EXCUSES FOR SAVAGERY.

North Otago Times, Volume CI, Issue 13234, 4 March 1915, Page 7

EXCUSES FOR SAVAGERY.

; TRAIL OF THE INDIAN/ - ! BELGIANS PROVOKBD TO * .:• '■■ -REPRISALS. . ■ ' ( / ; [By "Alfred' Bteidi, "Express" Specii' ■' '.'■''• Correspondent,). • • ' ; •■ ' • ,'', OSTfiND,' September -I,', . I-was; fortunate in being able ..tor-, have from,'the mouth .of an eyc-witneea 'of high' standing,' who had jusUrnvcd,-. from'the neighbourhood of Mons, some account of the German invasion in' the|, Hainaut. ' ' .„' '.I .M. Leon liiard, Genator of ■Hainaut. and'one of the largest manufacturers'in,' »Belgium, only left his tome at Haipo St, Fierre: on Sunday. Ho-f«t that he could no longer'contain himself, add was boiling over with rage_at the conj stapt indignities and 'horrors which no ■ 6awar oun d him. '■ ' , • /: ] He was-given a laissez-passu.by.W: wounded German officer of thcJmper<al. Gfuarfl, and had this vindd at Bra;ine.-le|. (,'omtc byi'a major of the Landsturm., ) 1 This fact is of interest since it.shc-WB\ that thcrd.aro..Landsturm .regiment?, also engaged-in tho blow at.Pans., At Braine-10-Comte- ■ there, wero/'Somo; 10,000 Germans, principally elderly men, ; and looking as if they had- not stood. ; tbo'strain of war well at all. _, ', ' From Brninc-lc-Corate, Which is on ; tjio'mainOetman road to Mons and-Val-enciennes, there were no moro German., 'troops, save k patrol at Enghicn. The . Germans are passing all their reinforcements through Soigncs, Mons, and Valenciennes, while their wounded • are evacuated in the direction of Wavre. ,

Killing Thoir Own. ' | M.Hiard testifies to tho astounding fact that the Germans kill their own severely wounded on tho field of battle, only caring for those who can soon' be made fit for battle again. ; j The G'ermans occupied Haine- St. Pierre before the battle of Mons and requisitioned everything Revolver in hand, threatening death for unpunetu? alitv or disobedience, the German oftiocrs spread terror into the hearts ofi the inhabitants. At Peronnc Die mayor, M. Gravis, had very imprudently caused all the arms of the inhabitants to bo deposited ft his house instead of tho town hall. He also carried a revolver, and some of his carts 1 ad been used to bar a road. lie was taken before the German genernl at the town hall with his secretary. The seance was short. " Vou.s fusille," said the gciiWl, and the unfortunate man was led out blindfolded and shot. As the secretary was following him a more kindly officer said in his car, "Mais lile/.douc, imbecile," and pushed him on one side. The body of M. Gravis was propped tip against a wall for forty-eight hours as an example to the .town. Men wcro billeted in all the houses, and, although in the better houses the officers' behaved with some rcstiaint, jn the* peaI pfiiits' cottages unbridled license was I the rule.

Awful Scenes. Women were violated, indescribable scenes of filth and.debauchery took place, while all the possessions of the unfortunates were wilfully wasted and destroyed. The licry-tcinpercd people were being driven to reprisals, so that an excuse for further cruelly might bo found.

Hostages were taken from the town, among them the cure, who protested; saying he was-only a poor man and of no influence, there were no Catholics there, only Socialists and Liberals, and advising them to take the Senator Hiard as a hostage, Hut luckily for him they did not. All tlic lorries ami horses were commandeered and nil the foodstuffs. One curious item Of information was that a German officer, leaving in a hurry, left in a house his map.. This was one printed in Belgium, and had all tho towns to be occupied underlined in red, while all the railway'lines to be used were marked in blue. ." There were many signs after the battle of lions that the Germans had suffered heavily—the remnants which returi/.i to the village 1- ked dazed'and crestfallen—all spoke bittcily of the courage of the British. well they might, because it was the Expeditionary Force's right wing which had J dono ao"much damage. Trap for Germaaj.. , One force of 250 British must have accounted for literally thousands of Germans. All along the line of retreat they had prepared defences, mado with bags full of potash, found in a neighbouring factory; through- these were placed- Maxims, and on top Gorman helmets. ,

The first time the Germans came up to this seemingly friendly line there was the R-r-r-r-r-'h of the Maiims, and no living German left. And so on, again and again, tho defenders suffering little loss. Mons suffered fearfully, and the neighbourhood was devastated. The Mone-C'ondc Canal did not only run red, it ceased to run at all,' arid it was possible to cross dry shod, save for blood, on the bodies of killed. .' , After the battle the German army passed on, tho heavy artillery going to[wards Maubcuge, tho main body ;of | troops towards Valeocionnes and Paris. I M. Hiard could scarcely contain himself when he spoke of the.destruction of his villages, wantonly and individually, because tho factories verb not [destroyed. It was'tlio license of the individual, not the policy of the army, that'produced the horrors. And if this I be on the way forward, what of the way I back!