Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-14
YPRES, ALL IN RUINS,
ABSOLUTELY DESERTED
Not One of Its $4,000 Houses Intact,
and Not Dozen Are
Repairable.
Town May Be Allowed to Remain
as It Is. Monument to the Suf-
fering of Flanders


Correspondence Of the Associated Press.
TPRES. Belgium, June 1O.-The last
tenacious inhabitants of Ipres nave
been dragged from their underground
refugees and taken by force to places
of safety fortnight ago; the cellars
themselves have ceased to AFFORD pro-
lection from the continual pounding OF
the German shells. The town TO-DAY
looks like an unearthed limitation VI
Pompeii: not one of its LOU houses
is intact and not a dozen of those tha'
remain partly erect are repa1raoie. ne
ancient pride of Flanders. II II ever
rises from its ruins. must De ehtirei!
rebuilt from the foundations. of the
famous hall there remains nothing put
single little tower. standing GU.
against the sky, like gigantic nnser
raised in protest. The only part OF tne
walls remaining is a battered breachea
Place" only here and there is it
possible, by close inspection. to dis
cover any traces of the details OF It's
former architectural beauty.
There were 10000 people mere week
ago. and it was still possible to enjoy
cup of tea at the cafe on the Grand
Place" while contemplating the agon-
izins "Halles": today the only living
sticking to the debris of their homes IN
the Rue de Thourout. No one KNOWS
what they live on and the British sol
diers have been una BILE to. capture them
Silence at Dusk Oppressive.
The dead silence that has fallen here
is broken only by the occasional smell
that stirs up the ruins by the German
guns firing over the town at Poper-
inghe and by the musketry and ma
chine gun fire from the trenches close
he
sive toward dusk. when the artillery
FIRE becomes desultory
Protected BY the ruins. one may APP
proach so close to the hrst line as 70
what is going on in the trenches Inc
.'Pang. Fang. Pang. of the r1nes'
with intervals of the "Pang-a- a
pang-a -pang' of the machine guns. pc
comes more intermittent as night falls.
and then comes from the trenches the
surprising contrast OF the re1raln; It's
a Long Way to Tipperary. with the &C
compa niment of a piano that the TOM
mics dug out of the ruins and requisl-
toned for evening diversion.
The final destruction of Ypres fol-
lowed the attack with asphyxlatlng gas
It is the common belief in Belgium that
the wiping out of the town was pre-
meditated revenge for the faiiure OF
the effort to occupy IT. shells INTENDED
in the rear might easily stray into the
town. but. they say, the aim OF the
Germans is good enough not to waste
in that way the thousands of tons of
ammunition required to reduce the
place to a stone heap. and the only
military importance of the town is its
proximity to the battle front. Count
ing the shots that went wide of any
structure. 1t is estimated that more
than hundred thousand of different
ealibers were spent ON 4pres- Thou
sands more were used during the gas
attack along the route>f from Ypres to
Furnes by which the allies were ex-
pected to send reinforcements.
Road Riddled by Holes.
All along the road for few miles
deep funnel-shaped holes, sometimes on
one side. sometimes on the other. and
often full In the center, still show how
seriously the operation was organized.
One of them lies directly in front of an
inclosed plot of ground covered with
field flowers, above which rise fourteen
crosses. Here were buried the remains
Of little detachment of British troops
teen-inch German shells while resting
in an abandoned cottage on the edge of
Ypres.
The eventual restoration of Ypres
raises conflicting views, all of which
originate from sentiment. for the town
portance. The attachment of the in
habitants to the soil calls for restora-
ton. and to this is opposed the feeling
that Spres must remain as il is-a
monument to the suffering of Flanders.
If the town is rebuilt. say many of
those who loved il for it's traditions.
let II be farther on along the banks of
the User. while the ruins of the ancient
town remain inclosed within monu-
mental walls for the world to see in