Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-06-25
The Truth About Belgium
BY BRAND WHITLOCK

They denied me entrance, Of course
| sent tor an under officer who was
there. but he was pOwerless, and then
( found an ObIiging oberleutnant who
spoke French; he went at once 20
the kommandantur and returned
with Major Bayer. who apolOgiZed
: for the delay, scOlded the two senti-
nels and gave orders that l was to
sec the duchess at once.
/ She was indisposed and reclining,
/ buJ spFightly in her smart English
i speech. recounting her experiences
since leaving Namur with her RED
} Cross ambulance. German officers
had promised her accommodations in
train to Holland via AiX-la-
/ Chapelle, but she was suspicious and
I feared that she might be taken to
/ Germany and held for ransom.
\ assured her that there was little
+ Likelihood of that and that | should
/ try TO arrange for her to go to Hol-
land But she did not wish to start
! for several days; she was not feeling
quite up to the journey and was will
I ing to give her word of honor that
she would keep to her room and her
bed. She was enjoying her adven-
I ture with the relish that our realist
/ Anglo-SaXOn race has in all that
/ savoTs of the romantic, but | was
I just then for speeding all parting
guests of that race. The fact that
she was not quite ready to go was,
! however, an excellent argument 20
employ on the German mentality,
and l spent futile hours trying to see
/ Major Baver to ask him to permit
/ the duchess to remain. But l could
not find him; the world had changed
I into a pandemonium of gray motors,
gray uniforms. unshaven sentries,
and. no doubt, swarming spies, in
which it was growing more and more
/ difficult to find ones way about. But
/ at the close Of the day, as Villalobar
and | were telling each other our eX-
! periences, Baron Won der Lancken
suddenly appeared; he was just in
| from the field of battle near Louvain,
and in his great flowing cape of light
blueish gray, with its upturned white
collar, and his silver helmet, he
looked like Lohengrin, but a Lohen-
grin whose swan had overturned in
his frail bark, for he was quite wet
through, and worn with fatigue. /
gave him a glass of wine and took
advantage of the moment to arrange
for the departure of the duchess,
nurses and doctors. Won der Lancken
obtained a motor, or two motors, for
them, and the necessary papers and
I asked James Barnes to escort them
to Holland. Two days later the
duchess was out again, interesting in
her nurses garb, and at the legation
she asked to see the Times. There
were some old copies and she settled
herself in a corner of the salon to
go carefully over the long list of dead
and wounded And when she had
done she quietly folded the paper,
laid down her eyeglasses, and looking
up with an expression from which all
the zest of adventure had gone, said:
This is probably the end of the
world, there will be none living after
the war. l dread going back to Eng
land with its roll of honor
We were only beginning to learn
what the war would do to us, just
beginning to apprehend that the
world could never again be what it
was: that all those who survived
would have wounds that would never
heal.
Refugees From Antwerp
All day long we heard the cannon
ade, that dull thump of the guns.
We used to stand in fascinated
silence and listen and mark the in
tervaIs between the reports. The
Belgians we're making sorties and
they were still contesting with the
Germans the possession of Marines.
Gibson had seen the king standing in
the midst of a field of turnips, COW
cred with mud and the CRIME of bat
tie. And meanwhile the Germans
had taken his summer palace at
Laeken. there where the dancers
from the Monnale had moved to
those sweet measures of Gluck, ami
they had rummaged through the
apartments and drunk his wine. The
king had smiled, so the story ran,
when he was told of this; while
Brussels was indignant. Saddened
refugees were pouring ever into
Brussels and finding homes some
where among the poor, who are al
ways so hospitable and are so near TO
pain and trouble always that they
share the little that pain and trouble
leave them.
Three times the Germans had
taken Malines, and three times the
Belgian troops had driven them out,
and each time in the sting Of defeat
the Germans had wreaked their
vengeance on the civilian popula-
ton. The lovely Grand place was
destroyed and the Cathedral was al
most battered down, the Cathedral
where, on moonlit summer evenings,
Jeff D. used to play the carillons,
filling all the air with their lovely
music, and where the tall figure OF
the cardinal came and went, in lace
/ and scarlet and red.
CONTINUED Next Issue)
published by special arrangement
with the Mcclure Newspaper Syndi-
cate. Copyright, 1918, by Brand
I Whitlock, under the title Memories
{ OF Belgium Under the German Oc-
cupation." All rights reserved.
/ Copyrighted in Great Britain, Canada
ond Australia All rights resorVpI