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♦WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 22,-1918.
THE MILI.Epr.Ew^LE NEWS.
milledueville
a
Deserter
Written by a Prussian Officer xyyt
Who Participated in the Ravag-^-^-
ing and Pillaging of Belgium
Copyright by Detroit Free Press
In the evening, nt dusk, we reached
a village east of the Bertrix. There
we found poisoned water also. In the
middle of the village we halted and I
could see through a front window of a
house before which I stood. In a mis
erable home of a laborer we saw a
woman. She flung to her children ns
If afraid they would be torn away from
her. Suddenly a stone as large us a
fist was thrown through the window
Into the room and a little girl was
wounded op the right hand.
In this village we were billeted In a
barn. With some comrades, I went to
the village to buy food. We obtained
hum, bread and wine at a farmhouse,
but the people refused any payment
because they considered us guests.
They only asked that we should not
hurt them. We paid them neverthe
less for everything. In German money.
There, ns everywhere else we went,
we found the population In mortal
terror of us. The people trembled
whenever a German soldier entered
their home.
CHAPTER III.
Four of us had formed a close
friendship. We had promised to keep
together and help one another In
every danger. So we often visited the
homes of citizens together and did our
best to *qulet the harassed people we
met and tulk them out of fear of our
forces. Without exception we found
these people friendly and quick to feel
Riddled With Bullets.
confidence In us when (hey learned
that we really were their friends. If
we wrote on their doors with chalk,
“Here live good, honest people, please
spare them,” their gratitude knew no
bounds. If so much bsd blood existed
and If so muny things which led to the
military execution of Innumerable Bel
gians, was because of the mistrust
systematically nourished on the part
of the German officers.
That night we marched on after be
ing Joined by a 21-centlmeter mortar
battery of the foot artillery regiment
No. 9 recently arrived. Not only were
we to act as an auxiliary for this bat-
tery, but we were also expected to help
bring these Immense cannon Into ac
tion. These guns were In two sections,
each transported on a wagon pulled
by alx horses. These horses, the only
ones used by foot artillery, are sup
posed to be the finest and most power
ful in the German nrmy.
Tet these animals were seldom up
to expectations, so that It was n com
mon thing to detail from 70 to 80 men
to assist In transporting these mor
tars, and long, heavy ropes were car
ried for this purpose. This happened
most frequently whenever the guns
had to be taken oft a highway and
brought Into a firing position.
Soon we arrived at the city of Her-
trlx. We found many houses at the
right and left of us burning brightly.
They had been set afire, we learned,
beenuse persons In them had fired on
passing soldiers. In front of one of
these houses was a Imlf-hurned man
and woman with their fltteeu or six
teen-year-old son. All were covered
with straw. A little way farther on.
three more civilians were lying dead
in the same street.
As we were marching we suddenly
received an order to surround a certain
house at the left of us. Dur captain
declared that a shot fired from that
house had killed a soldier. None of
us had henrd anything, however. The
house from which the shot was alleged
to have been fired was soon surround
ed and hand grenades thrown Into It
through the windows. In a minute all
the rooms were aflame. The air pres
sure from the explodiug grenades was
so great that doors in the house flew
front their hinges and the walls of sev
eral rooms were crushed.
Almost at the same time five civil
ians run Into the streets with raised
hands. They were seized at once and
led before the officers, who constituted
themselves Immediately Into n court-
mhrtlal. Ten minutes later sentence
had been executed, and five men lay
on the ground with eyes bandaged,
riddled with bullets.
In each case six tf our men were
always called upon To execute one
mau's sentence. I am sorry to say
that I was one of the thirty called
upon at this occasion. The condemned
man who It was our duty to shoot was
about forty years old, tall and straight.
Be never blinked as the bandage was
put on. He was led to the garden of
the house near by and his back placed
to the house. After our cn.ttsln said
to us that It was our duty to aim true
•ud end the tragedy quickly, we took
•ur positions six paces In front of the
oondemned man. The sergeant com
manding ns previously gave us Instruc
tions that we were to shoot the con
demned men through the breast.
Now we formed Into two r«ws, one
Behind the other. The order sounded
fin load and aim and we each put five
cartridges Into our rifles. "Prepare to
fire”—the men In the first row knelt
down and the second row tdok their
places. Our guns were now held so
that the barrels were forward and
the butt* were hip high. “Alin”—and
■lowly we aimed, bolding our guns
tightly with the butts against our
shoulders and our fingers on the trig
gers.
