Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-09-10
1OUVAIN PEOPLE BURNED ALIVE
SLAUGHTERED LINED THE STREETS

Malines on the previous day, fell back
upon Louvain in some disorder.
Reaching the town in the evening.
German fugitives were fired upon in
error by their W troops.
Rage at this misfortune and chagrin
at their defeat seem to have infiamed
the invaders, who set systematically
to work to massacre the population
and destroy the city, whose monu~
ments belonged as much to civilization
as to Belgium.
1T is not possible to put upon paper
the accounts Of the fugitives. They
were given in gestures and broken
ordinations rather than in sentences.
The purport was always the same:
That the civil population had done
nothing. but that at night when the
~retreating German soldiers began to
arrive, suddenly the invaders became
angry and began to slaughter, pillage
and destroy.
! City To- In Ruins.
ENOLuluS EHIRhluS u hOuFdIu Dut
ruins, nor of its population but fugt
tives. 1t is possible when the full
story comes to be told it will be found
that the horror was not quite SO great
For all the accounts are from people
fleeing for their lives. Among these
people, however, were four civic dig
nitaries who were in the city during
the night and who were actually in
the hands of Germans, but escaped.
Their relation Of facts is what is fol-
lowed in this dispatch, for 1t is more
likely to be accurate and sober.
ION the road from Louvain to Ant
werp crowds of pitiful refugees could
be seen; nuns fleeing from their
cloisters, priests from their churches,
sick carried on their beds, aged totter-
ing along with the help of their chill
dren, and all who could, carrying some
poor article of household furniture. In
one cart were collected II children, ev-
! identity several families.
) "One handcart held an old palsied
} woman being pushed by her grand
! child. All were fleeing to Antwerp as
the city of refuge, the city which shud-
| ders in darkness throughout nights, at
> fear of midnight bombs. Among the
: train of fugitives were ambulances of
: the Belgian army, in which are carried
solicitousfy German wounded to hos
3 pitfalls"
r WaT Bureaus Account.
The British war information bureau
announces the following:
The Belgian minister of foreign af-
fairs reports that on Tuesday a Ger
r man army corps, after receiving a
check, withdrew in disorder to the
e city of Louvain.
THE Germans on guard at the en-
trance of the city, installing the ma
ture of this incursion, fired upon theil
g countrymen, whom they mistook fol
J. Belgians.
q in spite Of all the denials from the
a, authorities the Germans, in order tx
y cover their mistake, pretended that i
s. was the inhabitants who had fired OF
them, whereas the inhabitants, includ
he ing the police, all had been disarme,
Tx more than a week before.
as Orders city's Destruction.
I'd Without inquiry and without lister
I'll ing to any protests, the German CON
ye mander announced that the tow
30 would be destroyed Immediately. TIL
RS inhabitants were ordered to leav
til their dwellings and some were mad
ir prisoners. The women and childre,
were placed on trains the destination
ey Of which are not known and soldier
d. furnished with bombs set fire to a.
es parts of the city. The splendid churc
is of st. Pierre, the university buildings
the library and scientific establish
ments were delivered to the flames.
IT, Several notable citizens we're sho
en- The city, which had a population {
Of $4,000 and was the intellectual metro
ey oils of the low countries, is now not
St ing more than a heap of ashes"
ey Orgy Precedes Sack.
ng Chicago.-The Tribune prints tt
nd following dispatch from E. Alexand'
Powell, dated at Antwerp:
a II am sorry to say that the stori'
800 of the sack of Louvain slowly comiI
on, in ameliorate the original tale of he
OF. ror in no way. The few refugees WI
have arrived here are incoherent fro
re- their frightful experiences. 1t was
Ills night of almost indescribable horror
yes Germans broke into the wine sho
rio early in the evening and a drunk
orgy ensued, participated in by DO
led officers and men.
he II am informed by a high COVER
vas ment official that in the city where 8
rem 900 persons resided only ten houses
not main standing. The Hotel De Vii
can one Of the finest examples of Gott
lid architecture in Europe; the mol
airy church of st. Pierre, built in 1926; t
university, founded by Pope Martin
sed and its world famous library, are tod
ON heaps of smoking ruins.
by "The Germans seem to have vent
yed their greatest fury on priests, of WHIT
BILE, there was a large number attendi
the university. The government
derstands that most Of them W
is ~butchered under the most revolt
at circumstances"
port he says. England has a VI
RS number of m~illionaires and It ia th