Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1914-09-24

~ Il
oDonNt Aix.la-Chapelle. Germany.
da S'oh IN specific detail disputes ana
tu WIZ. the charges OF crueiues anu
denle ',,as lodged against the Germans
suooi ,',nm MIR. Bennett, In company
10 pei Elm r. McCutcheon Of the Chica-
WIN r' yt Irwin S. Cobb OF the Sat
s. ,ar evening Post. Roger lewis Oh
S'.' associated Press and Harry nan
tDe 2, the Chicago Daily News, trav-
sen y roo miles through 20 towns and
ecu ohsoryations lead him to the firm
'ne" n,o,ion that the reports OF bar
ssrities alleged to have been perpe
- by German troops are faise-
hoods. ,.A 90 ,,a Asso-
,..oS press. evidently forwarded by
co. Lewis. is In substantial agree
o, with Mr.. Benefits story In the
chicago Tribune'
sy the Associated Press.
Van York.-An Associated Press
.,.s correspondent of American birth
IA antecedents, who was sent from
cha New York office and was caught
.. BRUSSELS at the time OF the Ger
m.r invasion, held as q prisoner for
~avsral DAYS. and who finally escaped
- Holland, has sent by mail the fol-
,ovipg story OF his experiences:
THE night before the Germans en-
1 ,sred Brussels, when the. Belgian civil
snsrds and refugees began pouring
into the city from the direction OF
Iouyain, they brought stories OF UNI
sneakable German atrocities, maltreat-
meut Of old men and children, and the
violation of women.
"The Belgian capital reeled with APP
rrehension. Within an hour the gay
ety. the vivacity, and brilliancy of the
city went out like a broken arc light.
The radiance OF the cafes was ex-
changed for darkness; whispering
groups of residents broke up hurried
" and locked themselves into this
homes, where they put up the shut
tsrs and drew in their tri-colored Bel
gian flags.
Fears Of Brussels Quieted.
THE historic Belgian city went
through state OF morbid consterna-
ton. remarkably like that from which
II suffered on June IS, 1915, when it
trembled with the fear of French VIC
tory at Waterloo.
In less than "a hours the Belgian
citizens were chatting comfortably
With the German invaders and the al
legations OF German brutality and de-
uOnlacal torture dissolved into one OF
the myths which have accompanied all
wars.
Neither in Brussels nor In Its en-
riroDs was q single offensive act. SO
far az Iknow, committed by German
soldier. In a city Of over half mil
lion people, invaded by hostile army
Of perhaps quarter OF a million sol
ders no act sufficiently fragrant tc
demand punishment or to awaken pro-
test came to my attention.
None Knows Of outraees.
The frightful reports that had pre-
ceded the German army into Brussels
Included the dlsemboweling Of old mer
and the impaling of children on lances
Just outside Louvain. Investigation
not only failed to substantiate these
rumors, but could not even discover
any one in the immediate vicinity whit
credited them.
An eye witness of unimpeachabl'
yeracity told me that the worst be
1avior he had observed during the frs
German entry into Louvain (Augus
ls) was that OF German soldier VIII,
leaned from his horse and kissed |
pretty Flemish girl who brought hin
Agass of beer.
Il marched for days with the Ger
man columns. often only one day be
hind the fighting. with the houses tina
had been burned still smoldering. tn
ground freshly broken by shell an
trampled by horses and men, and tn
memory OF the German advance vivi
In the minds of the inhabitants.
No Proofs Of Murder.
. u interviewed an average of twent
persons in each of a dozen towns an
found only one instance Of a noncom
blatant who had been killed withou
justifable provocation. In this cas-
the evidence did not clearly prove tina
the man had been wantonly murdered
He lived in one OF the typical smal
Belgian countryside houses which con
pine the eEmsorts of home with tn
lure OF small public bar. This hous
was at the north OF Merbes-le-C Chateau
town through which a large part c
'he German army passed on the roa
to Maubeuge.
son of the murdered man, who's
name was Arthur Nicodem, showed m
blood clots on the floor marking tn
place where Nicodem fell, his thros
cut by saw-edged German saber.
English Fired From House.
II was said by some inhabitant
that the murdered man showed pa
oi binoculars but more probab
explanation is that English outpost
mad concealed themselves in the hous
'rom which they poured rain of fiji