New Britain herald., 1914-08-19
HALTED SEVfE| | TIMES
 BY BRITISH WARSH|PS
Passengers Ab,aId f1nIaad Re.de
 NalTai.vc Of European War

can refugees from the continent aboard the Red Star liner Finland Many of the Americans aboard were 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 hardships encountered in their flight.
 With a Dutch pilot aboard Capt. 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 perlous passage through the mine strewn waters there were no buoys to guide him. His way lay over the shadows and he had to tighten the ship 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 the American flag.
 Taken to Guard House.
 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 Nuremberg in an auto mobile, and arriving there were taken to the guard house and rigidiy cross questioned before they were allowed to continue. They boarded crowded train for Ostend but got no further than Cologne. There they found themselves in 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 night in downpour of rain.
 We managed to make our way into little cafe,' Mir. Patten said. and there we got one slice of bread apiece-our first meal that day. Next day l hired a horse and cart to take us over the Belgian frontier to Verviers. Three other Americans were with us.
 Passed Pitiful Procession.
 "On the road we passed the most pitiful procession of German refugees fleeing from Belgium. Some were in vehicles, but the majority wore trudging in the dust, pushing or pull ing their baggage In carts. Women with babies at the breast were walk ing under the noon day sun. From Nerviers we proceeded by another cart toward Liege. We had not progressed three miles when we came upon party of Belgian en- gineers engaged in mining the road. They had great piles of dynamite stacked there ready to plant in the ditches they were digging across the roadway. They advised us we had better go to Liege by another road; we hastened to do so.
 Halted By Skirmish.
 Two hours later another party of Americans were halted at that very spot by skirmish between the Bel gians and Uhlans. They were forced to lie in a ditch while the 'Belgians fired over them. Next day 5000 Ger mans were killed by the mines we had seen the engineers planting.
 We arrived at Liege at l o'clock on the afternoon of August and managed to get a train for Brussels two hours later. But We did not leave before we heard the thunder of the forts cannon repulsng the first 1 onslaught of the Germans. The town | was cold with fear" |
 Other passengers on board the Fin | land said that MT. Patten has bought steamship tickets for nine stranded l Americans.
 situation in Brussels.
 E. K. Weeks. Jr., and his sister. Miss A. L. Weeks of Spokane. Wash, told of the situation at Brussels on ] August 5 after the German troops l had invaded Belgium.
 They saw squad of soldiers pur- suing a solitary man In uniform over the house tops. firing at him as they ran. One of the shots went true, the pursued man threw up his hands and pitched headlonE from the top | of four-story building to the street. He was German spy. the soldiers thought. little later they saw mob rip the clothing from another German suspected as spy. and beat him till soldiers wrested him away. Next day the victim was shot as a spy.
 Served as Nurse.
 The Rev. F. C. Blast, of German town, kas., whose mother and sister are natives of Liege, served a short time as Red Cross nurse, he said. While he was thus engaged Belgian officers visited his mother and sister and demanded his arrest character izing him German spy mas auerading as an American priest They denied that he was spy and were imprisoned After some time he was able to explain and obtain their release
 Tlrich Eek of this city said that at Dieppe he saw Chauncey M. Depew sitting on a flat car in downpour of rain from o'clock in the morning