Evening star., 1939-09-14
Tangled Bodies
Visible AIonq
Highways
By DANIEL DE LUCE,

Associated Press Foreign Correspondent
SNIATYN, Poland cat the Ru-
nanian border, Sept. 14.-Weary
refugees, trudging along the main
highways of Southeastern Poland
today, reported they we're under
continual fire of German planes
using bombs and machine-guns.
They said every train, railroad
station. bridge and automobile IN
the area was an actual or potential
target of the swarming aerial IN
vaders.
1t was estimated that at least
100000 Poles, moving mostly a1oot
toward the Rumanian frontier, were
fleeing Poland's war-swept zones.
With communications disrupted,
making accuracy impossible, 1t was
estimated in foreign circles that
civilian casualties in scattered towns
and byways averaged at least loo
daily.
Persans coming through the coun,
trvside as l did could see blasteo
homes, burning factories, shattereo
railroad lines-and tangled bodies OF
men, women and children.
Frontier Is Not Safe.
The frontier itself was not safe
until one actually crossed into Ru-
mania. Zalesczczyki, on the Polish
side. already has been raked with
aerial fire and the Snlatyn Railway
Station on the frontier was photo
eraphed by two low-fying bombers
which dove within 500 feet of the
ground, calmly ignoring rifle hre
from the station roof.
Five Polish fighting planes, based
In a woods somewhere in the VI
cinity. we're attempting to protect
the rail lines against bombers.
The Poles say the German on
slaught has been speeded by vast
network of spies using hidden short
wave radio to inform the Nazl mill
tary of Polish secrets.
poles. on the other hand, are Sc
verelv handicapped in maintaining
connections between staff headquar-
ters at Lwow and the front lines,
frequently meeting with delays as
much as six hours. Virtually tfle
only means of communication now
existing is by courier planes hedge
hopping and sneaking back between
German raids.
was able to leave the besieged
city of Lwow through the klnoness
of British Consul Middleton When
the consulate departed. I perched
on a baggage truck piled high win
parcels from the British and French
consulates. Lwow is about $50 miles
northeast of Sniatyn by railroad.
Road Bombed From Air.
We were subjected to air raids all
day along the dusty chuck-holeo
road toward Sniatyn. Nearly every
village we passed through had been
bombed. outside the picturesque
village of Trembowla we dove into
the shelter of an apple orchard
while two German bombers sWooped
over the railway station.
Two bombs fell with ear-shatter-
ing explosions Five minutes later
when we passed through the main
street of the town we saw BOMBS
had struck peasant houses on each
side, missing the railroad station by
100 wards. Five bodies were lying
under a half-fallen tree.
Later after a German bomber had
flown over hill behind small
barn where we had taken shelter,
I noticed a barefoot peasant girl
huddled into a corner, shaking with
fear. I gave an imitation of grin
and waved my hands in a motion
used by baseball umpires to call a
runner safe. The girl, ignorant of
baseball, got the idea and her face
frightened.
All quiet again, we went on our
way.
Lwow Is Doomed.
Regardless of whether the slowly
retreating Polish Army is able to
stem the German advance, LWow, a
city of $4,000 population, is doomed.
Bombed from the air for IA days
and battered by artillery during the
past week, Lwow is a giant torch. A
red glow, cast over the city by
flames from burning oil refineries,
makes a grim mockery of air raid
precautions.
Other fires are burning in many
sections of the city. Shattered
aoueducts have emptied the reser-
voir from which LWow draws its
water supply and efforts to quench
the flames with sand are pitifully
intellectual.
An acute food shortage, the danger
of plague and the horror of bomb
ing attacks have reduced the re-
lSee LWOW. Page A-3D