The sergeant paused a half minute
and then ordered ua to fire. I do not
know to this day whether our victim
died at once, nor was there ever an
opportunity to learn bow many of the
six bullets found their mark. All day
I went around like a man In a trance,
reproaching myself bitterly for having
acted the part of executioner. For a
long time I could not bear to speak
about It to my comrades, for I felt
guilty, and yet wlraf could we soldiers
do other than execute the orders given
usf
In the evening we went Into camp
In an open field, pitching tents, and the
next day continued our march.
The country through which we
passed was uninteresting and offered
nothing In the way of variety. The
few tiny villages through which we
passed had all been abandoned, and
the poor-looking houses mostly de
stroyed. Long trains of fugitives
passed us continually. These people
were ns a rule those who had escaped
when the French army retreated and
were returning now to find their
homes destroyed by the rough hand of
war.
After a long march. Interrupted only
by halts and short bivouacs, we ap
proached the large Belglnn-Freneh bor
der town of Sugny, located on the Bel
gian side of the border. It was about
noon, and as the thunder of cannon
constantly grew stronger, which indi
cated thnt a new battle was develop
ing, we hoped, to be able to remain in
the town overnight. About one o’clock
we entered and were billeted In n big
barn. Most of the soldiers refused to
eat from the field kitchens, and requi
sitioned eggs, chickens, geese and
young pigs. Soon everybody was
cooking. I am sorry (to say that most
of those who foraged had refused to
pay for what they had taken.
Several soldiers now arrived with
barrels of wine and also many bottles,
which were Instantly opened and emp
tied. The obvious resulted, and soon
ninny noncommissioned officers and
men were helplessly drunk. The owner
of our barn had possessed three large
hogs. One of the drunken noncom
missioned officers tried to kill one of
these hogs with a dull pocket knife.
He had tortured the poor beast almost
to death when the animal was merci
fully killed by a bullet. A few min
utes afterward the officer went to
sleep. This was only an example and
not the worst, for the Inhabitants of
the town hud to endure much from
our men who had become drunk. There
were open and secret robberies of
gardens, stables nnd houses here and
no restrictions whatever were put on
the soldlAra. There was no Improve
ment In their general conduct, despite
many complaints. One family report
ed thnt the French had treated them
very well, hut that our highly trained
soldiers plundered and stole. It was
therefore not surprising t; at the pbp-
ulatlon suffered want and hunger. I
often shared my bread with these suf
fering people. With two comrades,
one day. I gave tny portion of meat,
vegetables and preserves and also a
bag of onions to a woman with eight
children. Becanee the Iron was miss
ing In our blood, we three wera sen
tenced to extra watch doty for a week
for the offense of displaying a lova of
humanity.
Our leader. Lieutenant of Heaerve
Kim declseed th»t snah r thing as pltv
wairrnRnnity. He said ff~ tTfiT woman
had eight children that was her busi
ness. Then he concluded by saving
with great emphasis: “In war every
body looks out for themselves, even
If everything around him perishes.”
Another soldier was sentenced to
serve 14 days at hard labor. lie wns
bringing bread to a hungry family nnd
hnd six small loaves In his arms, which
he had gathered from among the sol
diers. The same lieutenant met IHni,
accompanied by several noncommis
sioned officers. To the question te to
where he was going, he replied that ho
wns on his way to assist a poor family
which had actually suffered hunger.
The lieutenant at once ordered him to
return the bread to his company. Then
he raged nnd raged nt the soldier, call- |
Inc him fool. Idiot. Hottentot, etc. But ,
the soldier nevertheless did not obey |
and when the lieutenant thundered ft J
second command to halt, the soldier j
turned around and threw the bread
before the lieutenant's feet. Then ho |
said quietly, “1 do not wish anybody I
any harm, hut if you and your auto
cratic family, and the whole German
nation had to endure what the poor I
Belgians are obliged to suffer, it would
be a bitter but just lesson.” -
Tilts man was sentenced to serve 14 |
days for talking back to Ills superior
officer. It surprised us all that he was
let off so easily.
But bitterness In the ranks grew,
and at last the many hard punishments
tliut were pronounced created so much
feeling thnt the soldiers refused to tie
any of their comrades.
We left Sugny the next morning and
one hour later crossed the Fronco-Bel-
glun border. Here again we were or
dered to give three cheers as we did
when our troops first crossed Germany
Into Belgium. At noon we arrived at
Vlvler-Au-Court. We remained In the
village until evening and were per
mitted to go ubout without restric
tions. In the afternoon nine men of,
my company were arrested for assault
ing a woman but were soon released.
