| Show YANK VICTORIES CHEER BELGIANS war worn army Is electrified by work of ings soldiers KING ALBERT enthusiastic every bit of news regarding ahe american army Is eagerly devoured royal family lead simple life washington everybody in the belgian army from the gallant king to the brave little privates in the ranks Is eating up every bit of news concerning what the Ame american I 1 briny army Is doing what america is preparing to send over in the near future and what money she Is raising to bring the aar at to a 1 successful finish this is tile the information brought by paul van don von for formerly in erly pi professor lofessor in the university 0 of louvain and now a professor at princeton university and director of the belgian be ian service professor van DPI dea ven veil lias has just returned after a long visit at the belgian front lie ile lad a i wo hour chat with the king you ton cant begin to imagine he says the electrical eli the ciulla coming tit of your americans his has upon our people the men in the trenches get the french and belgian papers I 1 was there after cantieny cantigny Cant igny and chateau had been fought and won b by Y your four men delighted by the news our belgians were nere wild with nith delight in one sector the lines had become stabilized lecause Lo calise each side had turned loose floods against the other the wet trenches tren dies were perhaps 2000 yards apart each side had boats but there were few raids but while I 1 was there the belgian urmy army was beginning to stir one morning I 1 saw a party part y of my countrymen returning in boats they had been out on an all night raiding party they were dead weary but they were singing they had taken beken some alun prisoners bud and their trench kules had blood on them you know what wha thins has happened since the file king makes ills headquarters at la panne a little village on oil the belgian seacoast here lie lives like a modest citizen ot of moderate modern te means in III a simple two story brick cottage colang the house faces out on the sand dunes I 1 remember there were two flower beds which did not thrive well in thai sanda sand soli soil the interior of the house is as simple ns as the exterior the king has a tiny salou salon fitted out with some old red velvet chairs very much the worse tor for beai wear and years there is a small table fable on were lying iving some french and angll english newspapers at tills this table ali thi king does ills his work 1 the queen end and alie children have linao their bedrooms 0 upstairs prince charles 14 one of the sons is sti still 11 I 1 a schoolboy schooT boy the duke of brabant seventeen heir to the throne at the age ace ahen most boys are in high school is serving as a private in the army As I 1 was coming in I 1 saw the pretty blonde princess marle marie jose twelve romping 1 in after a walk on the dunes its a sweet NN wholesome holesome family life that Is led there at la panne broken of course by the necessary absences of the king with his men arid and the duke who takes ills turn in the trenches 1 I had a two hour tall talk with my sovereign it Is of course difficult to get to la panne it is quicker to go there by auto than by train and your papers have to be unexceptional but once you get there little ceremony is observed I 1 went ment into the kings cottage and found him N waiting for me lie ile received me standing and we shook hancq hand prid and stood there for two houis bourg talking lighting fighting king described the king is very tall and soldierly looking ile he is forty three and ills his face shows the cares that lie he lias has borne for the last tour four years lie he i wore ore the ilic khaki uniform of a general in the belgian army and it was not tile the show unil uniform that giai n 5 64 many sa sovereigns put on for occasion I 1 remember some of the gold braid was dull arid the whole suit quit looked it had evidently seen ling jong service in ill the wind rain and tin snow our sovereign alien a lad of eighteen was in america and lie asked me many questions about places and men lie he had known a quarter of a century ago lie ile was especially interested in the firsthand first hand impressions I 1 gave liim him of the young giant of the west and how american democracy was raising men money and supplies to end the war lie has what so many really brave men have a modesty that amounts almost to shyness esq and amid ills cares lie he has retained his sense of humor with a twinkle of the eyes and a gentle tough lie told me ninny many stories of ills his verbal verb I 1 dentists tista encounters with ills his american den dentist |
