The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1914-11-05

the Argonne, where deep earthwork'
are lmpraeiicable. did the French con
,inue their assaults. but here the Ger
mans not only held their own but
launched a fanking counter attack or
the tender spot between verdun and
Toul, broke through at ST. Mihiel, and
maintained their foot hold despite the
most desperate efforts to drive them
from this threatening position.
Al the same time. before these
frontal attacks had proven failure, the
allies had begun second general
movement TO force the German lines.
Strengthened by great bodies Of
troops from the Paris garrison, the
allies commenced to prolong their left
wing. hoping to envelop that German
right-hand army of General Won
kluek, already so worn down by the
drive on Paris.
On this fanking movement the allies
evidently pinned great hopes, and for
more than a fortnight the world was
constantly told that Won Kluck was
developed, surrounded" or Gin
flight"
However, the optimism of the allied
bulletins was consistently belied by
the pessimism of the map. The allied
left wing, plotted out in terms Of
towns and villages, instead Of curry
ing eastward to Won kluck's undoing,
merely went due north for short dis
lance and then set more and more
sharply off toward the northwest.
Furthermore, Won Kluck presently
ceased to be the German right-hand
sentinel A new German army took
up this extensive game-that of Won
Boehm, while more recently still a
huge mass Of German horse appeared
like thunder-cloud in the extreme
northwest, threatening raid behind
the allies extended left wing, and the
famous thanking movement" died out
in sundry cavalry chickering's on the
broad, gras y chalk-downs of the Pas
de- Calais, within hail of the English
Channel.
Antwerp Episode Finished
In other words, the great allied at
tempt to break the German grip on
northern France failed. 10 dicerning
observers this fact became evident
about two weeks ago.
And among these discerning observ-
ers first place must assuredly be CIV
en- to the German general staff.
The moment they realized that the
shock of the allied assault had spent
its force and that the gigantic duel of
the Aisne had settled down to tenn
porary stale-mate, they made sudden
spring upon Antwerp.
Antwerp had been thorny problem
from the first, always compelling the
Germans to mass thick reserve col
umns to protect their communication
routes, menacing them with complete
disaster in case their French battle
line should give way.
Accordingly the huge German how
tiers and Austrian mortars were
rushed to Antwerp, and that mightiest
fortress of all Europe was pulverized
with the same awful rapidity as those
other strongholds, Liege, Namur, and
The wreck of the Belgian army APP
pears at this present writing to have
struggled through to Ostend. The
Belgians, it is true, may sail away
lnder the covering guns of the Brit
sh feet, as Sir John Moore's army
escaped Napoleon at Corunna, but
his cannot change the strategical re-
suit of Antwerp's fall, the German
battle line resting firmly on the Eng
ish Channel somewhere between Dun
Kirk and Boulogne, with nothing to
ear from it's Belgian rear and no
'urther fanking movements possible
1t the hands of the enemies.
By the time these lines are printed,