Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-11-19
[0UvA|N SLOWLY
RECOVERING FROM
HORRORS OF WAR.
People of Stricken City Move
About Streets as in a Daze
and Seem Unable to Com
pfehend Situation,


front OF the railway stations NJ Lou
vain is bit OF ornamental garden.
surrounded by a low fcnce OF stone
and iron, Tho length OF the garden
Is perhaps 900 feet. the width, 100.
On the side of II which commands the
appalling stretch of dcsolation cx-
tending from the station straight TO
the exquisite Hotel do VILE rises
Charles Geefs' proud bronze of Syl-
vann van de Weyer.
That patriot and statesman was a
native Of Louyain and one of the
leaders In the revolution OF 1880,
which established the independence
OF Belgium. lie died full of years
and honors in 1874.
Today In effigy he surveys one oil
, the faddcst sights In ehristendom.
Roofs Blown From Houses.
The long Rnc de In station is bor-
dered by scores Of houses which
stand open TO the sky. Here and
there q shattered door lies flat on the
ground giving evidence of violent
entry before the house was fired.
In another house the destruction
has heen only partial. The arrange
ments Of one floor nre quito intact
and on a shelf in bedroom you see
an. array of chIldren's toys-some-
thing woody and eomical. like teddy
bear and little railway cars of gnudy
painted tin. Those triflcs OF the nnr-
scry are unscathed.
Further on arc tho gaunt ruins Of
an ancient edlflce. Only broken wallis
remain. Books of vellum, bronzcs.
carvings in stone all have vanished
in a night.
The inheritance come down from
remote antiquity Is no more: the
toys Of a child stand unframed on
the shelf in The nusery. Some day
the child will come home and viii be
pleased. 49,
People Move as IN Dazc.
Sad-eyed people move along the
wide street, some listlessly like per-
sons who still walk in dream, some
with a furtive cagerness. as IL they
were wishful to reach destination
in town that seems to have no
more share iii the normal activities
of life - town without meeting
places, without hours. without aims
or business IN the world; a. town
groping its way through ruins out of
a dreadful nightmare; town not
asleep ana yet not awake; dumb.
town. fearful to take nc-
count of Its own sensations.
A It 1fs
A little. boy runs by her side. She |
looks up with an expectant eye, like
n person in a daze who would well |
come reassuring word.
Women Calm In Face of Tragedy. |
One addresses to her a greeting in
French. She responds volubly She
Is a widow. Her husband was killed
IN the uprising against the Germans.
This boy by her side and this neat
black dress she wears are all she has
left in the world.
She does not seem resentful. There
b not tear. not a word of lamen-
alton. She Is speaking in a curlously
aquablc tone that you realize is Gu
rious only when you make yourself
measure the extent of the tragic facts
the is imparting--husband. house, be.
onglngs, all gone. Only this boy by
Tor side and the black frock remain
ng.
You begin to marvel at her tone,
4ovel as 1t Is, II conveys incredible
You find the desolated
widow almost chic. You bid her good
" ana wander back through ruin.
Domestic and public, to the little gar
len in front of the railway station.
DcsOlatiOn Behind Invaders.
Here orderly beds of gernniums and
'erbenas once made the place plea
ant. These have been almost oblit-
rated by the tramp of many feet and
hero ere spots where all the green
ward has been ground into dust.
Tall palms springing from vase
unls IN the earth used TO stand son
Incl around the garden. Great fronds
ave been broken off 10 serve moro
omber purposes of decoration. The
arden Is now grave.
At the base Of the statue Of the pa
riot Van dc weyer. mound has
cen hastily shaped, as children might