The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

women can be of Independent service in
time of war; and having had the Univer-
sity of Brussels placed at her disposal
for hospital purposes, Mrs. Stobart ac-
companied by her husband, a London
barrister, and by the vicar of the famous
Hampstead Garden suburb, where she
makes her home, went to the Belgian cap
ital in advance of her unit of women
doctors, nurses and orderlies, and arrived
just in time to have her project frus-
trated by the occupation of Brussels by
the German army on the day before her
assistants were due to join her. Those
assistants. by the way, who numbered
some 30, included Miss S. Macnaughten,
the novelist, whose Lame Dogs Diary"
and Fortune of Christina McNab" are
so well known in the United States, and
who is Mrs. Stobart's chief orderly.
ut became obvious" said Mrs. Stobart,
l"that my unit could not reach me in
Brussels, therefore / must reach them.
wherever they might be. But this, I was
told, was impossible as the German gem
eral would allow no one to leave Brus-
sells. Only to Venlo, in Holland, could
passes be given. This was better than
nothing. and securing the only taxicab
we had seen in Brussels, we set forth from
our hotel at p. m. on Monday, August
"a, with our be-Germanized passports.
We were told that we took our lives In
our hands, as we should be passing
through the enemy's lines continuously
till we reached the Dutch frontier. But as
far as ] was concerned there was nothing
heroic about this, for / knew / should
be much more uncomfortable II / stayed
quiescently in Brussels than If I went
through few physical risks and discom-
forts in trying to do what any man in
my position would have done without
hesitation.
I'VE arrived at Hasset at 8 a. m.
and halted at a cafe in front of the station
for some breakfast, and were about to
continue our journey when our chauffeur.
Belgian boy of 49, told us he couldn't
get the taxi to start. Meanwhile the
soldiers guarding the station swarmed
around us, an officer looked at our pass
ports, was dissatisfied said the stamped
seal was dissatisfied, and that we We're
spies, and, shouting for six soldiers, who
full-coclked their rifles and fixed bayonets,
told them to surround u.s.
You are prisoners. he said CURLY.
III you talk to each other or if you move
you'll be shot Immediately
I'VE waited during an hour for orders
from the commandant, and were then
marched as prisoners to the Hotel de
Vile. Here we were stripped and exam
1ned our luggage was searched and all
papers and money taken from us, and at
u. III. we were mdrcneQ TO the railway
station, made to enter a luggage van at
tached to an engine, and were thus taken
by our guard of six soldiers to Tongres.
At Tongres we were again marched to the
Hotel de Vile. Here we were met by the
major In command. who was told that We
had been arrested as spies.
English?' he asked.
ia, mein herr major-wir sind Eng
lisch, replied cheerfully, for these Ger
man officers were such bullies everything
depended on showing that one was not
afraid.
'Ah!' said the major jubilantly 'das
wird mir sehr angenehm sein.' Chat will
be very agreeable to me.)
I'VE went through the farce of verbal
examination, and I showed him all my
papers relating to my intended hospital
work. But he refused to look at them