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ANTWERP THE DAY AFTER ITS FALL 225
hands. Most of the population has lied to Holland, the wealthy
to England or the Riviera. All shops are closed. The banks
are guarded by German soldiers. Yet the town, conquered
but a few hours ago by the iron force of arms, is decorated as
for a triumphal march. The whole of Antwerp is bellagged
—
and the flags are Belgian ! How is it possible that they can
have been allowed to remain ? The reason is evident, the town
fell yesterday and it was for the Belgian army and the British
auxiliaries that the bunting had been hung out. But during
the next few days the black, yellow and red emblems gradually
disappeared.
Over the houses at the western end of the Place de Meir we
notice brownish-black pillars of smoke whirling upward to-
wards the sky. On arrival at the Marché mix Souliers we find
that a whole block is burning brightly, but now the fire spreads
no weird glare around it, for the city is bathed in sunlight.
The tongues of fire issue from the windows like as many
yellow flags agitated by the breeze, and we can see from the
street the furnace within. Several houses have been levelled
to the ground. From the timber and the lumber of the ruins
the smoke rises in dense, dark clouds. There are no curious
crowds thronging to watch the terrible spectacle. One fire
more or less means little in a time so filled with fearful happen-
ings. German soldiers are on guard at the entrances to the
street in the Place Vertc and Place de Meir, but there are few
people to keep in order in a city all but emptied of its entire
population. " Why is nothing done to quench the fire ?
" we
ask. " The waterworks at Waelhem have been destroyed,"
we are told, " and all that can be done is to watch the fire
and to see that it does not spread. If necessary the adjoining
houses must be pulled down, but it looks as if the fire had
worn itself out."
No part of the interior of Antwerp has been so gutted as the
Marché aux Souliers—and yet only the houses on the north
side of the street have been touched. Without a doubt the
damage was originally done by only a shell or two. The shells
usually ignite on bursting, and the flames had then no doubt
spread to the adjoining houses. But the ^block in question is
surrounded by open spaces and trees, and thus it has been
possible to limit the spread of the fire. Yet the streets are very
narrow. In the Marché aux Souliers a protracted squabble
had been going on between the private individuals who owned
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