The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915Various
History
The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
Fox had now joined me, and we took refuge in the cellars beneath the
Town Hall. So far as I could gather, the remaining inhabitants of
Antwerp must have assembled about this neighborhood, groups taking
refuge in small and stuffy cellars, where developments were anxiously
awaited. There must have been hundreds of people sheltered underground,
and they included the Mexican and Dominican Consuls. Why these stayed I
do not know, as none of their people were left behind. They were the
only Consuls remaining in Antwerp.
About 8:15 o'clock another shell struck the Town Hall, shattering the
upper story and breaking every window in the place. That was the German
way of telling the Burgomaster to hurry up. There was a tense feeling as
we waited for tidings of some sort or other. A quarter of an hour later
M. De Vos went out in his motor car toward the German line to discuss
conditions on which the city should be surrendered.
Another shell struck a furrier's shop opposite the Town Hall and the
place burst into flames. Several of the gendarmes who had stayed behind
were occupants of cellars, and two of them immediately rushed out to
force a way into the shop in order that they might extinguish the fire.
They found the door locked. It took them ten minutes to force an
entrance. By this time the fire was burning fiercely, and at great
personal risk one of the gendarmes made his way to the top floor of the
premises, and there he endeavored to beat out the flames with a piece of
timber torn from the roof. His efforts were futile, and he called for
water. Soon a Flemish woman brought him two pailfuls, which Fox had
carried to the house, and after half an hour's labor the fire was
extinguished.
The proprietor of the shop was among the people in the cellars across
the way. The news that his house was aflame was broken to him and he
rushed into the street. He gazed for a moment on the scene and burst
into tears like a child.
At 9 o'clock the bombardment of the city suddenly ceased and we
understood the Burgomaster had by this time reached German headquarters.
Still we waited, painfully anxious to learn what would be the ultimate
fate of Antwerp. The Belgian soldiers hurried by on their way to the
front. A number paused just as they reached a tobacconist's shop which
had been wrecked by shells, scattering the stock in the street. There
were cigars hurled across the pavement and roadway, and soldiers who had
halted picked up a few of the cigars. A Belgian workman, taking
advantage of this, entered the shop and began to stuff his pockets full
of cigars and cigarettes, but immediately gendarmes hurried to the place
and arrested him, the last arrest the Antwerp police will make for some
time.
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