Evening journal., 1915-03-02
BY WILLIAM PHILIP smMs.
united Press stan Correspondent.


pying the most dangerous post along
the entire Flemish front, is a Capucin
monk.
Hidden In a medieval tower Of
chimney-likc proportions but with
walls SIS feet thick. part of an an
cleft church, this fighting man of
God spends his days. telephone receiv-
er at his ear. field glasses to his eyes.
informing Tie Belgian artillery
whether their shots are too long. too
short. or just right
All day long his snaggled tower
rising from a tiny island not more
than q hundred feet square, is bOm-
Darded aud battered by German guns
planted along the User. Only Middle
Age masonry of granite mixture,
could stand this daily hammcrng
and even that must finally yield, for
as this is written the old church
stecple Is all Jagged at the top, where
half has been shot away and great
holes two feet deep pOck mark It's
sides And when at last II collapses
under the blows. the monk will GER
tainly be there. for he stubbornly re-
fuses to yield his place TO another.
even for day or a night.
For two months and two weeks he
has stuck TO his ruined church tower,
surrounded by a flood of sea water
and river mixed, which mandates the
country for forty miles in all direc-
tions His post is the most desOlate
in Europe. When his superior Off
Gers. under cover Of might. go 10 him
and beg him TO take a rest. he smiles
like an embarrassed child ana re-
plies; "Why? ] am less lonely here
than in my cell"
Escorted by a Belgian staff officer
on his rounds of inspection, ! was per
mittod TO visit this outpost. The night
was pitch black. Heavy clouds hung
low and driven before a 40-mile gale
blowing in from the North Sea. a
drenching rain, stung MS In the face.
In the shelter OF rooted front line
trenches. doing by the side Of char
coal fires. the troops were TO be en-
Wed.
Through a break in the trenches we
started forward but were stopped at
The end Of fifty feet by an entangle-
ment OF barbed wires The officer
flashed his electric lamp here and
there to discover the secret pass
through the network. Instantly there
came challenge from the hooded
sentry on the other side of the net
work "Qui vlve."
"An officer came the reply
advance and give the word of the
night"
The officer fumbled about for sew
eral seconds. finally locating the loose
ends Of the wires which he finally
turned back. slowly reversing the
barbed mesh. We were allowed to
proceed
Once clear Of front line trenches
and the barbed web. we splashed
down the ridge called road. the only
land anywhere near us standing above
the foundations. After a few minutes
OF this the road dipped slightly anc
/ We found ourselves wading in IN,
flood. A horrible odor rose from tn,
water an odOr resembling that O
rOtting cabbages. and decaying flesh.
What's that?" The officer was ask.
ed"
Dead Germans. probably" he
answered. There are hundreds ol
dead bodies around here which vs.,
cannot get TO and bury They fell in
trying TO cross under fire. Al night
we can't locate the bodies"
Presently we left the road at right
angles and took TO a causeway three
or four feet wide. made OF small
branches tied in bundles resembling
logs. The path was just above the
flood and the water under the force
of the wind. now and then Tapped
over.
We found the monk standing at tn,
, base OF his steeple looking with eyes
( gray and tender as a woman's i'm tn,
direction of the Germans, now onl,
/ 200 yards away. He was a small. slim
man. perhaps 80 years of age. viii
manners as gentle as a girls. Ili
/ smiled almost constantly and was no
I the morose, broOding person on
might imagine him TO be. nor thl
world-weary individual looking for
way to commit suicide honorably III
loved life apparently as much as an,
one, in his own fashion. and his mar
tyr-like and self-imposed task o
hourly risking his skin was purely al
act of patriotism, a way of serving
his country.
Prior to joining the Order. IN
heroic monk was in the artiller
branch of the army. When war wa
declared he got permission to leav
his cell and get into his uniforr
again. His object was to serve Go
by fighting for King Albert. He ha
become a first lieutenant and otho
honors are in store for him. under
stand, including military decoration
though thus far he has refused thol
When the war is over and Belgium r,
stored to her king, he says. he sha
return 10 his cell. his usefulness
the army finished.
While we had been talking the raj
stopped. Il was now about 8 O'cloC
in The morning. The clouds thinnt
/ and the moon came out as brilliai
, almost as day. The little islar
looked ghostly and ghastly. and n
: Illuminating bombs constantly risir
from the German lines TO prevent su
prise attacks might have been jacks
lanterns or will-o-the wisps. The i
land. the monk explained, is ALI thi
Is left of village. The other hous'
were crumbled by shells and. beir
ON slightly lower ground, We're und'
the flood. Two little shacks on n
island were all that remained of n
village ge-those and the ancient towo
Here. a little group of outpost 50
diers. renewed every twenty-fol
= hours. serve Belgium under the cor
mand OF the monk, who. alone new
leaves his post