The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-02-10

1 Brussels, Feb. --(Correspondence
 of The Associated ess.)---Stories of heroism, patriotism and devotion of ! Belgians during the German occupa- 1 ton are continually coming to the
 surface of the miasmaI pool of in- | trigue, treachery and selfishness
 which the Germans left behind in Bel gium.
 1 How two men gave up their lives and two went to prison for a period which would have lasted 20 years had ! the Germans been victorious, that the man higher up'' might live and con- tinue managing the underground or i ganization which was sending valua-
 ble information out of the occupied country has now been related to the 1 Associated Press correspondent by the man whose life was saved by their sacrifice.
 1 Adolphe Buyl, liberal member of the Belgian Parliament Alderman of the Commune of Ielles in the city of Brus- sels, is the man for whom two men | died and who for four years conduct ed the organization and lived contin- ually in the fear of execution by Ger mans.
 Late in 1914 the Germans had not organized the Dutch frontier with that murderous efficiency which sent to their graves many young Belgians attempting to cross into Holland Buyl had access to the seals of the municipality and every evening in various out of the way cafes, 20, 30 sometimes as many as 50 young men would assemble, reaching the place singly and by devious ways. The seal of the municipality was there in the hand of a different man every night. Passports and Identification blanks were there, and the young men would emerge from the cafes supplied with proper. or rather improper iden tification and make their way into Holland and thence join the Belgian Army battling on the Yser. More than
 one thousand men were sent out be- tu-een October, 1914, and February, 1915.
 Then the Germans became aware of the leak and the frontier was hermet- ically, electrically sealed and the work became more dangerous and difficult, Guides had to be provided---generally smugglers of gasoline and other com- modities across the Dutch border--- who fc" a, consideration averaging 50 francs for each man would pilot them across the frontier. Rubber gloves and wire cutters were necessary tols of their trade and many a German sentry was found by his relief with a knife deeply sunk in his throat and lying alongside a break in the wire fence.
 At no time were there less than one hundred men engaged in the work. They included railroad station mas ters, crossing tenders, mail carriers, cafe keepers and nany others in hum ble walks of life, all volunteers desir- ous of serving their country even at the risk of being stood against the wall and shot, and as a matter of fact, many of them were. But at no time did more than two or three men engaged in the work know that Buyl was the man higher up.'
 The first member of the erganiza- tion to be taken by the Germans was Phillipe Baucq whose arrest was sim- uitaneous with that of Edith Cavell, the English nurse whose execution by Germans sent a thrill of horror throughout the world. Baucq was shot on October F, 1915, with the brave English nurse. Miss Cavell. hawever, was never charged by the Germans with espionage, but with
 aiding Belgians and others to escape from Belgium.
 | Baucq was succeeded as Buyl's right hand man by another man named Du- bois. On June l, 1916, Dubois, with 60 others was arrested and imprisoned