The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-02-08
BELGIUM !
[By William Philip simms,
Press Staff Correspondent

KING OF 6ElGIOM, Inside um
Frontier, via Paris, Fob. s.-DoSrediy
determined never to yield the re-
mainder Of his little kingdom to the
Germans, King Albert is here on the
fighting line, directing the movements
of the re-organized Belgian FORCES
along the User. Officials in close
touch with the king told me today he
would never abandon Belgian soil II
the Germans made another advance.
"He would enter the trenches in
side the frontier Of his kingdom and
meet his end with . gun at his should
err" one officers told me. And he
added: 1880.
"The whole Belgian army is satur-
ated with the same spirit!''
This Is not the same army that fell
back, crushed under the weight Of
the kaiser's great human jusgernaut.
The BeIgians have been completely
reorganized. They have been newly
equipped from cap to boots. They
have had rest-and they needed It aft
er fighting like heroes for tWenty-four
hours day in an effort to stem the
German tide that flowed through
cupy three times as much of the al
siS0 00AAtS tUS - AOuy IaV0 VSSOPsSS
since the fall Of Antwerp. ! was per-
trenches. Belgian officers escorted
Our trip took US at times to within
100 yards Of the German lines.
The country along the User 10
tragic waste. The most dismal swamp
would be a garden Of Eden by com.
parison. Water stretches across the
fields from Dunkirk to ostend; from
tho seacoast south to Ypres, criss-
crossed by roads built up by both
armies and dotted by tiny islands, oc-
cupied by ruins Of deserted farm
houses, standing out like silent sen
trys from the flood. The hottest fight
ina 10 progressing for these roads
and islands. The slaughter Is fright
ful. Numheriess decomposcd bodies
float about the marshes, rotting in
mud and water. The stencil is too
horrible to describe.
The battles hereabouts are the
queerest in history. During the day,
there are bitter artillery dueIs. From
road to road, from island to island,
guns beIch forth shells across the
waste Of water. The cannonading
slows up az night settles over the
flooded areas. Then small parties Of
from fifty to one hundred and fifty
soldiers form small surprise parties.
They cross the waters to the attack
on RATS and scows, drawn by men in
hip boots, who on the previous night
had explored the flood to find the
most wadeabIe routes. The Germans
keep the night glowing with lIlumin-
ating bombs which hang in the air to
prevent surprises of this sort. Their
ghastIy light converts the whole wat
cry battlefield into a devastated
Venice
This hciI-hoie Is world of its own.
1t Is apart from the other worlds
along the battle line, where men are
fighting over firm ground. And the
Belgian soldiers have made dream
world Of It.
They pretend each island in the
forces, they say, are expeditionary
forces, sent to subjugate the strange
lands. It Is game for boys, but the
soldiers enjoy II with all the enthusi-
asm Of boyhood, though sometimes
whole parties that set forth on a mis-
sion Of conquest t. the Strange
lands' never return.
The outposts are new luxury for
the Relgians. They were unable to
establish them prior to the German
check because the kalser's armies had
poured in on them too rapidly. The
reserve forces are another luxury. The
outposts by preventing surprises, and
the reserves, by taking relief duty,
insure regular periods Of repose for
all.
These things are working wonders
toward keeping the soldiers in fine
condition physically and preserving
their excellent morale. A staff officer
told me that the Belgian army was
never SO effective, so determined, as
now.
"king Aibert's senacity is the thing !
that has grrped the men, he said.
"EIe has refused to permit his own
spirit to be broken. He has inbued
his men with fervor not unlike that
Of the followers Of Joan Of Arc"