mbarrick | Oct. 13th, 2014

#dailycolonist1914 - News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today.

Most of the news is the dénouement for the fall of Antwerp. The stories conflict. Generally it seems that the Belgian army sabotaged their own forts before retreating so the Germans wouldn't be able use the city as a fortified base. It seems that some British troops accidentally\240(by British accounts) or intentionally (by German accounts) crossed into the neutral territory of the Netherlands and were disarmed by the Dutch. The Germans are reporting that they have secured vast resources for their army [which will come at the expense of those left in the area. To this day, 100 years later, I find it all but impossible not to eat whatever I am offered, regardless of whether I am actually hungry or not, because of my grandmother's constant insistence to "eat for the hunger that comes." She is 10 years old in 1914, and will soon be starving under the German occupation, and then will go through it all again in 1940. 1914 may seem like ancient history, but here I am, still touched by it in a direct way.]

There is a lot of speculation about it may mean for Antwerp to be in German hands. It certainly cuts off a major port for supplying British and French troops. There are assurances that it would be impossible for it to be used as a base for an attack on England because of the strength of the British fleet in the North Sea, but in these modern times, ships are not the only way to cross the Channel...

People living near the mouth of the Thames are warned that the only notice they will receive of hostile aircraft will be the firing of anti-aircraft guns.
It is revealed that the German Press Bureau was actively seeking to influence Canadian opinion of Germany prior to the war with "tainted German news."\240
Review of the weekend shows at the Pantages, including the mechanical reproduction ("not a moving picture") of the wreck of the Titanic, and the crowd singing along to a performance of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" [\240https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM-tFAdADg ]
¼ page ad urging people to buy Canadian.

http://www.britishcolonist.ca/dateList.php?year=1914

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IMG 1.)