THE ALLIANCE HERALD, MAT 2, 1918
The nfessi
of a GcrrmK
Written by a Prussian Officer??-
Who Participated in the Ravag
ing and Pillaging of Belgium
CepwH h DitroU Fm hat
left them. In contrast to the fugitives,
whom we hud met before, these were
extremely frightened, appearing to be
in mortal terror of their enemy. When
ever they looked upon one of us Ger
man soldiers they cringed in terror.
How different these were from the
Inhabitants of the village where we
bad first stopped, who had met us in
friendly, even polite manner. We
tried to learn the cause of this fright
ind discovered that the fugitives had
witnessed In their village bitter street
fighting. They had become acquainted
with war had seen their bouses
bnrning. hod seen their little property
destroyed and could not forget the
sight of their streets filled with corpses
ind wounded.
It dawned upon us that not merely
fear gave these people the appearance
of hunted animals ; there was also
hatred toward the invaders Who hud
fallen upon them and driven then)
from their homes by night.
In the evening we departed and
tried to reach our own regiment. The
Belgians had concentrated somewhere
to the rear under cover of darkness.
We were quite near the neighborhood
of the fortified city of Liege. Many
settlements through which we passed
stood in flames; the inhabitants driven
out. passed us in droves. Women,
children and old men were buffeted
about and seemed to be everywhere in
the way. Without alms or plans, with
out a place on which to lay their heads
these poor people dragged themselves
by.
Again we reached a village, which
to all appearances had been Inhabited
by contented people. Now indeed
nothing but ruins could be seen
Wrecked houses and farms dead sol
diers, German and Belgian, and among
them many civilians, who had beer
shot by military order.
Toward midnight we reached the
German lines. The Germans hue
tried to take a TtHnge which lay with
in the fortified belt of Liege and WU
defended tenach usly by the Belgians
Here all forces bad to be -used In or
der to drive the enemy out, house by
house and street by street. It was noi
very dark yet, so that we had to wit
riess with all of our senses the terrible
tights which developed here. It was B
man-to-man fight. With the butts ol
our guns, knives, fists, teeth we wen'
ogainst the enemy.
One of my best friends fought witl
a giant Belgian. The guns of both hut
fallen to the ground. They hammerer
one another with fists. I had just
closed an uccount with a twenty-two
j ear-old Belgian and was going to as
sist my friend because his antagonist
was of superior strength. My frlenc
succeeded suddenly in biting the Bel
glan on the chin so deeply that he tori !
a piece of flesh out with his teeth. The
Belgian's pain must have been terrl
hie. He released my comrade und rar ,
away with an iuane cry of pain.
Everything developed by second
The blood of the Belgian ran out o: i
my friend's month; a terrible nuuse: .
and Indescribable loathing seized him
The laste of warm human blooc i
brought him almost to the verge of In j
sanity. In the course of this night
battle I came in contact for the tits
time with the butt of a Belgian gun
During u hand-to-hand fight with t
Belglun, a second em my soldi ei
truck me on the back of the hea(
with the butt of his gun so hard that
my helmet was forced down over m
ears. The pain was fearful and
fainted.
When I revived, I was lying In i
barn, with my head bandaged, anion?
other wounded men, My wound wai
j
not severe. I only had a feeling a- I
my head wus twice its normal size !
The other wounded soldiers and .th
ambulance men mid the Belgians hat I
been forced back within the forts unc
that hard tight ing was still in prog
ress.
Wounded men were brought in con
tbraoueiy and they told us that tin ;
Germane had already stormed severe
fort! and had taken u number of mail
und auxiliary defenses, but could no j
bold them because they hud not beet ;
sufficiently supported by artillery. Tin
defenses Inside the forts and their gar :
rlsoas were still intact. The aituatloi
res not ripe for si storming attack, s i
the Germans had to retire with enof ''
metis losses. The reports we receivet
were contradictory, it wee Impoaalhli I
to get a clear picture. In the mt an
time the artillery bombardment hue
he CPU so intense that It horrltie
Ten the German soldiers. The heuvi
aei artillery was brought into aetlbi
against the steel and concrete de I
rinses.
