Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-28
GERMAN SHRAPNEL
SKATERS TERMONDE
AND NEARBY TOWNS
Belgians Retire in Good
Order Under Whitening
Fire - Artillery Spares
Churches.
TERMONDE, Sent %

TERMONDE, Sept. q.
The only battle on in Belgium on satur.
day was south Of Termonde, where IN.
Germans shelled the Belgians.
The Belgians held their ground
tenaciously under heavy, well-dlrected
fire and then retired steadily throueh
Audegm toward Termonde, compIet,nr
their retirement at midday Two bun.
dred shrapnel shells fell in the viIlaps
of Audegm.
1 reached Termonde at 10 o'clock sat.
urday morning and paced through the
shattered town, into which the German,
occasionally sent a howltzer shell,
l proceeded toward Audegm at 1O,os
O'Clock and watched the German eun-
ners achieve their object of shatterinv
the tower OF the such at Audegm. one
moment the spre was shrouded in yyhi,s
smoke, the new moment it had disan.
peared, leaving nothing but O. decrenit
ruin.
A mile and quarter this side Of An.
degm the Belgians faced about al q
o'clock, when reinforcements began to
arrive An armored motorcar, four
mounted gendarmes and one or two ex.
traordinarily bold cyclists ventured into
the village.
Following these l reached the farther
side of Audegm. Here the motor caught
six Germans mapping. Its mitraieuss
dealt faithfully with them at a distance
of 500 yards.
1t appeared that the German forces
contented themselves with approaching
the outskirts of Audegm. This informa.
ton, given by peasant, was confirmed
by the fact that the pockets Of dead
Belgians lying there had been cut out
and all their valuabes taken. This both
Grant, Daley and 1 saw.
SHOTS FILL STREETS.
The road through the village was
strewn thick with shrapnel. picked up
a double handful in less than 50 yards.
The German gunners had evidently se-
cured the range to an inch. 1t is mar
vclous that the Belgians escaped 30
lightly.
Hardly had the Germans disappeared
than many villagers began to appear
cautiously in the streets, collecting frag-
ments of shell and shrapnel balls. They
were as phlegmatic as the Belgian
soldiers, who are imperturbable in all
circumstances.
Soon after the motor car and Its
mtrailleuse had talked sharply to the
Germans, the Belgians made an advance
in force on the right. A regiment Of
lanccrs galloped through a field to
position west of Wespelaars. 1t was
supported as quickly as possible by in
fantry, while an infantry attack, sup
ported by artillery, developed against
Wespelaars itself.
The range was very short and the bat
terry thoroughly searched the village,
carefully avoiding the rather fine church
towering over the cluster of little houses.
We could hear the crash of shrapnel on
the red tiled roofs. For few minutes
Wespelaars disappeared, then reappeared
momentarily in the white clouds OF
smoke.
In the face of the terrific hail the Ger
man resistance was feeble, but behind
Westpclaars was a thick woodland hiding
Lebbeke from view. Lebbeke was known
to be strongly occupied by the Germans.
Sunset, too, was approaching.
Content. apparently, with the ground
they had won, which was no inconsider-
able area, the Belgians left the Germans
undsturbed, to send an occasional shell
into Tcrmondc.
FEATURES OF FIGHTING.
Two distinct features of the fighting
were impressive to the spectator.
F. The contest was amost exclusively by
shrapncl. The Germans attained tenn
porary success by its use and the Bel
gians won their victory by its aid. Rifles
played small part in. the all-day con-
fict
The other feature was the uncanny
silence From the moment the Begans
ceased retreating to the time their at
tack opened on Wespelaar it was almost
disconcerting, although it was an agree
able sensation from one viewpoint.
As a consequence of the lack of amou-
lanccs the three motorcars and the news
paper correspondent present We're able 10
render considerable assistance to the bei-
gian wounded.
on our return to Antwerp we learnea
that the Belgians had retaken Alosl' ID
miles west ana n little north of Brussels,
at the point Of the bayonet and flth sIea'
gallantly. This was serious btow 10 'l'o
Germans and similar successes appear
along the whole Belgian line