Evening journal., 1918-02-19

During their stay at sainl-Die tho
enemy gave free rein 10 their custom
ary activities Of pillage and dcstruc-
ton. They were seen 10 bring a safe
10 the colonnade at the town hall and
break It open there. They ransacked
cellars and. shops. NJ. Badier, a wine
merchant. from whom they took goods
10 the value Of 5000 francs, was given
some requisition vouchers, signed 10y
officers OF the 26th Reserve Division
and OF the list prussian Landwehr
REGIMENT. On Aug 90 they set fire 10
the district round the Rue de Ia Bolle,
and, to make II impossible 10 bring
help had the bridges which connect
the district with the rest Of the town
closely guarded while the cOnilagration
was proceeding. Forty-ilve houses and
five factories were burnt. The same day
two French infantrymen and two Clas-
seurs Alpins were found in a cellar by
the Germans, led TO where the Rue de
Ia Bolle and the Rue des Cites meet,
and shot. Their bodies lay for four
days IN the public street"
The invaders penetrated TO Mandray
between the sources Of the Meurthe and
the Alsatian frontier, and murdered
five civilians in this commune during
the course Of their occupation. One OF
them was a man 'sixty-four years old,
ssnother a woman Of seventy-nve. Most
OF them were murdered treacherously
after being commandeered as guides.
But Mandray marks the extreme
southeastern limit Of the German IN
vasion Of Belgium and France, and from
this point southwards the French from
tier has remained inviOlate. Far from
the first days after the German de-
claration Of war the French Army look
the Offensive in Upper Alsace, Und has
stood since then-not on enemy soil
but on soil once French and now
French again after the passage OF al
years.
VII. FROM NiALINES TO THE USER.
Cd TermOnde and AlOst
The Battle Of the Marne stemmed the
wave Of German invasion on a front
extending from the Oise 20 the Nosges
The country beyond this battle-lins
was saved from the passage Of Tho
Invader, districts behind 10 were recov-
cred as the German armies ebbed TO-
wards the Aisne, and then the station.
airy war Of trenches superseded th'
war OF manoeuvres. This change tool
place during the first half Of Septem
Der. i9ii, but the invasion had not en-
tirely spent It's force. Surging bacl
from the dam which the Allies had SCI
across its original channel, It broke on
again towards the north and west, II
an attempt 20 submerge the remnant o.
Belgium. pass round the flank Of th'
Franco-British rampant, and sWeel
forward by a fresh channel into France
This second inundation was not 81
gigantic as the flrst, yet 10 brough
massacre and devastation TO regions
that had previously escaped, and wa
only stopped along the line Of tn
Yser and Ipres in The last days o
October, more than six weeks after th
Battle Of the Marno had been Tough
and won by the Allies.
This last German advance was mad
IN three stages; the capture OF Ter
monde and Alost, the capture Of Ant
werp, and the march from the Scheld
20 the User. The last stage rivalled d
speed. and in the extent OF terrltor
overruh, the movements OF Won kluc
and Won Bulow i'm the month that FOL
lowed the declaration OF war, and al
three stages brought destruction upo
the civilian population.
Termonde and Alost were the princi
nal points on the line of the Dendel
which the Belgian Army had hel
against the Germans since Aug. t9, t9i.
They were a rampant thrust out south
ward from the fortress OF Antwerp
screening its communications with IN
French and British positions on th
Channel coast. Il was a precariou
screen. but the Germans could no
strike at Antwerp freely TIL they ho
brushed Il away.
The treatment Of Termonde Is des
cribed in the Ninth Report Of the Be
gisn Commission;
'The Communes Of Lebbckc and q
81. Gileslez-Termonde contain, With IN
town OF Termonde Itself, total Of owe
26OOO inhabitants. These places, tC
gether with the village Of Appels wit
2iOO inhabitants, lying west OF Tel
monde have endured terrible suffer
ings.
"On Sept. . a German patrol came
far as Lebbeke. Under the prcieNt th'
they were avenging six German so
diers, shot by the Belgian troops i'm Oh
district Of Lebbeke, they set fire
three farms in the hamlet Of Hijzide.
ION Sept. 4, at four I'm the monin
the people Of Lebbeke were reused b
the sound Of lively firing. The Germa
Army was attacking the place, whic
was defended by some Belgian on
posts, who soon drew back TO q
Scheldt. At seven the Germans enter,
the village, breaking windows, smasl
ing in doors, aud hunting away won,
and children. The men were dragg'