The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-09-22

piled against the sides of the coaches
which were filled with soldiers.
ION the following day l made a
second attempt to escape from Brus-
sells. but this time by a different
road. l 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 potatoes to the capital. He took
us as far as Aascho, and on the road
We picked up a couple of soldiers
who told us they had escaped from
Namur. They were in an exhausted
con attion. Of their military equip
ment all they retained were the
trousers They wore civilian caps
and coats, much the worse for wear,
which they had contr.yed to borrow,
and they had no shirts.
''1hey declare onat rne forts at
Namur had been betrayed to the enc
my, 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 he repeated the
same story.
From Alost It was an easy proFo-
sition to reach Ostend, and our Joy
at beholding the British marines in
the streets cannot be described.
when l quilted Brussels the
town was very quiet-a condition
largerly due to the exertions OF the
burgomaster, who posted up notices
everywhere urging the citizens to be
'tranquille. 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 to be post
ed in positions where they cannot be
torn down, to the effect that if the
troops are interfered with, or if
citizen lis guilty of a misdemeanor
towards the new regime, the most
rigorous penalties will fbe enforced,
not only upon the Individual bat up
on the whole quarter in which it oc-
ours. Chairs and tables. in front of
the cafes on the bouleyards are pro-
Inhibited, and no liquor must be sold
after the cafes are closed at nine
O'Clock.
News. bulletins recording nothing
but victory for the Germans AMI
nothing but disaster and defeat for
the allies, are also posted on the
walls In the absence of other SQUIRE.
es of information, since the German
occupation, however, the attitude of
the citizens is one of scepticism.
1.-The soldiers are billeted all over
Brussels, and they move freely
among the populace, many of whom
stand and watch them for hours to-
gether. They have turned the Care
du Nord into stables, and the picture
palace AMI schools and public build
ings, with the exception OF the Pal
ais de Justice, into barracks. Prac-
tically all the food supply is appro-
priated to them, and the result is a
scarcity of milk. butter. yeast and
eggs.
fBut generally speaking their be-
havior has been above reproach, AMI
this is also true of them on the day
when they occupied the capital For
four days they were passing thru,
and. although they appeared to be
fatigued, it must be remembered
that they had marched many miles.
They certainly did not march thru
with the 'goose-step.' nor were they
insolent to the citizens, who watched
them as they marched.
What struck me most OF all was
the excellence of their eeaIpment
and the good physical STANDARD of
the men. Their fed kitchens as they
went by were smoking IN preparaz
ton OF the meals. When BRIEF stop
pages occurred the citizens gave
them cigarettes AMI cigars and choc-
olate and they smiled their thanks
for these small gifts.
Whole companies of soldiers
sang, but in l:stless tune, and one
refrain that was very popular, If de-
pressing to listen to, was translated