Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-12-20

dcer asked: "Are you married?" and
if the answer was in the affirmative,
How many children If there were
many children the man WAS set free.
But in no case was a mar ASKED
whether he was employed or unem-
plOyed. Youths between the ages OF
seventeen and twenty-five were al
ways taken; men of means were gen.
orally released.
The burgomaster was rarely allow
ed to intervene. A gentleman 1 know
we'll, Mr.. H, prominent in the re-
gion, was there to help neighbors IL
he could. The burgomaSter of his
commune was too old to be present
and Mr.. H.-he is still inSide-toolc
his place. He managed to get a
hearing from the officer on behalf Of
six men from his own village, threa
of whom were released; but his 80
tempt to intervene a seventh time
was stopped and he was ordered to
keep quiet; he did not obey and the
officer said he would have him forci-
bly, removed, and later threatened to
arrest him.
-Four thousand men were march
ed past the two officers in four
hours; each officer therefore had to
examine two thousand men in that
length Of time-seven seconds and a
fraction to decide whether a IAN
should be free or slave, in Decem-
Der. 1916!
The fact is that the number of
men to be taken was fixed arbitrari-
/ " and in advance for each place,
| although the officers could have had
| no idea of the proportion of able
| bodied men they would find among
/ the population. The town of Ave
/ Cor instance, with eleven hundred
| people, had about the same number
I of men taken as Marche, with four
| fhO1sG1-1a 5O17 -
When the march past was finished
/ the officers announced that they
| would hear complaints from the
! burgOmaster about especially de
| serving cases, and to hear those
/ they adjourned to the back room OF
| a small cate. The little establish
! ment was al once invaded by an ex-
! cited group of protesting notables
| from the different villages, burgo-
/ masters, notaTies, cures in their
! black cass7cks. all shouting, clamor-
I ing, Observation-Disclosures the officer
| sitting at a table in the middle of
/ the room.
This went on for three-uuarters
! of an hour. but after the most push
! ing burgomasters had managed to
| shoulder their way up to the table
| to be listened to more or less pa
| tiently, the officers declared that
| they had enough, that the proceed
| lG4SS were dL an GUI, LIlaL all In6
! men who had been taken would be
| sert to Germany, and that any fur
! Their complaints would have to be
| made in writing.
Mr.. H. managed to get a hearing
| before the session was concluded.
| With the cure of his village, he
! pleaded hard for four men who had
| been taken and had left three fami-
| lies a home. After listening for a
| minute or two the officer declared
| that he would free two of those four
| men; Mr.. II. and The cure were to
| choose them themselves. They
! chose, of course. those having the
| most children. II. then pleaded hard
| for an OLD man all alone in the
| world, whose only son had been
| taken. and, thanks to the interven-
| lion Of the local district administra-
| tor VINO seemed to know something
| Of the case. this boy was also freed.
He then brought up the case Of
| a poor widow OF Aye, whose three
| sons had all been taken. The officer
| shook his head, declared that it was
/ impossible; three men of the same
| name were never taken in the same
| commune. H. explained that these
! boys, on account of their work. lived
! in different communes and that,
4 therefore, they had appeared sepa-
/ rately. The officer replied that If they
lived in three different communes
/ they did not live with their mother;
! therefore, whether they. worked
/ away from their mother in Germany
| or in Belgium it did not greatly mat
/ ter. and that they would be sent
/ away; and they were.
Thus chance ruled, when favoritEm
/ or spite were not in play. The clerk
/ in local bank had passed the Of
I ficer and had been declared free; he
/ had gone home in joy and was eating
I his dinner when a soldier came, ar
rested him and took him back to the
1 market place. According to village
| gossip a German officer had been an
| unsuccessful sutton for the favors Of
| a village beauty who was the bank
/ clerks sweetheart, and through the
I influence of this officer, the clerk,
/ who had been released, was retaken,
| and sent off to Germany.
(Continued Next Isgue)
published by special arrange
| ments with the Mcclure Newspaper
| Syndicate. Copyright, 1918. by
Brand Whitlock. under the title
Memories of Belgium Under the
German Occupation" All rights re-
! served. Copyrighted in Great Brit
| ain, Canada and Australia. All rights
| reserved for France. Belgium, HoI-
| land. Italy. Spain, Russia and the
| Scandinavian cOuntries.D
NnHHETp ARM GNR NO