American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1914-11-26

Something of the suffering and
h~ardships which the people of wal
stricken Belgium are obliged to under
go is related in a letter received yes
terday by Mrs. S. Thompson from her
brother-in-law, Albert DeNeve, a for
mer well known business man of Boise
who for IL years was proprietor OF the
Eighth street bakery and was married
in Boise. For the past eight years he
has made his home at M~aldegem, Bel
GUM, a town near the border of Hol-
land, which has not suffered nearly as
much AS many other towns in that
country, but is under German guard
and rule. His letter written under date
OF Nov. 3, is as follows:
Through the unfortunate situation
that we have found ourselves in for the
past three weeks it has been inn
possible for me to write. There is on
ly m way to send letters and that is
from Holland. There are no trains
running in this section and all post
offices are closed.
I'VE have had quite a few of the Bel
gain soldiers going through here the
past "a hours on the way from Ant
werp to Holland and it was pitiful to
see their condition. They were COM
pletely exhausted from the loss of
sleep and the lack of food. Numbers
of them had no shoes and their cloth
ing was ragged and worn. They did
not stay long as the Germans were
following them up closely. This was
Immediately after the fall of Ant
werp.
Refugees Pour In.
Our own soldiers had no more thar
gone when refugees from the towns
south came pouring in. Among them
we're your mother and your sister and
her husband and my sister and eight
children. They had walked from
Somergem, a distance of 80 miles.
They left everything behind them.
They came late at night and you know
how it made me feel to see your poor
old mother rs years old and the lit
tie children in that condition. They
stayed over night with me and in the
morning / started to Holland with
them.
When l got back to Maldegem my
heart was broken. / found my wife
and children one and quite a few
things missing and destroyed in the
house and In the store and the town
full of Germans. Have been unable to
locate my family but am living in hope
that they went on to Holland. l am
still staying at the home place as the
houses that are deserted by the ten
ants are made use of by the German
soldier6 and naturally everything will
be destroyed by the time they get
through.
Conditions Are Terrible.
at is certainly terrible here. We
cannot get any clothing and there is
very little flour, coal or oil to be had
and hunger is staring us in the fact as
food is very scarce. There are only
about one hundred of the villagers left.
Thanks for the Boise papers and
for the sympathy expressed in them
and 1 sincerely hope we receive help
from somewhere as / don't know what
will become of us if we don't get it.
IF the Germans lose in northern
France it will be worse for us as they
will make another stand in Belgium.
will than have m on IN Holland and
possibly to England with all of the
family.
Don't worry about mother as l will
see to it that they are taken care of.
There is no use of sending mail or
papers to Belgium. Send it to the adj
dress I give you in Holland. I can't
write all / would like to as l have been
50 worried that ! have almost lost my
reason and l am afraid that worse is
yet to come.
German soldiers 4 coming and
going all day, a good many In auto
mobiles. ! can hear the roar OF can
non continuously, the shooting must
be only about twenty miles away. Re-
fugees are constantly passing through
on the road to Holland from the towns
farther south and east in the line of
the German advance.
Expecting BombardmAat.
I'VE here are Constantly expecting
10 be bomJarded and you can't realize
tne Train we are under all the time.
I'm the morning we are forbidden t.
leave the house until noon and W.
must be III by Z o'clock at night. NJ
one is allowed to ride a bicycle and M
drinks of any kind can be sold. M
more than three people are allowed Il
talk together or ~congregate at on
time and other restrictions o numer
GUS to mention.
asYou fortunate people don't know
how / wish / was back in Boise wit