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Show i REVERSE FOR ALLIES It s evident that the great battle wh ch ended in d saster for the allies was not oncluded on Monday desp te the rrench var office s announcement It appears that esterday the English French and Belg an for es alon the line west of Naniur in the general direo tion of Mons and Ouedenard wh ch is not far from the seacoast were st 11 en gaged w th the Germans The offic al report of the Par s war office ind eated that there had been a retreat A all along the 1 ne to the French fron t yt. tier although an obscure phrase was used to describe the retrograde move f A ment The report said that the all es-f es-f had ret red to the r cover ng posi tiona, and it was natural to assun e A that this meant the fortifications in i 3 France but it probably sign fied no moro at least so tar as the northern i j operations were concerned than a re iuement to new ntrenched pos t ons The ser ousness of tho reverse to 1 the allies cannot be estimated until j more complete nformation is suppl ed from official so rces In the lack of such data t is possible for the Eng , (J lish and French to entertain all sorts V of unfounded fears especially in v ew of the fact that the fortifications cap 4? tured at Aamur were taken by storm J! If th s success could be repeated along the border e en the mightiest French fortresses would prove an easy prev to the onrush ng Teutons It may be that the unforeseen circumstances to wh ch the offic al report alluded were n d n h a e ot Tsamur and map hat the fort h a on v a e bv a ruse or b an o i h r w th n the forts hem Ob fall of Namur was the on t the battle wh eh struck ter o o he h a t of General Joffre and on a ned h n to give the order for etrea The capture of Namur was tal to tho Uermans as it opened the wa through the vallejs ef the Meuse and Sauibre to rrance The allies cen tcred th lr Belgian operat ons at N n an 1 when t was taken the all es we e ut in two and the r 1 ne of com m n ations threatened le th ne ens tated a retreat the a 1 es were not ompelled to fall back anv farther than a po nt where the ould form a new eont nuous 1 ne "Se ertheloas the fight ing n Belg um esterday probably was no more than an operat on to co er the ult mate retreat of the all es to the French fort fled 1 ne In the eastern theater of war the al 1 es are making progress sat sfactory to their commanders but there s a d s position on the part of the Engl sh and French to exaggerate the mpor tance of the victories so far ach eved by the Euss ans and Servians The Serv an invas on of Austria at th s time cannot assume threatening pro portions and the Russ an invasion of Germany even by as many as five army corps can have no dec s ve effect upon the operat ons in the west The ka ser st 11 has two or three weeks in which to conduct his campa gn aga nst rrance before being compelled to withdraw sold ers from the western line and send them aga nst the It ss ans |