The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-20
whole building was stripped oompl...,y

whole building was stripped oompistely
bare.
So the process went on, intensified BIZ
the continued abuse and uncsasine pll-
ferins Apparently't was the Intention
recently to strip the whole city OF every
thing, as other towns were stripped.
Two weeks ago the Inhabitants OF
Lomnne and other suburbs vera ordered
70 vacate their homes and TO 70 Lille,
and to take four days rations. With .
view TO being evacuated Into Belgium.
They did not 70 to Belgium. ana nothing
moro was done. They remained In Lille
and while away their housss were
stripped. met the FIRST Of them maxi
Ing their way back to their homes.
Presumably this was the beginning OF
q systematic cleaning out, which would
have worked from the suburbs inward
and was stopped only by the rapidly Of
our advance and the need Of hasty with
draws'. All channels OF transport wsro
choked by the military, with no possi-
bility Of carrying out the usual scientific
robbery.
wenen Taken TO Gersany.
or all the things which scorchsd them.
selves Into the minds Of the people OF
IAlle the deepest scar was made By, the
on April IL that the notice came to Lille,
Roubaix and Tourcoing that $4,000 pso-
pie. men. women and children, were to
be taken to work IN Germany. Nobody
was to be outside Of his proper residence
after . o'clock at night. But at the
first ringing Of the doorbeli all Nom.
bers Of the household were to assemble
in the doorway. From then until 10
o'clock Monday night the unspeakable
proceeding beginning in the outer SUBJ
urbs and working Inward was carried on
Squads OF soldiers presented themselves
at house after house.
From the parties assembled In the
doorways they picked men, women and
girls without REGARD to relationship or
to what members Of the family would be
left. but guided only by their judgment
as they surveyed the parties With would
be most desirable. wher, 81 members
Of the household were not present search
was made and girls of<i-1 and 10, who
had remained In bed in terror. were liter
ally torn from their beds and carried on.
For six nights the city lay under tht
horr OF this thing. as from Monday
until Saturday night. through the hours
OF darkness. squads OF men went on with
the brutal work. Each section Of the
city waited It's turn and members Of
every family listened for tae dread sum-
mons.
After the selections all women were
assembled At me station and there
herded together. girls Of gentle birth
with the wives OF working men, all Of
whom were examined by German army
health. There seemed no detail which
could have made the whole thing more
vile and. repellent to every civilixec
being that was omitted.
The method OF midnight visits and ne
ruthless tearing apart OF families was
made as terrible as possible. II was the
Sixty-fourth Regiment Of German In.
fahtry which carried out this hidsous
work In Lille and to do some OF them
ing some Of the men In the streets the
next day hagsard and almost sick OF
the horrors OF the preceding night.
Some officers. truthfully or not, said
their hearts bled for the people. Two
officers are said to have been punished
for refusing to do their part. Compared
to this outstanding outrage all the other
hardships suffered by the people Of Lille
sunk into insiEnificance. ON the whole the
mass of the private German soldiers do
not seem to have behaved badly except
for their continued thievinE and minor
brutalitiea.
Rat1ons Were Insumcaent.
Worse than the crimes Of violence was
the overbearing. arrogant attitude Of the
ofncers. There was much drinking. The
people subsisted on food supplied by the
International Commission. The rations
were not enough to keep. the people in
health and there was almost constant
hunger. the food being barely sufisc.ent
10 live on. This could be told by q
glance at the people, who looked under
nourished.
All agree that recently the Germans
were worse OF for food than the civil
ians. the soldiers food being reduced to
a miserable amount OF dreadful quality.
All accounts agree to the brutality shown
English prisoners. heard OF one
French girl who had successfully hidden
i've British soldiers from the beginning
OF the war. talked also 20 q French
soldier who had been hidden by his wife
In their cellar since 1914
Nothing could be more touching than
to hear the people singing snatches of
tho 'Marseillaise" and other French
songs which for years they had not
dared to sing. cheering and shouting,
and the noise Of singing Is In the streets
continuously. Four hundred Germans
did not go away, but hid. and afterward
surrendered themselves as prisoners OF
war to the civilian population. They
were taken In charge by the gendarmes
until our troops arrived.