Tombstone epitaph., 1918-09-01


 lay dead soldiers. most of them with hi,ieous-iooking open wounds. Thou sands of huge flies swarmed on the corpses partly decomposed. and giv- ing on fearful stench. Among these corpses. unsheltered under blazing sun. were eHcamped vretched fuci- tives. because they were forbidden the use of the roads while th" armies need ed them. which was prac tically all the time.
 In the evening. after n long march. We reached the town of Suippes. Here our captain told us we would find nu- merous frank -tireurs. We were or dered to bivouac. instead of being as signed quarters. and all going into the village were obliged to take guns and cartridges with them. After a brief rest We entered the village in search of food. Dead civilians lay in the middle of the streets. They were citizens of the village. We could not learn the reason for their having ,.en shot The only answer to our questions was a shrug of the shoulder.
 The village itself hac not suffered 10 any noticeable degree as far as destruction of buildings as concerned. hui never in the course of the war had 1 seen a more complete J"h of plumber Ing than had been done ID Suippes. That we had 10 live and eat Is true. and as the inhabitants and merchants had flown there was no opportunity 10 pay for our necessities. Therefore we simply entered store. put on stock incs. laundry. and left the old things. then went to another place. took what ever food looked good to us. and then proceeded to a wine cellar. there to seize as much as our hearts desired. The men of the ammunition column. loraied in the village as well as the sanitary soldiers and cavalry by The hundreds searched the houses and took whatever they liked best. The finest an'i largest business places in Suippes served a very large rural district sur rounding and therefore were stocked up on almost everything. Within a short time these places had been cleaned out. The munitiou drivers and train columns carried away old pieces of silk. ladies' dresses linens. shoes dress goods and every other ar ticle imaginable. and stored them away in their anmuniiioN cases. They took childrens and women's shoes and everything else they could lay ,heir hands upon. although many of these articles had to be th own away short ly afiervard. Later. when th, Hrlc post was d.veinre, and gave .e,.e!;.: ser-'cc many o' these things were spnt home.
 large chocolate factory was robbed ccr1pleteiy. and chocolate and candy in heaps were trampled In the ground. Empty houses were broken into and wrecked. wine cellars cleaned uut and windows smashed. the latter being a special pa>time of ih- cavalrym.n. as we had to pass the night in the open. we tried to find some qnii,S and en- ters-i grocery store and q market place. The store was partly demol- isted. bur the apartment upstairs was as yet intact with all the rooms locked IL was evident that a woruan's hand had worked in this house. for every thing was neat and cuzy. But all this order was still surpassed hy The ar ranCement in a large room. which ap- parenrly had been inhabited by a young woman. We were almost ashamed to enter the sanctuary. To our astoni>hment we saw hanging on the wall opposite the door q picture burned in wood and under it German verse: Honor the women. they weave braid of heavenly roses in their earthly life" tSchiller). The owner apparently was young bride. for in the wardrobe was q trousseau. tied with neat blue ribbons. carefully nut away. All inc wardrobe drawers lay open. Nothing was touched here. When we visited the same place the next morning. impelled by some i'm pulse. we found everything in that house destroyed. Barhar!ans had gone through this home. and with bitter ruthlessness had devastated every thing. with every evidence of having utterly cast off the ethics and stand ards of civilized races
 The entire trousseau hna heeu torn from ihe drawers and thrown partly on fhe floor. Pictures. photographs. mirrors. everything was in pieces. The three of US who had entered lie room clenched our fists win inpotent wrath.
 We received orders to remain in Suippes until further notice and 'he next day witnessed the return of many fugifives. They came in great 'hroncs from the direction of Chalons-sur- Marne. They found instead of the peaceful homes they had left wretch ed and deserted ruin. furniture dealer returned to his store. as we stood in front of his house. He broke down when he viewed the remains of his enterprise. Everything had been taken away. We approached the man. He was a Jew and spoke German. When he calmed down a little he told us that his store had contained mer- chandise worth more than 5000 francs.
 Had the soldiers only taken what