Gilpin observer., 1916-05-18

er, its Belgian possessions The squat,
ugly village OF Smeermaes lies Just be-
yond the frontier line-low one-story
brick houses. about which not soul
can be seen except solitary German
sentry clad in muddy uniform of no
particular color, his spiked helmet COW
| cred in burlap. Here you see none of
the bright uniforms worn by the men
on leave or home duty in Germany:
there are not many soldiers left In
this part of Belgium, but those who
are left are as businesslike as the
men in the trenches.
Only two or three of them are in
sight here at Smeermaes-the senti-
mel, and one or two others little dis.
tance away, pacing along high
barbed wire fen @. This fence Is the
Belgian frontier-the first fence built
along the border when the Germans
began their policy of keeping the Bel.
gians at home. When they found that
despite constant patrolling this bar
rier was insufficient they built sec
ong barbed wire fence all along the
$50 miles Of frontier, 500 yards be-
hind the first one-clo1ely woven wire
this time, high enough to make 1t diff
cult even to throw letters over. and
charged with electricity. That fence
is studded from Maastricht to the sea
with carcasses of dogs. rabbits. chick
ems and cows.
And latterly the Germans have be-
gun the construction of still another
fence exactly like this one, but 500
yards farther back. The fences are
constantly patrolled, and at night
there are searchlights. 1t is getting
| pretty hard to get into or out Of Bel
GUM.
The taxi turns back through the
town and out again toward the south.
After passing another double barrier
| of earthen embankments and an In
quisitive sentry just outside the city
| limits you run along a road that fol-
lows the river perhaps 200 yards on
tho right, down through the cleft be-
tween the double weld, little village
| where the Dutch troops acting as the
frontier guards against smuggling on
the much-traveled route are quartered,
| and then on down the road toward
Wise.
Ruins Of Wise In Distance.
The ruins of Wise are down yonder,
beyond the mist-clad woods; and It
| is hardly more than a quarter OF an
hours run to Liege. But II is the
frontier; the driver shrugs his shoul.
ders: "Weiter kann man nicht." And
as you turn back you pass a line of
high covered carts filled with loaves
of bread-bread made from American
flour. sent across the frontier by the
Belgian Relief commission.
Until quite recently 1t was almost
as hard to get to Maastricht as to get
into Belgium. The Dutch garrison
was strong one, and the traveller in
South Limburg had to undergo hourly
inspection Of passports and special
permits. But repeated protests by
! Dutch business men had its effect, and
the reduction of the garrison removed
much of the military need for restric.
tions; SO that today travel in the
southern tip of the Netherlands is as
easy as 1t is in Westchester.
Only single regiment is left in
Maastricht. The old bridge across the
Meuse is guarded day and night, and
beside its parapets lie chevaux-de.
frise. tangled with barbed wire. and
heaps Of steel rails ready to be
thrown into place and block the bridge
on five minutes notice. But the plant
of the Dutch general stafY do not con.
template any attempt to defend South
Limburg in the event-which IL every
day regarded as less likely-of an at.
tack from Germany. The Zuyder Zee
dikes would be blown up and a great
stretch flooded clear across the coun.
try. Behind the area to be flooded. al.
most to the center Of Holland. is Ut.
recht, fortified almost as strongly as
the cities of the vosges. Here the
Dutch would make their first stand.
Behind that still another area can be
flooded. and then a third, extending
the submerged district up to the forti.
fications of Amsterdam. which would
be the last refuge Of the Dutch army,
as Antwerp was Of the Belgian.