Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-09-11
GERMAN ATTACK ON LIEGE
Story of an Eye Witness of Earlier
Fighting in Belgium.
BRAVE STAND OF THE BELG1ANs


American vice Consul, Tells Lon
don Times OF what He saw
of the Conflict.
at the time the German army was bat
tering at the gates of Liege. The Bee
HiSnshf "a a special es6legram. in which
is american vice consul at Liege, gave
something Of a personal account Of the
bombardment Of the forts about the city.
a continuation Of Mr. Duras' narrative
is found in the London Times OF August
H. from which the following Is taken) ~
BRUSSELS. Aug 12.--The following ad-
ditonal details by an eyewitness Of the
conditions in Liege during the first two
days of the Siege were given me by Mr.
Victor Hugo Duras. the American vice.
consul in Liege Mr. Duras is a member
Of the American Red Cross society and,
of course, speaks as a neutral:
II was on the night Of Tuesday, Au-
Eust Z. that tho inhabitants first awoke
to the fact that the Germans we're at
their gates, on hearing the sound Of their
guns. Before that, they had already
made extensive preparations for the ex-
pected attack. news of the immnence of
which had been brought in by fugitives
from the German advance
Along the roads trees had been felled
in rows and piled on the roadway. in
which also deep holes had been dug
trains had been dynamited in the tunnels
and all means of communication as far
rs possible destroyed All this greatly
helped in hsmpering the progress Of the
Germans and therefore in supporting the
Belgian resistance to the assault on the
town.
Fighting by Might.
II seems to he part IL the new tactics
OF the Germans to attack as much as
possible at night. Comparatively little
fighting took place at Liege in the day
time during the first days Of the siege.
On Tuesday night the firing was very
close. and the Belgian forts. especially
Fleron. EveEnee and Chaudfontaine on
the east of the town, quickly came into
action. AS the result of their fire, the
attacks ceased before long. and for the
rest of the day the guns on both sides
were silent.
On Wednesday night at II o'clock, thu
sound of the guns in the forts was heard
again in Liege. The firing continued
steadily till o'clock IN the morning,
when it became much more vigorous, ami
for the next few hours there was hardly
break in the booming of the big guns,
the rattle Of the machine guns on the
river front and the musketry from the
trenches. At o'clock there was a sudden
silence, and Mr.. Duras and the other in
habitants OF Liege thought that all was
over.
Attack RepeIIed.
At T. gendarme knocked at his door
and said that the Germans were actually
i'm the city, and that all windows and
doors were to be barred Still no Ger
mans we're Visible, and a short time
later, soon after the last of the wagons
carrying ammunition for the artillery ami
infantry rolled out of the boulevard
d'Avroy, there was a sound of cheering,
and some Bancers rode into the Rue de
la Cathedral, one of them carrying a
Uhlan helmet on his lance and crying
out that the Germans had been repulsed
and thousands of them killed.
Mr.. Duras says that to those who know
the kindly and pacific temperament OF
the Waloons the news for the moment
seemed incredible; II seemed impossible
that these sober business men, from
whom the Gardes Civiques are chiefly
recruited, could have routed the strap
ping high-booted, well-equipped German
troops whom he afterwards saw brought
in as prisoners.
Could See Gun Flashes.
During the engagement the flash OF the
guns in the forts was clearly seen in
Liege in spite of the fact that IL was
fright moonlight night.
IL seems, according to his account, to
have been part OF the scheme of the de-
Tense not TO make any very serious re-
sistance to the attack till the German
troops were actually past the forts. They
were allowed to advance in several diff
ferent bodies on each side OF Fort Fferon.
as we'll as north of Evegnee and south of
Chaudfontaine along the river above and
below Llege. Then when they were close
up to the town and had passed through
the screen Of trees and bushes which lies
between II and the foes heavy fire was
opened upon them as they Joined forces
with each other from the forts behind
and from the rifles and machine guns in
front, so that they were caught in trap
and their retreat cut off. There was moth
ing for them TO do but be shot down or
surrender. Even one Of the Belgian regi-
ments suffered badly from the fire of the
forts during this part OF the fight.
Care of the wounded.
In the town itself, under the direction of
Dr Snyrs every preparation had been
made for the reception of the wounded
Schools. churches. theaters and all kinds
of public buildings had been turned into
hospitals, and everyone who was not
working in or for the army had enlisted
in the Red Cross service. But in spite OF
the most careful organization both at
Bresseau, in the north part of the city
and at the Care de Lander there was for
many hours an unavoidable delay n deal
ing with some of the wounded. The
slaughter had taken place in such a short
space OF time and in such a confined
space that the Belgian wounded were
lying in heaps, and. though all the motor
ears OF the town had been reQuisitioned,
It took long time to bring them in to the
hospitals
AS the German casualties were from
five TO ten times as numerous and as
they had only field hospitals and none
OF the conveniences OF a town to fall
back on, the amount OF suffering on their
side must have been intellectually greater.