Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-11-05
(By Herbert Corey.)

(By Herbert Corey.)
Vlissingen, Holland. Nov. 5.-Thcre
will be an accounting for the gros.
blunder that some one in English
command made in this Antwerp af.
fair. The Morning Post-organ ol
the court. sheet anchor Of the Tory
strabismatic defender of all things ole
and venerable and knee-breecheG
and gartered-has demanded edi.
fixed. The Post Is supported by the
Times and by less influential London
papers. Let our refugees tell theil
story:
I'VE thought we were safe," SAID
they. 1--WE were not permitted tc
know the truth. The moment the
English reached Antwerp they muz'
zled our papers"
AS every one in office in England
we'll knew, Antwerp's defenses were
untcnable. Her forts were mouldy
tests. The dispirited Belgians had no,
attempted to put them In condition
to resist the foe. A rampant crcled
the city, but there were wide breache.
in it, and no attempt had been made
to close them. There were wire en-.
tanglements-with wide gatewayS il
them. through which the German:
marched. The only resistance Ant.
werp could have made to. an attack
by big guns would have been by Other
big guns. with which to dismount Tho
Thor's hammers the Bosches use.
Instead of bringing big guns to Ant
werps defense. the English marched
in 5000 unframed men of the nava
brigades. They are almost equivalent
to our militia. Her newspapers have
congratulated the country since or
the fact that the men who were killed
and wounded and captured and in.
termed in that affair were only green
horns, and therefore of small rea
value.
These brave men died in the trench.
es as gallantly as seasoned veterans
could-although few of them saw 6
foe. They lay there in the fields, theil
an invisible and resistless enemy
When the order at last came to retrea
one officer made use of what is to my
mind the most pathetic phrase Of the
war:
Fall back. boys" said he. 9TH,
folks at home won't think any the
worse of you for this-when they
know"
I'VE had been afraid" said oul
refugees. For weeks we have knowr
that the Germans were all around the
SASy. NhohS vi ouA poopAO bNu boIIS
ago. When we heard that the Ger
mans were mounting their big gun!
We got ready to go. Then Winston
Churchill came and told us all would
be well.'
Churchill occupies a position which
Is equivalent to that of the secretar!
of the navy in the United States. 1
should be pointed out that Churchill
has no authority to act independently
10 = ,,k
been assented to by those lords o1
war that sit in Downing street.
Belgians Fooled by British?
THE English troops have come tc
save Antwerp" he announced. There
Is now no dangey that the Germans
will capture the city There are So,
600 more English troops upon the
way"
Our refugees declare that an off.
cial notice of this sort, signed b!
Churchill, was published in the Ant
werp papers. II this is true-I have
no personal knowledge of tit will
come out in the wash.
1--WE were told not to be afraid,
said our refugees. And We We're not
We believed. We did not know unit
afterward that our newspapers knew
the truth and were not permitted tt
tell it. One paper was suppressed be
cause it made an effort to reveal thu
situation"
So Antwerp went on, fooled int,
careless happiness. laughing. flirting
going about its business. Until on,
day another official notice appeared
1t ran something as follows:
"The Germans will begin the bonn
bardment Of Antwerp today. Al
those who can are advised to leav'
the city. Do not attempt to encumbe
yourselves with heavy articles"
The refugees say am careful t,
put this statement in their mouths
all will be known some time-tha
when that note was published Ant
werp had been abandoned by its de
tenders.
Winston Churchill had left the da,
BEFORE" they declare. "He made tn
military governor Of the city give hin
an armored car and. escort"
Churchill wasn't the only one t
leave while the leaving was still fairl
good. The Belgian military governo
himself left the day the notice ap
peared. So did the British consu
general. The day before he left it j
charged-by the refugees-that h,
had forbidden the publication of tn
facts of the situation:
ut would only create a panic" sal,
the consul general.
Sosthe panic was not created unit
the next day, by which time. the Brit
ish consul general had secured twenty
| four lovely hours start upon it. Tn
American consul general-one Died
erich-alao ran away, as did the vic
| consul, Sherman. 1 know this to b
true, because saw an interview pub
lished by Diederich in Rotterdam
But the refugees do not feel at al
hardly toward Diederich.,
Zone can not blame him." said on
Of them, smiling. mot many week
ago Zeppelin bomb almost wrecke
the street in. which he lives. It fel
within three hundred feet of his hom,
And in the first days of the lombard
men" 1t will be noticed
did not run until the shells began t
fly, by which time every one was run
ning-"a shell tore through the wall
Of his house and passed betwee
Diederich and his wife. as they ga
at dinner. Diederich showed me
fragment Of the shel."
1t may also be added that Diederic
came back. My refugee alleges this
Sherman had not appeared at the tim
he left.
"They tell me-" said my refuge