No soldier so far knew anything o
be existence of the Ut centimeter mor
tare. Long after Liege was In tier
man hands these soldiers could noi i
understand how it was possible tha
the defenses, which consisted of dou
hie six-meter walls of steel and coo
crete. were feoaceu utter oauy u ie
hour"' bombardment.
1 myottf could not take part In these
operations, being wounded, but OaJ
comrades told me later how the cup
rare of the several forts came about
Artillery of all cnlihoreVas trained or
the forts, but it was the 21-centimetei
mortars and the 42s which performed
the real work.
Prom a distance the 42-centimetet
projectiles were heard to arrive, to the
accompaniment Of u fearful hisslns
that sounded like a long drawn-out
screech which filled the whole ut
mosphere. Wherever it fell, every
thing was destroyed within n radius
of several hundred meters. The all
pressure which the bursting of the pro
jectile produced was so terrible that It
made breathing difficult for those ol
os who were holding the advanced po
sitions. To make this witches' holiday com
plete, the Zeppelins appeared during
the night to participate In the work of
destruction. The soldiers BUddenl)
heard above their heads the whirling
of propellers and the noise of the mo
tors. The Zeppelins came nearer.
They were not discovered by the ene
my until they were close to the forts,
which Immediately played all the
Played the Searchlight on Them.
egrchllghta ut their disposal on them,
hunting the firmament for the flying
foe. The whirling of the propellers
of the airships stopped suddenly. In
stead, high in the air a brilliant light
appeared, tin- searchlight of the Zep
pelin, which, for a moment, illumluat
ed the entliv landscape.
Suddenly all became dark again. A
few moments later powerful detona
tions revealed the fact that the Sep
pelin had thrown off "ballast." That
wen on u long while. Bxploelon Col-
lowed explosion. These were followed
by clouds of fire. In the air, exploding
shrapnel which the Belgian artillery
fired at the airships could be observed.
The whirling of the propellers started
up again, directly above our beads. It
became quieter and quieter, until the
powerful ships of the air disappeared
from our vicinity.
Thus the forts were leveled. Thou
sands of Belgians lay behind the walla
and under the fort i Ileal ions, dead and
buried. A general storming attack
followed. Liege was In the hands of
the QermeUS. who had paid. In dead
alone iu this battle, 28.000 men.
CHAPTER II.
I went to AiX-la-Cbappelle to a bos
pital. I met many more wounded men
who bad fought iu Belgium. All were
of the opinion that the Belgian deed
numbered as many civilians us sol
dJers. Bven if tiie German soldiers
wiio fought In Belgium do not admit
the cruelties committed against the
Belgians, it cannot lie denied that ut
least 60 per cent of the cruelties
known to the world to have been com
mitted In Belgium were only too true.
A young soldier who lay next to me
in the hospital told me thai his com
pany, during u street fight in Liege,
was given orders to kill everybody
without discrimination. Systematical
ly, one house after another wus set on
fire. The inhabitants either fell iu tin
flames or became the victims in the
streets to the gun barrels of the Ger
man kuU ur-hearers.
At the time I doubted the words ol
my neighbor, evn though I had seeu
what German warfare meant. After
a few days I was released from th
hospital and aguin restored to my de
tacbment. Partly tut auto, tun-fir b
i. n. neii my ortHcnmpnt nv iri
o'clock In the evening, our tnmsnrt
moved this tlme.over Trier to luxem
burg. The little grand duchy of Lux
emhurg whs overrun entirely by tier
man soldiers. The Germans who had
made their homes in Luxemburg had
everything taken away from them, es
pecially the farmers, all food, without
thought of payment, so that In Luxem
burg at this lime there was a shortage
of fooif: The people here as well a
In Belgium were verj friendly, yet th'j
harbored a terrible bitterness against
the German government, which hud
loosed Its trOOpS like u band of robbers
and murderers over their peaceful
country.
Belgium ami Luxemburg, the two
first unhappy lctlin of the damnable
German politics und Its drunkenness
with power!
