Evening star., 1940-06-06
Markeip|aces Busy
With Only Brussels
Rationing Food
Much Of Debris Cleared,
correspondent Finds
On Tour Of Sector
BY LOUIS P. LOCHNER,


BY LOUIS P. LOCHNER,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
WITH THE GERMAN ARMY IN
THE WEST (By Telephone to Ber-
lin), June 6-Conditions like those
Of peacetime seem to be returning
rapidly to some Belgian cities now
under German occupation.
The same cities which during my
previous visit CLochner made tour
through Belgium two weeks ago.
seemed lifeless now TEEN with hu-
man activity.
Outstanding is the case of Louvain
(where British and Germans fought
a bitter battle).
Two weeks ago it was the most
forlorn city one could imagine. To-
day the streets were crowded, shops
were open, streetcars again were
running in at least some sections
and the marketplace was as busy
as beehive.
Much of Debris Removed.
Vegetables in profusion were
being sold at scores of market
stands, as were dairy products, meat,
fish, fruit and even flowers. One
jewelry shop seemed to be doing a
good business.
Certain detours which we had
had to make fortnight before on
driving through the city no longer
were necessary. The debris had, IN
many cases, been removed and the
streets cleared for traffic Nor did
we see any abandoned tanks, guns
or other implements of war. All
had meanwhile been removed.
Only the ruins of bombed and
shelled buildings remained as re-
mlnders of the tragedy which befell
the city only a, few weeks ago.
A short distance from Louvain we
even saw railway engine which ap-
parently was making a test run.
Brussels Rations Food.
At Brussels, on the other hand,
the war seemed to have taken a
flrmer grip now than when we visited
1t right after its capitulation.
Then, nothing had been rationed.
Now, coffee was limited to a half
pound per family per week; bread
could be obtained only with bread
cards, and, asking for chocolate bars
In various shops, I was told that
what l saw in the window were
empty boxes The old stocks had
been sold in jiffy and nothing new
had come.
Tirlemont seemed almost strange
to us and we could orient ourselves
only by ruins. Otherwise the city
had returned to normal-so much so
that even many Belgian soldiers,
who already had been dismissed from
captivity by the German Army,
were mingling among the civilians.
On previous visits, much time had
been lost at Tirlemont because all
traffic had to pass over one en-
ergency bridge. But in the mean
while an army of civilian construc-
tors had erected parallel bridges, so
that traffic this time was practically
normal.
These bridges weren't. things Of
beauty, as had been those which
were destroyed, but they served their
purpose.
Abandoned Tanks Put to Use.
Our route to France took us from
Aachen via the Dutch city of
Maastricht-slso practically narmal
again-and the Albert Canal through
Liege, Namur and Charleroi to the
completely shattered French town of
Maubeuge.
At the Albert Canal there was
other evidence of changes following
the "blitzkrieg": 1 looked in vain
for the graves of Belgian soldiers
and German parachute troopers
which had been dug there hastily
just before we arrived the last time,
on May 90
The bodies had been removed. in
the interim, to special military
cemeteries which now have begun to
stud the Belgian landscape just as
War mark the plains of Northern
France.
I also looked in vain for the aban-
doned and shattered tanks which
had lined the road near St. Trond.
Field Marshal Goerings scrap-iron
collecting agency must have seized
them.
How careful the German Army is
not to destroy what later may prove
useful to the Reich may be seen
from the fact that the huge steal
mills, power plants and other in
dustrial undertakings at Liege were
unharmed.
Similarly at Namur, damage was
only in spots, while the main part
OF the city seemed to have gone
back to normal again.