s d'Arenberg in Brussels.

It is significant that the following notice has been placarded on the
outside of the building occupied by the Military Government, next door
to the Hotel St. Antoine: "Reports that the French and English are
marching on Antwerp are without foundation; the public is warned against
helping to circulate these false reports." All day crowds hang about the
door where this notice is posted among official German news bulletins.
The burghers of Antwerp are well informed about the varying fortunes of
the war, for several papers printed in French are allowed to appear,
under the German censorship, which seems surprisingly easygoing here and
eminently fair, allowing them to print not merely the official German
accounts circulated by the Wolff Bureau, but the official English,
French, Russian, and even Belgian bulletins as well, in addition to
matter copied from the Dutch papers, which are also allowed to circulate
here.

If things look doubtful in the north, the Germans are looking
confidently to the south, where the next big victory is hoped for. I
learn that Gen. von Beseler, "the conqueror of Antwerp," as his popular
picture postcard title reads, is now in charge of operations around
Verdun, and that four of the new 42-centimeter mortars, in addition to
more than thirty of the 30.5-centimeter, are already in place there. On
the strength of this combination well-informed German officers
confidently expect the quick fall of Verdun as soon as Beseler gives the
order for the "Brummers" to speak--rather high-priced oratory, for I was
told by an artillery officer that it cost the taxpayers 36,000 marks
($9,000) every time one of the 42-centimeter mortars was fired.

*The Belgian Ruin*

*By J.H. Whitehouse, M.P.*

[An Associated Press Interview, Published Oct. 2, 1914.]

LONDON, Oct. 1.--A graphic picture of the desolation of Belgium was
brought to London today by J.H. Whitehouse, member of Parliament from
Lanarkshire, who has just returned from a tour around Antwerp for the
purpose of assisting in the relief measures.

"Having always regarded war as the negation of all that is good," said
Mr. Whitehouse tonight, "I desired to see what its ravages were in a
country exposed to all its fury, and what steps were possible to
mitigate them. I do not think that any one here has realized the plight
of the civilian population of Belgium today, and can only attempt to
give any picture of this by descr