Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-08-13
Continued from Last 1ssueJ

otherwise ~ tnc Wise ,Juu> e
or Baron vUu der LaE,.Svu h2u
not prevailed over the violent insist
Ice OF the military clique. al Was
.-Og the uT-t uI its sind. r"r WIS -
the last. but q was one o t1t most
serious OF the many divers e-Iees o.
opinion between the military AMI the
St-H branches VI the government -!
occupation that was then SET ~ IL
self installed There yrS.- 81 vast
zutr--s -So... those first days when
fsaeraI Won JgrotSky and his star
v-a-s Occupying the HOtcl lie N,ils.
As l have said. General Won Lutt-
Vitz. when he came. la@ removed
his Headquarters TO IA ministry o.
foreign affairs. \ Rue T. IA Id. anG
there the governor OF B-Uss.iS con-
tinued 10 reside; while uSN- doJr. ia
the ministry OF the INTERIOR. tEciv
was set UP that institu- UI which -
the hel-t OF the German system,
the thing whose name canoa 10 nave
a sinister cOnnOtatiOu 've'.' time IL
vas pronouuCsd-the kcum5uoan-
tur. IL is a large plac-. two great
buildings. one the luxurious hotel Oi
the minister Of the interIo- tthe Tel
gian ministers lie. or Use. 10 I'VE
IN their -s-.----'--aSf AMI me OtncF
devoted to the numerous oiH~eS-
There was the headquarters OF the
chief OF police. n many respects the
most pJN--f,l 1i--ss ia bs''ss'''i5 To-
he. red TO be accountable TO no
bs-iy are TO move in VIII HT"
tragic orbit OF irrespon HIi.tS that
aIIowa.I him enormous latitude in
the exercise OF his terg he powers
sol
those wide doors a battalion OF 10
litzei-ySerman soldiers in gray. HI
fitting uniforms. their trousers
stuffed in their short. h.Iv.-. IRON
shod boots. square HEIR Is on thel
heads their rifles with bsyOnets
nxed sIuug 10 theiS 81 'uloeTS-
They were disJinguis ed from the
others only by the blsrs. White and
rel Irassards with tns sSIl nf the
.n,r,--ial eagle stamped On tacm. AMI
nv the metal badges strung by
chains about their necks. bearing
in large letters the wo-I "DolitEeL
This gave them. in our unlc-dst|m-
ed eyes at any rate ridiculous
appearance- and gave the Brussels
folk a new subject for II ar insOr-
risfbIe mocEery; they did - i"Staut-
IL suggest the little labels hu:iE
about the necks OF bottles OF Cura-
Gao and other liquors.
II these had left any doubt as
to their authority and function,
their british rOok would have sufn-
GENTLY declared IL. They always
went in three OF at least ia ty-os.
They were stationed at various
street corners and At all the en-
frances to the city; they tramped
heavily I'D and down the streets re-
turing 20 the Rue de Ia LOi late IN
the afternoon. dragging the la-sst
of their luckIess victims. who dis
aDpearsd in the kommandantur, not
always TO come out again until II
was time to go in the closed black
wagon TO the prison at St Giles, or
70 the field OF execution at the IA
tiOnaI rifle range.
There was always a long line
there before the kOmmandantur,
stretching from the entrance at No,
Rue de Ia Loi TO the corner, and
oftimes around the corner into the
Rue RoyaIs. with pOlitiZei TO keen
il straight Sad faces. for the most
mart. those in that line, and the
drab habiliaments OF the poor,
since il is always the poor who pay
first in any calamity There was
something degrading and shameful
in the spectacle, as there is in any
reckless force. These people were
there on all sorts of errands: Many
TO secure identification cards in
compliance with the harassing reg
uIations OF the German system, or
maybe TO ask 70 see some relative
or friend confined there. The line
was always there. in rain or frost
or sun. huddled along the wall,
moving slowly on, step by step,
through the long wezry hours.
There was another entrance TO
the KOmmandantur. back in the
ChauSsee de LOuvain-anOther wide
portal. quite as tragic and perhaps
Inore hopeless. often one would
see prisoners taken in there. men
and women. TO be charged with one
OF the countless crimes that ire
sponsible autOcracy invents to al
le-e against those who. even in the
highest ways. run counter to- its
whins often. in walking down the
Chaussee de Louvain lone had 10
20 that way TO get TO the lower
town. unless one went around the
other end of the park. for the park
and the Rue de Ia LOi were forbid
den the public 1 have seen four or
five pOlitiZei leading some woman.
with tear-stained. tragic eyes. and
the sIatternly skirt and sabOts she
had on when they suddenly des-
cended upon her. and ! rubbed my
eyes and wondered If il wsre not
the twelfth instead Of the twentieth
century.
The Spark that Glowed in the Dark
The door at the ChsUssee de LUO-
vain was the more sinister and more
tragic portal. in my eyes at least,
because ] understood that the more
important prisoners were taken in
that way. / DO not know. and IL
L.. LIZ L. lsa-rrn..r. In b .r.nc