Carrizozo outlook. [volume] (Carrizozo, N.M.) 1910-1945, 1919-01-10

were almost exhausted by hunger. tried
to escape. They were %bayoneted and
dubbed to deoth. Twelve men. who
had taken refuge In n farm. were tied
together and shot In a mass. Another
group OF six were tied together and
shot. after the Germans had pat out
their eyes and tortured them With
bayonets. Three others were brought
before their wives and children and
sabered.
The Belgian told me he was nj Ma
muir when the Germans began Smelling
II. The bomburdment lasted the whole
Of August p and 22, 1914. They cen
tered their FIRE on the prison. the hos
pital. and the railway station. They
entered the town at four o'clock In the
afternoon OF August %. During the
first t~wenty-four hours, they behaved
themselves, bat on the oath they began
firing at anyone they pleased, and set
Are to different houses on five OF the
principal squares.
Then they ordered every one to leave
his house, and those who did not were
shot. The others, about four hundred
In all. were drawn up In front OF the
church, close to the river bank. The
Belgian said he could never forget how
they all looked.
~ can remember just how II was"
he said. There were eight men. whom
/ knew very well, standing In n row
with several priests. Next came two
good friends Of mine named Balbau
and Guillaume. with Balbau's seven
teen-year-old son then two men who
had taken refuge In a barn and had
been discovered and blinded then two
other men whom | had never seen be-
fore.
ut was awful to see the way the
women were ~crying-'Sboot me too,
shoot me with my husband"
"The men were lined up on the edge
Of the hollow. which runs from the
high road to the bottom OF the village.
One Of them was leaning on the shout
ders Of IN old priest. and he was cry
Ing. I am too yonng-l can't face
death %brnvely.'
IT couldn't bear the sight any longer.
] turned my back to the rund ~ 4 COW
cred my eyes. I heard the voliey and
the bodies falling. Then some ono
cried, Look, they're all down. But a
few escaped"
This Belgian Ind escaped by hiding
he could not remember how many
days-ln mn old cart filed with manure
and rubbish. He had chewed old hides
for food, had swnm across the river,
and hid in a mud bank for almost a
week longer, and finally got 10 France.
He took II very hard when We talked
about Dlxmude, and I told him that
the old church was just shot To pieces.
He asked about n painting called the
Alteration Of the Mngi," and one OF
the other prisoners told us II had been
saved and transported TO Germany. II
that is true, and they do not destroy
It meanwhile, We will get Il back. don't
worry
My wound vas just n clean gunshol
wound and not very serious, so, al
though II was not completely healed,
they let me go after three weeks. But
before / went, l saw something that
no man OF us will ever forget. Some
OF them took vows just like the men
OF the legion / have told about.
Que OF the patients was u German
doctor, who had been picked up IL No
Mans Land, very seriously wounded,
He was given the same treatment us
any Of us. that is, the very best, but
finally. the doctors gave him up. They
thought he would die slowly, and that
II might take several weeks.