Evening journal., 1918-02-04


ITO my own knowledge, in not one
Of the houses left standing was the
safe not broken open. or did not show
clear marks Of attempted robbery.
But why burden this report by
recOuntlng the nersoral m'sfortunes OF
the many citizens who have told me
their narrowing stories? The facts are
all the same. and what / have set out
is enough TO prove that murder. arson.
and pillase were Systematically organ
ised and carried ont IN cold blood,
even when the battle was over"
The facts are indeed witnessed TO by
the Germans themselves. "The civilian
corpses Uttered everywhere are a sight
which defies description" writes an
officer Of the i7Sth Saxon REGIMENT on
Aug %, when the butchery was done
in most cases shots at polnt-bank
ranVe have carried away half their
skull. Every house along the whole
valley has been turned upside down,
and the inhabitants dragged out Of the
most unlikely hidng-places The men
have been shot, the women and child
rem placed in the convent Shots came
from the convent and IL had a narrow
escape from being set on fire. = o"
"1n the evening at 10 o'clock" writes
a private in the same regiment on the
same date. "the drst battalion went
. down into the VILLAGE that had been
burnt to the north Of Dinant Right at
the entrance Of the VILLAGE about 80
civilians lay dead; they had been shot
for having fired on our troops from
ambush In the course Of the night
many othors were shot in the same
way. so that we could count more than
200. The women and children. lamp in
hand. were obliGed to watch the hor-
rible scene. we then ate our rice In the
midst Of the corpses, for we had not
ia ted food since morning
Across the Meuse the Saxons turned
south, and. keeping in touch with Won
Bulow on their right, went forward by
forced marches into France. stln
slaushtering and devastating on their
way. In the Canton Of D'nant they des-
troyed i5ss houses and killed 632 civil
llans In all: at Hastie-es-pa~dela. in the
Canton OF Beau-aing, they destroyed &C
and Killed is: In the Canton OF Floren-
mes 666 and So At Surice In this can
ton they shot is men In the light OF
their mothers and daughters and
wives There were five ccclesiastics
among them, and BOYS Of sixteen and
seventeen M Schmldt's little boy Of
fourteen" states Belgian witness,
"was nearly put into the line-the sol
diers hesitated but finally hoved him
away In a brutal fashion At this mo-
ment ! saw a young German soldier
this I vouch fOr-who was so struck
with horror that great tears were
dropping on 10 his tunic. He did not
wipe his eyes for fear Of being seen
by his oflcer, but kept his head turned
away" Those who were not killed by
the FIRST volley were clubbed TO death (:
the corpses were plundered; the whole
village was sacked, and i30 houses cut
OF i72 were burnt.
AT Villers-en-Fagne," in the Canton
OF Phlllppeville, writes the Saxon OIL
Ger quoted above, 1.-The inhabitants had
warned the French OF our Grensdiers'
approach by a signal from the belfry
The enemy artillery had fired several
shells and wounded or killed some
Grenadiers. Thereupon the Husssrs set
fire to the village, and the cure and
other inhabitants were shot" In the
whole Canton Of Philippeyille the Ger
mans burned II houses down in the
Canton OF Couvin they burned 29S
houses and killed 6 civilians. on the
road from Philippeville 10 Mariem-
bourg. In this canton, the German
cavalry drove Belgian peasants In front
Of them as a screen.
At Cue d'Hossus Won Hausen's army
entered France. Thank heaven writes
the Saxon officer on Aug 26, that for
once IN way the divisional command
has intervened energeticslly against
this incendiarism and massacre Of civil
lians The charming village Of Cue
d'H0ssus appears TO have been deliv-
cred 10 the flames when entirely inno-
cent A military cyclist fell of his ma
chine and this made his rife go of
Thereupon the male inhabitants were
simply thrown into the flames. One
hopes such horrors will not reoccur.
At Leffe about 200 were sEot-theve an
example was needed Il was inevitable
that some innocent people should have
TO suffer, but verflcation ought 10 be
insisted upon IN cases where there is
suspicion Of guilt. in order TO put
bounds 10 this indscriminate shooting
Of all the men"
"Village stormed and looted" writes
another German at Novion. Monday,
Aug 3i.-We passed through the town
OF Rethel, where we had two hours
halt. Wine and champagne in abund-
ance: we looted with a will
Live like God at Rethel." writes the
Saxon oflcer. who arrived there on
Sept 4. "On Sept. 2 the town is half
destroyed by flre. There Is
touch OF superfuity about French COM
fort. but the Interiors Of the houses
we're a sight to see. All the furniture
turned upside down. the mirrors dashed
in The Vandals could have done no
better. Il is a stain on our Armys
honor, - It lies heaviest on the
sroops serving the line OF communica-
lions. for they have the time TO pillase
and destroy Property worth millions
has been annihilated here. They did