The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-03-28
INSIDE PICTURE Of
BES|EGED EERDUN
Few Civilians Remain, While Gen.
darmcs Take Care of Deserted
Homes
NO PILLAGING PERMITTED


London, March 27.--H. Warner
Allen, representative of all the British
newspapers with the French army
sends the following picture of war
battered and deserted verdun:
Today Verdun Ia not crowded. Not
shop Is open. 1t can muster three
civilians. and all three of them are
rightly proud of their courage In stay
| ing in the bombarded town.
l have just been walking down the
main street. Everywhere there Is 81
lence except for the crashing of the
big shells and the sound OF splinte-s
falling on the roofs. All the goods, the
shopkeepers had collected as spe-
cially calculated to appeal to the
soldier In the trenches have disap-
peared. and now when one walks
, down the Rue Mazei, ones course is
frequently interrupted. There comes
| rush of wings in the air, and in
stinctiveiy one makes for the nearest
doorway, ducking as one goes. Then
| there Is big explosion, and one goes
on.
1t was in the Rue Mazel that I met
one of the three civilians of Verdun.
He was contemplating the view from
his door with contented smile and
looked at me with supreme contempt
when / scuttled for cover at a par
ticularly loud explosion. You are
taking refuge on the wrong side of
the road" he remarked mildly. THE
left Is the side to escape from spiint-
ers. since that is the side from which
the Boches are firing. Anyhow, 1t Is
no use ducking, since by the time
you've heard the shell the danger Is
over"
AS we went up the. steep, lonely
streets towards the cathedral our at
tention was suddenly attracted by a
strange piercing sound that contrasted
quantity with the continuing roar of
exploding shells. 1t was a kitten
mewing plaintively In the first story of
q house. 1t had obviously been for
gotten in the haste of evacuation. The
the shutters and had never given
thought to the poor beast and 1t was
slowly starving TO death.
Kitten L. Rescued.
A rescue party was at once formed.
NJ. Georges Scott, the artist. who is
modified as Chasseur A1pin. mount
ed on my shoulder and endeavored to
prise open the shutter with stick.
But his efforts were unavailing. and
eventually the kittens life was saved
by the firemen OF Verdun. who, at our
request, broke into the house.
Several large shells had fallen near
the cathedral. One Of them had
Quilted a girls school and another
had landed fair and square on a shop
that sold religious ornaments and
embiems For some unexplained rea-
son there was a cures hat lying pa
thetically on the top of the debris
and at the back against wall that
had nniraculously escaped destruction
stood a stucco statue of Joan OF Arc,
which had passed through the storm
of fire unscathed.
The pigeons, which were flying in
uneasy circles above the cathedral,
seemed to be curfously disturbed by
the bombardment. AS general rule,
the birds seem TO regard bombardment
as a natural catachlym to be suffered
since 1t cannot be prevented. Any
how, the pigeons of verdun have not
yet grown accustomed to the noise of
the German bombardment
No Pillaging.
Despite German Shells the French
gendarmes keep good watch in Yer
dun. There Is no pillaging and the
refugees, who, in their hurry. left