THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: AUGUST 5, '1917.
GERMANS TORTURE
DEPORTED BELGIANS
Report Reaches Havre of Atro
cities Practiced by "Slave
, Drivers" Compelling Civ
ilians to Work.
Havre, France, July 21. "Torture
Cff the post," "punishment in the
tank," pretended execution by a fir
ing squad or exposure to storms with
out being properly clothed, are some
of the methods systematically used by
the Germans to compel deported Bel
gian civilians to labor for the Ger
man army, according to evidence
which has been received by the Bel
gian government. Another method
is to apply corporal punishment, often
with the butt of a rifle, or to force the
Belgians who refuse to work for Ger
many to run for two hours or less
without stopping, menaced all the
time with a bayonet.
According to' the government an
nouncement, this evidence accords in
all details, and shows that deported
Belgian, civilians are systematically
subjecte'd to mistreatment in order to
compel them to work. Under this
treatment many of the deportees suc
cumb, while a larger proportion are
so weakened that they become in
capable of physical effort.
The "torture of the post" is de
cribed as one of the principal meas
ures resorted to by the Germans.
Moutly fettered to posts, the men are
exposed to heat, or cold, according to
the season, for days together, during
which the food rations are reduced
until they reach the proportions of
a half ration only for two days' sub
sistence. Punishment of Tank.
The "punishment in the tank" is a
severe application of the Turkish bath.
Several witnesses have confirmed this
fact, among them the son of a man
ufacturer of the region of Antwerp,
who with several of his comrades was
snut up m a small room heated to a
very high temperature. There was
' nly room in the place for them to
stand erect verv rni? tncnMiir on
scarcely able to turn. They were left
mere iwenry-iour nours.
men iney were lea to a tactory in
the neighborhood, where they were
asked if thev would en n uinrt- TTnr,n
thoir refusal, they were taken to a
reia unaer military escort, divested
by force of their overcoats, shoes,
scarfs, and hats and caps, and ex
posed to a snowstorm an entire day
and an entire night, with nothing to
eat or annk ana under the absolute
prohibition to make the slightest
movement-. Srim n( tViem nt rn.
sciousness after a few hours of this
exposure, and all of them were taken
10 uic nospuai me lonowing aay.
The son of the Antwerp manufac
turer, a stout, robust man at the time
or tne deportation, was sent home a
complete physical wreck a short time
arterwara ana since has died trom the
mistreatment. He toW his sufferings
to the physician who treated him and
the Belgian envprnmpnt- is in nna.
session of the evidence as given to
the doctor.
Soldiers Confirm Report.
Two soldiers from Havre, the Le
bris brothers, who escaped from Ger
mailV. confirm this pviHpnr rpcrarM
ing the Turkish bath form of pun-
isnmenr.
A number nf u?tnpes rati affA
tion to the fact that frequently groups
r deported men have been the object
t a simulated execution, sometimes
by a firing squad, sometimes with ma
chine guns, in order to overcome their
resistance and impress their com
rades.
straint used upon the deported in the
form of punishment camps, where the
regime is still more severe than In
tne otner interned camps and where
the deoorted are forrrd tn wnrlr in the
marshes, often in most excessively
cold weather, dressed in nothing but
trousers, shirt and wooden shoes,
without food, during an entire day.
Some of the deported are sent to
agricultural centers, whence, accord
ing to the evidence of a man from
Verviers who escaped from Germany,
most or the victims return so entee-
bled that it is impossible for them
to keep on their feet.
Pnrnnra! nunishment ic fremientlv
- r t. . . . - -
employed, such as blows with the butt
or a rine or iorcea running tor pe
riods up to two hours without stop-
nine tinker mpnare nf the hnvnnet
The evidence shows thaht the mortal
ity among men subjected to these dif-
fprent' fnrmc nf mictreattnpnf ic alarm
ing. Evidence regarding the camp of
deported Belgians of Soltau shows
mat tne men are oacuy loagea, under
fed, illy clothed, brutalized, seques
tered, deprived of all diversion and
distraction and refused any kind of
spiritual consolation.
Belligerents Meat to Talk
Over Prisoners of War
(Correspondence of The Associated Press.)
London, July 15. Commenting on
the meeting of the British and Ger
man delegates at The Hacue. to con.
sider questions relating to prisoners,
the Law Journal says:
"It has always been understood
hitherto that the state of war oper
ates a complete severance of all re
lations between the belligerents ex-
cept that of pure force. This is the
explanation of the common practice,
followed universally in the present
war, whereby the belligerents deal
with each other through the interven
tion of neutral powers. The present
meeting is, it is suggested, without
precedent in the history of interna
tional law. Its importance does not
end there. It almost seems as if we
are at last becoming emancipated from
the chains of the old-fashioned di
plomacy, whivh almost deliberately
made it impossible for belligerents
fairly and squarely to talk out their
causes of friction face to face. The
new departure is one from which
much may be hoped for in other di
rections.
Germans Plan to Build
Factories in Denmark
(Correspondence of The Associated Press.)
