Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-10-04
DESCRIBES FALL OF LTEGE
Town in Terror and Streets Sown
with Bodies Of Dead.
SHELLS Kissing ALL OVER
sickenins Roar Of Huge ProIeetiIes
ana Buss of smaller Bullets
Kept the POpuIace tn Nor
tai Anxiety.

Correspondence of The Associated Press.)
BERLIN, Sept 12-The following de-
scriptions of the devastation at Liege and
Namur are translated from accounts IN
the Tageblatt:
We reached Liege on the evening OF n
stormy day. We travelled through streets
where the smoke OF burned houses was
still curling upward streets that showed
no signs of life. Patrols marched through
the city. The beautiful shops across from
the university we're a field OF ruins.
was told that two nights before. on Au-
gust q. shots came from these shops as
II by prearrangement. The inhabitants
Of the houses were dragged out. the
women were torn from the men, and who
ever had a weapon in his hands was shot.
In a few minutes the streets were sown
with corpses. The houses were set on
fire .
"Eyewitnesses described for me the de-
tails OF the conquest OF Biege. Loucin,
the strongest fort, was bombarded by the
newest Krupp guns, which were stationed
in the market place, in the middle OF the
city. Every window pane in the vicinity
was broken by the conclusion. and pieces
OF roof fell from some Of the houses. The
fort soon surrendered. A division Of
Jaeger were the first men 60 enter the
fort The destruction was terrible. About
400 corpses lay piled up inside the stone
walls. The stencil was unbearable. About
200 wounded we're counted. The only man
uninjured was the commandment A
wounded man. who evidently was about
TO be operated on, lay I'm the iazarett He
had been killed by shell. Aege had
altogether thirteen forts. Nine were
taken by infantry storm the others were
reduced by artillery. The forts are being
repaired for German use by the inhabi-
tants of the city, who get six francs q day
for their work.
"A German, who had lain IN a Belgian
fort as prisoner and witnessed the whole
bombardment, described the course OF
the battle. The bombardment, he said,
began at midnight on August 9. One
shell after another exploded, and Liege
was soon afire in many places. From
every roof and window in the houses
came a rain OF bullets. Under this fire
the Germans stormed through the village
Of Roncourt and deployed in a wheat
field. Two hundred Germans opened a
rapid fire on 1000 Belgians. Of whom 800
Iels nineteen WeTS
confined in a cellar when the Germans
heavy artillery began firing They could
hear the shells coming through the air,
and every time they exploded gas,
powder. earth and cement dust flew into
the cellar until the men were nearly suf-
located. Finally an explosion blew in the
iron door of the cellar. and shortly there
after the Belgians surrendered, freeing
the prisoners.
ION the following morning I went to
Namur. In Liege certain streets had been
burned out. but in Namur whole blocks
were destroyed. The Grand Palace, with
its beautiful Rathaus, had been blotted
out of existence. In its place were heaps
OF ruins. from which smoke was still COM
ing. The destructive effect of grenades
could be noted on many houses. The city
was without bread. German patrols were
guarding the bakeries, which were being
stormed by the people BY 4 o'clock in
the afternoon even the largest hotels had
no provisions OF any kind left"