A NATION'S SACRIFICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15750, 27 October 1914, Page 8

A NATION'S SACRIFICE.

BARBARIANS IN BELGIUM. STORIES OF OUTRAGES. DEFENCE OF ANTWERP. [by teleckath.—owx correspondent.] CirßiSTCircßcrr, Monday. A letter has been received by the Rev. Eliot Chambers, of Lyttelton, from Mr. Alec. Barr, formerly chief officer of the steamer Maori, who at the time of writing was engaged in the defence of Antwerp. Some years ago Mr. Barr married the daughter of jtfi English merchant, resident in Antwerp. He left New Zealand some three months ago as an officer in the steamer Whakatune. and on arriving in Antwerp he joined the forces prepared for the defence of the city. "Another attack has been made on the city by Zeppelins," Mr. Barr writes. "Our house is only a hundred yards inside the inner forts on the true south side of , the city, and it was at this part the ' attack was made, so that we had a good view of it all. The bombs thrown fell into the water that surrounds the forts, so that little damage was done to the surroundings. The noise, however, was terrific. Tho city is quiet enough, yet there is a continual strained feeling; the people remain on the footpath till all hours in little groups discussing the situation in awed tones. The men keep watch while the women and children sleep, and at the signal of attack all hands get into the cellars, which are all strongly built and under every house. The Red Cross flies everywhere, and all hospitals are full of wounded. Every Britisher should lake off his hat to the Belgians to-day— the gallantry of their little army is the talk of nations. Saluting the Wounded. "L and I were privileged, as Britishers, to witness the arrival of the wounded at tho hospital close to us after the big battle at Mechlin. There were thousands of them in specially-fitted trains. Officers stood to attention as they were carried in and saluted them as they passed. It was a great sightone we shall never forget. The confidence of these people in England is tremendous. We, however, are disgusted with the number of Britishers who left, as soon as war started young men and girls whose knowledge of languages would have made them invaluable here—and the Belgian people have noticed this and comment about it. Everywhere we go we hear expressions of surprise in Flemish: ' W,hy, there's an Englishman here yet!' It is too true, unfortunately, that few besides ourselves remain. Tale of 'a Refugee. This was told by a refugee from a captured town on his way to Holland, in his own words: 'On arrival at the railway station we had to put women on one side and the men on the other, and the men were handcuffed. On the station square dead bodies of citizens were piled up. The town was a mass of flames. Escorted to Campenhout, we witnessed the murder of six priests, locked in a church. Fresh prisoners were admitted frequently. The cries of the women and children were awful. If a prisoner remonstrated ho was shot. Ultimately we were taken out and placed in front of the German troops to check the Belgian advance, and in this way hundreds were shot down. Then they escorted us back with the fresh prisoners added, and stood us in rows by the station, and every time a German soldier was shot one of these men and women were, not shot, but slaughtered, and the women outraged. '' There Was no mercy.. The town was aglow with fire, and tho gutters ran blond. The beautiful boulevard was strewn with corpses of men, women, and children, and priests, and the sun rose on what was left of us. I, fainting, was left for dead.' "This was told by a friend of L—'s, and this is only one little incident of many that daily come under our notice. Sufferings of Women. The worst feature of the whole war is the frightful tortures the Germans have inflicted on the women and girls. I was at Malines just before the Germans came in. The bright-faced girls who attended in the cafes in a few hours were the prey to the brutality of the Germans. "ft is awful beyond description, but I suppose your papers tell you better than I canand whatever they tell you is not too bad. Nor would it be possible to exaggerate the sadness of it all. "Au revoir. Remember the Belgians' womenfolk when you feel proud of the British nation, and when bursting your lungs with a cheer don't forget the Belgian Army. For if the Belgians had not held the Germans as long as they did God knows what the result would have been, for France and England were not ready." WAR UPON WOMEN. MUTILATION OF CHILDREN. [lit TKLEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] CHRiSTCirrRCH, Monday. Mrs. A. Cable, of the Women's Committee of Workers at Port Chalmers, has received a letter from London written by an Otago lady engaged in active Red Cross work. The writer was in the midst of the suffering, and to her the story of German atrocities was no tale based on hearsay. She saw the victims of most appalling and gruesome atrocities. Two English girls became insane as the result of meeting some German troops on the Continent.

"The Belgians have staved off the horror from us," says the writer, "but if tlio German brutes had come hero the women had determinrfH to end themselves rather than fall into the invaders' hands."

I "The horror of outraged Belgium is | reflected in the state of the refugees in England. A little boy had both his hands cut off because" he clapped his hands when he saw a British flag flying from a house; but that, fiendish as it was. constituted a comparatively trifling instance of the atrocities perpetrated. A nurse was due to arrive in London from the front on the day the letter was written, and both her hands had been chopped off. British soldiers, lying helplessly wounded on the ground, had had their eyes gouged out by the enemy. And this," the letter commented, " "is the doings of peace-loving Christianity!" HERALD BELGIAN FUND. TOTAL TO DATE £341. The total amount now paid to the Herald Belgian relief fund is £341 16s bd, and contributions continue to be received. Yesterday the following additional subscriptions were, handed in :—Rev. S. A Goldstein, £2; Mr. L. Harsant, fil'lV; Miss A. Harsant, £1 l s; " Adhmi "2s bd. ' A lecture, entitled '-Round the World " in aid of the fund will be delivered this evening at a-quarter to eight o'clock by the Rev. Nicholas Turner in the East Street Hall, Newton. He will deal with his recent tour as follows:—In the Pacific, Honolulu, Canada, the ' Rockies, Niagara Falls, American cities ; beamy spots of England and Scotland, I Pans, Genoa, Pisa. Florence, Rome. Naples. Pompeii, Colombo, etc. Over 200 i pictures will be shown. STEAMER'S ESCAPE. EXPLOSION UNDER STERN. The Dutch-American liner Koordam, of 12.531 tons, has arrived at Rotterdam with her steering gear wrecked. This mishap occurred through an explosion j under her stern. Tho severity of the explosion was such that a column of water was thrown into the air as high as the vessel's funnel, but I she is not leaking anywhere.