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Show Hp Chief City of Belgium Two-thirds Destroyed, While Its Citizens Are Homeless Wanderers; Aged and Infirm Lie by the Roadside. KING ALBERT IS SAFE IN OSTEND Belgian Army Tries to Join the Allies on the French Border, With the Soldiers of the Kaiser Close Upon Its Heels. AMSTERDAM, via London, Oct. 11 6 21 a. nu The main British Brit-ish and Belgian force -with King Albert of Belgium have reached Ostend safely In their retreat from Antwerp according to a dispatch to the Nieu-WB Van Den Dag from Bosendaal, Holland, a town near the Belgian horder EEELIK via London, Oct 11, 6 56 a. m. The German heavy ar tillery used in the homhardment of Antwerp has already heen started off for an unknown destination in France Spec .1 Oa . br XrraDBMiient with London Dal J Te CKTph and International News Serrl e ) LONDON Oct 10 King Albert at the head of the vanquished f eld army of Belgium which he led out of Ant werp to save it from being bottled up when it was seen that the fall of the temporary cap tal was inevitable, is reported to be in a cr tical situation He is be ng pursued by a large detached force of the German division of the be sieging army under General von Veso ler which ib attempting to cut him off along the Dutch border and force him e ther to face battle in the f eld against overwhelm ng odds or seek refuge in Holland there to be interned dur ng the per od of the war Queen Elizabeth of Belgium arrived in England today laud ng at Folkestone from Dunkirk. Her movements were guarded with the strictest secrecy Pursuit of King The pursuit of the king and the gal lant defenders of Antwerp developed when a body of Germans In great strength essayed a crossing of the Scheldt river near Termonde They built pontoons and desp te raking f re from the Belgian trenches succeeded in establishing themselves on the op pos te side where they were hastily reformed and took up the march in a northeasterly direct on toward San Nicholas twenty six miles southwest of Antwerp and but f ve m les from tbe Dutch frontier The Germans evidently were bent on turning the rear of the retreating Bel gian column and either forcing a bat tie or driving them into Holland and in any event preventing the Belgians from effecting a junction with the al lies In France who are pushing stead lly toward the Belgian border Should the Belgians appear behind the German line in France they would be able seriously se-riously to harrass Von Kluk s forces Before it withdrew the Belg an army not only destroyed several forts and disabled the batteries of those left in tact, but thirty steamers were blown up and the stores of petrol were blown up wherever found In the r rear ho fl -ini? no umn of Be glass and pu u ng P uSFlann eft a once beaut ful c hp pride of Be u n two thirds In m n The rac a on of Antwerpi now abundantly nonf rmed came only after t was se n that fu he (Continued on Page Twelve ) GELWUH TROOPS OCCUPY 11ERP (Continued from Page On ) resistance would mean the utter 3e structlon of the ci y by the ruinous f re' pf the giant hcv. zers which had been pouring the r dead y rain of shells Into it without surcease for three days the climax of a ten days s ege Fires e ill rare unchecked in many parts of the c ty The loss of ife has been appall ne Scores of beaut ful build ing-s monuments for centur es have been razed or sea red The Hote de VI e a wonderful arch tectura examp e of renals sance type dat ng from 1661 suffered severely Panic Prevails Some reports say that the Ssotre Dame cathedral dat ng from 13o and a mag nlf cent Go hlc structure has been sei ously damaged Others say It escaped unscathed Fugitives report the p ght of the refugees desperate Aged and in firm 1 e by the roads de worn out and help ess where they co lapsed Women and ch d en are forced to walk to a refuge In Ho and Panic is general among the Anversols Some of the inner ring of defenses and the outer fortif cations a e still manned b he Belgians but their res stance cannot last much longer as the strongest of the forts were the f rst to fa and the weaker redoubts sure y wi 1 be forced before many hours Germans Occupy Citj The Germans are in complete occupa tion of the city The actual surrender took p ace at 2 30 o clock Fr day after noon The bombardment reached Its he ght between 7 and 8 o clock Friday morning At 9 o c ock the white flag of capitulation was ra sed where the war flag had been flaunted from the tower of the cathedral and the big s ege guns ceased the r destructive fire a most 1m med ately Burgomaster De Vos accom panted by Alderman Louis Franck met General von Vese er command ng the besiegers at the Berschem gate and the city was surrendered unconditionally At 2 30 the Germans marched in through the suburb of Berschem. May Be Retaken Ml Itary critics today discussed tl a possibility of the retaking of Antwerp by the allies It Is an accepted maxim that permanent fortifications in an exposed position are easy prey for modern art 1 lery Th s was the reason for Antwerp a fal The same reason would hold good If the Germans occupied these pos Hons and it is generally agreed that little dlfficul y would be found In retaking the place. At least Germany has set free Its be s eging force which can now be thrown to the relief of Von Kluk This appears to be the so e advantage gained as Ant werp can be of 1 ttle use as a port be cause the Scheldt, through which ves sels enter the channels flows into the Netherlands territory and the Nether lands are determ ned to maintain its neu trallty inviola e at all costs It may be that the German objective has been changed and the German gen eral staff is now intent upon annexing a series of channel ports for the threat ened attack upon England As a Zep pelin base Antwerp m ght be valuable In attacking the English coast and even London but as a na al base It would be valueless unless the kaiser should elect to violate Du ch neu rallt |