The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-12-18
Marked by Bodies Of the Dead
and Dying.
THE RETIREMENT WAS / ROU1
Invading Force Transformed
Almost in . Day
Into . Helpless, Staggering,
DisOrganixed Mass.
[By VIM. G. Shepherd

London. Dec. 1S.-The route of re-
treat of the Austrian army from Ser
via is a path of horror. 1t is a path
marked by the bodies of dead and dy
ing, Of wrecked wagons and worse
wrecks of men, driven insane-hope-
lessly mad by the suffering they en-
dured.
was with the Austrian army in its
precipitous retreat from Servia-
saw this army transformed almost in
a day from that OF force of conquer
ors to a helpless. staggering. disorgan-
lied mass of men. The retreat from
Servia wa a rout. After having
spent weeks in Belgium and France,
after seeing the German army in the
field and for weeks watching the fight
ing at Przemysl, it was in middle Ser
via that witnessed the most horrible
scenes of the war.
had come to see the Servian cam
paign after many weeks with the Aus
TRAN army N Galicia. where 1 had
seen its heroic attack and defense
against the Russians. have seen the
Austrians bearing up heroically under
the lack of hospital supplies Per-
haps the long smouldering hatred OF
Servia, the belief that Servian plot
tiers had arranged and carried out the
assassination OF Archduke Frederick
was responsible
The Austrian outrages in Servia are
greater than those the Germans are
alleged to have committed in Belgium.
For forty miles from the frontier the
country is as deserted and as silent as
a tomb. Hundreds of residents OF
Servian towns have been executed
Exulting Austrians.
On November Is. the Austrians jul
bilantly took the correspondents then
with the army to Servia to show them
how the lines of the enemy had been
| driven back. We traversed $50 miles
into the northwest corner of Servia-
In every town / saw one or two walls
riddled with bullets which had been
execution places. The Austrian and
Hungarian officers denied that they
executed women but admitted the ex-
ecution of hundreds Of men. One
Hungarian officer proudly showed me
a six-foot pole which he used in his
killing He explained that he stretched
a rope from this pole. forced a Servian
victim to sit on a chair and then after
fastening the free end of the rope
about the Servian's neck, he knocked
the chair out from under him.
He is usually dead within eight or
ten minutes" the officer said.
saw twenty-five square miles OF
Servian trenches of perfect pattern
in which the bodies of the Serviane
were rotting. They were even denied
a decent burial.
| The Austrians promised. with great
| jubilation, to take us to Belgrade No
vember IS. But the plans were sud
denly changed We were hurried out
! of Servia in wagons. There was no
! explanation for the sudden change of
plan and after leaving the wagons we
were loaded on a train and taken to
Budapest. There huge wagon trains
| filled the roads. There were many
men wounded and then we discovered
that the Servians were advancing.
I Left in a Blizzard.
| We have taken part in a retreat-an
utter rout
| The day We left a terrible blizzard
! was raging. The roads were in un-
/ speakable condition. The whole thing
was as il Belgium had suddenly risen
| and driven out the Germans Many Of
ficers went insane during the retreat.
! One instance of this was not discovered
until the Hungarian frontier was
reached An Austrian lieutenant. badly
wounded. was lying on the roadside.
when he saw the major of his own
regiment riding by in retreat The
! lieutenant called to him. The major
turned and shot the wounded man in
the leg The major was stark mad.
After my many weeks of association
with Austrian officers and journalists
1 was taken completely by surprise at
the terrible conditions in Servia.
The alarm sensed in the population at
Budapest was also noted in Vienna.
The city was filled with homeless refu-
/ gees from Galicia. When left Vienna
on December 4. coal was being issued
to citizens in fifteen-pound lots and
carried home by them on their Shout
ders or by the wealthy in taxi cabs
and carriages.
The Austrians mercilessly criticized
the Germans. declaring the kaIser's
forces are not helping them. The Hun
sarians bitterly assailed the Austrians.
asserting that the latter forced them
to stand the brunt of the Serviar
charges
/ Major Ford and Captain Mcintyre of
/ the American army were with the army
/ on the retreat from Servia.
/ When 1 reached Budapest on Novem-
Der 80 1 was told by journalists there
that on the day previous Russian Cos
sacks had reached a point within s.