South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-09-25
BRITISHER TELLS
CORRESPONDENT Of
BRUSSELS FALL
Alfred Wilson Says He Had
Hard Time in Escaping From
BeSieged City-IS Fired Up
or by Germans.

OFFEND. Sept. 25.--A graphic story
Of the taking OF Brussels. the Belgian
capital. By the Germans. was told to-
day by F1fred Wilson, Of Loeds' Eng.
He said:
ITO essay an escape from Brussels
10 run straight towards a German
battery. 10 be fred upon by Ger
man patrol to find my path crossed
by an arFnored train-these are some
OF the experiences which befell me
on Wednesday evening.
My wife and children went 10 Eng
land some time ago, and as there was
no business in Brussels, 1 decided 10
follow. NV premises and my villa
were all locked up. and on Wednes-
day afternoon I left the capital and
walked towards Grinbergen. which
lies TO the left OF VilVOrde. / ran
into a German column carrying mu-
nitions and at that moment motor
car rushed along. Germans popped
up from everywhere and challenged
the driver 10 stop, and in the cOnfu
sion I darted into a field on my right
and made towards belt Of trees.
Heard Rifle Fire.
"On the way j heard the pip,
plip' OF rifle FIRE far beyond the trees,
and then 10 my establishment 1 saw
the fash OF artillery from the trees
themselves. This was followed by
second flash at another point, and
then continuous flashes. From their
cOncealment the artillery were appar-
emily being trained 20 the west of
Villevorde. and I saw an observation
balloon just over the belt of trees. II
was sausage shaped and was fitted
with wireless.
Il returned towards the road. and
at a hundred yards distance 1 was
called upon 10 halt by a party of Ger
mans, who Immediately discharged re-
volvers at me. The bullets sang
about me, and in a crouching position
I reached a cluster OF houses. There
the peasants told me that =. ing was
proceeding towards Villevorde and
that mass OF German soldiers, which
/ had discovered in my wanderings in
the field, were strngly entrenched.
Sees ArmOred Train.
Il realized that IL was impOssi BILE
for me to get out OF Brussels by that
route and very cautiously / made my
way back TO the town. In the course
OF doing so, / ha dtO cross the rail-
road, and I sa-W a heavily armored
train rumble by. There were two or
three steel-plated coaches in front
OF the engine and two behind and il
indeed. Bags of sand were piled
against the sides Of the coaches, which
were filled with soldiers.
ION the following day I made
second attempt TO escape from Brus-
sells but this time by different road
/ was accompanied by two friends
and by great good luck we fell in
with a potato merchant, who offered
us seats in the two carts in which he
had just delivered five tons of pota-
toes. to IN ecapital. He took us as
FAR as Aascho, and on the road We
picked up a couple OF soldiers who
told us that they had escaped from
Namur. They were in an exhausted
condition. OF their military equip
ment all that they retained were the
trousers. They were civilian caps
and coats, much the worse for wear,
which they had contrived TO borrow,
and they had no shirts
They declared that the forts at
Namur had been betrayed to the
enemy. and, although we doubted
their statements. when We reached
Aasche and entered a tram, there we
met another soldier who also had
come from Namur and who repeated
the same story.
Glad 10 See Marines.
From AlOst il was an easy prOpO-
sition to reach Ostend, and our joy
at beholding the British marines in
the streets cannot be described.
When / quilted Brussels the town
was very qutet-a condition largely
due TO the exertions Of Burgomaster
AK. who has posted up notices every
where urging citizens to he "tran-
guile" He also personally urges
calmness whenever occasion presents
itself
There are only about 5000 Ger
man troops in the city, and the new
governor is never seen in the streets.
but he has caused notices 10 be ex-
hihited, In positions where they can
not be torn down, TO the effect that if
the troops are in any way interfered
with, or II a citizen is guilty of a
misdemeanor towards the new regime
the most rigorous penalties will be
enforced, not only upon the individ-
val but upon the whole quarter TO
which II occurs. Chairs and tables
In front OF the cafes on the boule-
wards are prohibited and no liquor
must be sold after the cafes are closed
at o'clock.
News bulletins recording nothing
but victory for the Germans and
nothing but disaster and defeas for