The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-09-16
If Captured Germany Gould
Cripple British Commerce.
is BELGIUM'S BEST DEFENSE

ron are believed to be in the mouth
of the Elbe, close to the entrance to
the Kiel canal The Notifications of
| HeIgoland and on either side of the
EIbe estuary render the Elbe anchor
age safe from attack. These fortifca-
tons are believed to be impregnable
to ship attack.
The possession of Antwerp and
Client would put the Germans in po-
sition to direct torpedo boat attacks
against the mouth of the Thames and
/ against Sheerness and other east coast
of England ports.
The distance from Flushing at the
Scheldt mouth is so short that torpedo
boats could make forays on English
ports, and if unchanged could regain
port before daylight.
| With the advance of the German
army into Belgium aud a possibility of
attack on Antwerp in view. military
men early perceived one of the most
cogent reasons for England dispatch
ing large force to the continent Ant
werp is regarded as of almost as much
Importance to England as one of her
own ports at the Thames mouth
Menace to Holland.
The taking of Antwerp and the utili-
cation of the Scheldt for effective oper-
ations against England may spell trou-
bic with Holland, says the New York
! Herald, but If Germany can pass her
torpedo boats down the Rhine into the
Scheldt it may mean that she can find
sea outlet west of the Scheldt, either
from Belgium or France The entire
Belgian and north French country is a
network of canals, and the extent Of
the tonnage handled on these inland
waterways is hardly understood by
those who have not actually traveTsed
them. 1t is Il fact that torpedo boats
can pass from the Mediterranean to
the English channel without going out
side, and torpedo boats are built in the
interior Of France and transported to
the north and south by Waterways
All the heavy artillery built at the Creu-
sOt works in central France is sent for
ward to the artillery shops of the same
company at Havre by water.
To Germany the possession of the
north Belgian and north French coast
means greater striking power at Eng
land. 1t means bringing forward the
numerous torpedo boat destroyers and
submarines held in leash in the Elbe
and at Wilhelmshaven. and it may
mean that after all is said and done it
is England that Germany is aiming at
even more than France in this great
struggle
Antwerp Hard to Capture.
The defenses of Antwerp, to which
city the king of the Belgians removed
his capital, are the strongest in Bel
GUM. They were designed as the
strategic center Of the national de-
Tense of the country and are supposed
to form an intrenched camp for 1OO.-
900 men.
The length of the enceinte is about
nine miles. The scheme included de
tached forts, those which are on the
side not defended by inundation being
about a mile and a quarter apart and
from two to three miles in front of the
enceinte. They are powerful works for
Il garrison Of about 1000 men and are
intended for an armament of 120 guns
and fifteen mOrtars
Although the system Of defpnses was
adopted in 1859. the present fortified
tiOns were started in 1878, when it was
! recognized that the old ones had be-
come useless on account Of the in
creased range Of artillery and the more
destructive power of explosives. 1t
was then decided to change Antwerp
from a fortress to fortified nosition
by constructing an outer line of forts
and batteries at Il distance varying
] from six to nine miles from the en-
ceinte. This second line consists of
fifteen forts, large and small.
Antwerp has long been regarded by
the English as a port which must re-
main in friendly hands. It's position
opposite the mouth of the Thames is
/ too close to take chances. Napoleon
seized this port in 1904 and undertook
+ to construct a great naval depot there
/ He is said to have declared that he
would make of Antwerp "a loaded pis-
/ tOl to hold at the heart of England"
. ~ a