Omaha daily bee., 1918-10-21
HUNS May COTO
THEIR OWN Land
BEFORE HALTING.
Prisoners Say Belgium and
France Are in Process Of
Evacuation; Country Left
Devastated.

With the Allied Armies in France
). and Belgium, Oct. 20.-Rehable in
formation received from the other
side OF the line indicates that the
German retreat will carry the enemy
back many miles, if not all the way
to Germany itself. Many prisoners
captured on different parts of the
line declare Belgium and France are
in process of evacuation.
Guns from the Belgian coast are
known to have reached Antwerp, but
at the moment it is not certain
whether they have gone beyond that
city. Air material has been trans
/ferred from Client to Brussels. De-
I tailed reports are coming in respect
ing several lines of German defenses,
but none of these lines seem to be
more than temporary. The princi-
pal line is reported to be along the
Selzaete- Client canal and the Scheldt
river.
Forty bridges have been thrown
across the Meuse in the neighbour
hood of Huy. southwest of Liege,
and the source from which this in
formation is derived says that these
are in preparation, for the retreat of
the Germans behind their own from
tier.
Pledge Violated.
The country from which the Ger
mans are Withdrawing offers strik-
ing proof of, German brutality and
destructiveness When they retired
from a towrf~the civilians were in
formed that they need have no fear
OF remaining there az the town
would not be shelled. On this
promise many civilians remained;
but the Germans dropped numerous
shells into the place and several
civilians, among them women, were
wounded. This crime has been add
ed to those already chalked up
against the Germans by the Brit
ish army.
Preliminary reconnaissance in
vast stretches of recaptured terri
tory show that in addition\t to the
destruction of military establish
ments the Germans before depart
ing demolished every factory and
all mines. In many houses the
Germans placed "booby" traps and
internal machines, which apparently
were designed as much for civilians
as for soldiers, according to the Of
<6cial belief.
The British armies have had pre-
vious experience with such appli-
ances and have therefore not been
caught. Hundreds of thousands of
civilians are in the towns where
the allied troops are operating and
advancing, and hundreds have been
released from each town liberated |
by the advance. The presence OF
these civilians necessitates the great
est care in the handling of shells
and bombs, and it is probable that
the Germans have left them behind
just for this purpose.
Bridges Blown Up.
All the bridges have been blown
up by the retreating enemy. and be-
cause OF this the people of Turcoing
and Roubaix are experiencing some
difficulty in getting food. Supplies
aie. now being shipped into Lille for
the large population there.
The Germans are also leaving the
country strewn with land mines.
The main Lille Tournai road, as an
instance, has been mined every DO
meters. The civilians of Roubaix
say that before the Germans de-
stroyed some of the factories in the
towns they removed the machinery
and took it with them.
More reports have been received
of mutinies in the German army.
The revolt movement seems to be
spreading.
Along the road of retirement the
houses in most places have been
found to be intact. But the Ger
mans apparently could not resist the
temptation to loot, carrying off
cloth of every description, Window
shades and in fact anything made
Of cotton or wool were removed.