Gilpin observer., 1917-12-20

After reading such CHASTITY accounts
many of them written by German eys
witnesses, and knowing that similar
tales were published widely In the
German newspapers, It Is difficult to
read with patience such words MS
these:
"The German army Tin which 1 of
course include the navy is today the
greatest institute for moral education
In the world"
'The German soldiers alone are
thoroughly disciplined. and have never
so much as hurt a hair of a single in
nocent human being."-Houston Stew
art Chamberlain, In Kriegsaufsdtze,
"War Essays" 1914.
I'VE see everywhere how our sol.
diers respect the sacred defenseless-
ness Of woman and child."-Prof. g.
Roethe, in Deutsche Reden in Schwerer
Zeit, German Speeches In Difficult
Days."
Hostaoes' Lives Hung by Thread.
''In order to insure sufficiently the
safety Of our troops and the tranquil.
ity Of the population of Reims, the
persons mentioned have been seized
as hostages by the commander of the
German army. These hostages will
be shot If there is the least disorder.
On the other hand, If the town re-
mains perfectly calm and quiet these
hostages and Inhabitants will be
placed under the protection Of the
German army.
THE GENERAL COMMANDING.
"Reims, 18th September, 1914"
Beneath this proclamation there
were posted the names of 81 hostages
and statement that others had also
been seized as hostages. The lives of
all these men depended in reality
upon the Interpretation which the Ger
man military authorities might give to
the elastic phrase, "the least disorder"
In the proclamation.
Hugh Gibson, in a Journal from our
Legation In Belgium, page 1874, explains
what was likely to happen:
"Another thing is, that on entering
town, they hold the burgomaster, the
procureur du roi, and other authorities
as hostages to insure good behavior by
the population. OF course, the hood
lum class would like nothing better
than to see their natural enemies, the
defenders of law and order, ignomini-
ously shot, and they do not restrain
themselves o. bit on account of the
hostages"
Diary Of Bombardier WetzeI.
"Aug. 9Th. First fight and set fire
to several villages.
Aug. 9th. Returned to old quar-
ters; there we searched all the houses
and shot the mayor and shot one man
down from the chimney pot, and then
we again set fire to the village.
"On the 18th August Letalle (?) cap
tured 10 men with three priests be-
cause they have shot down from the
the village Of Ste. Marie.
"Oct. 9Th. We were in quarters in
the evening at Willekamm. Lieutenant
Radfels was quartered in the mayors
house and there had two prisoners
cited together) on short whip, and in
case anything happened they were to
be killed.
"Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we
caught about 20 men and shot them.
(From the dairy of Bombardier wetzel,
Second Mounted Battery, First Kur-
hessian Field Artillery. Regiment No.
11.)"
The Germans also found 1t con-
venient on many occasions to secure
civilians, both men and women, who
could be forced to march or stand in
front Of the troops. so that the country
men of the civilians would be COM
PEELED first to kill their own people II
they resisted the Germans. This
usage is illustrated in the following:
Letter Of Lieutenant EberieIn.
October 7, 1914.
"But we arrested three other civil
ians. and then had brilliant idea.
We gave them chairs, and we then or
dered them to go and sit out in the
middle Of the street. On their part,
pitiful entreaties; on ours, few blows
from the butt end of the rifle. Little
by little one becomes terribly callous
at this business. At last they were
all seated outside in the street. I do
not know what anguished prayers they
may have said but I noticed that their
hands were convulsively clasped the
whole time. pitied these fellows, but
the method was Immediately effective.
"The flank fire from the houses
quickly diminished, so that we were
able to occupy the opposite house and
thus to dominate the principal street.
Every living being who showed himself
In the street was shot. The artillery
on its side had done good work all this
time, and when, toward seven o'clock
in the evening, the brigade advanced
to the assault to relieve us I was in
position to report that Saint Die
had been cleared Of the enemy.
Later on l learned that the regi.