Show AID SHRAPNEL FIRE WRITER SEES HERCE FIERCE CONFLICT oil ON THE MER EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER dally new news er flanders belgium flor For more week I 1 have been at the head voters of the belgian army behind of the river from nieu I 1 have been seen bow how aw imants imants of the army from ant on an the way to ostend sent nt to northern france to reel rest 4 organize irga nize and bow how the reet rest ot of lan forcee forces being asked to bold hold e 42 hours have actually held ii x day days thus preventing a siege kirk and earing saving the french oja from om invasion Inva alon W stick q ick to antwerp to lait last arato 0 what wae at first report i what wi belgian army left t antwerp only fall the forts except four had been mapped id and these four the defend v up as an they hastily evacuated n the h hereto belgian Del glan general i el remaining to the last what f the he retreating belgians en olland holland and are held by dutch lee ties la Is not known here certain that the othera others never have bave escaped tha the germans but heroic stand made by a mixed f english Engl tab belgians and french in the village of nelle south f ghent wherein two belgian ants la the sixth volunteers and th ot of the line particularly dis hed ed themselves a i from dunkirk to frame france shed furnee october 18 16 hav ked from dunkirk I 1 crossed a i reached a village street sl et and two ro turnings emerged on the old id market place of fumes furnes the id d present seat of the general arters of the belgian army I 1 t once to tho the headquarter headquarters in wn a ball hall made known my laen iden d secured a pass rats ding ing before the headquarters automobile containing three soldiers I 1 approached approach pd and the ie nearest one where tb ger were ere lie looked at me with meet and before replying ur me ne explain who I 1 was and why ome come he exclaimed I 1 good have they let you come this ell since you are here it can harm lam to tell you where they lo 10 drew a map from his pocket hey they are he suld said laying c P it the tillage village of tie ie extends from nieuport to e i the belgians Delg tans ara aro selves all aloes along tho the line arts tarts out for nieuport ked the soldiers and set out te to nieuport on the outskirts es is I 1 passed a regiment of el eting for I 1 turned ft t in the direction of nieuport he the village of I 1 was wag back by an over polite belgian L light night I 1 heard r terrible can g and saturday morning 0 0 7 1 I learned that the battle of er ir had begun this battle is as not yet come to an end it aly a part of the greater bat aich it is licely to be the small though it is in the num troops engaged the belttle of ir or presents three di distinct according cording ic to the nature of the eight miles east of arnea lies of where the attach attack tho 0 belgians bore here had been ed by french marine in hese deeo marines forming tho the first etense yards beyond the 1 on the right hank bank of the the germans with lence olence about nine ming marines who figured in ie e cati ultimate mate their opponents at t 20 the attack contini daybreak on saturday when nes ably assisted by french itan ian batteries batte rire placed behind i drove back the ou onslaught slaught sider sid erable ablo loss hes ee the belgian Tron kranches Tr chee 1 I reached the belgian bat nd d trenches about eleven a in cv the former keying up fire some of tho the belgians IO glans arbia IA had ah acca id line of defense tried to de from continuing farther fart ber as anel fire waa was rather heavy at it t but I 1 proceeded until I 1 about one kilometer six a mil mileo on thir side ot of the dolman previous iven ven 19 permission to go one r beyond the town to a po ilch a aa I 1 learned later would t me in exactly between the op forces and in full line with fire pea e shrapnel of germans ed ulde aside and approached a i it ati midst ga as email fillad TOl nUe booming of the v cannon had been bil b il it seemed without imbor now ow jl bad had my fiest under fire As I 1 was about to e church intending to mount Lel belfry try I 1 heard an unnerving k b som somewhat lower pitch than by projectiles from the guns it grew lender louder loader der er I 1 felt as if a devil a fly bine hine was looking about hunt mo mn and for a brief second I 1 hat that I 1 had never come then loud ud report the german rat t harmlessly beyond the and feet up in the air at day I 1 have heard and wn 20 shells burst nearly r never without the ame ame aw buoo 94 druia lidi I 1 te Is wt fear ear of death but the result of the unearthly sound entering the church I 1 found tt it full of straw the place evidently eri dently having been used as a dormitory dor mitor for sollers sol soN llera lers but nothing had been touched though chaire chalm were scattered everywhere atter after mounting a rickety ladder a long time in the dark I 1 reached the very tip UP of the steeple above the bell