The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-01-23

gum IMAM TOT any OtHef DelIlgeFenI.
Old Men and Boys Taken.
The news dispatches indicate that
the deportation and forced labor OF
BeIgians still continue. In a dispatch
from Hayre New York Evening Post,
September Ii, 1910 1t is stated 'aThe
removal of the civilian population of
Belgium continues, according to adj
vices received here. The town of Rou-
Lers, Immediately behind the battle
Tine in Flanders, has been evacuated
completely. Ostend is being emptied
gradually, and two thousand persons
already have been sent from Courtrai /"
In another dispatch from Hayre
washington Post, September "a, 1917
1t is stated that 'tthe German military
authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are
conscripting fotcibly all the boys and
men of that city between the ages Of
fourteen and sixty to work in munition
factories and shipyards. The rich and
poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all
are being taken, only the school teach
ers doctors. and priests escaping"
German Officer Rebuked Men.
The following "OrCler of the Day.
; shows how the town OF Huy escaped
the fate of so many Belgium and
French towns Drunken German sol
diers We're frightened and began to
shoot men and burn houses. The
commanding officer condemned this be-
cause it was not done by his order and
because two German soldiers were
wounded It Is evident that massacres
and arson were permitted only when
commanded by the officers.
last night a shooting ARRAY took
| place. There is no evidence that the
Inhabitants of the towns had any arms
| in their houses, nor is there evidence
| that the people took part in the shoot
ing on the contrary, it seems that the
| soldiers were under the influence Of
alcohol, and began to shoot in a sense
less fear of a hostile attack.
'aThe behavior of the soldiers during
the night. with very few exceptions,
makes scandalous impression.
1T is highly deplorable when officers
or noncommissioned officers set houses
on fire without permission or order OF
the commanding, or, as the case may
be, the senior officer, or when by their
attitude they encourage the rank and
file to burn and plumber.
sThe miserable behavior of the men
caused a noncommissioned officer and
private to be seriously wounded by
German bullets.
MAJOR Won BASSEWTTZ"
Report of Minister WhitIock.
"One interesting result of the depor-
tations remains to be noted, a result
that once more places in relief the
German capacity for laundering, al
most as great as the German capacity
for cruelty. Until the deportations
We're begun there was. no intense ha-
tired on the part of the lower classes,
j. e., the workingrnen and the peasants.
| The old Germans Of the Landsturm
had been quartered in Flemish homes !;
they and the inmates spoke nearly the
same language; they got along fairly
well; they helped the women with the
work, the poor and the humble having
none of those hatreds of patriotism
that are among the privileges of the
upper classes 1t is conceivable that
the Flemish population might have
existed under German rule; Ii was
Teutonic in its origin and French
always. But now the Germans have
changed all that.
'SThey have dealt mortal blow to
any prospect they may ever have had
of being tolerated by the population
of Flanders; in tearing away from
nearly every humble home In the land
husband and father or a son and
/ brother they have lighted fire OF
i hatred that will never go out; they
/ have brought home to every heart In
| the land in way that win impress
its horror indelfbly on the memory of
three generations, a realization of
| what German methods mean, not, as
with the early atrocities, In the heat
of passion and the first lust of war,
but by one Of those deeds that make
one despair of the future of the hui
man race, deed coldly planned, studi-
ously matured, and deliberately and
Systematically executed. a deed so
| cruel that German soldiers are said
to have wept in its execution, and so
| monstrous that even German officers
/ are now said to be ashamed.
s'WHTTLOCK."
MIR. Hoover,s Conclusions.
Mr.. Hoover's mature conclusions on
the German practices in Belgium,
which he wrote for the pamphlet is
sued by the committee on public in
formation. reinforce the detailed evil
dence already presented:
September, 1917.
] I have been often called upon for a
statement of my observation of Ger
man rule in Belgium and northern
| France
I have neither the desire nor the
| adequate pen to picture the scenes
| which have heated my blood through
the two and half years that have
spent in work for the relief Of these
100000 people
The sight of the destroyed homes
and cities, the widowed and father
less, the destitute, the physical misery
of a people but partially .nourished at