Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-11
HUNS PLAY LIQUID
FIRE ON PRISONERS
Survivor Tells Under Oath of New
Atrocity; Story Shocks
Civilized Mankind.

Early in April of this year prlva!e o'
the Black Watch was admitted TO Liver
pool hospital suffering from severe DUTIES
on arms. hands and thighs. lie SAID ne
had received these burns during the nght.
ing which took place IN the neighborhood
of Arras on March IS, and oil the manner
in which he had received them ne nad
remarkable and CHASTITY story 10 tei' %
remarkable and SO CHASTITY was ms S'Hy
that military court OF inquiry was heio'
and he WAS required TO repeat his s'o's WI
oath before the court
The man is Young Scotchman of ~.
He is intelligent and educated. A cross
examination showed that 80 far from ex-
syyeratiup the facts, he had been prone
rather to undcrstate them. He began hls
story by narrating the events leading up
10 the German attack near Arras on the
early morning of March 2S. After
violent bomharimcnt, the Germans at
tackled at dawn in mass, and forced back
his battalion by sheer weight of num-
bcrs. He himself, in company with about
thirty other men and an officer, was cut
of. surrounded and compelled Ia sur
render. He himself was unh,irt, but the
officer and most Of the men were wounded
From this posnt will give the story in his
own words, exactly as he told it on oath
before the court:
"' . Almost immediately the Ger
mans were on top of us, having worked
up the trench behind us, and some also
came over the'top; | should say about so
OF GO came all together. There appeared
TO be A German officer or warrant officer
there
eve were deprived Of our arms and
marched down about 200 or 300 yards TO
what appeared to be the end of a trench,
which had been widened out TO n width of
about nine feet. the depth of this in
closure appeared to he about SIN feet,
and the length about nine to II fcct. The
sides were both perpendicular, and any
one wishing TO climb out that way would
have to pull himself over. The end Of the
Enclosure appeared to have been smashed
up and was not perpendicular, but STOP
ing.
The officer who was taken prisoner
was with us in this inclosure. We were
quite tightly packed up together IN the
lnclosure. | happened TO bc one of the
first 10 20 in, and. accordingly, was one
of the furthcst from the entrance All
the Germans | saw werc wearing great
coats with full equipment and "tin"
helmets.
After ssbout Is minutes the men who
had remained on guard seemed to dis
appear. and almost at the same time two
men appeared in the trench at the entrance
to the lnclosure tine Of the two Germans
bad no equipment or rifle. and he was
CARRYING revolver and appeared to be
an officer The other German was also
not wearing equipment. but had strapped
to hrs back a cylinder with a flexible tube
over his shoulder. the end Of which he
was holding in his hand.
Just rs he reached the entrance q fiarnc
spurted out in stream from tho pipe
and caught the mon who were nearest to
the entrance When | saw the flame
Immediately dropped down as far as
could and got my face on the ground The
other men were lying in heaps around and
partly on me | heard the kissing sound
for short while, and il then stopped and
started again