THE GERMAN FIRE-BUGS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2303, 10 November 1914, Page 6

THE GERMAN FIRE-BUGS

MACHINE-MADE RUIN ARMIES EQUIPPED WITH FIRE- ' . LIGHTERS "Not only wore hand bombs of various sizes and descriptions earned by the Germans Jor destroying property, but each soldier was supplied with a quantity ot .small black discs little bigger than a sixpenny piece." "1 6a\v some of these discs, which had been, taken from German soldiers on the held of battle. These were described to me as being composed of compressed benzine. "Wliou lighted they bum brilliantly for a few minutes, and are sufficient to start whatever lire is necessary after the explosion of the bomb."

'J-liis further evidence of a perfectly organised system of wanton destruction by the German, invaders is provided by Mr. J. H. AVhitehouse, M.P., who in September returned from a visit which ho paid to Belgium with the object of ascertaining the present condition and needs of the civilian population. "I was received by the members of the Belgian Cabinet with the utmost courtesy," Jlr. Whitehouse writes. "They gave me every possible facility lor seeing their country, and their anxiety throughout was that I should have as lull knowledge as possible of the conditions in. order to give here an accurate report.

"I do not think anyone here has realised the plight of the civilian population in Belgium to-day, and 1 can only attempt to give any picture of this by describing some of ray own experiences. On the morning of Saturday, September 26, I was informed that it would be possible for me to be taken as far as Termonde, and we started .at midday in two military cars, attended by a staff officer and others. We left Antwerp by a temporary bridge across the Scheldt to the south-west of the city, and' I was shown the nature of the defences around Antwerp; of these Ido not propose to speak. I was also enabled to estimate, something of the damage which the Belgians had had to iuliict upon themselves in.order to supplement the defences of their city.

Antwerp Sacrifices Millions,

: "Hundreds of thousands of trees liad been cut down, so that at' points of the journey we Jiad the impression of passing through a wilderness of roots, ■the trunks ,had all been removed, so as to afford no cover to the enemy; al! the "houses had been blown, up or otherwise destroyed; and later we passed through country which had been flooded as a further. .measure of defence. The damage of these precautionary measures alone amounted to about £10,000,000: sterling. •. . "At, Termonde we made a detailed inspection. I had read newspaper accounts of the destruction of Termonde, and I had seen photographs of houses or parts of streets showing the work j had not conveyed to my mind any : realisation of the horror of what had actually, happened. I went through street after street, square after square, and I found that every house was entirely' destro.y«a, with all its contents. .

, It was not the result of a bombardment; it was systematic destruc■tion. .-In each ihouse a separate bomb had been placed, which had blown up the interior and had set fire to the contents. All that remained in every case wero portions of the outer walls, still' constantly falling, and, inside, the cinders of the contents. Not a' shred cf furniture or of anything else remained.

Blind Among the Ruins,

'.This sight continued in- street after street throughout the entire extent of what had been a considerable town. It had an indescribable influence upon the observer which no printed description or even pictorial record could give. This influence was increased by the utter silence of the oity, broken only by the sound of the guns. Of the population I thought not a soul remained I was wrong. For as we turned into a square, where the wreck of what had been one of the most beautiful of Gothic churchfes met my < eyes, a blind woman .and her daughter groped among the ruins. They were the solo living' creatures in the' whole of the town. .

"Where a destroyed house had obviously contained "articles of value looting had taken place. In the ruins of what had been a jewellers' shop the remains of the safe were visible amidst the cinders. The part around the look had been blown -off and the ■ contents obviously rifled. . . "I 'inquired what had become of the population. It was a question to which no direct reply could be given. They had fled in all directions. Some had ■reached Antwerp, but a great number were wandering about_ the country, panio-stricken and starving ; many were already dead. ... I had other, opportunities of seeing that what had happened at Termohde was'"similar to what had Happened in other parts of Belgium under the military occupation of Germany. ..............

Unexampled Misery.

. Conditions of unexampled misery nave peen. set up for the civilian population throughout the occupied territory. Comparatively only a few refugees have reached this country. The Belgians, flocking into other towns and villages, or flying to points a little way across the Dutch frontier. • "The whole life' of the nation has been arrested; tils food supplies which would ordinarily reach the civilian population are being taken .by the Gerv man troops for their own support; the peasants and poor are without the necessaries of life, and the conditions of starvation grow more aoute every day. Even where, as in some cases happens, there is a supply of wheat available, the peasants aro not allowed to use their windmills owing to the German fear that they will send signals to the Belgian Army. ' i "We are, therefore, face to face with a fact which has rarely, if ever,-oc-. curred in the history of the world; an entire nation in a state of famine—and' that within half a day's journey of our own shores. . . -.-

"It is necessary for me to add that to tho conditions of famine and homelessness wliich exist on such a stupendous scale there must be added ono equally bad—tho mental panic in which many of tho survivors remain. I understand how inevitable' this was when I saw and heard what they had passed through. Eye-witnesses of unimpeachable character described ,to me the sufferings of tho women and children at Liege. They fled from their burning houses clinging to husbands and fathers. They were violently pulled from them and saw them shot a few yards-away."