12 
LAND & WATER 
September 6, 19 17 
at the hotol, the morning was gone and it was time for lunch 
and a quick get-away. 
All liands came out and bade us farewell. You would 
have thought we were on our way to Heaven except for 
the fact that they urged us to come back. 
Back to Brussels 
As we could liear the cannonading we decided that we 
would avoid the Malines road and would try to skirt around the 
zone of trouble and work our way into Brussels from the west. 
We got ferried across the Scheldt on a terrible tub of a steamer 
that looked as though she would go down under the weight 
of the military automobiles that she had to get across so that 
they could get ammunition to the front. We all got away in a 
bunch from the other side, but we drew ahead of them as 
we had not such a heavy load, and within three-quarters of an 
hour were outside the Belgian lines. Van der Elst had 
secured for us a most imposing laisser-passer, which took us 
through with practically no trouble except that it was so 
imposing that we were held at each barricade while all the men 
on duty took turns reading it. The only ticklish part of the 
trip to "the Belgian outposts was working olir way through the 
village, which had been mined in anticipation of a German 
invasion. It is bad enough working one's way through there 
in a motor with everybody helping you to keep out of harm's 
way, but it must be a trifle worse to do it in a mass with a man 
on a hill a little way off waiting for you to come up to the 
signal post so that he can touch a button and send you in 
small pieces into the next world. 
We struck out through St. Nicholas, Hamme, Termonde, 
and Assche, and got into Brussels from the west without 
mishap ; we have got quite used to having people poke 
bayonets in our faces and brandish revolvers at us, so the 
latter part of the trip with only that to contend with 
seemed quiet and almost boring. 
(In the road in from Assche, we passed near Eppeghem 
and Vilvorde, where the fighting had been going on for a 
couple of days. After news had been received in Antwerp 
of the defeat of the French and English at Mons and Charleroi 
the Belgians were ordered to fall back on Antwerp and had 
left these little villages to be occupied by the Germans. As they 
occupied them they had set them afire and the ifames were 
raging as we came by. They were quaint little towns and had 
excited our admiration two daj's before when we had gone 
through — despite the fact that we had other things on our 
minds beside admiring the beauties of architecture. Now 
they are gone. 
The Germans gave us no trouble, and we got back to the 
Legation at Brussels by five. All hands poured out to 
meet us and greeted us as prodigal sons. When we had not 
come back the day before they had about made up their 
minds that something dreadful had happened to us, and the 
rejoicing over our return was consequently much greater 
than if we had not whetted their imaginations just a little. 
I found that the situation in Brussels had undergone big 
changes while I was away. General von Jarotzky had been 
replaced by General von Liitwitz, who is an administrator 
and has been sent to put things in running order again. There 
was no inkling of this change when I left and I was a good 
deal surprised. Guns have been placed at various strategic 
points commanding the town, and the Germans are ready for 
anything. The telephone wire they had put through the town 
to connect the two stations and headquarters was cut day 
before yesterday by some cheerful idiot who probably thought 
he was doing something good for his country. The military 
authorities thereupon announced that if anything of the iort 
was done again they would lay waste the quarter of the town 
where the act was committed. 
Some, of the subordinate officers have since told us that 
von Jarotzky was a fighting general and had no business 
staying in a post requiring administrative ability. The new 
man is cut out particularly for this sort of work and is going 
to start a regular German administration. Functionaries are 
being brought from Berlin to take things over, and in a short 
time we shall to all intents and purposes be living in a German 
city. The first trains ran to-day in a halting fashion to Liege 
and the German frontier. Perhaps we shall have a newspaper. 
An Unpleasant Experience 
Davis got back yesterday from his trip to the front, and 
we learned that he had been through a perfectly good experi- 
ence that will look well when he comes to writing it up, but 
one that gave him little satisfaction while it was in process. 