That the Luxemburg citizens detest
ed Germany an Incident showed me
which happened in the village of Mar
moth. We were In a friendly conver
sation with a Luxemburg farmer. Two
officers approached and listened. One
officer, a captain, asked the Luxem
burger, "What do you think of the
War, and of the quickness of GermnnyV
There Is only one Germany, Isn't
there t"
"Yes," replied the farmer. "ThHnk
the Lord."
For those four words the formei
was arrested at once and transported
to Germany as u court prisoner. I
could never learn what became of
him.
The same evening we were trans
ported In automobiles and on the eve
ning 'of August HOj 1914, We reached
our detachment, which was about 8.ri
miles from the Belgian city of Neuvo
Chateau, The regiment to which I be
longed did not take part in any opera
tions after the full of Liege, but was
transported to this part of Belgium.
Now I learn for the first time how
heuvy was the loss iu my company In
the Liege fighting. We loaf 1R7 men tn
dead ami wounded.
This night we .slept in an open field.
At five o'clock the next morning we
marched again until four o'clock in
the afternoon, when we were given it
rest.
It was about ten o'clock in the eve
ning w hen WO received orders to ad
vance. We were all ready to proceed
when another order came for us to re
maln at our bivouac overnight. Dur
ing the night we heard thundering of
cannon which became more violent.
The buttle of Neuve Chnteau, which
hud continued from August 22 to Au
gust 24, 1SU4, had begun.
At four o'clock on the morning of
August 22 we resumed our march. At
Neuve Chuteuu the French army bad
encountered the Fourth German army.
First there wus, as nlwuys, minor out
post and patrol lighting. By and by
larger masses of troops participated,
and us we took our purt in the battle
OH the evening of August 22, the tight
had develop, ij Into one of the most
sanguinary of the world war.
When we arrived the French occu
pied almost three-quarters of the town.
The artillery had set the main part of
Neuve Chateau on tire and only the
beautiful residence section in the west
ern part of the city escaped ut thai
time. All night long the house-to-house
lighting continued, but when ut
noon of August 88 the city was in Qer
man hands the enormous cost to the
Germans could finally be determined.
Residences, cellars, streets and side
walks were heaped with dead and
wounded. The houses were in ruins
empty shells, in which Uirdly anything
remained undamaged that was of any
real value. Thousands became heg
gars in one terrible night. Women and
children, soldiers and citizens were ly
ing where the pitiless shells ami hul
lets had hurled them from life intc
death's dark void. True Impartial! t)
reigned lu the killing. There was a
Belgian woman lying next to a Belgian
baby which she had borne from bousi
to street. Close l. lay a man of un
certain years before an empty house
Both his legs were burned to tin
knees. His wife lay on his breast and
BObbed so pitifully that her grief coui''
not be endured. Most of the dead
were entirely or partly burned. Tie
crle ui agony ol the animals flghtini
incineration were mixed with tie
groans and sobbing of the wounded.
But no one had time to bother with
them. The French were making an
other stand outside the city In an open
held. As the enemy vacated the town
the Germans made an error which cost
them hundreds of lives. They bad DC
CUpled the entire town so quickly thai
the Herman artillery which shelled a
part of the rltj did not know of lie
change in the situation and threw
shells Into the lanks of the Infaiitr.v
Finally our soldiers were compelled ti
give up some of their gains by tin
pn SSUre of our own as well us tin
French tire, but regained this ground
afterwards. Strangely enough, tin
residence section previously mentioned
bad not suffered seriously. All the
houses flew the Bed Cross and Well
used as temporary hospitals.
Here It was reported that Belgians
mutilated German soldiers. Whctber
tills were true, or only a rumor, slmllai
to others being constantly started bj
German soldiers, I cannot say, but I
do know that on August 24, after tht
French hud retired. It was made
known through an army order that
German soldiers had been murdered
there, and that the German army could
not leave the scene of these outrages
without first avenging the victims.
