be taxed to the utmost.

The suburban town of Lierre was bombarded early in the week, the church
was destroyed, and a number of citizens killed and wounded. The next
day; the village of Duffel was bombarded and the population fled into
Antwerp. Many still had confidence in the ability of the Antwerp forts
to withstand the German attack.

Although the Germans succeeded in crossing the Nethe, their repeated
attempts to effect a passage over the Scheldt were repulsed and they
then concentrated their attention on an approach to Antwerp from the
southeast. In their trenches the Belgians resisted gallantly to the
last. "Most wonderful," said an American observer on October 7, "is the
patient, unfaltering courage of the average Belgian soldier, who has
been fighting for nine weeks. Tired, with hollow eyes, unkempt, unwashed
and provided with hasty, though ample, meals, he is spending most of the
time in the trenches.

"King Albert, the equal of any soldier in his devotion to duty, daily
exposes himself to personal danger, while the Queen is devoting her time
to the hospitals."

The effect of the German siege artillery was especially destructive near
Vosburg. Several villages suffered heavily and the barracks at Contich
were wrecked. The forts at Waelhem and Wavre-St. Catherines were totally
destroyed by the terrific shell fire.

Most of the fighting around Antwerp was a battle of Krupps against men.
Every day and night the fighting continued with deadly effect against
the forts, while the shrapnel and shell made many of the trenches
untenable.

As fast as the Belgians were compelled to withdraw from a position the
Germans moved up and occupied it. The Belgians fought stubbornly with
infantry and frequently they repulsed the Germans, but these repulses
always meant a renewal of the artillery attacks by the Germans, with
the eventual retirement of the Belgians until the end of endurance was
reached and the city defenses were evacuated by their brave garrison.

An instance of the tenacity with which the infantry stuck to their
positions was reported from the Berlaere, where the commanding officer
and his aid-de-camp were in one of the most exposed positions. Sandbags
protected them for some time, but at last the aid-de-camp was struck
by shrapnel and had his face virtually blown away. Unperturbed by this
terrible proof of the danger of his position, the commanding officer
stuck to his post, and for further shelter placed