Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-10-25

and that things were taking Jneir
course Then we heard that the OF
Tense with which she would De
charged was that OF aiding young
men TO cross the Dutch frontier. i
think tnat we were somewhat re-
lloVed; such cases were common
The sentences prov 4ded in such cas- IS
We're not an general severe, accord
ing 70 the standards OF those IN
vogue in occupied Belgium.
Edith Cavell herself did not eX-
pect such a fate. She was a frail
forty years Of age. she mad come
10 Brussels some years before the
war 10 exercise her calling as
trained nurse. She soon became
known to the leading physicians or
the capital aud nurSSu IN the homes
or the leading families. But she
was ambitious and devoted TO her
profession and ere long had entered
a uursins nome IN the rue de la
Clinique, where she organized for
Dr. DCpage 4 training school for
nurses. She was "A woman of re-
tlnemeDt and education; she knew
French 2S she knew her own lam
EuaEe. she was deeply religious,
with - conscience almost puritan,
aEd Was very stern with herself IN
what she conceived TO be her duty.
IN her training school she showed
great executive ability. was firm
in matters Of discipline and brought
il 10 high state OF efficiency. And
every one who knew her in Brus-
sells spoke o. ner with that unVary-
ing term Of respect which her noble
character inspired
Some time before the trial Maitre
Thomas Braun announced TO the ls-
cation that for personal reasons he
would be obliged TO withdraw from
the case. and asked that some one
else appear for Miss Cavell. We
engaged Maitre Sadi kirscheu. l
had thought OF asking TO have Maitre
de LeVal appear, but on second
thought, and on the advice of Maitre
Braun and Kischen as well as that
Of Maitre de Leval himself, | came
TO the conclusion that perhaps IL
would not be entirely tactful TO do
this, for the presence OF Maitre de
LeVal as an observer might suggest
to the representative suspicious OF
the Germans a lack of confidence
that could only react against Miss
Cavell.
The Case Comes TO Trial
IL was the morning of Thursday,
the eth OF October that the case
came on before the court-martial in
the senate chambe where the mill
tary trials always took place, and
Miss Caveu was arraigned with the
Princess de Croy, the Countess dc
Belleville and thirty-twO others.
The accused were seated ia circle.
facing the court in such a way that
kneA EOulu nElNutE SIC llOA CoAAlllAA-
nicate with their own counsel, who
were compelled TO sit behind them.
Nor could they see the witnesses,
who were also placed behind them.
The charge brought against the
accused was that of having conspir-
ed to violate the German Military
Penal Code, Furnishing with death
those who conduct troops TO the en-
envy. Its basis in German military
law is found in paragraph fifty
eight OF the German Military Code,
which says:
Whoever. with the intention of
helping the hostile power, or of
injuring the German or allied
troops. is guilty OF one OF the
crimes OF paragraph 80 of the Ger
man penal code, and Will be SEN
fenced TO death for treason"
Among the crimes mentioned in
paragraph ninety is that of con
Quoting soldiers to the enemy"
(Dem feinde mannschaften zu-
fuhTt")
We have no record of that trial:
We do not know all that occurred
there behind the closed doors of
that senate chamber, where for four
score years laws based on another
and more enlightened principle of
Justice had been discussed. The lips
of the lawyers who were there, and
of the accused. those among the
thirty-four who were acquitted, have
not been unsealed. and will not be
until the little land is released
from the terror which daily enacts
such scenes.
Miss Caven did not know. or
knew only in the vaguest manner,
the offense with which she was
charged. No written statement of
il had ever been delivered to her,
no written statement of ii had ever
been given to her attorney, and il is
a pathetic circumstance that ii
was her own honesty and frank
ness, ner own direct English way of
thinking, that convicted her. With
the naivete of the pure in heart
she assumed that the Germans were
charging her with the deeds she had
committed. and this she readily ad-
mitted, and even signed a paper TO
that effect. But we know enough TO
be able TO say that Miss Cavell did
not deny having received at her
hospital English soldiers whom she
nurSed and to whom she gave
money: she did not deny that she
knew they were going TO try 10
cross the border into Holland. She
even took a patriotic pride in the
fact She was very calm. She was
Intercepted in German. q language
she did not understand. but the
questions and responses were trans
lated into French. Her mind was
very alert and she was entirely SELF
possessed. and frequently recti6ed
any ineXact details and statements
that were put TO her. When IN her
interrOgatory she was asked II she
had not aided English soldiers left
behind after the early battles of
the preceding autumn about Mons
and CharlerOi, she said yes; they
were English and she was English
and she would help her own. The
answer seemed to impress the court.
They asked her il she had helped
twenty
yes" she said. more than twen>
ty; zoo"
English? -
No. not all English; French and
But the French and Belgians were
not Of her own nationality. said
the judge-and that made a serious
difference. She was subjected to a
nagging inteTrogatory. one OF the
judges said that she had been TOOL
ish 10 aid English because. he said.
the English are ungTatetuL
No" replied Miss Cavell, the
English are not uHgrateful."
How do you know they are not?"
asked the inquisitor.
Because" she answered, some
of them have written TO me from
England 10 thank me-
Ii was a fatal admission on the
part of the tortured little woman:
under the German military law her
having helped soldiers 10 reach
Holland. a neutral country, would
have been "a less serious offcnSc,
but 20 aid them 20 reach an enemy
country. and especially England,
was the last omensc in the eyes OF
a German military court.
Death Pentaly Asked For
The trial was concluded on Sat
urday. and or Sunday one Of the
nurses in Miss CavclTs school came
TO tell that there was "A rumor
about town that the prosecuting Of
ncer had asked the court to pro-
uounce o sentence or death in the
case of the Princess de Croy. the