German Atrocities.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 121, 15 October 1914, Page 8

German Atrocities.

TIIiB JMOUHAX EXPELiIEXCKS. SOME COXVIXCiXG EXAMPLES. J.oiHK.n', A;y«c>L 21. I -Most luiyislunen oi' the. Uv.i-r class have shown a very laudable d-,s.pns:,ioii to discount vury lieaVM' the {-.ones which have been pubushco" in tin.' ]u;m-1s cuncomuig German bru'.alilk.-;. bat they are being slowly anil driven to tin; wnviction that in many <;i:irti<ri Hit •. Knisw's troo]'.i are c.v ilul>.t !))},'a fcrocaty in their .re.ul.m.-nt ol e;viUan w whie.li cannot 'lji« juvjl'u-d !.,,■ ' Hit) exigencies of war, mor by the behaviour of the civilians. -Many hoirible talcs have been told of bi utalitr UJ! various (juai'fcers cve.r sim-n ','ae war began, but, we have been very loth to 'believe them, and it now wcnis clear that many of .the reports reeeiied in Kn«land were sov,:i'tniTi;,' miorc tiiau mere exayjrcnit ions of iliunc ri'{.Tcttali|i> incidents uliieji are almo.i,, bound to ofctir ilurini; the mareh of lroo;m though liosti'ln country. At the sarns' lime, it is lieeoiiiine' only too jwival Hut, with or without provocation, some of the <!enn:wi soldiers have behaved 'with 'Jiiflnk'ish. cruelty Howards the civil population, of those towns and villages "which they have had .to paxs Micir advaiu-e upon .Hn:.,sels. There i,no need to rely upon Mn> statements of unknown., lidter writers for evidence of (!ifli:i:«ii outrages on nun-coinbaianV 'i'he Jhiiooniuster (vr Ma .or. as we should call lnim) of ILinsmciui. in I'.elgiinn, hii, 4 sworn to crrlain facN relating to llhe conduct of the invaders- hi ?ii.vil<la»e, whilst nun-chin;' from Thehuoiu to llantmt.

"Somo IliHlnrai) Hu>sirs." 'he said. "were surprised ■]>>- a. p ;l U'ol of Jiel-iun

soldiers, who killed one of the enemy's odicuTs and made one prisoner. Our soldiers had ord«rs to fall back oa Tirleniont, when a detachment of 300 io 400 Uhlans appeared at Linsineau with three mitiaJiieusea. They accused the inhabitants of murdering tlheii officer, though uhere had ibeen no hostile demonstration by t&o townspeople. The firSt inhabitant they saw, a (young man., ;wa<s shot under the pretext itkat he was a Bpy. Then a neighbor suffered a. like fate. They next murdered a husband and wife, and setting the house on lire Ithrew the two bodies into the flames. Tho Germans them burned ten farms and killed two more people. In other houses they destroyed everything «xcept the provisions. They then gathered together what remained of tho.maJc poulation and made them lie and kneel down sm-eral times amd Hake an oath over the dead body of the killed' officer, Those who; wore not agile enough the soldiers pricked with, tiheir bayonets. Ono who tried to escape was) shot. The inhabitants were kept priaooere during the night.

"The Germans made the people pass 'm front of the quick-firing guns, saying ■that in an instant they would be Mown to pieces. They aimed at them wiUh their revolvers and fired, blowing off the (Bra of several! people. The whole time thi e scene was being enacted mi officer repeated, "They must all foe hanged. At last they released theso Unfortunate people wfth *he exception of about a dozen, whom they harnessed to their mitrailleuses. Soma .not being aiblo to follow, were fastened 'by llhfeir feet, their heads 'kitookiing against the ground. This frightful treatment to.suited in eight di.&tbs, and) the fate of ten others is unknown. In a neighboring village the Germans murdered three ,men; that was in a dnstrictt! where people gave them aJI they demanded. In anotlier official! communication from Paris the following story is nairntted on the ftutahority of e fpecial or,-' if.-'iii-y:—

"On the nioTning ef the lltii a German officer, accompanied by fouT or fiTii mounted men, casme to Jwnny and ordered the. Mayor to deposit within an 'li»ur at the Town Hall all Mhe arms tthat the inhabitanto might pofte»». Half an 'hour afterwards a man named Oblignon . . . obeying the ord.ir, went to the Town Hall to hamd over >hia weapon. At a corner of Mic road he met a section of German infantry. On seeing them lie hurriedly retreat-«!, hut the German soldiers rfired at him fleveral times, though without (hitting ihim. Aihnodt immediately afterwards one of the soldiers diaished at him and ran him through with the bayonet. Two Tiouia lat'rm 'Colignon diied. ". . J "The Sergeant of gendarmes at Pillon has forwarded iflie following deposition from an inhabitant:—"On the moming of the 10th thie Germans inTaded PiJlori. '. . . At about a quainter past eSghit. or nine I was in <miy I>aTn wiUh mm wife and daughter when tiro infantrymen came in. Without Raying a word the I'on-cttmmissioned officer lit a match in ( mv presence and set fiirc *o a hoa.p ,of hay Ithat was in th© barn. After firing it the two laoldiiern seized me f ?>rutally and 1 took nie away with them. They took me to the fields near Mnngienncs. About an tiotir later two other inOinbitants of Pillon, the oure and M. Debrrmx, were brought to wWe I was. by Germans. About three o'clock in the afternoon, while we were still in tlie fields, the Gorman trowps (immTently i-tmeA by Pillon. We hid Mind a ledge, when a German foot soldier, ( Vho saw me,, came towards m« and fired at close raa<«e, liittiiyj me in tlhe 'shoulder. . . When the Germans entered Pillon no one "offered any Tesistnrace, but thefy ifired a score, of houses in the same way. Ido not know where the C\ir P ami M. Debreux escaped to, nor can I give you the names of the other people who witnessed the German brutality.'

' "T>ist, a French Brigadier-General Ban asked tho OomimandeMn-Ohief to publish *h e following fact:—'A Hutear who was captured iby tire German was carried oft* by thorn. Tho German soldier cut his throat in the presence' of the inhabitants of a Til?a?<> in Alaace, irlto ■have reported the affair.'"