New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-17
u. Ksiser's Army Was
S .!asI Of Good Conduct
in Belgium
.Sry ONE CITIZEN
eNt shot IN REPRISAL
....., Uniform SObriety and
s. ,l,..s..ss impressed Citizens
American Declares

,8sat Of Ame''N''a, from the New
4 qels who was sent ii"t =, Rrnssels
.nlSss - and was caught IN nr"sier'
'iefs e'a 10 Of the German l ,.',,5
& he t'nr r;.oner for several days an "a
~ - Pc 10 Holland, has sent .!
1illy ttotIowing story Of his eNpe'i-
80 the i0"V"
ssss; ,hs Belgian civil guards am am
when w mourning into brussels
rlugees , Des" OF Louvain. the nlgh'
~ y" The Germans entered ~. Wv Nc
~ brought stories OF unSpt Of old
4 90 otSocitiCS. msltreatment .. ' ~
frnae4 children and the vioiauon, o. ~
rsn ana T tn Belgian capital reelSo
+ Tonaen. .hopsiop The gaycty' 'hv
- sPpnJ brilliaucy Of the city "eh'
gsesi, broker arc light -
~ ~. man twenty-four hours 'n'
IN w s;,;1ens were chatting CONF ~
riga, .bo German invaders ana inc
Ag VIZ - German brutality ana de-
pss;.rsl torture had dissolved ln nv, G.,S :
fea l. avtbs which have aceompaI''e. 81
y VIC I" Neither in Brussels nor III
q .,;,o,s was single offensive az
e eh',,o know. committed by DER
iai Ia;er In a city Of more 'hah
rse sV' u,;lEon people. invaded oy a
iil . M. mn, Of perhaps a quarter OF a
wsiis S' .Ij;ors no act sufficiently ma
rlul0' - demand punishment OF 10
,,ksr protest cane TO m! "'''"'''
Rrussels in Terror.
-. sriobtful reports that had pre-
Ia the German army INTO nIIs .s,,,
80 80 tbe' disembowcll'ug o. ola men
80, ~. impslinc of children on iances
20 -. .,side of louvain. Investigation
III. ~ failed 20 substan5iate these
y w. lint could not even discover
49, IN the immediate vicinity VINO
w 80 them. An eyewitness OF un-
as.,'sSsble yeracity told me that the
rs. BEHAVIOR he had observed DUR
r. 6rst German entry into Lou
Z, August 49, was that OF Ter
=, soIdier who leaned from ms morse
- Used pretty Flemish glri VINO
.,srrbt him a e.aSS Of beer.
- s.srrbed for days with the Ger
solnmns. often only one day pc
-. ~ he fybtine. with the houses that
y. ~ hssn burned still smouldering, the
- freshly broken by shell and
..-nIsd nv horses and men and the
s.merv of me German advance Viva
,Le minds of the inhabitants |
reviewed an average Of twenty per,
~. il each of dozen towns, ana
f.rrs enlv one instance ot non
.,~bstsnt who had been KILLED without
iystifable urovocgtICn.
.T,elisb outpoStS mad concealed
s,rscjyes in houses. from when they
,.1,sS rain of ire upon the i!rst
e.,n,p invaders. The inference that
(, shoo,ing vas done by Belgian civil
=, NAV have ,n7amed the Germans
reorisals. In that neighborhooo
~ houses had been burned, and one
rs sill qblazc rs passed on Neones-
b. August ..
One Reprisal Case.
q ssve emphas zed the one fatality
n tse ron-combatant because the news
\ Il travelled up and down the sam,
\, and across 10 Hantes-Wiberie and
S.lre-Sur-Sambre. multiplying as
tent and developing CHASTITY and IN
lunar details until il seemed an m
swerable reproach TO the whole Ger
,n Empire With this one possiD!e
aesption. I diI not encounter in Nj
dies, in Binche, Bulssiere or SORE
af.Sambre. on any of the other towns
visited. single instance OF mis-
7satnent Of any sort by German ON
SS or soldiers,
On the contrary ! Witnessed nd
wrous cases o. the most careful coaE-
sy on the part of German SoldleE'
/ h Brussels they not only paid then
ale bills. but tipped generously
ll0ng the road. rnen German omcci
u soldier entered Belgian house Iof
sod OF shelter ~ was not with de-
und, but request. In spite OF the
sniusion and errors which arose from
& strange tongue. there was almost no
.ntiior Of any sort. ..
The German soldiers were punctlu-
llsly eOnsideratc and polite 10 women
id children. apoiogiz,ng for the DIS
sniort they were causing. Upon 'ea:-
lr 8 house where they have been gwen
4tlter | have seen them shake hands
'iib the concierge. peasant woman or,
: some cases with the gentlewoman
& a Belgian villa as pleasantly a. II
ny we're bidding adieu to theI
i',iess al a week end hous, party.
Soldiers Did HOusewOrk.
so many instances of this sort are
a hand that recital Of them would
o tedious. / nave seen German sol
GERS helping Belgian women with
heir housework and playing with the
.alldren Naturally inclined 20 be gruil
nth their soldiers, the German officers
always turned 20 their French prison
rs with a pleasant word and treated
tem with every consideration. Not q
Angle exception 20 this civillty TOWARD
'nsonere has come TO ny attention.
a French lieutenant and two Eng
80 officers travelled with US in the
'nsOn train from Beaumont to Aachen
hating journey which took more
ian thirty-siX hours. The train was
crowded with German wounded anC
french and English prisoners, anC
ltre was nothing to eat or drink eX'
Np1 few fragments of rye bread
lafd as stone, and little liquid com
Nshded Of chicory, which, in Belgium
aesquerades under the name of cot
@' Since there was not enough ever
THIS diSheartening fare 70 &C
Ilo9nd, German officers went without
led ~ "' P'' '0"''s '''S"' "
Between Chateau de Casteau ant
sgoes particularly desolated neigh.
ssIhood whence the inhabitants mad
W the Germans found hungry
vary IN an abandoned farmhouse
"hoat having experienced the genu.
almost womanly, tenderness Of the
%sman soldiers, ono would have
sed their feeding of the canary an
1'esagon or at best a passing whim
'G' It was typical.
Drunkenness Cases Few.
IN little cafe in Beaumont con.
Ee and madame had fled before
\. spproaeh Of the soldiers, abandon.
ueir business. Two officers found
ss5 ~" IN hiding, brought them back
al ,a lh day they had taken in more
I'll, toan IN any previous week OF
'sI career.
T. ihese Incidents could no indaGp;4o.