Copenhagen, July IS. Germany is
believed to be making preparations
for the establishment in Denmark and
Sweden of a large number of branches
of well known German factories and
industrial firms, says the Svenska
Dagbladet. These plans, if carried
out, would be very detrimental to neu
tral trade, since the countries, ot the
allies would be naturally suspicious
of all neutral firms which might be
serving Germin interests. The paper
suggests a combination of industry
and finance to offset this German influence.
REGISTRATION DAY
FOR HAWAII MEN
Names of Residents of Island
Territory Are Being Re
corded for Selective
Army Draft.
Honolulu, T. H., July 31. The men
of Hawaii between the ages of 21
and 30 are registering today, under
the registration provision of the se
lective draft act.
Hawaii is several weeks behind the
rest of the country because, it is stated
by local army authorities, this terri
tory already has more than its quotA
of men under arms, the personnel ot
the National Guard being in excess
of the number of soldiers Hawaii
would be called upon to furnish for
the first draft.
Registration in Hawaii is a much
more complicated and difficult orob
Iem than it was on the mainland, on
account of the polyglot nature of the
population. The registration board
was many weeks in making prepara
tions for today, for the reason that
there are dozens of different national
ties represented in the population, and
it was necessary to take steps to bring
to their notice in their own several
languages the necessity and require
ments for registration.
A large staff of .interpreters had to
be assembled, to translate into
Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish
and many other languages, the regis
tration proclamation and the instruc
tions for registration. This staff has
been at work for weeks, and the sev
eral islands of the territory have been
plasteredwith notices in the various
languages impressing the male popu
lation with the necessity for all those
not spcciricially exempt to register
whether liable for draft or not.
Orientals Interested.
Many of the orientals have shown
great interest in the work and not a
few Japanese and Chinese volunteered
0 A
their services free as translators.
In proportion to the number of
those liable for draft, Hawaii may be
called upon to furnish a heavier quota
of soldiers than any other part of
the United States. This is because,
while all males between 21 and 30
years of age and not exempted as
members off the National Guard or
other military bodies are required to
register, only citizens are liable to
draft, yet the number to be drafted is
based upon total registration and not
upon citizen registration.
And in Hawaii considerably more
than half of the population is non
citizen and an inordinate proportion
of it is male and unmarried. This is
particularly true of the Japanese, who
are nearly half the total population
of the islands. Most of them are gen
erally comparatively young wio came
to Hawaii as laborers before the so
called "gentlemen's" agreement be
tween Japan and the United States
went into effect and who came as sin
gle men. Many of them have since
sent to Japan for "picture brides,"
but the proportion of unmarried men
among them is very large.
Many Are Liable.
It is roughly estimated that out of
a total population of 226,000 in the
territory there will be found to be
as the result of registration today ap
proximately 15.000 men who are lia-
Die tor military service under the
terms of the selective draft act. And
virtually all of the 15,000 will come
from the white and Hawaiian races,
the orientals, except such as were
born here, being ineligible.
The work of registration is being
handled by the regular election ma
chinery, presided over by the county
clerks and sheriffs. The offer of the
republican and democratic territorial
committees to give the use of their
machinery was declined by the regis
tration board on the ground that it
might give a political tinge to the oc
casion. Registration day was declared a le
gal holiday by Governor Finkham
and the result is that practically all of
the business houses are closed today
in order that nothing may interfere
with the employes of those houses
registering.
Americans in English Unis
Return Home for Military
(Correspondence of The Assoclsted Pres..)
Oxford, England. July 15. Most
American Rhodes scholars have ob
tained indefinite leave of absence and
are either returning home for mili
tary training or are continuing their
training in England, expecting to join
the American forces in France. The
majority already have had two
months training with the Oxford uni
versity officers' training corps.
Virtually no Americans are expected
to be in residence next year.
Air Raid Dangers Cause
Removal of Colored Glass
(Correspondence of The Associated Press.)
York. July 15. The famous stained
BlaSS windows of York rathertral r
to be removed because of air raids.
tne clean ot lork stated in a sermon
recently.
Slightly Lower Tonnage
Enters Mersey Last Year
(Correspondence of The Assoclsted Press.)
Liverpool, July 15. The annual
statement of the Mersey docks and
harbor board shows the number of
vessels which paid rates and harbor
dues from July 1, 1916, to July 1,
1917, exclusive of government vessels
to be 16,747, representing 14,018,652
tons; a decrease of 1,995 vessels and
1,661,291 tons compared with the pre
vious twelve months.
' The total tonnage entering and
leaving the Mersey during the last
year was 28,037,304 tons, against 31,
359,866 tons last year.
Camel Corps to Get Same
Payment as Cavalrymsn
London, Aug. 3. A royal warrant
orders the formation of a new
"Camel Corps," officers and men of
which will receive the same pay as
those in cavalry regiments.
Bee Want Ads produce results.
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PHENIX TRUCK MAKERS, Inc.
. Francis Truck Company
Omaha, Neb.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
