Semi-weekly herald., 1915-04-08
MIGHT HAVE BEEN HELD
AS SPY BUT DID'T KNOW IT
lRu Lafayette Young.l

ROTTERDAM, Holland, March l.
must write in regard to Belgium al
| together from memory. l was told
not to take notes or memorandums
and that if / did so | should be un-
der suspicion when the time came for
leaving. | obeyed these instructions
implicitly. l got through the lines
| into Holland without difficulty, al
though all manner of difficulties had
been predicted. / sometimes thought
| that the treatment men received de-
pended upon the time of day or the
number Of hours the sentries had been
on duty; if they were tired and out
of humor they would naturally make
| it hot for the American trying to get
out.
A few days ago the sentries all
seemed to be on their mettle; they
searched everybody with double care
and examined everything that a man
carried with him, yet I got through
the lines without having my grip
looked into, whilst in the grip had
a map of the Notifications Of Ant
werp, closely and well drawn. A friend
brought this map to me at the last
moment, and said: ~ present you
with the map in which you are SO
much Interested" He said: "I have
drawn some new lines on it indicating
the outer position of the barbed wire
entanglements. You will notice that
there are two lines of Notifications,
the outer and the inner"
Avoid German GaOl.
When the Germans entered Ant
werp the Belgians made no resistance
| At the outer Notifications, reserving
all their strength for the second line:
But SO much for the map. If l had
been caught with the goods which
so innocently carried I should prob
| ably now be in German gaol. For a
time was ambitious to be in prison
for twenty-four hours in order to real
ly rank as war correspondent, but
since / have had further experience
| hope to have imprisonment post
oned
The nearer one gets to the trenches
or to the fighting zone the more Sc
we're the regulations become. An Am
erican can scarcely breathe ut all in
the vicinity of Ghent or Ostend.
| | am told that at Ghent the drink
ing water is not good and that the
large number Of breweries in that dis
trict are about to run out of grain.
The people in Belgium drink beer
md wine and have not been consum-
ers of water. Therefore, when the
beer supplies stop at Client, and the
people have to resort to water, it is
| predicted there will be great spread
of typhoid.
No Grapes in Belgium.
There are several hundred brew
cries in the district Of which Ghent
| l., uV,A n.
| member, however, that these brewer
les are not large, hence the extraor-
| binary number of them does not nee
assarily mean tremendous manufac-
tue of beer. Belgium drinks large
quantities of wine, but the wines are
imported from France. The culture
of the grape in Belgium is not an
extensive enterprise, in fact in nine
hundred miles travel in Belgium did
not notice a field Of grapes.
| The war situation is intense in the
Ghent district, which lies to the south
west of Antwerp.
was in Ghent in 1912 but not to
stay long. 1t was then n beautiful
city. The reader will remember that
the peace treaty between the United
States and Great Britain, closing the
war of 1912, was signed Mt Ghent.
The signing of this treaty was to have
been celebrated with much enthusiasm
by the United States and Great Brit
| ain. but the war has dislocated every
thing, and l have not heard of any
celebrations taking place.
Belgian Dog No Joke.
A gentleman. talking with a friend
the other evening. said: "Call me in
the morning when the dogs begin to
bark" This did not have any anus
ing reference, nor did It refer to the
barking of the neighbor's dog, who
gave no reasonable excuse for exist
ence. 1t meant that at an early hour
he sturdy dogs who assist in pulling
the carts of the country would wake
up and begin to bark. These dogs
are part Of the everyday life of
Belgium and Holland. The average
American looks upon the dog as a
working animal as Joke; but he Is
far from a joke. he is working AMI
NAL in reality.
The people Of Belgium and Holland
use small carts or trucks, the like Of
which are frequently to be seen
around American railway stations. In
this part Of the world these trucks are
pushed by = man or woman, and un-
derneath the truck are cne or two
dogs. sometimes even three, at work.
The man or woman doing little else
than guide the truck. The dog does
HE pu1Iin1 buk NJ naturally Il c0uId