New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-11-22
Hope to Make 1t Great
Military Centre-Ready
TO Feed Belgians.
GENEROSITY OF u. S.
SPOILED FOOD PLANS
Kaiser Has Narrow Escape from
Bombs of Allies Airmen
at Thielt.

/ heavier guns and put the place III
state of defence. The Importance at
tached 20 their almost feverish activ'
/ ity is indicated by the fact that Field
Marshal Won der Goltz, the military
governor of Belgium, ran over IRON
Brussels and made tour of inspection
of the double girdle of forts yester-
CAV. His Excellency Won Frankenbere
and Ludwigsdorf, personal adjutant OF
the military governor OF Antwerp
said; =,
I'VE have two principal interests in
our work here. First-That Antwerp
should become a place of great mill,
tarv Importance again and be prepared
against attacks from the enemy, al
though that contingency does not seem
probable .,,.
His excellency was unwilling TO
hazard a guess as to how long the Ger
mans could hold Antwerp against an
allied siege, but said:
81 believe we could hold out longer
against the Allies than they did
against the Germans. Our second in
/ terest is TO revive trade and industry
| and the life of the city generally
/ When we first came here there were
only soldiers and hungry dogs on the
streets; now, as you can see the dead
city is coming 10 life in short order
lie secuted the idea that the people
of Belgium had been or were on the
brink Of starvation as the result OF
German occupation, saying the con
trary was the case.
Belgium is a country which cannot
i 4 q ssa4c
only enough food for roughly 100000
out of its 100000 population, because
Belgium is an industrial country anC
food for the remaining 100000 has ia
be imported. Heretofore most Of this
food has come from Holland, whence
some is still coming, but in no great
quantity. We have taken the problem
of food supply up with the Belgian
government, as much as there is one
left-namely, with the municipalities
and at our suggestion an lntercommu-
nistic commission has been organized
so that everything possible can be done
10 help the country.
Plenty of Food on Hand.
This commission sits in Brussels,
and when any town or village or dis
trict has no more food on hand the
fact is reported and il gets from the
commission what is required. What
food supplies we found here we took
charge Of to prevent their being plum
dered, and also because We, as bel
7 ligerent, had to supply our own neces-
sites; that is the right Of war. But
BIZ no means have we used up all the
! food supplies ourselves, nor set them
aside for our own use; but large
part has been set aside for this com
mission, to be used for the poor, and
another part will be given back IN a
short time for trade purposes, so that
commerce will be revived again.
There is no place in Belgium where
the people have starved. Their most
pressing need would appear 70 be
money, for many are unemployed and
many others disinclined to work. AT
one place where we were told the peo-
pie were starving we found stores
crammed full of food, but the inhabl-
tants had no money and the shopkeep-
ers would not give them credit.
Everything is being done by US to
revive business so that the people can
again earn money. If America had not
been so tender-hearted as to send food
stuffs and if the food supply had run
out, we would certainly have consld-
cred it our duty to bring food from
Germany, for we are for the time beng
the government here, and 1t Is our duty
to see that the people do not starve.
German newspapers are not aware
that the Kaiser had a narrow escape
from the bombs of the Allies airmen
at Thielt. for the war lords recent in
vasion of Belgium has been kept as
nearly a dead secret as possible.
learned from an especially well In
formed source in Brussels that the OBJ
iect of the Kaiser's visit was not only
TO encourage his troops, but TO reprove
his generals. According to this IN
formant, who is frequently in touch
with high officers in their more mellow
moods, when military reticence some
what relaXes, the Kaiser was said &c
/ be in towering rage at the failure
/ Of his army to make Roadway against
/ the English and Belgians on the coast
and to have decided to 90 in person to
/ see about il. Also there has been con.
/ siderable cautiously yelled criticism oil
/ his persistent "interference" in the
/ conduc: Of the campaign.
/ On Kaiser's Trail.
Having last seen the Kaiser TWO
weeks ago motoring at the German
/ great headquarters, in Eastern France
I ] picked up his trail at Louvaln
through which place he passed by night
a week ago in a special train IN the
direction of Lille after a scouting pilot
engine had returned and reported al
safe" On his return journey from
Flanders he was rumored to have put
up at the Pa.ais Gutenberg in Brus-
sells.
/ Il is significant that the following
notice has been placarded on the out
side of the building occupied by the
military government. next door TO the
Hotel st. Antoine: Reports that the
+ French and English are marching or
Antwerp are without foundation; the
public is warned against helping ia
circulate these false reports
All day crowds hang about the door
where this notice is posted among Off
cial German news bulletins.
The burghers Of Antwerp are well
informed about the varying fortunes OF
war. for several papers printed III
French are allowed TO appear, under
the German censorship, which seems
surprisingly easy going here and emil
nently fair, allowing them to print not
merely the official German accounts
circulated by the Wolf Bureau, but the
official English, French, Russian and
even Belgian bulletins as well, in ad-
dition to matter copied from the Dutch
papers, which are also allowed to cir
culate here.
If things look doubtful in the north
/ the Germans are looking confidently