He started off to follow the German army in the hope of 
locating tVie English. After leaving Hall some bright young 
German officer decided that he was a suspicious looking 
character and ought to be shot as an English spy. As a 
preliminary they arrested him and locked him ud. Then the 
war was called off while the jury sat on his case. One of the 
officers thought it would be a superfluous effort to go through 
the form of trying him, but that they should shoot him without 
further to do. They began considering his case at eleven 
in the morning and kept it up until midnight. He was given 
pretty clearly to understand that his chances were slim 
and tliat the usual fate of spies awaited him. He argued at 
length, and apparently his arguments had some effect, for at 
three u'clock in the morning he was routed out and told to hit 
the road towards Brussels. He was ordered to keep religiously 
to the main road all the way back on pain of being shot on 
sight and to report at headquarters here immediately on his 
arrival. By this time he was perfectly willing to do exactly 
what was demanded by those in authority and made a bee- 
line back here on foot. He turned up at the Legation yester- 
day morning footsore and weary and looking like a tramp, 
and told his story to an admiring audience. 1 w'as still away 
on my little jaunt and did not get if at first hand. The 
^linister took him down to call on the General and got them 
to understand that R.H.D. was not an English spy but on the 
contrary probably the greatest writer that ever lived, not ex- 
cepting Shakespeare or Milton. The General said that' he 
had read some of his short stories and that he would not have 
him shot. Just the same he was not keen about having him 
follow the operations. He is now ordered to remain in this 
immediate neighbourhood until further orders. To-day he had 
several interviews with the General in an attempt to get 
permission to leave the country, but had no luck. The last 
we saw of Davis he came in late this afternoon to tell us 
that -he did not know what to do next. He said that he had 
been through six wars but that he had never been so scared 
as he was at tliat time. . H he is allowed to get out of Belgium 
1 think that he will not darken the door of General von 
Liitwitz for some time to come. 
I was surprised to learn that Hans von Harwath, who used 
to be military attache in Washington and whom I knew very 
well, is here as Adjutant to our new (Governor. I have not yet 
had time to get over to see him, but shall try to do so 
to-morrow^ I am glad to have somebody like that here 
to do business with. 
Louvain 
A terrible thing has happened at Louvain, the town where 
we were only ten days ago. Yesterday there was some sort 
of shindy in the public square. The Germans say that the son 
of the Burgomaster shot down the commanding general. 
That sounds a little peculiar, as the Burgomaster has no 
son. The Belgians say that two bodies of German troops 
who were drunk met each other and one body took the other 
for French and opened fire. However that may be, it ended 
by the town being set aiire ; rapid-fire guns being placed in 
the streets and the people mowed down like grass. According 
to the (fcrmans themselves the town is being wiped out of 
existence. The beautiful cathedral, the town hall, and the 
other famous buildings of the place are in ruins. The people 
were killed by hundreds, and those who were not killed have 
been driven from the town. They have %yandered in here by 
the thousands and the end is not yet. This evening the wife 
of the Minister of F'ine Arts came in with the news t lat her 
mother, a woman of eighty-four years, was driven from her 
home at the point of the bayonet, and !iad to walk with the 
crowd of fugitives all the way to Tervueren, a distance of about 
twelve miles, before she could be put on a tram toher daughter's 
house. Two priests have turned up at the Legation nearly 
dead from fatigUe and fright ; one of them, a man of nearly 
seventy, is ven.' ill and may die as a result of what he has gone 
through. Baron Capelle came in late this afternoon to tell 
me that the Germans were bringing in a lot of priests on 
carts of provisions and were planning to hold them as hostages. 
One of them had called out and asked him to notify me that 
Monseigneur de flecker, president of the American College at 
Louvain, was among these prisoners. He is the old man I 
went to see when I was in Louvain ten days ago. I had told 
him he was perfectly safe and scoffed at his fears. 
The Minister was" out when this news came, but I sallied 
forth and tried to locate the Monseigneur. He was not to be 
found anywhere. \\ hen 1 got back to the Legation both the 
Minister "and ViUalobar were here and 1 told them all about 
what had happened. The people of the town 'were getting 
excited over the treatment that w as being meted out to their 
priests, and it was in a fair way to result in serious trouble. 
Both Ministers made 'for the Alinistry for Foreign Affairs, 
where the German Government is established, and before they 
left had secured orders for the release of all the hostages. 
A lot of these terrible things are done by subordinate officers 
and the people at the top seem only too anxious to learn of such 
affairs and do what they can to remedy them. The day has 
been dreadful with stories of suffering and nmrder and pillage. 
iTa be continued) 
