El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-01-04
RUINED VILLAGE
IS OFTEN TAKEN
Germans Occupy 1t One Day,
Belgians the Next; but
Neither Wish 1t.
Nv COUNT BEAUFORT.


London, Eng. Jan. 4.-The following
letter from Belgium tells of actual
conditions as seen by count de Beau
fort:
1T is difficult &c know where to start
in relating my impressions. It seems
as If for four days ! have sat in
huge moving picture theater and
watched one film after another being
reeled off, at the same time listening
to an extremely eloquent lecturer.
How and why L was able to wander
from village to trench, and from
trench to village or whatever is left
of them. is a story which, perhaps,
with many others, will be told later
after the war. They are a courteous,
open-hearted, hospitable lot, these Bel
gians, and anybody who seems to be
English, either in appearance or accent,
can have anything they own.
Village Not Wanted.
THE most interesting place in the
line along the User these days has been
the village of Styuvekenskerke. 1t
lies on the left bank of the User. The
main road from DiXmude to .Pervyse
runs about half a mile to the west of
il, and the railroad about another half |
mile further. Both lines are held by
the Belgians, On Tuesday morning
some of our advanced patrols ventured
close to the village, and not seeing any
life there went in. The Germans had 1
retired to the other side of the river !
Prompt ythe village was Tetaken by |
the Belgians. But of what use is a
practically RACED village anyhow? 1t |
would have taken a great number of
extra men to guard it at night against
surprise attacks, so the officer in |
charge retired at sunset into his own |
lines along the railroad.
ION Wednesday. morning the Ger
mans were occupying the village again |
for the day but that afternoon the /
Belgians might have had their tea |
there but for the sudden interruption |
of business of the only patisseTie- The |
efr Of oil /
was still intact. We took it down, and 1
now it is heading the entrance to one |
of the sleeping trepches a mile back. |
At certain points around this village !
the advance lines are not further than |
1900 feet from each other, and I have /
seen soldiers of both sides walk about 1
unCOnCerned without a shot being /
fired on either side But in the dis |
lance. one hears from time to time the |
roar of the guns.
Pot Luck With Gunner.
my wanderings landed me near n |
lonely Belgian field gun, one of the /
'75s, in the neighborhoOd Of Pervyse. |
I knew the officer in charge, and was |
promptly invited to stay, and take pot (
luck. His underground dwelling had |
been made quite inhabitable- He in /
sisted that I should take the 'fauteuiP'
in the shape of the only soapbox pres /
emit while he balanced himself on a
One-legged piano stool.
Our meal was simple enough, but |
y
and cold coffee Fires of any Sort
either inside or outside. are strictly
forbidden in the lines A smoking
is asking for shrapneL Quite
an amusing incident took place here.
The lieutenant told me during luncheon
that every time he fired a shot the
Germans answered him in kind; if he
sent a shrapnel they promptly sent
back; when he fired a shell,
a shell whistled back. After luncheon !
he illustrated his story, and indeed the
Germans seemed to be in a joking
mood. He fired a shrapnel and a she'll
in turn; few minutes later shrapnel
and g. shell whistled back over our
heads
Il asked for the commandant, and
to find him also in one of the
directed to one Of the houses on the
outskirts of the village. His offices
thereg 1 asked, looking at the remains !
Of what had been a little villa. Ger
tainly, monsieur. Follow me- SAID the
little soldier.
Finds the Commandant.
"On all sides we were surrounded by
blackened bricks and burnt wood.
fallen walls, and broken furniture.
Finally, we arrived near a cellar door
and the mystery was soon solved. The
met me with ceremony |
and welcomed me as if he had been in
the library of his house in Brussels. |
I am sorry he said in excellent Eng
fish, to have to receive you in this
improvised flat
And the cellar offered certainly a
curious picture. Fourteen soldiers sat
around a make-shift table, at the head
Of which, on a barTel-the officer lad
presided. We had evidently interrupted
meal. An iron bedstead, with planks
and a few punches of straw. took VI
one corner; a tier of knapsacks, and I
some more straw, lined the opposite
wall An Old-fashiOned gramaphone
had been rescued from the ruins and
formed a conspicuous piece Of furni-
ture, but the records had been smashed. |
Still, one gets inventive when time IS
long and tediOus-and it has been very
slow around here these last days-so
some Of the records were pasted to-
gether on a piece of cardboard. and
with the assistance of a helping finger,
over the gaps and rents. the
Did machine managed to give Car
men, La Boheme,' and some popular
French airs"