Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-04
.L0UVA|N HORRORS
TOLDBY DUTCHMAN
Massacre of Citizens CHARGED
by Refugee From the
Inflated City.
PRIESTS WERE TAKEN OUT
AND SHOT, HE ASSERTS
Streets Covered With Bodies Partly
Burned and the Whole Town Was
a Raging Sea of Flame.

ROTTERDAM. September 4, via London.
A vivid description of the suffering in
Louvain was given by Dutchman. who
has arrived at Breda. He was promi-
nent resident in Louvain when the war
broke out
I'VE Dutchmen in Louvain,'' he said,
"at first had nothing to fear from the
German soldiers. but all the houses that
had been abandoned by their owners
We're ransacked. Notwithstanding the
warnings of the military authorities for
bidding the troops to pillage.
I'm Louvain, as in all other towns
they occupied. the Germans imprisoned
as hostages of war the burgomaster, the
magistrates and a number of influential
citizens.
Before the Germans entered the town
the civic guard was disarmed and YEA
pons in the possession of the populace
were given up. Even toy guns, toy
pistols and precious collections of old
weapons-bows and arrows and other
antique arms-useless for modern war
fare had to be surrendered. All these
things. sometimes of great value to
their. owners, were destroyed by the
Germans. The value of one private COL
lection was estimated at $4,000.
From the pulpit the priests urged
the people to keep calm. declaring that
was the only way in which to prevent
harm being done them.
A few days after the entry of the
German troops the German military au-
thorities agreed to cease lodging their
men in private houses upon the paymen
of 100000 francs G2O.O0W daily. In some
OF the houses between forty and fifty
men had been stopping.
The beautiful rooms in the town hail.
where civil marriages take place, were
used as stables for the cavalry horses.
Mattresses Requisitioned.
Sunday. August %, influential people
were aroused from their beds. We were
informed that an order had been given
for $50 mattresses. 300 pounds of coffee.
$50 loaves of bread and SEQ dozen OF
eggs, and that they must be at the mar
ket place within an hour. On turning out
We found the burgomaster standing in
the market place and crowds of citizens.
half-naked or in their night clothes. car
rying everything they could lay hands
on to the market place in order that no
harm might befall their burgomaster.
After this had been done the German
officer in command told us that his
orders had been misinterpreted--that he
only wanted mattresses.
"All houses in the fashionable parts
Of the town and on the boulevard had
been lighted through the night by order
of the German authorities. The doors
Of houses had to be left open.
Tuesday, August %. many of the
troops had left town. We had a few
soldiers in our house. At o'clock in the
evening, when everything was ready for
dinner, alarm signals We're sounded and
the soldiers rushed into the streets. Shots
whistled through the air and cries and
groans arose on all Sides
I'VE did not dare to leave our houses
and took refuge in the cellars. where
we stayed through the long and fear
full hours. Our shelters were lighted
by the reflections of burning houses.
Firing continued increasingly and we