Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-09-18
only CATHEDRAL
remains OF CITY
Rest of Ter1nonde's 1000
Buildings Laid Waste by
the German Torch.

London, Sept. Isl. A. Jones. cor
respondent Of the London Daily
Chronicle, who previously reported to
his paper the destruction Of the city
of Termonde, with reserve. now tele-
graphs an account of his own obser-
vations Of conditions there. He says:
'9The population Of Termonde was,
roughly speaking, 10000. There We're
some 1000 buildings in the town. OF
these there are not half dozen that
have not been completely gutted by
fire; not one remains intact. The work
of ruin was terribly complete. The
devil, however. must have his due;
raj, with it's wonderful paintings by
Rubens and Van Dyck. towers un-
touched above the ruins. Were the
Germans aghast at their work in
Louvain? But this cathedral is the
only exception.
"a few soldiers were guarding the
town from pilferers as we entered ov-
er planks thrown hazardously across
blown-up bridge. The first thing
that struck my eyes was German
Red Cross motor car, unhurt, care
fully tended by a couple of gendarmes,
next, an enormous pane of glass ad-
vertising a popular brand Of cigarettes
which looked as new as the day 1t
was put up. Then the eye wandered
around and gradually the brain took
in the scene. Up and down the street
one gazed on charred piece of brick
work which we're once houses. Here
and there perhaps half a house would
be standing upright; elsewhere mass
of bricks was strewn across the street.
A little further on in the town sol-
diers were searching the ruins for the
bodies Of those left behind in the mad
rush for safety.
To-
marks the last resting place of those
roasted to death. For the last two
days soldiers have been engaged in the
gruesome task Of finding the charred
remains Of their fellow countrymen en-.
In the ruins we found gasoline
bombs which the Germans had thrown
into the houses. These bombs are
made Of aluminium filled with gaso-
line. A wick protrudes from one end.
This wick is lighted and flares up, and
then the bomb is hurled into build
ing with devastating results
There were, perhaps. six citizens in
the town who had dared to return af-
ter tho burning of the place. One was
an old woman, who had dragged a
few household articles into the street
and sat forlornly among them; she
epitomized the tragedy of thousands
by the courtesy of a priest, as
cended the tower of the cathedral.
Four hundred feet in the air, I looked
down upon the ruined mass Of what a
week ago was beautiful city. A gale
was blowing up. The wind shook the
battered remains Of a house. which
tottered and then fell with a crash
into the street. Two women who
were passing barely escaped with their
lives. AS we descended into the
street other houses fell.
"At the outskirts Of the town I met
the commandant Of the forces. He
told me a wonderful tale of heroism
on the part of the garrison who de-
Tended Termonde against the Ger
mans. For six hours this gallant little
band held it's own against a force
which outnumbered it ten to one,
while tho citizens escaped; then, fight
ing every inch, desperately retired
Their ranks were decimated, but still
the fought on. Finally the Germans
brought up heavy artillery, and dis
cretion became the better part Of
valor"