Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1918-01-24
persons who were shot are Mr.. De

| w AOuSul lOi lhI ihNPdOiiN
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; Philllppart PiedfOrt,
his wife and daughter; Miss Marsig-
nv. During the execution of about
forty inhabitants of Dinant the Ger
mans PLACED before the condemned
their wives and children. 1t Is thus
that Madam AIbin who had just given
birth to a child, three days previously,
was brought on a mattress by German
soldiers to witness the execution OF
her husband; her cries and suppllca-
tiOns were so pressing that her hus-
bands life was spared"
"On the 26th of August German sol
dlers entered various streets (0f Lou
vain) and ordered the Inhabitants of
the houses to proceed to the Place de
la Station, where the bodies of nearly
Il dozen assassinated persons were ly-
ing. Women and children were 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.. Hemaide. The
women and children, after having re-
mained on the square for more than
Is hours, were allowed to depart. The
GardeS Civiques of LOuvain were also
taken prisoners and sent to Germany,
to the camp of Munster, where they
were held for several weeks.
"On Thursday, August q, order was
given to the inhabitants to leave Lou
vain because the city was to be bonn
barded. Old men, women, children,
the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on
the roads like cattle. More than TO-
900 of the Nhabitants were driven as
far as Tirlemont, nearly u miles from
Louvain.
Infants Shot in Mothers Arms.
zone of the most sorely tried COM
munities was that Of the little village
of Tamlnes, down in what is known
as the Borinage, the coal fields near
CharlerOi. Tamines Is mining vii
lage in the Sambre; it Is collection
of small cottages sheltering about s.
900 inhabitants, mostly all poor labor
ers: ,, -,
"The little graveyard In which the
church stands bears its mute testi-
mony to the horror of the event. There
are hundreds of new-made graves, each
with its small wooden cross and its
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
down, by military order, in cold blood.
In the awful crime of the Rock of Bay
ard, there overlooking the Meuse be-
low Dlnant, infants in their mothers
arms were shot down without mercy
The deed, never surpassed in cruelty
by any band of savages, is described
by the bishop of Namur himself:
"'One scene surpasses in horror all
others; it is the fusillade Of the
Rocher Bayard near Dinant. 1t ap
pears to have been ordered by Colonel
Meister. This fusillade made many
victims among the nearby parishes
especially those of des Rivages ant
Neffe. 1t caused the death of nearly
80 persons, without distinction of agt
or sex. Among the victims were ba
bies In arms. boys and girls, fathers
and mothers of families, even ole
men.
Dead Children in Pile Of Bodies.
"It was there that II children undel
the age of six perished from the fir'
of the executloners, six of them al
they lay in their mothers arms:
"'The child Fievet, three weeks old
"'Maurice Betems, eleven months
old.
"'Nelly Pollet, eleven months old.
"'Gilda Genon, eighteen months old
"'Gilda Marchot, two years old.
"'Clara Struvay, two years and 81,
months.
"'The pile of bodies comprised ais
many children from six to fourteen
years. Eight large families have en-
tirely disappeared. Four have but on
survivor. Those men that escape,
death-and many Of whom were rid
died with bullets-were obliged t
bury in summary and hasty fashion
their fathers, mothers, brothers or sis
ters; then after having been relieve
of their money and being placed i
: chains they were sent to Cassel (Prus
sia).'"
Mr.. Hugh Gibson, the secretary 0
our legation in Belgium, visited Lor
: vain during Its systematic destruction
by the Germans. In "A Journal FrOr
/ Our Legation in Belgium" New Yorl
1917, pages 164-165, he relates wha
the German officers told him:
> 1T was story Of clearing out civi
J lans from large part of the town,
systematic routing out Of men frOr