TERRIBLE DETAILS OF HUH VANDALISM

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9618, 26 March 1917, Page 5

TERRIBLE DETAILS OF HUH VANDALISM

WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF FRENCH TOWNS INHABITANTS STARVED, ROBBED, AND ENSLAVED.

From Captain Malcolm Ross, Official Correspondent with New Zealand Forces at the Front. X. z. HEADQUARTERS, Thursday Night. During the past few days I have beer- in the area, of the Ocnnan retioat, and have witnessed some oi ; the most tragic scenes ot 1 ih<s ' vur * i le mans in their retreat have destroyed, desecrated, and denied. rrom Viiiag to village one goes from bud to worse. , I was in Veronno the morning after the German retreat, and made minute examination, enabling me to say that the calculated destruction »5 the retreating ononvy was diabolical in its thoroughness and vindictivenoHs. All houses that had not been touched by shell lire wore blown to bits with ng 1 explosives, and nil furniture and household goods and treasures or tho lato nhabitants were smashed with axes, hammers, and picks. liven tho bandies of the instruments of destruction were then themselves destroyed. • The town was a scene of empty desolation. The trees ot tho bcautum avenue were hacked half-way through, and all orchard trees sawn down. 1 ires were still burning to-day. , I have visited other villages, where woo is added to desolation. , -Y women, old men, and children were left. The children were pale-tacod and thin, and they stared at one with all their childish merriment gone. , There had been neither meat nor milk in some of these villages tor months The people were virtually hold in bondage. All the cattle and provisions had been commandeered, and oven tho young girls made to work hard at wooaouopping and other tasks. _ . . , ... , Mnoh of tho fowl sent from America and Spain to the inhabitants was taken by the army and the children died through ill nourishment. The intcrcstiivg fact was elicited .that the German soldiers have been bh - Iv fed for tho past six months, but the officers bought food in Belgium, and lived fairly well. Behind one officers’ mess I saw a pile of between 15UO and 2000 empty bottles that had held expensive wines and liqueurs. Latterly some of the soldiers had cried when sent forward to the trenches, while others had refused to go, and were shut in an attic without food tor t ur The Germans expressed the bitterest hatred of Groat Britain, and realise that they cannot now win. , . . , . In private houses they smashed pianos, mirrors, and piettiies, destroy libraries, and carried off all tho valuables they could lay their hands on. In tho mortuary chapel of one chateau they broke npen the coffin of t io owner, who had been burned in 1859, cut into the load coffin, and left the body partly revealed. They also strewed the altar vestments about For miles one went through avenues and orchards in which scarcely a ,.° had been left standing. The scenes witnessed were such as loft the saddest impression, and called loudly for assistance from all civilised countries towaids the punishment of the barbarous militarism that caused thorn.

fl SATURNALIA OF BESTIALITY VILLAGERS ASSEMBLED TO WITNESS DESTRUCTION. GHOULISH AND OBSCENE ACTS OF GERMANS. United Service Telegram. (Received March 25, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. March 23. Mr Beach Thomas, describing the condition of the reoccupied districts evacuated by the Germans, states that the residents’ faces and gestures depict weakness and illness. They tell pitiful stones of the invaders last brutalities. The villagers were assembled while their homes were being burned. they had been, enslaved latterly and almost .starved The high mortality was owing to lack of milk and other necessaries- The retreating Gei mans indulged in a Saturnalia of bestiality, breaking open coffins, scribbling obscenities in churches and defiling sacred places.

POISONING OF WELLS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED

.Reuter’s Telegrams. (Received March 25, 5.5

PARIS, March 23. The newspapers relate heartrending stories of famished children found waredering ghostlike amidst the ruins of their Homos. Soldiers .supplied the inhabitants of some districts with the first food they had eaten ior cla>s. Inej had had no meat since September and no milk ior a year. 1 hey never rouoived a quarter of the rations supplied from the American relief fund. There is appalling devastation everywhere along the lino of retreat. At Chaunv 1800 out of houses were destroyed, including churches and public buildings. All males between the ages of U and 16 were carried off. Tho enemy horded the women, children and tho feeblest of the inhabitants in thirteen of the surrounding communes m-to a certain quarter of the town and then trained guns upon this quarter, killing and wounding many. It is officially confirmed that the Germans are poisoning the wells with arSe ßdutor’s headquarters correspondent reports that the inhabitants left behind state that tho Bosches.have been talking a; good deal lately and it-would airoear that they know more of the true situation than, is generally believed. There is universal apprehension of another great British offensive. Indeed one possible reason for the retreat may well have been the dubity of the High Command as to whether the men would face another feomraa battle.

RETREAT OF THE HUNS THE KAISER ENRAPTURED. Australian and New Zealand Cable Association and Reuter. (Received March 25, 5.5 p.m.) I AMSTERDAM. March 24. A German official message states that the Kaiser sent tlio following letter to the King of Bavaria: “We owe. the brilliant carrying out of the great army movement on the Western front, firstly to the successful action of your son Rummecht. The whole performance deserves the highest appreciation. Historically it will be a page of glory. It is ray extraordinary joy to inform you of thlS ’Berlin official: The Kaiser, ini a message to General von Hindenburg, ears -The movements on the front in France are most important for the general situation. You and Eudendorf have decided upon this measure, thus creating a new base for further warfare.”

PRINCE RUPPRECHT’S ARMY

POSSIBLY A BIG BATTLE IMMINENT.

Australian and New Zealand Cable Association. (Received March 25, 11.50 p.m.)

There are indications that Prince Rupprechfs army arc hastily establishing themselves on lines between St. Quentin and Cambrai, the approaches to which .are barred by two systems of advanced trendies. The British, profiting by frost and darkness, are bringing up their artillery by leaps and bounds. ° The newspapers express the opinion that possibly a. big battle is imminent. Tho enemy’s resistance on the French sector is energetically increasing, the cavalry in the rear being active.

OBJECT OF WANTON DESTRUCTION WARNING OF CONSEQUENCES OF RETREAT. RETIREMENT NO SURPRISE TO THE BRITISH. Bj Telegraph—Preia Association—Copyright. Australian and New Zealand Cable Association. NEW YORK, March 23. The London correspondent of the “New York Times” interviewed MajorGeneral F B Maurice (Director of Military Operations, Imperial General Staff) who said:—“The Germans blew.up every important cross road in their retreat and wrought diabolical havoc amongst buildings and public works, This wanton destruction was not a military precaution, and it did not stop tho B rlt 1 hat tho Germans threaten to destroy any portion of Franco in their hands if they are compelled to continue their retreat. : "The present retirement did nor surprise the British, but it is impossible to say where tho Germans will make a stand-