Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-22
"HE civilian public never has had, |
and never will have, the faint
est conception of the enormous


and never will have, the faint
est conception of the enormous
number of different kinds of things
which are necessary to the existence
of modern armies in the field. Still
less, Fortunately perhaps, has the pub
lie any idea of the amount of vast
age of material involved in any re-
treat, however deliberate, says a
writer in the London Times, who
continues:
There are at this moment in Bel
gium a number of dumps, containing
material abandoned by the Germans
in their retreat. This material con-
ssts, in the first place, of the con-
tents OF some 500 barges, each of
200 TO 800 tons, packed with warlike
stores fresh from Germany or with
things which the Germans sought,
but had not time, to carry away.
The Isabelle Brunei dump, at
Namur itself, runs for several hum
dred yards along the river bank,
Here, as elsewhere, the unloading
and sorting are done by German
prisoners, who do their work con-
scientiously, though without any con-
spicuous display of energy. One can
only liken this dump to collection
of samples from all the hardware
shops in the world. There are 400
tons of bolts, there are mountains
of stoves. there are forges, mining
lamps. carpenters tools, pumps, gas
alarms and speaking tubes. there are
paper sandbags and photographic
stones for printing maps. There are
barges full of shovels and barges
full OF timber.
All these things, and such other
of the booty as is not restored to the
Belgians upon proof of proprietor
ship, are on sale. Good prices are
| obtained, buyers coming from Ru-
mania. In some cases the sales are
held weekly-as fast as the stuff can
be got out of the barges and ar
ranged.
At Fort Dave, Namur. one OF
Brialmont's latest achievements, an
impressive mass of concrete and
cupolas of the type which at Liege
was to succumb with surprising COM
pleteness to the attack of unexpect-
edly heavy artillery. there is one of
the largest ammunition dumps IN
the country. Most of the shells are
German, but there is also consid-
cradle amount of stuff taken from us
| in our retreat, and now again in our
hands The job of collecting and
examining the mass of miscellaneous
ammunition scattered about Belgium,
some of it, especially the small Ger
man shells, being of uncertain tenn
per, is a particularly nnattractive
one. Accidents, however. are fewer
than one would have expected.
On the rolling uplands of Cognelle
stand three Zeppelin sheds. They
held theA airships which attacked
! q a-I
long, over forty yards high and
more than eighty yards wide. and
their structure is interesting. being
that of an inverted V. The side;,
of which the bottom edge runs on
rails, were raised by hauling on
winches placed at intervals on either
side within the shed. Tt is remark
/ able to see how much lighter the
Germans found it possible to make
the internal iron girders which sup
port the sides after their experience
with the first of these sheds which
they erected. These gigantic halls
are now filled with r. A. +. stores
of every description. They also con-
tain 100 abandoned German air.
planes in various stages of decom-
position Among them are some
machines made, wings and all. of
InTtG-ply WOOu. OlDtIS are
able for having solid wooden tires.
AS one drives about the country
one passes continually abandoned
German transports. There are parks
of derelict Red Cross vehicles and
lines of lorries of which nothing is
left but old iron. The work of-mov-
| ing all this inert and rusting ma
chinery will be laborious. and 1t is
hard to say how much of the stuff
will be worth repairing.
BY the riverside, near Huy. stands
the Corphelie Zinc Works, a magnif-
cent new Austro- Belgian concern in
| perfect order. In this, with the aid
of 500 German prisoners. is being
collected another assortment of hard
ware. One sees barges full of picks
and shovels. stacks of horseshoes,
piles of Thermos food containers,
rolls of insulated cable. cases of tools,
gun parts, lanterns and every con-
ceivable kind of ironmongery line
the enormous sheds.
At the Ateliers des Constructions
Electrtques, at Carleroi. one OF the