The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-08-10

has become of their sons and daugh
| tiers, who can describe the anxiety of
waiting, what mental terror and ply
steal agony they have endured shiver-
| ing at the back of some cellar through
/ two or three winters, waiting for the
return of the French,
1t was by the side Of a we'll that
first saw them, we'll which, without
doubt had for generations furnished
pure water for their families. Labor
iuosly, with ropes tied together. they
were drawing up a bucket. They sniff
ed it with distrust. "It smells strong
lAtill." said one. Eyes, yes," replied
theother, sit stinks. Throw 1t out.
| throw it quickly" These little trivial
phrases, spoken in sad tone, were
more pathetic to hear than COM
plants. It is known that when 1eav-
ing they had taken great care to poi
son the water. Careful instructions
from their officers on this subject
have been found in the pockets of
prisoners and on dead soldiers. "a
certain soldier, equipped for this duty,
will have charge of destroying of
! wells; he will throw in a sufficient
| quantity Of poison, OF creosote, or,
lacking that, of purified material"
Now yonder, everywhere, hundreds
of irregular, reddish pyramids, cover
ing vast extent Of ground, begin to
appear.
AS we approach the heaving ruins or
a city, hospitable and beautiful great
French city which two months ago
was alive. The work of these inhu-
man soldiers was carried out in an in
compatible manner. "a designated
soldier equipped for this duty, will.
| carry incendiary material into certain
houses or place the explosives in
| certain cellars, or under a designated
church, etc, etc." say these unexcep-
tionable orders found in their pockets,
and the methodical execution of the
crime has been throughout truly mar
lvelous.
X Entrance for the first time into this
city causes a poignant and 5unforget-
table numbness. You long to weep and
to curse. Such climax of furious
destruction! Trury, nowhere in any
epoch of history has the world known
Ianything approaching it. Even one of
those unfortunate eastern cities, which
till now, held the record>for that kind
lof thing, cannot show any horror to
compare with it. Besides it was &C
complished all at once, it was done
but yesterday. 1t is, so to speak a
huge wounded thing whose flesh still
quivers.
II Street after street, square after
4 square, the ruin is everywhere. Not a
house, big or small, that has not been
destroyed from top to bottom. All
their interiors are visible, their fur
nishings already three-quarters gone.
1t is as though their heads had been
, =, "a, - IL
!, The tallest and more luxurious, those
of or 5 floors, look the strangest.
Their jagged walls, which from a dis
lance look like irregular pyramids,
stand in places high in the air almost
like towers. still holding the furnish
, lings from utter destruction, even
pictures and glassware.
) High in the air you see armchairs,
, settees still in good condition, beds
, which lean out, hanging by foot, and
u clothes of all kinds thrown out from
closets; gilded ensigns dancing the
, sara!bande Of death in the midst of
heaps of red brick from the ycrumbling
facades. Some ofsthe framework and
slate roofs have not yet finished fall
, ling and the walls are bullying every
. where and breaking. To bring about
, a continuous falling it is only neces-
sary for the wind to blow lightly or for
a heavy wagon to pass.
Nevertheless there is some life in
) these long streets, in the midst of this
) scene of destruction and in spite of
| the shells which have not yet ceased
{ falling. First there are some detach-
ments of our soldiers and there are
besides, some old women-always
these old women with the ruins, left
there by the Boches as things of no
; value, old beggars, old wives, pale
J wandering ones with faces of saints
: or of martyrs. And our dear soldiers
in blue who entered here few days
ago with such feelings of furious in
> dignation and such desire for venge-
| ance, walk up and down quite calmly
Y now, already prepared to forgive. Some
? who are conducting group of Ger
5 man prisoners are talking to them al
5 most Ike comrades In France we
are too sweet-tempered.
81 I think it is in the poorer sections
, of the city that the heart is saddest
Y Here the little homes, so tidy and
I carefully made, no doubt with the
: greatest economy, have been destroy
ed in a, day by the insane orders of
the Monster of Berlin! /. Oh, the
/ streets, there are some, do not know
= why, which, more than others stay in
1 my mind. Thus remember seeing on
r the first floor of house, above brok-
> Ten pieces of glass, a framed picture
/, of a first communion" which still
2 hung on a nail and was visible to pass
g ers-by through a wide opening in the
I front. Also, in what remained of a
chamber covered with blue paper, a
f little white lace dress hung on a beam,
: Ethe sleeves dangling down; the pretty
e dress for the promenades on Sunday
= of some sweet little girl of work
.ing-man.
81 And always, always, whichever way
: you turn, the surroundings do not
/ change. The savage destruction has
!. left nothing. On their return, those
|, exiles who are not dead or enslaved
e they will not find anything of the
= homes which they have cherished. II
:, is chaos which awaits them. They
t will wish they had never come back
t hhad never seen it again. All is IRE
parable; before even thinking of re-
e building it will be necessary to finish
t tearing everything down.
Is it possible that all this human la
v Dor, which represents the contribu-
e tions of centuries, was insanely des-
4 / in xUn 0Y-t| do