The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-10-05
DEsoLATIoN OF BELGIUM
War Has Brought Intense Suffering
to the People

| Antwerp for the purpose of assisting
| in the relief measures. Having al
| ways regarded war as the negation OF
all that is good said Mr.. Whitehouse
last night, Il desired to see what its
| ravages wee in a country exposed
to all its fury and what steps We're
possible to mitigate them. ] do not
| think that any one he.e has realized
the plight of the civilian population
| Belgium today and ] can only at
tempt to give any picture of this by
describing some of my own eKperien-
cess
Mr. Whitehouse made the journey
outside Antwerp with two military
cars, attended by Belgian officials. In
describing the damage which he says
| the Belgians had Ito inflict upon them
| selves to supplement the defenses of
Antwerp, he said: Hundreds OF
thousands of trees had been cut down
so that at some points of out journey
we had the impression of passing
| through a wilderness of roots. The
tree trunks had all been removed so
as to afford no cover to the enemy.
All houses had been blown up or
otherwise destroyed. Later we pass
ed through the country which had
been flooded as a further measure Of
defense The damage resulting from
these precautionary measures alone
amounted to 10,000,000 pounds $780,
0O0, 000l.
in the village all ordinary life was
arrested. Women and children were
standing or sitting dumb and patient
by the roadside. ! had read newspa-
per accounts of the destruction of Ter
monde and had seen photographs, but
they had not conveyed to my mind
any realization of the horror of what
actually happened. Termonde a few
weeks ago was a beautiful city of
10000 inhabitants. city which con
tanned some buildings of SURPRISING
interest. went through street after
street, square after square, and
found evesy house entirely destroyed
with all its contents.
at was not the result of lombard
ment; it was systematic destruction.
In each house a separate bomb had
been placed which had blown up the
interior and set fire to the contents.
All that remained in every case were
portions of the falling, and inside the
cinders of the contents OF the build
ings. Not a sh ed of furniture or any
thing else remained. This sight con
tinued throughout the entire extent
of what had been a considerable town
"Of the population ! thought that
not a soul remained. 1t was wrong,
for, as we turned into square. where
the wreck of what had been one OF
the most beautiful of Gothic churches
met my eyes, a blind woman and be.
daughter grouped among the ruins.
They were the sole living creatures in
the whole town. inquired what had
become or the population. II was a
question 20 which no direct reply could
be given. They had fed in ali direc-
tons Some had reached Antwerp,
but a eat number were wandering
about the country, panic stricken and
starving. Many were already dead.
what had happened at Termonde
was similar to what had happened in
other parts Of Belgium under the mil
itary occupation Of Germany. The re
suit is that conditions have been set
up for the civilian population through
out the occupied territory of unex-
ampled misery. Comparatively few
refugees have reached this country
Others remain wandering about Bel
GUM, hockins into other towns and
villages CT flying to points a little
way across the Dutch frontier
Sometimes when a town has been
hombardcd the Germans have with
drawn and the civilians have return
ed to their homes only to flee again
at the renewed attack. \ case in
point is Malines. which on Sunday
last, as was about to try TO reach il,
was again bombarded. The inhabi-
tants were then unable to leave. as
the town was surrounded, but when
tho bombardment ceased there was
a great exodus.
THE whole life Of the nation has
been arrested. Food supplies, which
would ordinarily reach the civilian
population. are being taken by the
German troops for their own support.
The peasants and poor are without
the necessities of life. and conditions
of starvation grow more acute every
day. Even where there is a supply
of wheat available the peasants are
not allowed 10 use their windmills,
owing to the German fear that they
will send signals to the Belgian army
We are therefore. face to face with a
| fact which has rarely. if ever, occur.
red in the history of the world-an
entire nation is in a state of famine
and that Yithin half a days journey
of our own shores.
ITO the conditions of famine and
! homeiessness which exist ON such a
stnpondous scale. there must be add
! ed one which Is bad-the mental pan
! ic in which many survivors remain
! understood how inevitable this was
| when I saw and heard what they pas.