South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-08-25
ENCLISHMAN TELLS Of
WONDERFUL ADVENTURE
Leaves Brussels Alone at OCcu-
patton. Breaks Through Ger
man Lines AND Escapes.
BY \ CORRESPONDENT.


has performed a wonderful feat. He
left Brussels at an early hour OF the
day alone and on foot and passed sue
cessfully. not without encountering
many dihiculties, right through the
German lines at Alost. a distance OF
about 20 miles.
How he did it is a story Of thrill
ing adventure. but what IS more inn
poTtant. ne was able TO give an exact
account OF the situation in and around
the capital from the moment OF the
German arrival in the Belgian capital
10 the hour at which ne left last
night.
II is impossible 20 form an exact
idea but the general estimate in Brus-
sells is that up To SATURDAY, night more
than 500, coo German officers and men
have passed through Brussels.
100000 VIII Remain.
When / got through the lines early
this morning" he said. none OF the
main forces had gone beyond a radius
0f 70 miles from the boulevard bound
aries / cannot say from personal OBJ
servatiOn what the number is Of the
force in occupation because they are
not conferred. but are drawn in a COM
plete Gordon around the capital But
there Is a general understanding in
the city that tho troops remaining as
the army OF occupation would consist
u 100000 men.
When left by the southeast this
morning the last German outpost was
az Hal"
Describing the vast legions that
poured along the boulevard Bont Am
iaue to the east my informant said
1t consisted OF an ambulance,
commissiarat. telegraph and a similar
section. For hour after hour 1t rolled
forward In an Overwhelming process
sion OF every kind Of conveyance.
There were hundreds of motor
cars and wagons and innumerable
horse vehicles OF every description.
Among the latter were traps piles high
with what was obviously officers lug
gage. including hundreds OF suit cases
OF various sizes and descriptions.
No Carts RequlsltiOned.
81 noticed that Of the thousands of
carts that passed not one had been
requisitioned. each was intended for it's
military purpose and bore the govern
ment mark.
This was the case. too. with the
artillery which i saw pass toward
Waterloo. It's equipment was COM
plete TO an astonishing degree.
During this part of my journey
walked alongside the moving artillery
columns and started counting the
guns. | stopped, however, at $50 and
there may have been.
An interesting point is the change
made by the Germans in respect to the
cOlOrs flown from the town hall. Pre-
vious 20 their occupation the Belgian
flag was in the center. the French tri-
color on the right and the Union Jack
on the LEFT. When the Germans es-
tablished their headquarters in the
beautiful building OF which the city is
proud, they re moved the French and
British embiems altogether. In the
center they flew the arms of Brussels
and on either side the flags of Ger
many and Belgium respectively. The
b0uTse and the general DOstOffice had
been turned into dormitories for the
troops. None OF the casernes have
been utilized for this purpose and 1t
is believed that the reason is that the
Germans feared they might be mined
by the Beigians. There was. how
ever, no ground for this suspicion.
The Maritime station is occupied, but
none of the others.
These are closed" said my in
formant. land all the rolling stock has
gone.
Beef is Requisiticned.
"A friend of mine saw on the pave
ment outside the Maritime station
huge pile of beef which had been
requisiJioned from the local butchers.
While requisitiOniug is being done by
the general stan private soldiers have
been instructed TO pay for everything
they obtain in the shops themselves.
This they are doing and indeed are
behaving in every respect
The officers. however. have been
getting all sorts of things in the shops
and instead Of paying cash as do the
privates. hand over checks. The un-
fortunate shopkeepers, however, are
\ not very optimistic as 20 the chances
Hot these pieces OF paper ever ma
terializing into gold.
There We're lively scenes in certain
parts OF the city Thursday night. GER
man officers gathered at one of the
two principal hotels and drank cham
pagne freely and danced with the
girls. Three privates with whom /
Conversed told me that on the two
previous days The commands To which
they were alta ehed had marched SIS
and 20 kilometers respectively. / was
very doubtful about this. but they
were certain as TO the distance and
spoke of the performance with much
pride
Before my successful journey I had
made four efforts 20 get through the
lines. but was taken back each time.
After the last failure 1 slept for an
hour in a cab on one of the ranks i'm
Brussels. 1 left at four in the morning
and found that what / had been told
earlier-that 1 should ne able TO get
through in daylight pTOvi5ed my
papers were In order-was correct.
Ny Belgian passport. psy birth GER
tificate and the assurance that I was
going 10 see my friends at Alost were
accepted. although / was questioned
closely on many occasions.
AT night no one is allowed % leave
or enter Brussels except the drivers OF
milk carts.
Only % Occupy Alost.
There were only . persons in Oc-
Cupation OF Alost and / saw none in
Client when came through this
morning. although 1 was told that the
town had been occupied earlier IN the
day
Among those who came on the
train With me from Client 10 Ostend
were several Belgian conVal escents
who had been wounded at Idege. They
had obtained civilian clothes in order
20 get through and some OF them were
in very migCra hla condition and with