Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-04-18
GERMAN RETREAT
A 'VANDAL'S ORGY
CONTINUED from page ~

tary point Of view. To this there are
two answers. First, il that was his OBJ
ject, the German neglected to destroy
an eminence over which ran the old
walls Of the town n which so COM
mands the view of the surrounding
country that the German himself Sc
lected it as his chief observation post.
Secondly. If his object was to destroy
all high buildings, his work was badly
executed. for the highest construction
in Bapaume was the city hall tower
which, though shattered. is quite
available as a coign of vantage from
which to survey the neighborhood.
The systematic way in which Ba-
paume was destroyed was only equal
ed by the thoroughness with which it
was looted. Everything worth a
portation had been carried away. The
painted stations of the cross in the
church had been cut out of their
stone frames. I examined them close
ly m the evidences of this were in
course, could not be removed, but all
of them with one exception had suffer-
ed the fate of the shattered walls.
This one exception was a representa-
ton of the Redeemer on the cross
another of the many instances Of the
kind that AVE been remarked in the
path of this war.
Remarkable Relic in Bapaume.
And in Bapaume l found a relic
which was of so startling a character
that, Notwithstanding the strict or
ders against taking away souvenirs or
against anything that savored of loot
ing. I felt justified in hiding my trou-
vaille from the eyes of the British
town marshal. l was talking to In
Australian soldier when something
attracted my attention in a heap Of
debris alongside-debris that had been
reduced to such small proportions
that one might almost describe it as
pulverized. From his heap l extracted
part of a black wooden cross and
further search discovered the remain
ing part. The cross wood, to which
still hung by the nails hat ran thru
the palms Of the hands a porcelain
figure of Christ, was absolutely in
tact. How that brittle porcelain figure,
six inches in length, could have es-
capped without being smashed into
fragments, such al the bricks and
mortar amid which it lay, passes COM
p%rehension.
So much for the typical town of
Bapaume. Now for the typical village.
AS one trudged along over land torn
up like a storm-swept sea one caught
sight OF a freshly painted sign with
the name Pozieres. That sign marked
the site of what had once been a
smiling village of sunlit France. There
was nothing else to show for it, not
even debris, for the solid earth, tor
tured by storms of shot and shell, had
engulfed Pozieres in its agony.
Poizeres had been a German strong
post, n its destruction was the re-
suit of the British bombardment. AS
the war moves onward much Of the
swath Of ruin 1t leaves behind is, of
course. inevitable, and the French
than aAIVyAa = 1~,t% <l-A Al =
etructton caused by the %retreating en-
envy was equally inevitable. What
engers them Is h a much Of it was
neither necessary nor useful for any
conceivable purpose; also that over
m o destruction there are evil
dences Of such bestial ferocity and
mean spitefulness hat only a system
which repressed h good instincts
common to all humanity could make
1t possible for men to indulge in such
an orgy of pollution and deflement.
l saw the remains Of what had once
been a handsome chateau. Part of the
library was still remaining. Most Of
the shelves were empty. Presumably
the most valuable or most interesting
books they nee contained had been
carried away. Those that remained
were defled in a fashion which can
not be described here. Even the long
dead had not been left to sleep peace
FULLY In their graves. French ceme-
teries had been desecrated and tombs
that promised the loot of a silver cru
c11x such as often adorns the collins
of the well-to-do in France had been
opened. Leaden collins had beer cut
into, Tor what purpose it is difficult
to conceive, unless it was with the
idea that the bodies had beer buried
with jewelry which might be valuable
as loot. Some collins had been stripped
Of their lead.
Dealing of Cemeteries.
Wherever there remained the ves-
ttge OF a human habitation there was
lay only the dead there was filth over
the unopened graves and filth in the
opened vaults. To their own dead the
Germans were respectful. Some of
their Inscriptions indicated thai they
paid honor to their enemies who had
died with them in this war. though
hey showed scant consideration for
those French men and women who
nad gone the way Of all flesh before
the days of 1914, when the Prussian
military machine made it's second ir-
ruption into France. There was filth
also upon priestly vestments which
mad been thrown out of a vestry in a
which German officers had been bill
leted for two years. The headquarters
stan before leaving had fired their re-
volvers at the pictures and mirrors.
and n of them said to the mistress
Of the chateau:
Shall we take your piano away
with US or smash it? 1t must be one
thing or the other"
The Frenchwoman smiled with
what the man who told me this story
(Which I have no hesitation In believ-
ing, seeing the character Of my infor-
mation) described as the irony which
pc broken, gentlemen!" she said. And
the gentlemen broke it up
These are some of the material
aspects OF the German occupation of
his now reconquered French terri
r Such wan. pathetic figures "a
one encountered when following the
French and British armies as they
moved slowly and labortously over the,
crate-pitted country abandoned by the
Boche gave n the impression Of
worse than famine having stalked
through the land. These poor vilaeers
M small townsfolk whom the Ger
mans had left behind were evidently
nan starved. despite all the efforts Of
the American relief commission. one
poor woman, who had been telling me
% the sorry times she ana her fellow
villagers had had during the German
v 0ccupadon Of the TERRITORY around
q Neslss gave mo he real clue gf65 Her
TIM Morning Laneless