Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-09-24

perhaps indicated by the warning OF
the German officer who acted as guard
for five American cores pondents, in
Guiding myself, who were being taken
as prisoners from Beaumont to Aachen
IN an army train. We were advised TO
lie down on the floor of the car as the
Belgian snipers would shoot at US from
the houses But there was no firing.
This, OF course, is not a brief for
the German army; it is an account of
German conduct as it appeared to an
impartial observer who had the rather
extraordinary opportunity of travelling
for days with the German columns,
over a distance Of more than a hun
dred miles through a dozen important
cities and towns.
Sometimes l was near enough to
the front to see the white artillery
smoke squirt into clouds along the
horizon and hear the double detona-
tions which came from artillery at
short range. At other times l trailed
behind through the desolate waste
which a victorious army leaves be-
hind it
Pay All and Tip Well.
ION the contrary, l witnessed nu-
merous cases of the most careful cour-
tesy on the part of German soldiers.
In Brussels they not only paid their
cafe bills, but tipped generously.
Along the road. when a German officer
or soldier entered Belgian house for
food or shelter, it was not with a de-
mand but request. In spite of the
confusion and errors which arose from
a strange tongue there was almost no
friction of any sort.
THE German soldiers we're punctil-
iously considerate and polite TO wom-
en- and children, apologiZing for the
discomfort they were causing. Upon
leaving a house where they have been
given shelter, have seen them shake
hands with the concierge, peasant
woman, or in some cases with the
gentlewoman of a Belgian villa, as
pleasantly as if they were bidding
adieu to their hostess at weekend
house party.
$50 many instances of this sort are
at hand that recital of them would
be tedious.
Naturally inclined to be gruff with
their soldiers, the German officers al
ways gave the French prisoners a
pleasant word, and treated them with
every consideration. Not a single ex-
ception to this civility toward prison
ers has come to my attention.
"A French lieutenant and two Eng
fish officers travelled with US in the
prison train from Beaumont to
Aachen, a hating journey which took
over thirty-six hours. The train was
crowded with German wounded and
French and English prisoners, and
there was nothing to eat or drink,
except a few fragments of rye bread,
hard as a stone and a little liquid
compound of chicory, which in Bel
GUM masquerades under the name Of
coffee. Since there was not enough
even of this disheartening fare to go
around, German officers went without
food so that the prisoners might be fed.
Aid Owners Of Cafe.
In a little cafe in Beaumont, con-
cierge and madame had fed before
the approach of the soldiers and aban-
doned their business. Two officers
found them in hiding, brought them
back, and in a day they had taken in
more money than in any previous
week in their career.
These incidents could be indefinite
ly prolonged, but they would only Of
fer additional support to a point that
l think / have already established
the universal kindness of German
soldiers as have observed them.
81 have seen perhaps half a dozen
cases of drunkenness in observing
nearly 100000 soldiers, and these
few were only good-naturedly maud
lin In Beaumont while was detained
for "a hours in the small cafe pre-
viously mentioned, with an armed
guard at the door, although specif1cal-
ly told that l was not an ordinary
prisoner. a staggering petty officer of
some sort, 'lunged toward me and
showed rue the sharp convincing edge
of his sword, insisting that l run my
hand across 1t.
Warned to Avoid Drinking.
German discipline and German
training seem to have put into the
German soldier an exemplary behavior
which is nothing less than remarkable.
Before l fell asleep on the floor of the
Beaumont cafe, with two German SOL
diers guns slanting almost over me,
l heard the petty officer who was in
charge of US, giving instructions to
the guards, which included the state
ment that any one of US who stirred
outside the door should be shot. Then
he counseled them, almost in father
ly way to drink only moderately, stat
ing that if they became drunk he
would recommend a sentence of Is
years in the penitentiary.
IF the conduct of the German sol
der errs at all it is on the side of a
too complete subordination. 1t is i'm
possible for any one who has seen
much of the German system to be-
lieve in the tales of deliberate depre-
dations and unsoldierly conduct