tions. The Burgomaster of the city
then came out and offered to surrender
Antwerp, but was told that the terms
Of capitulation could only be conducted
with the Belgian military authorities.
The Burgomaster's plea that these Of
fcers could not be found led to an
order for a suspension of the attack.
The German troops then pushed in
the girdle of inner forts and
past the undefended city wall, finding
that the retiring garrison had blown
up the bridge across the River Scheldt
and also had interposed a belt of fame
against the invaders by firing the oil
tanks and covering the surface of the
river with burning oil.