Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1914-10-01
FIND NO 'ATROC|TY'
American Correspondents Unable
10 Confirm Belgian Charges.
Reported crueltIss 81 Germans ssens
se Have Been cniy Retaliation
After Most Extreme
prcxccation.
by HARRY HANSEN.

reference to stories Of atrocities and
harbarities alleged TO hare been
practiced by the German troops. Sew
eral weeks OF close scrutiny convince
me that II Is extremely unlikely that
the men OF this great organization.
probably the best disciplined troops
ever brought into the field. have
played the part OF the barbarian and
have wantonly pillaged and burned VIII
lagos and murdered noncombatants,
such shootlngs as have taken place
appear to have been reprisals made
necessary by hostile aets on the. part
OF civilians.
These conclusions are the outcome
OF observation OF German methods. In
the course Of which visited pracr
tieally all parts Of Belgium where
German troops passed on their way 20.
the French frontier.
Not only was il Impossible TO verify
tho gossip OF the countryside, but In
most instances the troops We're found
Co have suffered from midnight am
buscades, and civilians were found to
have fred In the dark on officers and
men, 20 have cut on the ears OF Ger
man wounded and to have robbed the
dead on the battle fields.
Punishment for those individuals
was swift and sure, and the action
taken by the Germans was such 40
might have been followed by every
army In the world.
The German general staff does not
countenance the presence Of war cor.
respondents. Il acts promptly and
effectively to keep correspondents be-
yond it's lines, yet In the course OF
the German march through Belgium
IL was possible for I'VE American cor
respondents to mingle freely with Of.
flcers and men, to dine at their mess
and to march with their troops.
These men we're Irwin s. Cobb az
the Saturday Evening Post. John +.
McCutcheon and James O'Donnell
Bennett OF the Chicago Tribune. Roger
Lewis OF the Associated Press and
the representative Of the Daily News.
Until their arrival at the Headquarters
OF the general stan In Beaumont these
men had every facility for observing
the conduct of troops. especially In
the villages through which they
passed.
On the night Of Thursday, August
81, sat in the tiny back parlor of
| the cafe Mt Beaumont, quaint Bel
CLAN village scarcely two kilometers
| from the French frontier, when Lieu
tenant Millendorfer, temporary com
mander OF the village, threw himself
In q chair opposite mo with tired.
detected expression. He stared sor
q moment at the table, then ex-
| claimed:
II have Just had o disagreeahle
task. / ordered two persons to be
shot. They were old, more than sew
enty, a man and woman. Their age
alone should have entitled them to
clemency. But 1t was impossible.
| The law of war is inexorable."
what did they dor" asked.
FED poisoned coffee to my sol
| diers." he exclaimed, with blazing
syes. Mean. dirty business. They
confessed 1t and they died.
II was the law OF war. 1t Ia the law
| of war, too, that q man who harbors
| combatants or who fires ON troops
| shall have his house burned over his
| head. II is the law OF war likewise
| that city which plans an amhuscads
and fires on soldiers shall be burned.
| had heard OF German cruelties
from Belgian soldiers on the retreat
of the columns to Malines. l had been
told that farm houses had been ruth
lessly destroyed. Peasants moving
along the countryside with their LIT.
tie bundles OF goods had reiterated
| the story. but no one had been able
to give first hand Information. Cos
| sip pointed to Landen as the source
| Of some Of the rtmors, yet the burgo-
master of Landen, Octave Remarauez,
who had interviewed the German
troops and knew what had occurred in
his part OF Brabant, said that the Ger
mans had been courteous to marked
degree, had paid for their entertain.
ment, had pilIaged no homes and had
asked no fayors.
He had heard OF one shooting. that
of O Belgian farmer who had cut
hoies in his shutters out OF which to
fire at the Germans, and he had sus-
picion that the farmer might have
been even more seriously implicated.
Subsequently I passed through
dozens Of Belgian villages, sometimes
with the German troops and some
times after they had passed. and for
| two days remained In the town OF
Binche, famed for its annual carnival.
| while thousands Of infantry and cay
airy soldiers and miles OF transports
proceeded to the French border.
From NiyeIies the rorte lay through
Seneffe, Monage and FaytIes- Seneffes.
thence to La Louviere, Marlemont,
Morlanwelz. Pieton, Binche, Merbes-
Ste. Marie. Merbes-le-C Chateau. Eonne
Esperance, sur-Sambre, Eor-le-
Chateau and other villages. all OF
| which had been visited by troops and
some OF which bore the marks OF
sanguinary combat. There we're
ruined dwellings, houses that seemed
| to have been torn TO bits by terrific
cyclone, yet the stories of wanton
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