see sees battle from steeple looking through MY spyglasses over the flat country in the direction of the town I 1 was able to distinguish the very spots and buildings beyond which the belgian shells were bursting flames were leaping high but owing to a row of tree trees screening the ger man matt batteries I 1 was unable to eee see what waa was burning at that timo time tho the town itself was intact to the left stretched the poplar bordered year I 1 could see men sheltered in trenches along the roadside trenches so cut as to provide a skeleton covering upon which was heaped straw making maling a watertight root roof in to front about six hundred yards distant a regiment was drawn up but I 1 was to learn the reason why in company with ith an english correspondent spon dent at that timo time the only other correspondent with the belgians lne I 1 saw the battle of nieuport at close range long before we reached the village of nieuport balnes baines we saw part of the naval squadron lying jutt just ell the coast occasionally firing aring at some unseen mark and heard field artillery booming ahead hear batteries in the dunes we heard the belgian batteries battet les firing fiting in the dunes on our right toward nieuport and only when we 99 reached the south pier at the mouth of the could we obtain any idea of the general li tt atlon the lines at this point being held buld by the sixth stith aad seventh belgian infantry the day was cloudy and the wind was driving the mist of rain min inland accordingly we sought a high deserted building that stood nearest the river when we finally stuck our heads through the skylight by the aid of our glasses we saw an unforgettable sight at our feet lay the railroad A station at the mouth of the river which stretched stretch Pd away right to the town ot of nieuport then bent southward and was hidden from view by the building in which we were behind the river hidden in a grove of scrubby trees growing on the dunce dunes v ere three B go glan batteries of four guns each which v were ere firing incessantly straight across before us the shells were striking belond leond tho the village of thirteen warships in sight to the lott loft beyond was the village of Wes tendo which the germans had bad retaken that morn ing still farther away the church spire of WAS faint faintly visible seemed quiet but german shells bursting over it presently located the belgian trenches before us and a few soldiers come run ning over the dunes duties but it was on the left that the spec bacle was ras mott impressive there lying out from the coast at varying dis die were 13 vessels of war there were two cruisers one of which fired occasionally from about three miles the other lay silent somewhat lit farther rom the coast R and nd of eight dost destroyers st four french and tour four english and thee th ee monitors great flashes bar barit batteries for a long time we wat the german shells bursting over Lom baert the belgian shrapnel and the shells of the monitors were viere directed against westende We I 1 saw the belgian batteries 1 lang ing on our side of the but though their thunder made our building tremble we ne were able to too locate 3 the batteries batter iee otly by the terrific terr itic flashes amid the trees through in ln occasional rift in the smoke SO well were they concealed that the germans must have been unable to locate them since the only shells which tell fell in our direction seemed to be aimed at the lighthouse which the germane germans probably imagined tobe a wireless wire lesi i station esch E ch UE anaza was sent ent a more shells came whirling toward the lighthouse many ell fell into the river tells english officers bravery we were joined in our skylight by a belgian captain who asked us for ahn an nan of our glasses and when who it he hid seen all that he le desired be he told Us the story of tle english lieutenant who bad had landed that morning the particulars of bica b be had just learned this came ashore from the monitor severn with 20 men and three machine gun guns to prevent the belgian retreat rt treat beaching reaching nieuport he saw that in losiel groote farm that morning the belgians B ro giatis bad had ned ther their position accordingly be he ed with his 20 men across the bullet swept area right fight ti the belgian trenches the meu men who were there say he walked d as calmly at as it on en a tour ot of Inspect loa calling order orders to his men and signaling with hia his hands in vain the belgian officers shouted that the fositt position on was already occupied by the germans either he did not hear bear or he as Rs determined 0 to o accomplish the task at all costs destiny broods and Is in silent over matter ma ot of this kind when 60 yard yards from the coveted goal the yong omer c tell fell dead a bullet having struck him between the eyes the men retreated still aming the guns with them isaid with the memory ota ofa aero hero la in their mind minds |