New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-25
Writer Finds German
Army Held Within Laws
of War in Belgium.
STERN, DIRECT, EVEN
MERCILESS, HOWEVER
Samples Obtained of English
and French as Well as leu"
tonic Dum-DumS.
By JOSEPH MEDILL PATTERSON.

censorship, however, is to be reared
All the American correspondents IN
Berlin report that not on ly have Vltai
facts of their dispatches been cut out
by British censors, but other wnolly
untrue dispatches have been ADDED
AT this moment the main contro-
versies seem to be (D the German
atrocities in Belgium and ~ the use
of dum-dum bullets by the Allies.
As to the first question, have some
first hand evidence and a good oeai
more second hand evidence. MY opih-
ion is that the German troops dld not
20 beyond the laws of war IN theLr
conquest of Belgium, but that they APP
niied the laws Of war to the fullest eX-
tent.
NV trim to Liege was made weeks
after the city fell, but evidence TO back
I'm INV statement remained. In the hrst
place there seemed no signs OF mas
criminate destruction. There were
practically no houses in the, villages
where the fighting was that had Deen
lust a little injured, with, mere anu
there a bullet hole, or door gone OF
windows out. The houses were eltner
in ruins or intact This slgnihed as
cinIined attack, not indiscriminate bar
barity.
Not War Mad SOldiery.
Some windows showed rows Of bullet
holes lust under the window sills, I'M
nIving' of course, that many more oui-
ieis had entered the windows. Otnor
windows near by showed no bullet
marks at all. An undisciplined SOL
diery, war mad and out Of hand, doesn
leave such orderly traces behind IT, As
| we'll remember, the marks leit by tLe
white and Japanese allies IN Chlh1
were quite different.
One of the few houses levelled IN
Iiege itself was the boarding mouse
opnoaite the university which had been
the abode Of Russian students. IL was
a heap of bricks, all down. But the
houses on each side were aosolutelS
intact. There could have been no loOt-
ing in that house, because It's destruc-
ton must have destroyed all the prop
erty in il. The students had shot az
officer and a sentry from the WinGoT,
on the night of August 20; A held
piece was Immediately moved opposlIC'
and at close range three shells ala Ine
| business. ,
More evidence picked up through a
fortunate accident. Our automobile
broke down in the village Of Beyve-
Heussay, near Liege. In this way |
was able to talk to some Of the in
habitants in rly lame French. / can
only say that while, of course, they
hated the Germans, they were IN no
sense in terror of them. They STOOD
curiously around the military automo-
bile. at a distance of forty or htty
feet, and were perfectly willing to talk
to me.
Had to Remain Quiet.
There was young woman, Mile.
Marguerite lie Calire, of 1873 Grand
Route, Beyve- Heussay, who, surround
ed by three or four young Belgian
workmen, said that all knew that II
they remained quiet nothing would
happen to them. | promised her a
picture of herself, for which she posed
but the camera missed fire. The young
men with her assented to her state
ment.
| talked to Il young fellow named
Paul Levisse, in the same village, VINO
absolutely refused to pose for his pct
ure, and when | tried to snap him he
walked away. 49,,
He was good product of child
labor. He was a pit boy IN the coal
mines nearby, driving a mule car un-
been, as he put it, "mIner" and an
underground worker since he was ten.
Ii was Sunday and he said he had
been working six days a week all
through the war. He evidently thought
| was trying to find out ii he had been
doing any shooting, and though, OF
course, he denied it vigorously, ''je mai
fat pas des betises, je mai fat pas des
betises" Il have done no toolishness),
many times repeated, | wouldn't put it
by him. | think he had taken a shot
now and then Il might say that Paul
Levisse is not his real name). How
ever, deduced this, unmistakably from
his talk; he felt perfectly safe, sound
and secure with the Germans so long
as they didn't catch him shooting or
didn't suspect him too strongly.
Warning to Inhabitants.
Another bit of direct evidence; Bel
GUM is plastered with proclamation5
in German, Flemish and French warn
ing inhabitants to be indoors by Z
o'clock at night; to use no telegraph,
telephones, carrier pigeons or other
signals regarding the movement of
troops, troop trains or munitions; to
keep away from railroad bridges and
to turn in alarms to the military au-
thorities. The penalty for violation OF
any of these orders is death.
On the other hand, it is proclaimed
that if the inhabitants remain quiet
and obedient no harm will como to
them, and all property Communicated
will be paid for and work in the fields
may go on as usual.
Other occupations, coal mining, cloth
weaving, etc, may go on as soon as
the district has quoted and arrange
ment is made with the military au-
thorities.
noticed this: That on the road to
Liege 1--WE went one road and came
back .another) the standing and shot
up crops had not been injured, whereas
I in East Prussia the Russian invaders
had burned all ripe crops. This last
fact ! get from an American who has
been there.
In the same village saw a procla-
nation signed by the schoolmaster that
the priest and burgomaster were
hostages in the hands of the Germans,
and that they would be killed if any
more shooting Of or at Germans was
done in the village.
Priests Put to Death.
Some priests undoubtedly have been
executed by the Germans, and a good
many women, while in Louvain prac-
tically the entire male. population was
destroyed.
| know hat some priests have been
executed, because at the German For
eign Office | was informed that the
total number Of these was "only
few"
On the other hand, doubt not that
the priests have taken part in the war,
because | have seen French papers in
which a Erannh npiaak d.