Omaha daily bee., 1914-10-06
ANTWERP THE CITY
OF DREADFUL NIGHT
After Eight O'clock Becomes Darkest
and Blacklist Of ANY in the
World.
FEW OF ITS CITIZENS SMILE
Military Autos Rush Through
streets ut Breakneck Pace ana
Expect All 20 Get out OF
Their Way.


Copyright, 1914, by Press Publishing Coz
LONDON, oct 5.-(Specisl Cable
gram to New York World and Omaha
Bee)-There is lust one thing certain
about Antwerp one can say without fear
OF contradiction and only one. That is
on the stroke of o'clock every night
Antwerp becomes the darkest and
blacklist city in the world.
Not the faintest gllmmer of light is
to be seen anywhere Not sound is to
be heard, Even the footballs Of the few
privileged persons allowed to he out after
S o'clock arc deadened The people ac-
tually tread softly. Add to this dark
and lowering sky and you have real
city of dreadful night"
At the least that is how my first
Antwer ian visit impressed me. Almost
anything else that you may say about
this quaint Belgian city under present
conditions is quite likely to be contra
dicted | shall only tell what l have
seen and heard.
There is no formalty about going
ashore. You simply walk up the gang
plank and there you are. The customs
men make pretense at looking at your
baggage, but that Is all. Nobody car
ries more than they can walk in now
days. We had been careful to have our
passports vised at the Belgian embassy
before leaving London but they were
never looked at.
The center OF all ACTIVITY in Antwerp is
Hotel st. Antoine. Here is the headquar-
| ters of the Belgian government. Here at
the present time are most of the foreign
| fnie ,t. 4,
radiates. Military headquarters is next
door to 1t. and all day long high powered
automobiles come roaring and snorting to
it's doors, bearing military officials Of
every rank and in every imaginable style
OF uniform. The government has taken
over every automobile in the CITY, and the
absolute recklessness with which they
tear through the crowded streets, utterly
regardless of the danger to life and limb,
| is terrifying.
| Some people may tell you that Antwerp
| is Indifferent to its fate, but it made no
such impression on me. Never have |
been in a more serious city. Except
around the ST. Antoine during lunch and
/ dinner, and in the cafes just before COM
| ing OF the dark hour never d. you see any
thing approaching jolllty. The people do
not smile. In fact, Outside OF the places 1
have mentioned don't think l heard any
| body laugh. Most of the folks l saw
seated at the tables on the sidewalks out
side the cafes were drinking their beer or
! light wines-no spirits are permitted to be
sold-in silence and with solemn faces.
/ or course, there are exceptions to this.
as there are to everything else. For in
stance, under the guidance of a man who
knows the ropes" l went into a cafe on
street which before the war was oc.
cupied largely by German shops restau-
\ rants. cafes, etc. These were al
wrecked by the mob. and the window
frames and doors were boarded up.
This particular cafe is run by a woman
with grown daughters, who, | judged
were about 16 and II years old. respec.
| lively Also there was very attrac
/ tive barmaid. A good-looking young Bel.
gan officer was making love to all three
of them between drinks-only beer. and
| no light wine.
| Music is not yet forbidden in Antwerp.
so the young Belgian officer inserted a
coin in the automatic piano, which started
| up lively tango tune, and the young Of
f.cer danced with each one in turn. But
the music and dancing were subdued and
entirely decorous.