The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1918-10-26
PICTURE CONEY
ISLAND NRUlNS
Will Give One an Idea of What
Zeebrugge German Base
Looks Like.
PATHOS OF HOMECOMING
Great Masses of Twisted Wire,
Shell Holes and Gun Emplace.
ments Evidences Of War.
(By John T. Parkerson.)

Sheu Holes and Gun Emplace-
ments Evidences of War.
(By John T. Parkerson.)
With the British Army on the West
ern Battle Front, Oct. 25.-(6 p. ny
IN. S.)-Picture Coney Island In
$ and deserted, and one gets al
of what Zeebrugge, until recently
<, of the most important German
bmarine bases, looks like.
: The famous Zeebrugge lighthouse
:. nd all Of the bridges and trolley lines
AVE been wrecked.
The harbor is filled with ghastly
blackened hulks Of British destroyers
, at the entrance of the canal. The
waterway was completely stopped up
Famous Mole.
The surrounding country, covered
with oily water and pitted with shell
holes, Is covered with twisted wire
and trenches. Here and there are
great gun emplacements and many
concrete pill boxes" Cement block
houses), with the walls ten feet thick.
Off the port is the famous mole where
British submarine was filled with
explosives and sunk earlier in the war.
built to prevent the Zeebrugge port
from filling with iand.)
The only living soul in sight when
l entered Zeebrugge were three Bel
gian peasants, with packs on their
backs, returning to their homes, and
six Belgian priests who were intent
upon the examination Of some wrecked
buildings.
Works Intact.
The great Solvay works were still
intact but the ground was strewn with
wreckage of searchlights an1 burned
and damaged supplies left by the fee
ing Germans in their hurried fight.
(The Solvay works were used by the
Germans for the manufacture of poison
gases. 1t had previously been reported
that they had been wrecked by the
Germans before they retreated from
the North sea coast.)
The scene at seebrugge was in con-
trast with the happy picture of Bruges
with Its historic buildings. But while
these buildings had not sustained
damage, the population had. ST. tered.
On my way to Bruges, l saw the
roads lined with children carrying the
kits of Belgian soldiers. Occasionally
the parent or sweetheart of a soldier
would meet up with a loved one and
a pathetic scene would follow.
Caught In Hiding. i. va
I; n saws tHo Germans who wefe caught
hiding in the city. A great crowd had
gathered about them and 1t was said
that on the day previous two others
had been captured in the suburbs
where they had been firing upon auto
mobiles from a clump of bushes.
The great docks at Bruges had ap-
been left unchanged by the
Germans and great heaps of coal were
'ound which the Germans had been
Unable to carry away in their flight. |
rhe gardens were still filled with fresh |
The scene in Thourout, yesterday.
vas like the dawn Of new day. The |
of the city had already be- |
,un and the population was rushing
through the streets, happy smiling
nd businesslike. Some were busy
'lugging up broken windows and
thers were cleaning out their homes
nd shops.
Stores Suffered.
The stores in Bruges suffered badly1
vhen the Germans left. The soldiers
making up the rear guards smashed
he windows and doors with the butts
+ their rifles, and removed the valu-
bles from the whole countryside.
In Menin and Zeebrugge, many per-
ons who had refused to comply with
he German order to give up their wool
were found in prisons.
When the allied advance began on
he Flanders front, the Germans told
he civilian population that they were
Belgium and that it would
ring peace. Il
tot Do. oIr |
the historic city of Bruges was
le first the residents had seen OF their
wn troops since the Germans had left.
Chimes Ring.
AS the Belglans entered bugles were |
lowing and the famous chimes were
nging. The people were beside them
lives with Joy over their liberation.
A committee of aldermen received the ,
lternational News Service correspondent /
the great hall Of the City building, and 3
the following message to the !
eople of the United States:
nifty Of receiving an American newspa-
IF correspondent in order that the popu r
ton may tell him how glad the town :
for the assistance America has given :
the way of provisioning and for the y
mpathy those great American people
ruges. but all Belgians as well. The bur- r
'master and the aldermen express their
arm thanks to the noble people of the t.
nited States" n
The committee brought in from an ante !,
ON two young girls who had been i'm d
isoned for six months because they had
ritten letters to their brother outside of a
. prescribed three-mile zone. All rhey /,
d to eat while In Jail was mouidy bran. n
le girls were told that their brother q
d been condemned to die because he
d written to his sisters. but later they Z,
armed that he had only been impris- a
ed for six months.
&. German Orders.
The aldermanic committee preserved p
pies Of all Of the German orders, the q
ost striking Of which pertains to :he b
ath Of Capt. Fryatt, British seaman.
One order Is dated Oct. /, 1918, and W
utioned the people of Bruges to remain m
let. 1t said that the smallest riot or a
'order would be answered by heavy ar B
ery fire against the quarter where 1t T
ginated. All civilians were ordered to W
main In their homes from 6 in the eve
,g until in the morning. Those found fl
the streets would be fired upon. In
arly all instances the orders prescribed ,
lth penalties for violations. and were
ned by der kommandant."
German Monev