The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1914-10-15
ALL BELGIUM HAS
BEEN DEVASTATED
PEOPLE STARVING
World Can Never Appreciate
Sacrifices Little Nation Has
Made to Combat Pow
erful Fee.
FAMINE ADDS TO HORRORS
Returned Visitor Says Germans
Are Confiscating All Food
Many Cities Are
Laid Waste.
FAMINE ADDS TO HORRORS

-1AAdAy 0A1ISS AiC
Laid Waste.
London Special: A graphic picture OF
the desolation Of Belgium was brought
to London today by ]. FL. Whitehouse
member of parliament, from La2aark-
shire, who has just returned from a
tour around Antwerp to assist in re-
lief measures.
Having always regarded war as the
negatten Of all that is good" said Mr..
Whitehouse tonight, II desired to see
what It's ravages were In q country eX-
posed to all its fury and what steps
were possible to mitigate them. ! do
net think that any one here has real
ICED the plight of the civilian pSpula-
don OF Belgium today and l can at
tempt to give a picture Of it only by
describing some Of my own exper-
fences"
Mr.. whiteheuse made the journey
outside Antwerp with two military
cars, attended by Belgian officials. In
describing the damage which he says
the Belgians had to inflict upon them
selves to supplement the defense OF
Antwerp, he said:
Hundreds Of thousands Of trees had
been cut down SO that at some points
Of our Quincy we a the impression
Of passing through a wilderness Of
roots. The tree trunks had been re-
moved so as to afford no v to the
enemy. All houses had been blown up
De otherwise destroyed. Later we
passed through the country which had
been flooded as q further measure OF
defence. The damage resulting from
these precautionary measures alone
amounted to 1000, 900 pounds sterling
(s5,0 zoe, 090). In the villages all ordin-
airy life was arrested. Women m
children were standing or sitting, dunk
and patient, by the road side. Half
way to Termonde we could plainly hear
the booming Of guns and saw many
evidences Of the battle which was then
, raging.
Termonde in Ruins.
II had read newspaper accounts of the
destruction of Termonde and had seen
photographs, but they had not put In
mind any realization of the horror OF
what actually happened. Terrnonde q
lew weeks ago was a beautiful city OF
about 10000 inhabitants, a city In
which the dignity Of its buildings har-
monized with the natural beauty Of Its
situation, a city which contained some
buildings of surprising interest.
81 went through street after street.
! square after square and I found every
house entirely destroyed with all Its
contents. 1t was not the result of
Commandment, it was systematic de-
struction. In each house separate
bombs had been placed which had
blown up the interior and set fire to
the contents. All that remained in
svery case were portions Of the outer
walls which were still constantly fall
ng and inside the cinders of the con-
tents Of the buildings. Not a shred OF
furniture or any thing else remained.
Q the population, I thought not q
soul remained. I was wrong, for as
we turned into a square where the
] cyranly nf what had bean one of the
most beautiful of Gothic churches, my
eyes met a blind woman and her
daughter cropping among the ruins.
They were the sole living creatures
IN the whole town.
SHOPS, factories, churches and
houses Of the wealthy, all were sim
larly destroyed. One qualification only
have I to make Of this statement. Two
or perhaps three houses bore the Ger
man command in chalk that they were
not to be burned. Where a destroyed
house had obviously contained articles
Of value, looting had taken place.
Population Has Fled.
IT inquired what had become Of the
population. It was a question to which
no direct reply could be given. They
had fed in all directions. Some had
reached Antwerp. but a great number
were wandering about the country
panic stricken and starving. Many al
ready have reached this country
Others remain wandering about Bel
GUM, f1ocking into other towns and
villages or points q little way across
the Dutch frontier.
Some times when a town has beer
bombarded the Germans ave with
drawn and the civilians have returned
to their homes, only to flee again al
the renewed attack. A case in point
Is Malines, which on Sunday last as
I was about to try to reach 1t, was
again bombarded.
1.-THE inhabitants were then unable
to leave as the town was surrounded
but when the b~ombardment ceased
there was a great exodus.
The whole life Of the nation he
been arrested. food supplies which
would ordinarily reach the civilian pop
u~lation, are being taken by the Ger
man troops for their own support. Tht
peasants and Door are without the ne
cessities Of life and conditions Of star
walton grow more acute every day
Even where there is a supply Of whea
lowed to use their windmills. OWNS
to he German fear that they will senc
signals to the Belgian army.
Whole Nation Starving.
I'VE are therefore face to face witt
a a which has rarely, If ever, oc
CURED in the history Of the world
an entire nation is in a state Of fam
me, anu lidl WkLillIl d Hall Jay - JOuI
ney Of our own shores.
1.-THE completeness of the destruc
ton in each individual case was ex
planned to me later by the Belgia,
ministers, who described numerou
appliances which the German soldier
carried for destroying property. Nc
only were hand bombs of various size
and descriptions carried, but each sol
der was supplied with a quantity y
small black discs, a little bigger tina
a 6-pennny piece.
81 saw some of these discs which ha
been taken from German soldiers o
the field of battle. These were de
scribed to me as composed of com
pressed benzine. When lighted the
burn brilliantly for a few moment
and are sufficient to start whateve
fire is necessary after the explosio
of a bomb
ITO the conditions of famine an
homelessness which exist on such
~stupendous scale, there must be adde
one which Is bad-the mental panic 1
which many survivors remain. ] I'm