Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-08-13
:. / ne Truth About Belgium ::
- BY BRAND WHITLOCK


spies. secret. police. informers and
agents of the police who infested
brussels, ana i'm plying their detes-
table calling reSorted TO every mean
device that u;e depravcd and ahan-
dOned can imagine. one with any
faitl. LETT in humanity could not
believe that SO many loathesome
>cOgnuUelS could b. assembled 10
the earth. There were said to be
more chan six thousand OF them,
and they prowlcd in every alley and
~ every hy-way, ia every avenue
and boulevard in the town: ,hey
rode IC Trans, wrigClel their way
:nto little groups and gatherings,
inSinuatcd thefnselN IS into bed
rooms and closets. made friends and
connCants in order 10 bertay them.
held out briJcS and temptations;
when there were no offenSes they
invented them. when there was no
disorder they created il. and then
lurCd or dragged the poor victims
81 thClr treaChcry and duplicity %
their own lodgings. Wnere they in
terrOgated, badEeTaG. SWeatcd them.
before turning tneEl over 20 courts
martial and the firing squad or
sending them TO rot in German pris-
ons or die in German camps. They
were OF both sexes. of all nations
and OF all tongues, the scum and
ohScOuTinC of the earth. the moral
NTH and refuse of the world.
They were everywhere. There was
a questionable fellow who was the
tenant of a building OF three stories
in the Rue de Treves. across from
the legation. on summer evenings
| noticed that in an upper room the
windows. whence one could COM
mand a view of the legation, were
always open. though the chamber
was never lighted. In the darkness
every evening l would see a coal, as
of fire. that would glow bright and
then fade into the blackness around;
then glow and fade-a cigar. evil
IDENTIFY: precisely the effect William
Gillette used to produce in the last
act of sherlock Holmes"
Who is that man in that room
in the third story we wondered,
and one morning l sent a servant
across the street to inquire of the
proprietor. in short sleeves, taking
the air in the doorway.
It's an English soldier" was the
word brought back: left behind at
Mons. He's i'm hiding
"He is not" I replied. He is a
German spy. Tell the man much
good il will do his tenant to waste
his time there"
The proprietor, at this, took his
pipe from his lips. gazed-and went
in. l saw the evening cigar glow
and fade no more.
One always had the uncanny SEN
sation of someone at ones elbow.
There were furtive shadows when
one was out at night; someone al .
ways near the doorway, or the door
of the motor. Two men, meeting in
the boulevard, always turned and
glanced about before conversinS.
And in the trans the wise were ST.
lent. for gossip on the rear plat
forms was the most dangerous of
indulgences. Spies or secret agents
were constantly coming to the lega-
ton with all sorts of questions.
How could one send letters? How
could one communicate with France
or England: The favorite device
was to whisper, Il am a French sol
der and / should like to be sent
out" or Il am a Belgian and should
like to join the army; they tell me
that you know the way"
We knew nothing of such things,
of course: but the Kommandantur
had no conception of the fact that
there is after all such a thing as
honor i'm this world. We had one
response. which in many instances
il was a pleasure to make:
Wait until you can speak French
without a German accent, and then
come back" we would say.
Somehow, it made the day less
dreary
There were several who came as
newspaper correspondents. and not
without credentials. usually con-
Quoted BY German officers, from
Berlin. Two Of them at least were
women.
What is your opinion, confiden-
TALLY. of the German administration
in Belgium What kind of man is
Won Bissing?" they would ask.
Their poor ruses were so trans
parent. How much OF the German
taxpayers money has been ex-
pended in the purchase of scoun-
drels? And all wasted,
There were dossiers. of course
one for every one of any impor-
lance in town-an official Who's
VINO" wherein with meticulous and
ultimate detail whose lives were
laid bare.