Washington telegraph., 1918-05-10


Of the streets. They were citizens OF
the village. We could not learn the
reason for their having been shot. The
only answer to our questions was
shrug of the shoulder
The village itself had not suffered
to any noticeable degree as far as
destruction of buildings was concerned.
but never In the course Of the war had
| seen n more complete Job Of plumber
Ing thnn had been done I'm Suippes
That we had to live and eat is true
and as the inhabitants and merchants
had flown there was no opportunity to
pay for our necessities. Therefore we
simply entered store, put on stock
ings. laundry, and left the old things
then went to another place. took what
ever food looked good TO us. and then
proceeded to u wine cellar there tu
seize as much as our hearts desired
The men of the ammunition column
located in the village us well as tn,
sanitary soldiers and cavalry by th,
hundreds. searched the houses and took
whatever they liked best. The finest
and largest business places IN SuippcS
served a very large rural district sur
rounding and therefore were stocked
up on almost everything. Within
short time these places had been
cleaned out. The munitlOn drivers
and train columns carried away old
pieces of silk, ladies' dresses, linens,
shoes, dress goods and every other ar
tlcle imaginable, and stored them away
in their ammunition cases. They took
children's and wOmen's shoes. and
everything else they could lay their
hands upon. although many of these
articles had to be thrown away short
~ afterward. Later, when the tield
post wns developed and gave regular
service. many of these things were sent
home.
A large chocolate factory was robbed
completely, and chocolate and candy
in heaps were trampled in the ground.
Empty houses were broken into and
wrecked, wine cellars cleaned out and
windows smashed, the latter being a
special pastime of the cavalrymen. AS
we had to pass the night in the open.
we tried to find some quilts and en-
tered a grocery store and a market
place. The store was partly demol
ished but the apartment upstairs was
as yet intact with all the rooms locked.
II was evident that wOman's hand
had worked In this house. for every
thing was neat and cOZy. But oil this
order was still surpassed by the ar
rangement in large room. which ap-
parently had been inhabited by
young woman. We were almost
ashamed to enter the sanctuary. To
our astonishment we saw hanging on
the wall opposite the door picture
burned in wood and under It a German
verse: Honor the women. they weave
a braid of heavenly roses in their
earthly life" (Schiller). The owner
apparently was young bride, for In
the wardrobe was trousseau, tied
with neat blue ribbons, carefully put
away. All the wardrobe drawers lay
open. Nothing was touched here.
When we visited the same place the
next morning, impelled by some Inn
pulse, we found everything In that
house destroyed. Barbarians had gone
through this home, and with bitter
ruthlessness had devastated every
thing, with every evidence Of having
utterly cast off the ethics and stand
ards of civilized races.
The entire trousseau had been torn
from the drawers and thrown partly
on the floor. Pictures. photographs,
mirrors, everything was In pieces. The
three OF us who had entered the room
clenched our fists with impotent wrath.
We received orders to remain in
Sulppes until further notice and the
next day witnessed the return Of many
fugitives. They came in great throngs
from the direction Of Chalons-sur-
Marne. They found instead of the
peaceful homes they had left wretch
ed and deserted ruin. A furniture
dealer returned to his store, as we
stood in front Of his house. He broke
down when he viewed the remains of
his enterprise. Everything had been
taken away. We approached the man.
He was n Jew and spoke German.
When he calmed down a little he told
US that his store had contained mer-
chandse worth more than 5000 francs.
"Had the soldiers only taken what
they needed for themselves" he said,
"I would be satisfied, for did not ex.
pect anything else. But 1 never would
have believed of the Germans that
they would have destroyed everything"
Not even a cup and saucer were
left in this mans house. He had a
wife and FIVE children, but had no idea
Of what had become of them. And
there were many more like him.
The following night. remaining in
Suippes, we were again obliged TO camp
in the open because It swarmed with
frank-tireurs." Such were our instruc.
tions. In reality nothing was seen Of
frank-tireurs, but by this method the
enmlty toward the people living In the
towns along our line Of march was
maintained. The Germans practiced