Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-19
SACK OF LOUVAIN
LIKE TRIP IN HE'LL,
EYEWITNESS SAYS
Citizens Shot Dead Like
Rabbits and the Torch of
the Firebug Invader in
Every Direction, Is Story.
ROTTERDAM, Sept. 10


Stories of the sackng of Louvain, which
are almost unbelievable in their horror,
reached here from the frontier
One of the most vivid is that of an as
sstant in bicycle shop, who, though a
! Dutchman, was given special facilities for
escape owing to his being mistaken for a
| German. AT midday last Tuesday" he
begins, "a fearful uproar broke out In
the streets while we were at dinner, and
the cracltlc of musketry was soon follow
ed by the roar OF artillery near at hand.
| Hearing shrieks from the inhabitants
of our streets, I rushed to the window and
saw that several houses were already in
flames. Soldiers were smashing the shop
windows and looting in all directions AS
the people rushed into the streets from
the burning houses they were shot down
like rabbits. with my governor. his wife
and little boy, we fed to the cellar,
where ] and the boy hid under a pile of
tires, while the manager hid under a
chest and his wife got into a drain, where
she stood with water up to her waist for
many hours.
NIGHT MADE HIDEOUS.
"Night fell and the sound of shooting
| In the streets became brlslter I crept
| out of my niding-place to get some water,
and peeping out of my window saw to
| my horror that almost the whole street
| was IN ruins. Then we found that our
own house was alght, and it was neces-
| sary to choose between bolting and being
! burned TO death where wcrc. decided
| to make a dash for it, but the moment
was outside the door three GeSnans held
INC up with rcvolvers and asked me where
! ! was going. My reply was that I was
/ German that my master and his wife
were Germans who had been trapped in
/ the burning house.
/ Apparently my German was goo
/ enough to make them believe my state
mcnt. for they promised to give us safe
I conduct out of the town Our walk
. thruuEh the streets to the railway sta
/ ton | shall always remember as a walk
/ through hell. The beautiful town. with
I It's noble buildings, was a sea of flame
! 'ead bodies lav thick in the streets.
Dreadful cries came from many of the
I houses.
ut was $50 on Wednesday morning
Nhen we reached the railway station
, soldiers were even then stiIl going about
. the streets with lighted brands and eX-
/ PiCSNeS IN their hands setting a light to
any buildings that still remained intact
| In the parks they had already begun to
Dury the dead, but in many cases so shall
low were the graves that large part OF
each body was still visible.
NARROWING SPECTACLE.
AT the railway station We witnessed
truly narrowing spectacle. Fifty cIti-
/ 2ens, both mon and women had been
/ brought from the houses from which the
/ soldiers sWorc that shots had been fired
/ IheN were lined up In the street. pro-
testing with tears i'm their eyes that
| theN were innocent Then came a firing
| squad. Nolley followed volley. and the
| 80 fell dead where they stood"
/ This story is corroborated by an inde-
pendent dispatch from a Dutch Journalist
who happened to be at Louyain on his
way to Brussels.
he said he was standing on Tuesday
evening near the railway station at Lon
vain talking to a German officer, when
+ he was strongly advised to leave the
spot owing to the great danger
"A group of some 800 men and women
described as hostages were ranked In
/ the open space by the station. and they
/ We're Informed that for every soldier
/ fired on in the town ten of them would
I be shot The wrctched people sobhed
and wrung their hands and fell on their
/ knees, but they might as well have an
/ pea!ed to men of stone. Ten by ten. AZ
| the night wore on, they were brought
from the ranks and slaughtered before
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