north, seeming to renounce for the moment
their intrusion into the country of the Waes district. Afterward they
directed an attack against the southwest front position of the Antwerp
army and were repulsed with great losses.

Describing the burning of Termonde by the Germans, a Ghent correspondent
said:

"By midday Sunday the blaze had assumed gigantic proportions and by
Sunday evening not a house stood upright. This was verified at Zele,
where there were thousands of refugees from Termonde. The Germans also
pillaged Zele. The suburb of St. Giles also suffered from bombardment
and fire."

A courier who knew Termonde as a flourishing town with fine shops,
an ancient town hall of singular beauty and a number of churches of
historic interest, found the place on September 11 a smoldering ruin,
except for the town hall and one church, on a stone of which he saw the
inscription "1311." These two structures were left intact, without so
much as a broken window.

Termonde was burned for much the same reason as Louvain. On September
4 a German force came back from the field after having been severely
handled by the Belgians, and the German commander, it is said,
exclaimed:

"It is our duty to burn them down!"

The inhabitants were given two hours' grace, and German soldiers filed
through the town, breaking windows with their rifles. They were followed
by other files of troops, who sprayed kerosene into the houses, others
applied lighted fuses and the town was systematically destroyed.

BOMBARDMENT OF MALINES

On Thursday night, August 27, the German artillery bombarded the ancient
Belgian town of Malines. During the bombardment many of the monuments
in the town were hit by shells and destroyed. When the artillery had
ceased firing the inhabitants of Malines were advised to leave the town.

CHAPTER VIII BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY

_Earl Kitchener Appointed Secretary for War--A New Volunteer
Army--Expeditionary Force Landed in France--Marshal Sir John French
in Command--Colonies Rally to Britain's Aid--The Canadian
Contingent--Indian Troops Called For--Native Princes Offer Aid_.

After the declaration of war by Great Britain against Germany on August
4, the first important development in England was the appointment of
Earl Kitchener of Khartoum as secretary of state for war. This portfolio
had been previously held by the Rt. Hon. H.H. Asquith, premier and first
lord of the treasury. Lord Kitchener being the idol of