At thlj time there was a great scar
city of tobacco among our soldiers and
1 knew that a mark or more was paid
for a cigarette whenever one was of
fered for snle. Here, In Vlvler-Au-
Court there was but orte government
tobacco stall. I have seen how men
were forced by noncommissioned offi
cers at the point of guns to give up
their entire supply of tobacco for
worthless requisition papers. These
“gentlemen" later sold their tobacco
at half a mark for small packets.
Toward evening we marched off and
brought the howitzers to a new posi
tion, from where the enemy’s defenses
on the Meuse could be bombarded.
After a short march we encountered
and fought a French army northeast
of Donehery. Only the enemy’s rear
guard was on our side of the Meuse.
To- It was given the duty of covering
the crossing of the muln body of the
French armies over the Meuse, which
was done near Donehery.
The few bridges left standing wece
ready too Hardened to"feermucTT pity.
Humanity was thrown to the winds
and the cries nnd begging of the
wounded left everybody cold.
Some Cntholic sisters lay dead In
front of their convent. The only build
ing thnt was spared In Donehery was
the armory of the Twenty-third French
drngi ions.
There wns not much time In which
to do anything, for at seven o'clock
the French began to hurl shells Into
the village. We fortified ourselves be
hind n thick garden wall directly In
front of the Meuse. The river bank
nt this point wns flat, hut 6a the oppo
site side it was steep. Here the French
Infantry hnd dug itself In and estab
lished three lines, one above the other.
The artillery firing wns too far. We
did not come within Its range, so that
we were able to observe the effect of
the shelling of our own artillery on the
enemy infantry positions before us.
The 21-centimeter shells raced by
above our hi ads nnd hurst with a fear
ful noise In tho enemy’s trenches.
The French could not resist this hall
of shot very long. They soon aban
doned nil the heights on the river
bank. They abandoned Soudnn with'
out a fight nnd it was left intact, which
had not been the case with Donehery.
Hardly a house had suffered.
When the bugles sounded In Don
ehery, it was discovered thnt our com
pany had lost 3S men in bnttle. A po
sition was taken behind the drnghon
armory nnd our company, which now
was reduced to 00 men, was ordered
to attempt the building of a pontoon
bridge over the Meuse. After we had
been, re-enforced by 80 men, we
marched In small detachments In or
der not to draw the enemy's attention
to us. After an hour's march we
stopped In a small forest about 200
meters from the Meuse to rest until
darkness set In. At twilight a division
bridge train was driven up close to
our hiding place. This wns soon fol
lowed by a corps bridge train as a re
serve. After all preparations were
mnde and the main advance work,
such as setting up the bridge stnys and
landing platforpts, were ready, the
single pontoon wagons drove up. They
were speedily but silently unloaded.
We completed four pontoons, that la,
20 meters of bridge, without the enemy
discovering anything.
Then suddenly the searchlight of
the enemy was set in action and
scanned the river. We dropped to the
ground at once. The enemy must have
seen ns, for the searchlights played
here and there and kept our bridge
position under continuous glare. We
were discovered hardly before we
knew what had happened, and a rain
of fire fell In the water In front of
us. We continued to lie flat on the
ground as four more shots struck the
water, this time a little nearer to the
bridge and one shot hit the bank. At
once a third rain of shot followed and
two struck the bridge. Two men fell
In the wnter and two lay dead qn the
bridge. Those In the wnter swam
ashore and escaped none the worse for
not sufficient for the enemy to cross . experience except for a bath,
as speedily as he should have. A* a • 1 _ .... -
result there developed In Donehery a
terrible fight. The French made ou
enormous effort. There was a terrible
slaughter as man fought against man.
It was one of the most fearful battles
I have ever witnessed. No one knew
afterwords how many he had Hilled.
Sometimes stronger men, then wenkei
ones nttneked. The glare from burn
ing houses turned- Into red the whites
of the fighters’ eyes and revealed men
battling one another frothing at the
month.
and plunging like wild henst-s for Ufa
or death. Everybody fought for his,
life. There was no quarter. Only I , . .
moaning nnd gasping could he heard, i ns at one t,me am > nfu ' r ten n "" utl ‘ a
R n „i, mnn „ , ... 1 the entire work wns only n pile of
•-‘Uen man thought only of his own I , .
life, of death or his home. Old memo- 1 " ri ° 'fti- 1 -
ries raced through the inlnd, pursuing
one another feverishly and yet men
grew wilder, for they bow battled a !
new enemy—exhaustion.
But there could not yet be any let
up. Again nnd again there Is nothing
to do but strike, stub, bite, fighting ,
without guns or other weapons except i
those provided by nature for life or ]
death. |
The exertion becomes more super- ’
human. You bite nnd you are a victor.
