The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1914-10-01
Capture Of BeIgium's Capital
Described by a Briton.
German Troops Behaved in Exem-
piary Manners Stern Warming to
y Citizens Posted by the
. Governor.
international. News seryice.)

international. News service.)
IN Ostend.-A graphic story OF the
taking of Brussels, the Belgian cap
ital, by the Germans, was told by AL
fred Wilson of Leeds, England. He
| said:
70, essay an escape from Brussels,
to run straight towards a German bat
terry, to. be fired upon by a German
patrol, to find my path crossed by an
armored train-these are some of the
| experiences which befell me.
my wife and children went to Eng
land some time ago, and as there was
| no business in Brussels, l decided to
| follow. My premises and my villa
were all locked up, and on Wednes-
day afternoon left the capital and
walked towards Grinbergen, which
lies to the left of Vilyorde. ran into
German column carrying munitions
| and at. that moment a motor car
rushed along. Germans popped up
from everywhere and challenged the
driver to stop, and in the confusion
| darted into field on my right and
made towards belt of trees.
'on the way ! heard the pip, pip
of rife fire far beyond the trees, and
then to my establishment I saw the
| flash of artillery from the trees them
! selves. This was followed by a Sec
'ond flash at another point, and then
continuous flashes. From their con-
rcealment the guns we're apparently
being trained to the west of VIE
vorde, and saw an observation bal
loon just over the belt of trees. It
was sausage-shaped and was fitted
with wireless.
II returned towards the road, and
at hundred yards. distance I was
called upon to halt by a. party Of
Germans, who Immediately dis
charged revolvers at me. The
bullets sank about me, and in
a crouching position I reached a
| cluster of houses There the peasants
told me that fighting was proceeding
| towards Vilvorde and that mass
| of German soldiers, which i had dis
covered in my wanderings in the
| field, was strongly entrenched.
| II realized that it was impossible
| for me to get out of Brussels by that
route and very cautiously I made my
way to the town. In the course of do
ing so had to cross the railway, and
! I saw heavily armored train rumble
| by. There were two or. three steel
plated coaches in front of the engine
| and two behind and it looked very
| formidable machine indeed. Bags Of
sand were piled against the sides OF
the coaches, which were filed with
soldiers
"On the following day I made a
second attempt to escape from Brus-
sells but this time by different road.
| / was accompanied by two friends,
and by great good luck we fell in with
a potato merchant who offered us
seats in the Two carts in which he
had just delivered five tons of pota-
toes to the capital. He took us as
far as Aasche, and on the road we
! picked up a couple Of soldiers who
! told us that they had escaped from
Namur They we're exhausted. OF
their military equipment all that they
retained were the trousers. They
wore civilian caps and coats, much the
worse for wear, which they had con-
trived to borrow, and they had no
shirts 49,
| From Alost it was easy to reach
Ostend, and our JOY at beholding the
| British marines in the streets cannot
be described.
when l quilted Brussels the town
was very quiet-a condition largely
| due to the exertions of Burgomaster
Max, who posted up notices every
where urging citizens to be tranquil
There were only about three thou
sand German troops in the city, and
! the new governor was never seen in
the streets, but he caused notices to
| be posted to the effect that If the
| troops were in any way interfered
with, or if a citizen was guilty of a
| misdemeanor towards the new regime,
| the most rigorous penalties would be
| enforced, not only upon the individual
| but upon the whole quarter in which
| it occurred.
"The soldiers were biHeted all over
Brussels, and they moved freely among
| the populace. Generally speaking,
! their behavior has been above re-
proach, and this is also true of them
in the day when they occupied the
| capital. For four days they were
! passing through and, although they
! appeared to be fatigued, it must be
remembered that they had marched
many miles. They certainly did not
walk through with the 'goose-step' nor
| were they insolent to the citizens.
! What struck most of us was the
| excellence Of their equipment and the
| good physical standing of most Of the
men Their field kitchens as they
went by we're smoking with prepare
| tons Of the meals. -