Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-08-19
VIVID WAR TALES
TOLD BY REFUGEES
ON THE FINLAND
Saw Mining of Road at Liege
Which Cost Germans Heavy
Losses.
SHIP TRAVELLED THROUGH
WATERS THICKLY MINED
U. S. S. Tennessee, With Cargo
of Gold, Is Held at
Falmouth.

NEW YORK. Aug 19.-Firsthand
tales of the fight at Liege and grim
narratives of the war sweeping
Europe came into port today on the
lips Of American refugees from the
continent aboard the Red Star liner
Finland, which carried l 0s7 refugees.
Many of the Americans on board
We're without money or baggage.
Some had been held as spies, others
had made their way on foot from the
Interior of Belgium to Antwerp amid
the scenes and dangers of warfare,
and nearly all had stories of hard
ships encountered in their flight.
With a Dutch pilot aboard Captain
Barman steered his ship through a
little-used channel of the harbor of
Antwerp to the North sea, where he
found the horizon smudged with the
smoke of British battleships. In his
perilous passage through the mine
strewe waters there were no buoys to
guide him. His way lay over the
shadows, and he had to Tighten the
snip of all her water ballast to make
the course without scraping the bot
tom. Time after time the ship was
stopped by war vessels, although she
flew an American flag.
James A. Patten, of Chicago, and
Mrs. Patten. passengers, said they
were IN Carlsbad when war was de-
clared between Germany and Russia.
They left for Nuremburg IN an auto
mobile, and, arriving there. were
taken to the guard house and rigidly
questioned before they were al
lowed to continue They boarded d
crowded train for Ostend, but got no
further than Cologne. They they
found themselves in a vortex of mo-
bilizing troops and marching citizens
which choked the streets After long
delay they managed to get aboard
another train for the border, but got
no further than the little town of
,Herbsthal, near the frontier. which
they reached at 10 O'Clock at night in
q downpour of rain.
Got Slice of Bread.
I'VE managed to make our way
into d little cafe" Mr.. Patten said.
s'anu there we got one slice of bread
apiece-our first meal for the day.
Next day hired horse and cart TO
take us over the Belgian frontier TO
Verviers Three other Americans
were with US.
"On the road we passed the most
pitifuI procession of German refugees
fleeing from Belgium Some were in
vehicles. but the majority were
trudging in the dust. pushing or pub
ling their baggage in carts. Women
with babies at the breast were walk
ing under the MONDAY sun.
tFrom Verviers we proceeded by
another cart toward Leige. We had
not progressed three miles when We
came upon a party of Belgian engi-
neers engaged in mining the road.
They had great piles of dynamite
stacked there ready to plant in the
bitches they were digging across the
roadway. They advised us we had
better go to Liege by another road;
we hastened to do SO.
Two hours later another party or
Americans We're halted at that very
spot by skirmish between the Bel
CLANS and Uhlans. They were forced
to lie in a ditch while the Beigians
fired over them. Next day 1900 Ger
mans were killed by the mines we
had seen the engineers planting.
1--WE arrived at Liege at ] o'clock
on the afternoon of August 4 and
managed to get a train for Brussels
two hours later. But we did no.
leave before we heard the thunder of
the forts cannon repulsing the first
onslaught of the Germans. The town
was cold with fear"
Other passengers on board the Fin
land said that Mr.. Patten had bought
steamship tickets for nine stranded
Americans.
f. r. Weeks, ir., and his sister, Miss
A. L. Weeks, of Spokane, Wash, told
of the situation at Brussels on Au,
gust ) after the German troops had
invaded Belgium.
See German Spy Slain.
They saw a squad Of soldiers pur-
suing man in uniform over the
house tops, firing at him as they ran.
One of the shots went true; the pur-
sued man threw up his hands and
pitched headlong from the top of
four-story building to the street. He
was a German spy, the soldiers
thought A little later they saw
mob rip the clothing from another
German suspect and beat him till sol
diers Wrested him away. Next day