The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1917-12-06
THE P1cKENs SENTINEL, PIcKENs, SOUTH CAROLINA

ington there Is Il feeling Of satlsfac-
ton among the officials that the Amer
lean boys have seen just what the
Germans can do when they enter enc
my villages which happen to be In
their line of march. 1t is recognized
here that the extent and ruthlessncss
Of he destruction Of French towns
by the Germans never has been fully
understood in some parts of America.
When the boys have began to write
home and tell what they have seen,
Washington believes the letters will
have an arousing effect.
Fate of Sermaize an Example.
Two years ago the writer trnvcrScd
h Il section of France through which
h American troops have just marched
to reach their place OH the battle
front. The Americans, If their route
has been traced accurately, passed
through the town Of Sermaizc. or what
once was the town of SermaiZc. They
saw a little city of 5000 inhabitants
level with the earth, not n building
left standing. There was no military
W. IN "N'i NNNic' W. 49,
town. Hundreds Of the villagers
homes which had stood for centuries
were destroyed by the hands Of incen-
diary Germans, who thus completed
the destruction which the shell fire had
begun.
In SermaiZe there was Il fine old
church. The sanctuary vas entirely
destroyed, but the Shcll-riddlcd tower
still stands. AS Il matter of fact the
church tower is the only thing which
does stand in Sermnize. On the from
appears the date OF It's crcctiOn-1O93.
Scores Of Villages Raced.
Scrmnize Is only one OF the ruined
villages through which the Americans
must have passed. There are nearly
Il hundred OF these destroyed commu-
lying along the track IF the
march from Chalons to
Nancy. This work of the German is
deadly to look on. Here IS the little
place called Huron. or rather 1t is n
little place where Huron once was.
still arc standing, for no shell fire was
upon the place, but the in
teriOrs Of the house, are scorchcd and
sniokc-blackcned ruins. Here is the
proof positive, of course, that the in
vadcrs simply tossed %incendiury bombs
the houses for the purpose Of de-
their interiors and all the
little household effects Of the village
families.
Take the little village of Fnrcmont
by which the American boys must have
One day In the spring of
1918 | visited Fnrcmont. In small part
1t was destroyed by artillery, but
many of the houses are still intact. A
Inc highway run through the heart
OF the village. 1t was along this high
way that in retreat the crown princes
army passed. The houses on either
side OF the road and immediate to it
were Ill destroyed, While the houses
OF them to the extremitics Of the
village on either side are standing un-
injured.
German Prisoners In America.
IF Americans could be sure that
their own boys taken prisoners in Ger
many would be treated with the same
kindness that Is shown to German pris-
onrrs In this country, there would be
no need to worry over the fate Of such
of the American lads rs Ego over the
and there. wounded or unwound-
ed, full into the hands Of the enemy.
There are two kinds Of German pris-
oncrs in this country, the informed and
those who are really imprisoned. The
ones l. those who, while ac-
tive In the German cause, are not con
ncctcd with the kaiscr's army md
navy; the imprisoned ones are those
taken from the battlcships Of the
kaiser which sought refuge in Ameri-
can hnrbors prior to the time that this
country entered the war.
At Atlanta. Ga. the real prisoners
OF war are confined. They are fenced
in With double rows OF barbed wire,
with armed guards between. Notwith-
standing these precautions, however,
II number OF prisoners recently es-
capped from Atlanta by tunncling. an
operation which recalls the mean by
which some Northern soldiers escaped
from Libby prison. I'm Richmond, Va.
where they were under the guard Of
Confederate soldiers.
These mnn-Of-wnr prisoners in At
lnnta arc given the best kind of plain
food and T. allowed every comfort
that 1t Is possible to give them within
the confines OF prison walls. Wash
ington officials who have supervising
authority over the prison Mt Atlanta
say they wish the German people,
after looking on the treatment Of Brit
ish and French prisoners In Germany,
and now upon the treatment Of n few
American prisoners In the same land,
could look into the Atlanta prison, and
fhnyn 1n0rn how u,n1I fhotr nn,n on,,n