The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-09-24
|TORES Of GERMAN Atrocities NOT
PROVED, SAYS AMERICAN WRITER

BY Belgian civilians nay nave m
famed ths Germans 70 rspsiaaAA
In that nsighborA0od foss hosses
had been burned and oos Was staii
ablaxe - ! passsd on Wsdnss4sy'
Aug. -.
This tova Of Merbss-ls- -ChatsaA.
vhSch had been the scene OF an unin-
portant skirnish between the Ger
nans and English ON the previous
Sunday, was riddled with riae shots.
TIE small number Of windows intact
showed that the Germans had made
dsliberats assault upon the residents
OF the town. But the Inhabitants
themselves admitted that all of the
shooting had bssn done BY . com
paratively saall number Of Germans.
and that the Airing had Nit been BE-
gun until English soldiers who had
concealed themselves In the houses
had nred hrst upon the Germans.
Nsws q Incident Gees Far.
II have emphasized the one fatality
Of the noncombatant because the
! news of 1t travelled up and down the
Sambre and across to Hantes-Wib
and Soire-sur-Sambre. multiplying ~
1t went and developing ghastly and In
human details until It seemed an un-
answerable reproach TO the whole
German empire.
With this one possible exception.
did not encounter in Nivelles. In
Binche. Buissiere, or Soire-sur-Sam-
bre. or any of the other towns
visited, a single incident Of mistreat-
ment or any sort by German ofacers
| or soldiers.
I Bruissiere-particula the lower
part Of the city-had been virtually
destroyed by a cross fire from French
and German artillery. Tops of brew
cries had been hurled bodily to the
ground, and walls had either disap-
peared or become grotesquely dis
lodged.
surpomaster Denies Reports.
Into this town 100 French killed
and more than a hundred wounded
were brought in single day. Au-
gust Blairiaux. burgomaster, said that
he knew of no cases Of German cruel
ties, except distant rumors which he
had learned to discredit. n ought to
be said to the credit of the Belgians
that they have not allowed their bit
terness toward the Germans to carry
them into unfair recrimination.
Robert J. Thompson, American
consul at Aachen. visited Liege during
and after the capture Of the forts. 1t
is the opinion of MIR. Thompson that
no outrage was committed by Ger
mans during the several days fighting
there.
There are, of course. reported out
RACES beyond Investigation, either on
account of their vagueness or because
1t is impossible to weigh the provoca.
ton. 1t is known, for instance, that
112 natives were killed in Renouchamp,
not far from Ardennes; German sol.
diers say that they were killed be-
cause they fired upon them from the
roofs and windows of the houses.
Differ on Louvain Incident.
THE history Of the absolute de.
struction of the historic city of Lou.
vain with its cathedral and its univer-
sity is by this time well known. The
German version of this is that the in
habitants, under the direction of the
burgomaster. established. themselves
in the church, where they also in
stalled a machine gun. They proceed
ed to greet the Germans with a deadly
fire.
THE Belgians say, on the other
hand, that part of the German army,
mistaking one Of their own retiring d.
visions for the enemy, opened fire
upon them, whereupon, deuded into
thinking this an assault by Belgian
civilians, the Germans razed the city.
81 have not been able to acquire any
direct evidence in regard to these last
two instances, but the explanation gen.
orally credited by disinterested per-
sons is that the Belgians, who had laid
down their arms. according to the bur.
gomaster's proclamation on the en-
trance OF the enemy. took them up
again when it looked as II the Ger
mans were retreating from the town,
and opened fire from their windows
upon retiring German train.
Jarotzsky Tells outraaes.
THE most authoritative German de-
nial of German offense comes from
Mai. Gen. Thaddeus Won Jarotzsky,
military governor of Brussels, who in
formed me that in numerous cases he
had been received with pretense of
friendliness by Belgian civilians. who
later fired upon the German soldiers
from windows and from between the
| roof tiles. This was done, he said,
| after a declaration of surrender by the
burgomaster and proclamation warn
| ing the citizens against any show Of
resistance.
"In such violations of the rules Of
war, the general said, he punished the
offender by burning the houses from
which the shots were fired.
81 can only say that In every case
of reported outrage or reprisal which