The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-04-30

{ vasion. She told me thew had nc
i been too badly off during the Germa
+ occupation as they had officers quar-
{ tered at their house, but month age
Y she, with her husband of rs and Il
{ bad health, and a little servant, ha
$ been abruptly thrown out of thei
g home without even having time Il
pick up change of clothes-they ha,
5 been thrown into a grange where the,
slept in terrible promiscuity, on tn,
I straw, without hardly any food al
, lowed them, fer three weeks unit
, they found tle." way by cart and OF
, foot to Noyoa. took them back t
Annel with me mat night and wa!
. glad enough to have extra women's
and mems clothing to give them. Had
you seen the old couple at dinner
that night in their bedroom before q
fire, ii would have made your SOU
glad--it was the first piece of white
bread they had seen for two years
Now, to return to Noyon; the can
non was still heavy that afternoon
and while there Boche avion few
over-the 75's were potting 1t and al
| so the mitrailleuse was working from
one of our aeroplanes-quite exciting,
but nothing doing
| took package and a letter to the
mother of someone | knew in Paris
my Vendeuse at Worths. ! found a
digniiied funny little cid French
woman whom learnt from
the Mayor had commanded the
respect and admiration of all
the town by the help she
had been during all the German oc-
cupation. She looked at me and said:
You have seen my daughter?' and
when | told her Yes and gave her
the letter, she said 81 do not know
you. but will you allow me to kiss
you She also had Jared very we'll
for she had had officers in her house
and it seems that where there were
officers there was always luxury.
On our way back, we met conveys
innumerable filed with old men, wo.
men and children being taken to
Ccmpiegne to be sent on God knows
where. They were almost all Ill from
lack of food. and the terror in their |
eyes must be seen to be appreciated, |
but with IL all. they said to me |
What do we care what happens to us |
now-we are away from the Ger
mans and we are in our own land |
once more" The Lieutenant COM
handing the conveys said he had TAX
en- 5000 down to Compiegne that
day. learnt from our Sargent who
had been to Compiegne that morning,
that Compiegne not being prepared
for such an invasion and the inhabi-
tants, not being OF an American hos
pitality. great number of these peo-
pie had slept under Gods heaven
our own chauffeurs and the military
had gotten some of the little children
breakfast. Such a state of affairs
could not have happened in an Anglo
Saxon land | heard afterwards that
five women had died of the cold and
can really believe it as it was in
tense.
cannot begin to tell you all the
many details that ! heard of the Ger.
man occupation. but to show you a
little what their manner was. the
little children of and S. girls and
boys, who forgot to salute the Ger
nan officers going through the streets
we're thrown into prison for "a
hours without anything to eat All
he children were maltreated if it
happened to please one of the british
common soldiers were
lot so bad--but the officers theat
heir own soldiers as badly almost as
hey did the enemy There was one
I'D mainland mind you the person
who told me this saw il with his own
,yes-whom. as mere act of
'plaisanterie' a Boche came up to
md took by the scruff of his neck
tut his pistol to his head and blew
lis brains ont. there and then. They
lever respected woman of any age,
md the manner of taking the young
iris off was the following ! know
his not alone from the Mayor of
loyon, but also from one of the
efugees that | have at Annel now.
rhe Toscin would sound at o'clock
n the morning and the Com
would come to each door
nd tell the men to assemble in one
lace and the girls over II. in an
lHeT, ana MISUNDERSTANDING all pro.
ests or trying to make out that their
ealth might prevent them no atten-
ion was paid and they were taken
way. ! could go on page after page,
living you instances, but already you
will have had enough of this lengthy
etter.
Sunday afternoon, two military con-
oys brought us some Refugees-and
What motley. dirty crowd-but oh,
What gratefulness. We put them up
n baraque that was not being used
or blesses for the moment, washed
hem all and put carbolic on their
eads, put nightgowns on them, put
hem into bed and gave them supper
IS they said they really found them
elves in Paradise and | fully believe