The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-05
NURSE CAVELL AND THE
 BELGIAN UNDERGROUND"
By PHILIP H. PATCHIN

were kept hidden, for not knowing
 French they were in the greater danger.
 The French soldiers, however, could
 readily masquerade as Belgian peasants, 1 donning the simple dress of the country
 side, and appearing stupid and speaking | rough French when questioned by the l German soldiery.
 From this situation grew the under ground" system of travel, such as pre- vailed in ante-bellum days in America
 Today in Belgium there is a great se- I cret organization of communication, for | the transport of men, as we'll as of in-
 formation. Its notifications extend over | the entire country. Mayors of towns and villages, municipal councillors. even | Belgian priests, are suspected of taking part.
 The main object. beginning year ago,
 was to get out of the country the French and British soldiers who had been trapped. to nurse those who were wounded back to health, and to send out,
 also, Belgians of military age who were
 needed in the Belgian army. For time
 there was some smuggling of persons right through the German lines back to
 the British, French and Belgian fronts. I This was during the turmoil following | the time when the Germans were forced | back from Paris. It soon became im- possible. and the Belgians were faced with the task of getting their men out across the DutCN DO1uer.
 Here the Germans, after capturing Ant werp and obtaining thorough control of | the country, established a line of sem tries all along the border. The district in the north of Belgium along the from 1 tier is called the Campine. It lends it. self to smuggling. All along, on both sides, there are woods and thicSets, passages through morasses. which local
 men knew, but which were unknown to the Germans.
 For the whole length of the Dutch frontier there was German soldier every few yards, standing there with his rifle to prevent anyone entering or leaving the country. This was not suf- ficient. Sentries were rushed, killed or overpowered in the dark, and people kept constantly escaping from Belgium or entering that country. On one occa- sion last spring a German sentry was approached by small group of Belgians arrayed like peasants. They engaged
 him in conversation. Suddenly a Belgian flung a handful of pepper in the sol cler's face. Another knocked him on the head and the whole group skipped across the border. There were many other in- stances of the kind. The sentries were ! doubled but still escapes frequently oc- | cured.
 | Then the Germans built a barbed-wire | entanglement all along the line. The | wires of the entanglement were electrified | and more than one man was killed trying | to make his way through. Frequently | dead rabbits, electrocuted, have been ] found. A belief that the talk of the en- i talslement was electrified was German l Huff was speedily dissipated when some |. l one tried to get through and was killed. l The border is about 125 miles long and now the entanglement extends the whole 1 length. Where there are roads there are l two of these barriers with building be- | tween. where all travellers are searched. | It Is said that 150O French soldiers have been smuggled out of Belgium 1 land they are safe They head for a l ters with the consul behind closed doors 1 for a few minutes and shortly afterward are bound for England and France, again 1 to take up the rifle and enter the trench. l The number of British who have escaped probably runs into the hundreds, although
 there is no way of telling, for once across 1 the border the fugitive never tells his | experiences The Belglans who have
 slipped across the line first to last must number thousands, aside from the ordi- | nary run of refugees. Of these there
 were tens of thousands.
 ] The hiding and transport of French l and British soldiers was desperate work.
 The Germans were forever seeking them. | The German secret service in Belgium is numberless. Every town, village and ham ] let has it's informers No one knows ] whom to trust. The Belgians have learned never to talk about the war. never to