The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-09-26
concrete Gun Bases We're
*FactOry" Foundations.
Startling Charges Made by
War Reporters.
GIN PARTS WERE SHIPPED
Said To Be SMachinery" and
Set Up on Supposed '@Farms."
Masonry Abutments for Artil-
1ery Laid Long Since.
SPIES LOCATED FOOD STORES
Guided Invaders Ran Swiftly
Through Belgium.
Germans Owned Stone Quar-
ries Now Used as Defenses.
Said To Be .sMachinery" and
Set Up on Supposed "Farms."
Masonry Abutments for Art1l'
1ery Laid Long Since.
SPIES LOCATED FOOD STORES
Guided Invaders Ran Swiftly
Through Belgium.
Germans Owned Stone Quar-
ries Now Used as DefenSeS.

London Sept 26.-CorrespOndents
telegraphing today from Amsterdam
and dating their dispatches from
France" an expedient resulting from
the expulsion of the writer's from any
where near the scene of the opera
tions, again dwell on the excellent
character of the German entrench-
ments.
It seems that in many places along
the Aisne battle front. stone quarries
dot the hillsides and a mojority of
these workings have been in German
hands for years. 1t would appear that
during several weeks before the open
ing of hostiilties, thousands of tons
Of stone wede cut from these quar-
ries. later to be used for the construc-
ton by the Germans of barriers
against which the heaviest artillery
has little effect. ,....
An Englishman writing from the
Maubeuge district, reveals some OF the
remarkable preparations, which he al
leges were made by the Germans for
the present war This man in his let
ter says:
Prepared Before the War.
"The Germans installed long time
before the war certain portions Of
some Of their big 42-centimeter guns
on a farm under the pretext that they
were boring for water. They put In
foundations Of concrete, SO that every
thing was ready. AS their guns had
a longer range than those Of the
Maubeuge forts, 1t was not difficult for
them to conquer"
The Paris correspondent Of the
London Chronicle confirms the fore
going statement and adds that all the
concrete platforms, selected some
years ago as foundations for factories
never to be completed.
Belated reports giving intimate de-
tails of the occupation of AmienS and
Compiegne, from which cities the Ger
mans subsequently were driven, throw
further light on what in England is
characterized as German advance
preparations for invasion.
Spied Out Stores in Advance.
According to these stories, in al
most every French town through
which the German army swept, some
one in the ranks would point out
where he had. until recently, resided
as an inconspicuous citizen. Through
such men great quantities of stores
were found, and this, together with
the knowlege of the country gained
by such soldier residents, have proved
of immense value.
The isolation of the Galician strong
hold of Przemysl, heretofore empha-
sized in dispatches from Petrograd as
fOrecasting a triumphant Russian
march to Cracow and then to Vienna
and Budapest. apparently has been
made complete by the occupation OF
Khyrow, 20 miles south of Przemysl
and close to the junction of railroad
lines connecting with Jaroslau. the
important railroad center taken by
the Russian troops some time ago.
On the British Isles the public is
awaiting with keen interest the out
come of Premier Asquith's appeal tc
the Irish as voiced in Dublin last
night. With a Welsh army corps al
ready in a tentative stage Of forma-
tion, Englishmen believe the Irish will
not be OutdOne.