The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-10-17

Up or otherwise destroyed Later We
passed through the country which had
been flooded as a further measure Of
defense The damage resulting from
these precautionary measures alone
amounted TO $4,000, 600.
Sees Termonde Horrors
had read newspaper accounts Of
the destruction Of Termonde and had
seen photographs, but they had not
conveyed to my mind any realization
Of the horror of what actually hap
pened- TeTmOnde a few weeks ago
was q beautiful city Of about 5000
inhabitants, a city in which the dignity
OF its buildings harmonized with the
natural beauty of its situation, q city
which contained some buildings of sur
passing interest
4 went through street after street,
square after square, and 1 found every
house entirely destroyed with all its
contents. It was not the result Of bonn
bardment; it was systematic destruc-
ton In each house a separate bomb
had been placed which had blown up
the interior and set fire to the con-
tents
What had happened at Termonde
was similar TO what had happened in
other parts of Belgium under the mill
tary occupation Of Germany.
The whole life Of the nation has
been arrested. Food supplies which
would ordinarily reach the civilian
population are being taken by the Ger
man troops for their own support. The
peasants and poor are without the
necessities of life and conditions OF
starvation grow more acute every day.
Even where there is a supply of wheat
available the peasants are not allowed
to use their windmills, owing to the
German fear that they viii send sig
nails to the Belgian army.
Situation Unprecedented.
We are, therefore, face to face
with a fact which has rarely if ever
occurred in the history of the world
an entire nation in a state of maine
and that within half a days journey
Of our own shores.
The completeness Of the destruc-
ton in each individual case was ex-
planned to me later by the Belgian
ministers who described numerous ap-
pliances which the German soldiers
carried for destroying property Not
only were hand bombs Of various sizes
and descriptions carried. but each sol
der was supplied with a quantity of
small black disks, q little bigger than
a six-penny piece
Il saw some of these disks which
had been taken from German soldiers
on the field OF battle These were de
scribed to me as composed of COM
=
burn brilliantly fer few minutes and
are sufficient to start whatever fire is
necessary after the explosion Of
bomb
Caught in Trap.
London.-How the Germans were
moved down by a terrific rain Of
French shells and bullets on the Sedan
battlefield, where the Germans won
such q brilliant victory A years ago,
was told in a dispatch received by the
Daily Mail from its Paris correspond
ent
The terrible carnage was inflicted
by the French during the strategical
retreat Of the allies southwark from
1 Belgium, a few weeks ago
In this second battle Of Sedan the
! French led the Germans into q trap
/ and then killed thousands Of them"
says the correspondent. with the
pursuing Germans following closely,
] the French commander ordered his
men TO cross the river and to take up
/ positions on the opposite heights
| Bridges Blown Up.
The bridges we're mined hurriedly,
| but left standing TO deceive the Ger
mans. Unsuspecting the trap, the
| Germans rushed along and started to
cross the bridges in close formation
! Suddenly the bridges were blown up
| and hundreds Of Germans were killed
Several regiments OF Germans had
/ been permitted to cross the river be-
/ fore the bridges were blown up, and
| the French infantry, using rapid-1r-
| ers, rushed down upon these Germans,
| while the French artillery on the
/ heights poured shells into the ranks
/ Of the Germans on the other side Of
I the river with deadly effect
'The merciIess slaughter Of the Ger
mans who had crossed the river con-
| tinued well into the darkness When
/ the French no longer could see be-
cause night had fallen. they lighted
torches and continued their work Of
carnage. Many Germans attempted to
swim the river Some were drowned,
while others were picked on by French
| sharp-shooters.
The French artillery set fire to the
woods on the other side Of the river,
where the main body Of Germans had
gone into hiding when the lombard
/ ment opened The fire, which lit up
| the entire front for a distance Of Is
/ miles, soon drove the Germans out into
the open, and the artillery continued
its work Of killing"