The Washington times., 1918-12-29
The Ingenious Death Traps of the Re
BIZ the Countess de Guza-P PnScs

''Never mind the inhabitants We want those villages
razed fast you reach them with your men, the
General replied.
That night Prince Adolph said to me: 'tI shall not
sleep tonight It is terrible. But must obey orders
all must obey orders, or we would be shot We have
learned such things right if they necessary to the
army. Some day those of us who are human-some day
when we have served well and have obeyed all orders
then will make those who have ordered such thing
pay for the vile deeds we have had to do.'
He went out next day with the commanding officers Of
the companies that had been assembled to obey his
tions Late in the afternoon old women old men, many
children and occasionally girl of sixteen began to-
walk along the road in front of my house toward Epno
They in little groups-one old woman two three
children that must have been grandsons and daughters
and and then grl-most often the girl walked with
old woman either The women wore black
dresses and bonnets and the girls wrapped their heads
shawls They walked slowly with their eyes peering
about them if they looked upon strange almost uni
beevabe world-unbelievable because 1t could be sol
cruel though the pigeons cooling in the woods
and yellow flowers spotted the grass along the roadside
These the first of the inhabitants whom Princel
Adolph had been ordered never mind" And he hadl
obeyed his orders. Swooping down upon village after
village the major first warned any German soldiers who
might be in bets in the village TO go elsewhere. Them
with deadly precision his placed their mines set
their charges and at given signal there roar, 81
great tempest Of dust and brick and mortar crash of
falling debris-and another village which had stood SOM
nolently for hundreds of years heap of ruins
All that night and the next day and the day after the
stream of refugees flowed by Then Prince Adoph rel
turned late in the evening and asked to get him al
glass of wine. 81 have obeyed my ORDERS Madame" he
said Tomorrow the General will ask me for my report
and will instruct to make the proper notation his
maps Since have obeyed orders he will say nothing
If had not obeyed, he would say great deal
Germany prosper while she bears the burden
of the sins have placed upon her this day."
How prophetic his words werel /
long time after that heard of the end of this Ger
officer who loathed his orders though he obeyed
them He was in command of mortar throwing section
in wooded portion of the Scissor sector He had diff
Guilty in fixing his range, which with mortar batteryS
be extremely accurate it He went out one
day with white flag. When he had attracted attention.
in the British trenches he walked boldly forward his
white flag held high. When he ignored order TO halt
the British thought he had not heard They repeated
order. menacpg him meanwhile with levelled rifles He
kept on. When they shot him he within few feet
of the trenches Before he fell he had time to wave his
flag and thus give his batteries range of te
trenches.
In few minutes so the officers said whom over
heard telling the story, the German batteries poured
deadly shells into the British trenches burying the
Princes body beyond recovery There was no doubt
Prince Adolph deliberately committed suicide-with a
treacherous deed in keeping with the principles Of the
High Command But his death protest against the
which he despised The staff officers could
not understand,
The Prince removed himself however lust in time to
vod orders that would have been far more repugnan
MS nature than the assignment to destroy the villages
In 1917 every knows the entire Cambria seetor