Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-19
SACK OF LOUYAIN
LIKE TRIP IN HE'LL,
EYEWITNESS SAYS
Citizens Shot Dead Like
Rabbits and the Torch of
the Firebug Invader in
Every Direction, Is Story.
ROTTERDAM, Sept. to

hOIIBRDAM, sept. ~.
Stories of the sacking of Louvain, which
are almost unbelievable in their horror,
reached here from the frontier.
One of the most vivid is that OF an as
sistant in bicycle shop, who, though
Dutchman, was given special facilities for
escape owing to his being mistaken for
German. AT midday last Tuesday" he
begins, "a fearful uproar broke out in
the streets while we were at dinner. and
the cracklc of musketry was soon follow
ed by the roar of artillery near at hand.
Hearing shrieks from the inhabitants
of our Streets rushed to the window and
saw that several houses were already In
flames. Soldiers were smashing the shop
windows and looting in all directions. As
the people rushed into the streets from
the burning houses they we're shot down
like rabbits. With my governor, his wife
and little boy, we fled to the cellar
where I and the boy hid under a pile of
| tires. while the manager hid under a
chest and his wife got into drain, where
she stood with water up to her waist for
many hours.
| Nlit1I Made
| might fell and the sound of shooting
| in the streets became brisker. I crept
out of my hldlng-place to get some water
and peeplng out of my window saw to
my horror that almost the whole street
was in ruins. Then we found that our
own house was alisht, and 1t was neces-
sary to choose between bolting ana being
| ht,r oil tr !, ,,.,t,a 4
to make a dash for It, but the moment
was outside the door three Germans held
me up with revolvers and asked me where
l was going. My reply was that 1 was
| German that my master and his wife
were Germans who had been trapped in
the burning house.
| Apparently my German was good
enough to make them believe my state
ment. for they promised to give us safe
conduct out of the town. Our walk
through the streets to the railway sta
t,on / shall always remember as a valk
| through hell. The beautiful town, with
Its noble buildings, was a sea of flame.
| Dead bodies lay thick in the streets.
Dreadful cries came from many of the
! houses.
1T was $50 on Wednesday morning
when we reached the railway station.
| Soldiers were even then still going about
the streets with lighted brands and eX-
| plosives in their hands setting light to
| any buildings that still remained intact.
| IN the parks they had already begun to
| oury the dead. but in many cases so shall
low were the graves that a large part of
each body was still visible.
A NARROWING SPECTACLE.
"At the railway station we witnessed
a truly narrowing spectacle. Fifty citl-
zens. both men and women, had been
brought from the houses from which the
soldiers swore that shots had been fired
! They were lined up In the street pro-
| testing with tears in their eyes that
they were innocent. Then came a firing
| squad. Nolley followed vollcy. and the
so fell dead where they stood"
This story Is corroborated by an india
pendent dispatch from a Dutch journalist
who happened to be at Louvain on his
way to Brussels.
he said he was standing on Tuesday
evening near the railway station at Lou
! vain, talking to a German officer. when
| ne was strongly advised to leave the
| spot owing to the great danger
! A group of some 500 men and women
uescrlDed as hostages, were ranked in
the open space by the station, and they
! were informed that for every soldier
! nred on in the town ten of them would
| be shot. The wretched people sobbed
and wruns their hands and fell on their
| knees. but they might as we'll have an
pealed to men of stone Ten by ten. as
| the night wore on. they were brought
| from the ranks and slaughtered before
| the eyes OF those who remaIned