The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1918-05-10

were not free from incidents of this
character. Near Willebroeck some
civilians, including a number OF
children, a woman and one old man
were driven in front of the Ger
man troops. German officers were
present, and one woman who refused
to advance was stabbed twice with
the bayonet, and little child who
ran up to her as she fell had half
it's head blown away by shot from
rifle.
Other incidents of the same kind
are reported from Nazareth and
Ypres. The British troops were COM
PEELED to fire, in some cases at the
risk of killing civilians.
At Ypres the Germans drove wo-
men in front of them by pricking
them with bayoncts. The wounds
were afterward seen by the witness.
(d) Looting, Burning and Destruc-
tion of Property
There is an overwhelming mass of
evidence of the deliberate destruc-
ton of private property by the Ger
man soldiers. The destruction in
most cases was effected by fire, and
the German troops, as will be seen
from earlier passages in the report,
had been provided beforehand with
appliances for rapidly setting fire to
houses. Among the appliances emu
merated by witnesses are syringes
for squirting petrol, guna for throw
ing small infam1nable bombs, and
small pellets made of infiammable
material. Specimens Of the last men
toned have been shown to members
Of the committee. Besides burning
houses, the Germans frequently
smashed furniture and pictures; they
also broke in doors and windows.
Frequently. too. they defiled houses
by relieving the wants Of nature up
on the floor. They also appear to
have perpetrated the same vileness
upon piled up heaps Of provisions SO
as to destroy what they could not
themselves consume. They also on
numerous occasions threw corpses
into wells, or left in them the bodies
Of persons murdered by drowning.
In addition to these acts Of de-
struction the German troops, both In
Belgium and France. are proved to
have been guilty of persistent loot
ing. In the majority of cases the
looting took place from houses, but
there is also evidence that German
soldiers robbed their prisoners, both
civil and military, of sums of money
and other portable possessions. 1t
was apparently well known turnout
the German Army that towns and
villages would be burned whenever
it appeared that any civilians had
fired upon the German troops, and
there is reason to suspect that this
known intention Of the German mill
tary authorities in some cases ex-
plains the sequence of events which
led up to the burning and sacking Of
town or village. The soldiers,
knowing that they would have an
opportunity of plumber II the place
was condemned, had motive for ar
ranging necessary excuse for con-
demnation. More than one witness
alleges that shots coming from the
window of house were fired by
German soldiers who had forced their
way into the house for the purpose
of thus creating an alarm. 1t is also
alleged that German soldiers on some
occasions fired their rifles In the
air in side street and then reported
to their officers that they had been
fired at. On the report that firing
had taken place orders were given
for wholesale destruction, and houses
were destroyed in streets and dis
tricts where there was no allegation
that firing had taken place, as we'll
as in those where the charge arose.
That the destruction could have been
limited is proved by the care taken
to preserve particular houses whose
occupants had made themselves in
one way or another agreeable to the
conquerors These houses were
marked in chalk, and spared they
were.
The above statements have refer
ence to the burning of towns and VII
lagos. In addition, the German
troops in numerous instances have
set fire to farmhouses and farm
buildings. Here, however, the plea
of military necessity can more safely
be alleged. A farmhouse may afford
convenient shelter to an oncmy, and
where such use is probable it may be
urged that the destruction of the
buildings is justifiable. 1t is clearly,
however, the duty of the soldiers
who destroy the buildings to give
reasonable warning to the occupants
so that they may escape. Doubtless