But victor only for a second, for the
next antagonist Is already upon you.
He has Just killed one of your com
rades. You suddenly remember that
you still have a dagger. After a hasty
search you find It In Its regular place.
One. two. three and it sinks to the hilt
In the breast of your enemy. On. on,
where there nre new enemies. You
suddenly see your next antagonist be
fore you. He Is after your lUe. He
bites, stabs, scratches, to get you down,
to pierce your heart with hla dag<%r
and again you use yours. Tliank God,
he lies on the ground; you nre saved.
But stop; you must have that dagger
bark. You pull tt from the -breast of
your late enemy. A stream of warm
blood shoots from the open wound In
your face. Human blood, warm hu
man blood. You shudder, terrified
ouly for a few seconds, for there t»~
another adversary. It la again neces
sary for you to defend yourself. Again
and again the murder commences
anew. Always, and always again,
through the whole night.
At last, toward four o'clock lu the
morning, the French retired ecroas the
Meuae with the Germans storming
after them. Wbeo the bridge was full
of German soldiers, it was blown up by
the French and hundreds of Germans
found their death in the Meuse.
CHAPTER IV.
The scene of the slaughter could
now be surveyed at leisure. Dead nnd
wounded were strewn All around, and
over them clouds of smoke and flames
made the ill thick, |}gt jrq srgrq §J-
tviM,„i,(- „„„ w j , | now dark. We brought about ten pon-
h«, r * endfJear ’ toons up without interference and then
fS«tZt.r M « mostly torn.. we we J c , nddenIy bombarded again,
and ninnfrinor "A'-!!™ ? 1 We had nttnicted the attention of the
enemy's patrol.
Severnl batteries now opened fire on
(To Be Continued Next Week)
, No To*m
is* re,7>31y
corcs.plw
Delicious hta. Refre^Kii^-
• Bw-fc-Vl eB. E>y •
MILLEDGEVILLE
COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO.
BE SURE
Put your money where you know it is sale—
You can’t find a safer place for it than in the
Merchants & Farmers Bank
I Capital, $40,000. Surplus, $85,00
Deposits greater than ever in its history.
In spite of the continued volume -of
artillery fire, we brought the two dead
men to lnnd. The bridge was now
greatly dumaged und there was no
choice except to replace the damaged
pontoons hy new ones. We began this
difficult task ns soon as the artillery
fire let up. Hardly had we begun It
again when n salvo struck and greatly
damaged the bridge. Fortunately we
hnd no losses. We were now ordered
to retire, nnd after n half hour begin
anew. The enemy's searchlights were
, No need for “night sessions” ol I
[kind—if you'll keep a 50c
I BABY PERCY Medicine on hind. (
1c, wind-on-the-stomach, night trou
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^ ^Indigestion,Constipation, Diarrhoea,C
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The Merrick Medicine (
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Helpful Hints to Mathers" sent on request hr postal carl
Two more men were killed.
The order now ctitiie to retire. Eight
men were detailed to nttend to the
dead nnd wounded nnd we were taken
j out of this danger zone. After we
I marched about two kilometers up the
' river, we were halted, nnd discovered
| that the corps bridge train was In
I place. We were told that we would
I get the bridge ready on land. Sections
j consisting of two pontoons each were
firmly fastened together, equipped with
anchors, everything else made ready
and then put In the water. The loca
tion for the bridge was Indicated to
lis and we rode with nil our might
down lo the bridge position. The en
emy did not see through these tactics
and did not Interfere, so that oil the
parts reached the position In a very
short time, where they were fastened
together. In less than twenty min
utes the bridge was completed and
the Infantry stormed over it.
The bridge was covered with straw
In order to dull the noise of the troop
movements. At the same time, nt dif
ferent places, transports with pontoons
were assisting the ffrmy to cross and
before the Freuch found out what hnd
happened our troops had occupied the
opposite hank and established them
selves firmly there.
T
PROPOSED INCREASES
IN ICE MUST BE FILED
Atlanta, May 18.—AU Georgia Ice
dealers will he required to file a sche
dule showing proposed Increased
prices with the food" administration
before putting such prices Into effect.
G. Ogden I’ersons, who is in charge
of this department of the food ad-
minlst ratten for Georgia, announced
Thursday that such precautions were
being taken in order thnt there may
be no profiteering In Ice in this state.
No Increase Is tc be allowed, he said,
unless proved to be absolutely neces
sary.
<TAt^
y
m
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Distributor
A. W. TISDALE
Milledgeville, Ga.
“WUU OrWf Are Oaladae Qqqhtr.We Are