Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-11-05
BY JACQUES OBELS.

(CqrresPondent Of the Chicago Daily News
London, Oct 22-German vigilance
and exactions press overheard on
correspondents, and 1t is impossible
| by ordinary means to get anything
out Of Antwerp except by messenger
since the invading force has fastened
its settled rule upon the town. One
exception l might make. News sub
edited by the German military gov
| ernor would stand a good show Of
seeing the light In foreign countries
l do not wish to imply that Teutonic
military supervision of dispatches al
ways surpasses in severity that of
the other warning nations; I have lit
| tie doubt that, generally speaking, the
British censor is the most liberal in
Europe. Therefore, l have come to
London partly to get off this cable dis
patch and partly because London is a
convenient halfway point on my way
back TO the Belgian front. Briefly, /
wish to discuss the alleged atrocities
whether supposedly committed against
Germans or by Germans.
On the Road to Holland.
Getting out of Antwerp under the
rule Of the kaiser is much easier than
getting in. as the barriers erected out
side the city gates and the sentries
turn one back. For a special exit a
pass from the military government is
| necessary and the obtaining of this
pass makes necessary the fatiguing
search, crOss-examination and sus-
pense with which all who attempt to
move about in the war zone are pain
fully familiar. l ran the gauntlet all
right and eventually found myself on
the road to Holland, that road which
has been redeemed by the bleeding
| feet Of disinherited men and women,
striving to save their children and
some pathetic remnant of their house
| hold necessities.
Dismount the Belgian Guns.
When / left Antwerp the outer forts
| were scenes of great activity. Ger
| man soldiers were dismounting the
Belgian guns and lining them up on
the roadside preparatory to sending
them away, possibly to the western
front. AS l passed along l was as
tonished to find how the Germans
were making friends with the natives.
Apparently, they are doing everything
they can to win the confidence of the
Belgians, assisting them at their la
bors and mfngling in simple way in
their home life
Particularly was this true of the
WI
who had been recruited along the
Dutch frontier in Germany and hence
used a dialect like that spoken in the
north of Belgium. Here the people
naturally are reticent and distrustful,
| but these Germans, with a speech like
| their own, have done wonders in a
few days in winning their confidence.
At the frontier Dutch and German
| sentries are facing each other Each
is jealousy on guard against the other
and together they present stiff but
! dramatic picture. The Dutchman OBJ
| viously sympathize with the Belgians.
| One of their officers told me that the
| sight of the Belgians thronging over
! the border and surrendering their
| est heart. Most of them we're bag
| gard, some were wounded and all were
| disconsolate. Immediate measures
were taken to feed the hungry aEf
| provide comfortable quarters for all
| in a neighboring training field.
Tells of LootIng by Germans.
| Now for my knowledge and opinion
respecting the atrocity stories.
will say at once that have no knowl-
| edge Of such acts, unless footing and
| the placing of civilians before attack
ing columns be considered atrocious.
! So far as I know such acts may be
more or less justifiable in war and
certainly the Germans committed
them. I myself, as I cabled the other
day, was forced, with half a dozen
| other civilians, to march before Ger
man infantry in the streets of Malines,
| and as l so marched I saw shops
| broken into by soldiers and thorough
| ly sacked
| 1t may be remembered by readers
! of the Daily News that l was the first
! correspondent to discover and de-
! SCItDG III u6tdii THE INSTITUTION Oh
| Termonde. The looting there | did
not see, but credible witnesses told
what believe to be an incontrovert-
IDLE story. Moreover, they showed
unmistakable results of wholesale pill
| lage
Atrocities may have occurred in
| Termonde. but I found nobody who
claimed to have seen them. Cases Of
alleged wanton and horrible cruelty
! have been mentioned over and over
| again. but my most Jealous inquiries
! failed to verify such reports. Mind
| you, I cannot say that the reports
were false. Persons quite as trust
worthy as myself may say that they
! are true
Finds no Proof of Atrocities.
! I only say that I was unable to find
| proof of the atrocities, although l
| earnestly sought for IT. l will say
| further that, in my opinion, the atroci-