Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-05-13
Continued From Page one)

rdCleS IN q Iu1TO. Wneu, however we
found that things which at first seemed
improbable were testified to by many
witnesses coming from different places,
the points in which they all agreed be-
came more and more evidently true.
When this concurrence Of testimony
showed itself in hundreds Of deposit
lions, the truth of the broad facts
stood out beyond question. The force
of the evidence Is cumulative"
Taking up the conditions at Liege,
Belgium, at the outset Of the war, the
report gives a narrowing recital Of
occurrences at various points in the
devastated territory. At Herve on
August 4, the report says, "the MUIR
der of an innocent fugitive civilian
was a prelude to the burning and pill
lage of the town and Of other villages
in the neighborhood; to the indiscrimi-
nate shooting Of civilians Of both
sexes and to the organized military
execution Of patches Of selected males.
Thus some fifty men escaping from
burning houses were seized, taken out
side the town and shot. At Melen, a
hamlet west Of Herve, forty men were
shot. In one household alone the
father and mother (names given) were
shot, the daughter died after being re-
peatedly outraged, and the son was
wounded.
Civilians Coolly Murdered.
In Soumagne and Micheroux very
many civilians were summary shot
In a field belonging to a man named
=
German officer said You have shot at
u.s.. One of the Villagers asked To be
allowed to speak. and said: If you
think these people fired, kill men, but
let them &C. The answer was three
volleys. The survivors We're bayo-
Melted. Their corpses were seen in the
field that night by another witness.
One at least had been mutilated. These
were not the only victims in Sou
magne. The eyewitness of the massa-
ere saw, on his way home, twenty
bodies. one that of a young girl Of
Is. Another witness saw nineteen
corpses in meadow.
lat Heure lie Roman all the male
Inhabitants, including some bedridden
old men. were imprisoned in the
church. The burgomaster's brother
and the priest were bayonetted. The
village Of Wise was completely de-
stroyed. Officers directed the incen-
diaries. who worked methodically with
benzine. Antiques and china were re-
moved from the houses, before their
destruction, by officers, who guarded
the plumber, revolver in hand.
The Limit in Debauchery.
Entries in a German diary show
that on August 10Th, the German SOL
diers gave themselves up to debauch-
cry in the streets of Liege, and on the
night OF the goth massacre took place
in the streets. :. Though the cause
of the massacre is in dispute, the re-
suits are known with certainty. The
Rue des Pitteurs and houses in the
Place de rUniversite and the Quai des
Pecheurs were Systematically fired
with benzine, and many Inhabitants
were burned alive in their houses, their
efforts to escape being prevented by ri
fe fire. Twenty people were shot while
trying to escape, before the eyes Of one
Of the witnesses. The Liege Fire Bri-
gade turned out but was not allowed
to extfngT''sh the fire. Its carts, how
ever, we ,sefully employed in re-
heaps Of civilian corpses to the
Town Hail."
Taking up the Valleys Of the Meuse
and Sambre. the report gives lengthy
details Of terrible conditions described
by witnesses at Andenne, and says:
Four Hundred Massacred.
About 400 people lost their lives in
this massacre, some on the banks Of
the Mouse, where they were shot ac-
cording to ordeas given, and some in
the cellars of the houses where they
had taken refuge. Eight men belong
ing to one family were murdered. An
other man was placed close to a ma
chine gun, which was fired through
him. His wife brought his body home
on wheelbarrow. The Germans
and piled up all the eatables in a
heap on the floor and relieved them
selves upon it.
"A hair dresser was murdered in his
kitchen, where he was sitting with
child on each knee. A paralytic was
in his garden. After this
came the general sack of the town.
Many of the inhabitants who escaped
the massacre were kept as prisoners
and compelled to clear the houses Of
corpseS and bury them in trenches.
These prisoners were subsequently
used es n shelter and protection for
a pontoon bridge which the Germans
had built across the river and were so
used to prevent the Belgian forts from
firing upon it.
"A few days later the Germans cele-
brated Fete Nocturne in the square,
Hot wine, looted in the town, was
drunk and the women were compelled
to give three cheers for the Kaiser and
to sing Deutschland Uber Allies"
Wholesale Murder and Outrage.
Similar details were recited at much
length in reference to the districts of
Namur, Charleroi and the town of Di-
nant. At the latter point, the report
says, "unarmed civilians were killed in
masses. About 80 bodies were seen
lying on top of one another in a grass
square opposite the convent. They in
cluded many relatives of a witness
whose deposition is given., 1t is
stated that besides the 80 corpses re-
ferred to, 60 corpses Of civilians were
recovered from a hole in the brewery
yard and that 4S bodies Of women and
were found in a garden. The
town was systematically set on fire
by hand grenades.