Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-10-02
Only Blind Woman and Daugh-
ter Inhabit Ruins of Ter
monde, Recently Having a
Population of 10000.
FIRE AND BOMBS DO
WORK OF DESTRUCTION
Mental Panic Has Seized Civil
ian Residents, Who Wander
Through Country Without
Food or Shelter,
lay aoss,ne ,ou.... srse,.. ,s.sso ~,.u

tsY noHsiNd JouRnsl SPECIAL ttAogp wiHsi
London, oct. / COOS D. m.) "A
graphic picture of the desolation Of
Belgium was brought to London to-
day by j. r. Whhehouse. member Of
parliament from lanarkshre. who
has just returned from tour around
Antwerp to assist I'm relief measures
Mr.. Whitehouse made the journey
outside Antwerp With two military
cars. attended by Belgian officials
In describing the damage which he
says the Bclgans had to inflict upon
themselves 10 supplement the de-
lenses of Antwerp, he said.
Country Dcsolatcd.
Hundreds of thousands Of trees
had been cut down so that at some
points of our journey we had the i'm
preston of passing through u Wilder
ness of roots. The tree trunks had
been removed so as to afford no cove
er to the enemy All houses had
been blown up or otherwise destroy
ed. Later we passed through the
country which had been flooded as
a further measure OF defense. The
damage resulting from these precau-
tionary measures alone amounted 20
ten million pounds sterling. (S50,0O0,-
000)
In the villages all ordinary life
was arrested. Women and children
were standing or sitting. dumb and
patient. by the roadside Half way
to Termonde we could plainly hear
the booming OF guns and saw many
evidences of the battle which was
raging
Destruction of TcrmOndc.
II have read newspaper accounts
Of the destruction of Termondc and
had seen photographs bnt they had
not conveyed to my mind any rcaliz-
alton of the horror of what actually
happened. Termonde. a few weeks
ago, was a beautiful city of about
lG,000 inhabitants, city in which
the dignity of its buildings harmon
lied with the natural beauty of its
situation. a city which contained
some buildings OF surprising inter
est.
Il went through street after street,
square after square ana | found ev-
cry house entirely destroyed with all
its contents It was not the result
of bombardment, il was systematic
destruction In each house separate
bombs had been placed which had
blown up the house and set fire TO
the contents, All that remained IN
every case were the outer walls which
were still constantly falling, ana IN
side the cinders of the contents of
the buildings Not shred Of fur
niture or anything else remained
Only Two Inhabitants Remain.
"Of the population | thought that
not a soul remained. | was wrong,
for as we turned itno a square where
the wreck of what had been one of
the most beautiful of Gothic church
es met my eyes. blind woman and
her daughter groped among the
ruins They were the sole living
creatures in the whole town.
SHOPS, factories. churches and
houses Of the wealthy all were SIM
ilarly destroyed. one qualification
only have to make Of this state
ment Two or perhaps three houses
bore the German command in chalk
that they were not to he burned.
Where a destroyed house had OBJ
viously contained articles Of value
lootlng had taken place,
Il inquired what had become of
the population 1t was question toI
which no direct reply could be given.
They had fled In all directions. Some
had reached Antwerp, but a great
number were wandering about the
country. panic-sfricken and starving.
Many already were dead
Similar Elsewhere
What had happened at Termondci
was similar to what had happened in
other parts Uf Belgium nnder hhe
military occupation Of Germany
The result is that conditions have
been set up, for the civilian popua
tion throughout the occupied terri
tory, Of unexampled misery.
Comparatively few refugees have
reached this country. Others re-
main wandering about Belgium flock
ing into other towns and villages or
flying to points a little way across
the Dutch frontier
Sometimes when a town has been
bonn barded the Germans have with
drawn and the civilians have returned
to their homes only to flee again at
a renewed attack. A case in point is
Malincs which on Sunday last. as
was about to try to reach it, was
again bombarded.
The inhabitants were then una
hle to leave as the town was sur
rounded, but when the bombardment
ceased there was great exodus.
The whole life Of the nation has