It was ordered by the commander
of the army to level the remainder ol
the city and to show no mercy. As we
took a short rest from our pursuit of
the enemy and looked backward clouds
of smoke to the eastward showed that
the order had beeu executed. A re
maining battery of artillery had re
(To be coo tinned)
Hemingford
News Items
Mrs Izetta LetSpeICa was looking
after business matters heie the first
of the week, returning to her home
In Alliance Monday.
o
William Cory made a business
trip to aJlMJUM the first of the we. k
Mr. and Mrs. John Sampy came in
from Sioux county last Friday and
spent a few duvs at the Shepherd
home.
ume three and going strong.
F. M Broome, proprietor of the
Ant loch NOWUi and receiver of the
United States land office at Valentine,
was in the city last Wednesday on
business.
lied Cross headquarters will be
(dosed on Saturday except for one
hour from 5 to 6 o'clock In the aft
ernoon Mrs S. W. IT. on M.n
chairman.
Mr. and Mrs Mellck, from Hop
kins, Mo., came Friday morning on
41 to visit their children living here.
o
William Rider left Saturday Bight
for a few days visit with friends and
relatives at Anselmo, Nebr.
Miss Belva Q el ger and Mrs. Bus
sell Miller were shopping In Alliance
Thursday between trains.
Word was received from Mrs. A.
G. Dan torn, who in in the hospital
at Omaha, that she Ib getting along
nicely.
o
Mrs. C. H BurleW was Shopping in
Alliance Monday between trains.
Mrs. B. 0 Shepherd entertained
the Solo club last Friday at a birth
day supper in honor of Mr. Shepherd,
i o-
Mrs. Vaughan and little daughter
from Alliance came up the first of the
week for a few days' visit at the I'ot-
meall home.
It. id to Happiness
He amiable, cheerful and good nn
tured and you are much more likely
to be happy. You will find this dif
ficult if not Impossible, however,
you are constantly trouble I
oi tstlputlon. fa v Cliumh.-r
lahh f and get rid of Hi. it and
easy. These tablets not
the hovels, but improve
when
with
lute, s
it will he
only DlOV4
(tn. ,. ...... 4 1 ..r.,1 . . ..n,..l.... , l. n !
. ... ..,''.-...v .noi r. i eum ii. -ii in.- ni
cest ion. For sale by druggists.
Wion (oJars
-rimmr iinrpnm -w- trammel
In the
NEWEST
SHAPES
at the
Keep-U-Neat
Miis Helen Green was a passenger
to Alliance Monday on 44, returning
on 43.
Miss Hattle Crimes closed a very
successful term of school in the
Kenthe district, Friday, April 26.
Bmil Herncall, an old-time resident
of this place, is visiting friends and
relatives here at this writing.
A very large crowd attended the
Red Cross dance at the opera house
Saturday night. The dunce wus given
by the Peltz orchestra.
Mrs. Shady was a west bound pas
senger Saturday on 43 for Crawford
for an over-Sunday visit.
The March edition of The Nebras
ka Printer has just reached our desk.
This little printer's mag. Is getting
potter with every issue and Brother
A. D. Scott, publisher, is filling with
it a long felt want. It is now in vol
Beautiful
Sanitary-
Low-priced A
The beautiful coloring and
dainty designs found in Con
goleum Art-Rugs will be a
revelation to you. And when
you see for yourself that they
are washable, waterproof
and sanitary, you will under
stand why they have made
such a sensation throughout
the country.
Iu addition to their beauty.
they have two features that
make frienda for them on
sight. They lie flat on the
floor without fastening and
cannot be "kicked up" at the
edges.
Where can you buy a beauti
ful, waterproof, washable,
durable rug like Congoleum
for the small price we ask ?
Come in t od ay
GLEN MILLER
WILL HAVE ABOUT
4000
Head of Cattle
At Fremont, Nebraska
For Sale. As Follows:
About May 5th. 1000 head three
and four year old steers.
May 10th. 1000 head of two year
old steers.
May 20th. 1000 head of yearling
steers and 1000 head of two year
old steers.
If in the market for stock cattle
write or wire
A. C. SIBBITT,
Hyannis, Nebr.
