Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 October 1914 — FALL OF ANTWERP REPORTED NEAR NEED ALLIES’ AID [ARTICLE]

FALL OF ANTWERP REPORTED NEAR NEED ALLIES’ AID

Only Help From French and British Can Save the Capital. THREE FORTS HAVE FALLEN Refugees Believe Capture Soon Is Certain, Notwithstanding Official Assertion Situation Is Unchanged —Germans Suffer Big Losses. Antwerp, Oct. 6.—The situation in Antwerp is serious. Unless the allies give aid quickly the city is likely to fall. Town Is Open for Attack. London, Oct. 6.—By taking by storm five of the outer forts of Antwerp, as claimed in Berlin official statements, the Germans have made a breach in the city’s defenses which makes possible an attack on the inner circle of forts and the town itself. The' forts of Wavre, St. Catherine and Dorpveld were captured Sunday and an announcement received by wireless from Berlin says a report from army headquarters claims the forts of Lierre, Vaelhem and Konigshoyckt were taken. The intermediate redoubts, with 30 guns, also were captured. British Aid Belgians. The British heavy artillery is cooperating with the field artillery of the Belgians in defending Antwerp from the bank of the River Nethe, where the Germans have suffered heavy losses. Refugees Predict Fall. An Amsterdam dispatch says refugees from Belgiugi pouring into Holland declare that Antwerp is about to fall. Teri steamers that arrived at Flushing were jammed and villages around Maastricht are filled with panic-stricken refugees. "Even if the Germans should succeed in piercing the first line of fortifications they would rind a surprise awaiting them on the second line,” was the significant remark made by a member of the Belgian general staff in Antwerp. This led to the belief that there is a.strong mixed force of English and Belgians massed along the second line of works. Wounded Belgian soldiers say a big district between Liezel and Vaelhem .has been flooded and that-the Germans, in retreating, lost considerable artillery. Germans Use Heavy Guns. The Germans are using their biggest Krupp guns against the forts, together wi'th heavy Austrian artillery. In spite of the assurances of the general staff, it is believed that the German shells have done much damage. There is a constantly growing belief that unless the siege can be lifted by the allies, co-operating with the Belgians, within a short time, Antwerp must inevitably surrender. Germans Lose Heavily. The terrible mortality connected with the siege was disclosed by an eye-witness to the German attempt to capture by assault Fort W’avre-St. Catherine- He said the dead and wounded were piled seven feet high, an entangled mass in front of the fort after the Belgians had repulsed the assault.