The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1918-01-18

ty: Consul for the Argentine Republic
victor Poncelet, who was executed in
the presence of his wife and seven
children; Wasseige and his two sons;
Messrs. Gustave and Leon Nicaise,
two very old men; Jules Monin and
others all shot in the cellar of their
brewery; Mr.. Camille Pistte and son,
aged seventeen; Phillippart Piedfort,
his wife and daughter; Miss Marsig-
ny. During the execution of about
forty inhabitants of DinaEt the Ger
mans placed before the condemned
their wives and children 1t is thus
that Madam Albin who had just given
birth to child, three days previously,
was brought on mattress by German
soldiers to witness the execution of
her husband; her cries and supplica-
tons were so pressing that her hus-
bands life was spared.
ION the 26th of August German SOL
diers entered various streets (of Lou
vain) and ordered the inhabitants of
the houses to proceed to the Place de
la Station, where the bodies of nearly
dozen assassinated persons were ly-
ing. Women and children we're sepa-
rated from the men and forced to re-
main on the Place de la Station dur
ing the whole day. They had to wit
ness the execution Of many Of their
fellow citizens, who were for the most
part shot at the side OF the square,
near the house of Mr.: EIemaide. The
women and children, after having re-
NAMED on the square for more than
10 hours, were allowed to depart. The
Gardes Civicues of LOuvain were also
to the camp of Munster, where they
were held for several weeks.
f'On Thursday, August q, order was
given to the inhabitants to leave Lou
vain because the city was to be boin-
barded. Old men, women, children,
the sick, priests, nuns. were driven on
the roads like cattle. More than 1O,-
600 Of the inhabitants were driven as
far as Tirlemont, nearly II miles from
Louvain.
Infants Shot in Mothers Arms.
zone of the most sorely tried COM
nlunities was that Of the little village
of Tamines, down in what is known
as the Borinage, the coal fields near
lage in the Sambre; it is a collection
Of small cottages sheltering about s.
600 inhabitants, mostly all poor labor
erS.
"The little graveyard in which the
church stands bears it's mute testi-
mOny to the horror Of the event. There
are hundreds of new-made graves, each
with it's small wooden cross and it's
bit of flowers; the crosses are SO close
ly huddled that there is scarcely room
to walk between them. The crosses
are alike and all bear the same date,
the sinister date of August %, 1914"
: 'But whether their hands were cut
: off or not, whether they were impaled
: on bayOnetS or not, children were shot
5 down, by military order, in cold blood,
: In the awful crime of the Rock of Bay
ard, there overlooking the Mouse be-
} low Dinant, infants in their mothers
2 arms were shot down without mercy
: The deed, never surpassed in cruelty
by any band OF savages, is described
4 by the bishop of Namur himself:
8 Zone scene surpasSes in horror all
S others; it is the fusillade of the
!. Rocher Bayard near Dinant. 1t ap
e pears to have been ordered by Colonel
e Meister. This fusillade made many
victims among the nearby parishes
|. especially those of DIES Ttivages and
t Neffe. It caused the death Of nearly
e 80 persons, without distinction of age
l. or sex. Among the victims were ba
: bies in arms, boys and girls, fathers
s and mothers of families, even ole
o men.
l. Dead Children in Pile of Bodies.
r 1T was there that - children under
s the age of six persisted from the fire
g Of the eXecutiOnerS, six of them q:
s they lay in their mothers arms:
IS "eThe child Fievet, three weeks old
"'Naurice Betems, eleven month:
S old.
l. "'Nelly Pollet, eleven months old.
# "'Gilda Genon, eighteen months old
t, zelda Marchot, two years old.
"'Clara Struvay, two years and si1
e months.
'''The pile of bodies comprised ais,
t, many children from six to fourteen
II years. Eight large families have en-
d tirely disappeared. Four have but on
a survivor. Those men that escapes
Y death-and many of whom were rid
d died with bullets-were obliged t
< bury in a summary and hasty fashion
their fathers, mothers, brothers or sis
IT ters; then after having been relieve
IN of their money and being placed il
v chains they were sent to Cassel (Prus
sia).'"
Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary Q
our legation in Belgium, visited Lo,
er vain during it's systematic destructio
n by the Germans. In "a Journal FroI
m Our Legation in Belgium" New Yorl
tn 1917, pages 164-165, he relates whs
n the German officers told him:
ne cit was q story of clearing out civi