Evening star., 1914-11-22

q
could no more turn back: so it began to
let its murderous machine play Upon us
We should all have been lost but for n
fortunate shot striking the chauffeur in
the head. WhereupOn the automobile
dashed into two ammunition wagons and
then toppled over INTO the ditch at the
side of the road. The officer commanding
it and two of his men were killed and
two others badly wounded.
Only Two Are Killed.
81 examined the automobile Immediate
ly. 1t was double-armored. with a layer
of asbestos between the two plates. 1t
had been struck by showers of our in an
try bullets. but none of these had pene
trated the second plate. The inmates
would have been perfectly safe but for the
fact that one of our rihe-'en. firing from
an elevation. hit the chauffeur IN the
forehead. Thank God! We had capture !
one Of these dangerous things. They are
a fright III terror to all our patrol'ins
parties and have a most demoralizin" ef
feet upon them. because these automo b'les
can only be knocked out bv artillery
which can never get in its work in time.
We had only two killed and several Sc
verely wounded IN this encounter but
we We're saved from greater losses on'y
bv accident. After a long discussion Of
the matter We returned to Aershot for
bivouac.
morning at the railway crossing. We
had scarcely arrived when a new trick
was staged. The Belgians sent out two
unnamed trains to collide with our
ammunition trains in Aershot. They
came on at a tearing speed. one close
behind the other Fortunately. the
switch was set for a side track, so the
trains were dashed TO pieces without
doing any harm. The brigade moved
on to Heyst op den Berg tabout nine
miles northwest of Aershot, in the dtrec-
tion of Antwerp. upon which our in
fantry had been hotly firing the previous
evening. In that action we had con-
siderable losses, including my good
friend, Capt. p. But the enemy at
night evacuated this place, which was
of great importance for our artillery,
for Forts Lierre and kessel could be
shelled from it. We marched into the
place at noon, and soon after this our
heavy guns began to speak. 1t was
the first day of the siege and lombard
ment of Antwerp.
Who would have thought that we
were to march into the city in twelve
days? I must add that we were we'll
provisioned from now on. notwith-
standing the fact that our baggage
trains with the field kitchens never ar
rived on time, for there was livestock
in plenty. l usually sent out three
patrolling parties. one for eggs. one for
chickens and one for wine. The last
TWO Always Drought III Ine biggest
booty. At night every man i'll camp
had his chicken in the pot and all next
day he had cold chicken with his army
bread Everywhere there was wine in
abundance, especially good red wine.
The only thing that we missed was our
morning coffee.
Sleep in Clean Beds.
at Heyst we found 4 neat little cot
m in 7
selves at home. and very soon We
had n steaming chicken and red wine
punch on our table. For table music
we had the prodigious laundering of
the cannon. We were shelling Fort
Lierre, and ii was answering vigor-
ously. AS the shells never fell nearer
than about 1000 yards of US, however
we took no notice of them, but put on
our nightshirts again for Il rarity and
laid ourselves down in clean beds.
September 29-The artillery duel
continued. In the afternoon obserya-
tion officers of our forty -centimeter
mortars arrived to select positions for
their guns. I climbed the ladder nine
ty-eight feet high. and could see that
our shells were pounding Fort Lierre
big mortars would soon open up a free
path for US. Toward evening his ex-
cellency Field Marshal Won der Goltz
Icivil governor of Belgium) arrived
He told me he heard that we had learn
ed to roast a hen in excellent style.
and asked whether We did not have one
left for him-and 10, the hen was soon
on the table. along with a can of
asparagus and a bottle Of Haute Sau-
terne.
September 3O-Marched this mornine
TO the River Nethe to occupy and pro-
tect the bridge at Hellebrug. k
and I were intrusted with a patrol
across the Nethe to Heykant and Bevel
We passed through Heykant all right
but we found telephone wires commu
nicating with the church tower In
Bevel. We cut the wires and then sent
non-commissioned officer with seven
men on to Bevel, while k and l.
with a bugler. walked to a hill and
watched the highway. When the little
party reached the village it was fired
upon, but continued into the place new
ertheless. I remarked to k: Let
US get away from this hill and go be-
hind that house there The words
were scarcely spoken when dozen
too high. But We left the hill at dou-
ble-quick. After an anxious half hour
the non-commisSioned officer returned
with his party. safe and sound. And
what had the daredevil done? A Bel
gian telegraph patrol, stationed in the
village. was firing upon the party, but
the 'non-com.' and his fellows attacked
without lances and away the enemy
scampered. Thereupon tho officer. ac.
companied by one man, mounted the
tower and destroyed the telephone sta.
tion. Meanwhile the townsmen were
firing Justify at their horses. held by
the other men: but, thank heaven. they
can't hit anything. Then we recrossed
the Nethe bridge at HelIebrug and took
quarters with the infantry, which haG
already strongly fortified the bridge.
Receives Dangerous Commission.