morning. Monsieur Max was spirited away to Namur, and everybody is
standing by for trouble. The people are greatly excited and highly
resentful, but it is to be hoped that they will not do anything rash.
The cooler spirits are going about urging calm. The excitement is not
lessened by the fact that there is heavy cannonading from the direction
of Antwerp.
Lüttwitz has announced the arrest of Max in the following poster:
NOTICE.
Burgomaster Max having failed to fulfil the engagements entered
into with the German Government, I am forced to suspend him from
his position.
Monsieur Max will be held in honourable detention in a fortress.
The Military Governor,
BARON VON LÜTTWITZ,
_General._
Brussels, September 26, 1914.
We are evidently not yet through the epoch of destruction, for the
Governor-General came out to-day with this Proclamation, which is posted
on the walls of various towns:
Recently, in regions not occupied by strong forces of German
troops, convoys of transport wagons and patrols have been attacked
without warning by the inhabitants.
I draw the attention of the public to the fact that a list is kept
of the towns and communes in the vicinity of which these attacks
have been committed, and that they must expect their punishment as
soon as German troops pass near them.
I have not been able to learn of any places where such attacks have
taken place, but suppose this is merely an evidence of the well-known
nervousness of the army of occupation, and that they are trying to
frighten the people to a point where they will not try to start
anything.
[Illustration: Fire at Namur during the bombardment]
[Illustration: Effect of big German shell on Fort of Waehlem]
[Illustration: Outside view of the Fort of Waehlem after bombardment by
big German guns]
General von Lüttwitz has come out with another Proclamation, forbidding
the sale of foreign newspapers in Belgium:
I remind the population of Brussels and its suburbs that it is
strictly forbidden to sell or distribute newspapers that are not
expressly authorised by the German Military Government. Any
infraction of this prohibition will entail the immediate arrest of
the vendors, as well as long periods of imprisonment.
The German Military Governor,
BARON VON LÜTTWITZ,
_General._.
My _laisser-passer_ has not come, and there is no telling when we shall
get away. The Germans swear it was sent last night.
* * * * *
_On board S.S. "Oranje Nassau" off Flushing, Sept. 30, 1914._--We got
away on Sunday morning about eleven o'clock, after many calls at
headquarters and a mild row about the _laisser-passer_ that had not been
sent. It was finally discovered that some boneheaded clerk had sent it
by mail--a matter of three days! It was fished out of the military post
office, and we got away in a few minutes.
We were in the big car, heavily laden--two trunks, several valises and a
mail pouch on top--my two passengers inside with their small stuff, the
chauffeur and I in front.
We made quick time out through Tervueren and down to Namur, hearing the
heavy booming of cannon all the time away to the north. Ruin was all the
way--odd farm-houses burned, towns with half the buildings in them, the
Grand Place destroyed, etc. The great square at Namur a heap of brick
and mortar.
The great bridge across the Meuse was dynamited, and the three sections
hung in the river. All the way to Liège the main bridges had been
destroyed, and we had to cross on temporary affairs constructed by the
Germans.
And the Germans were thick all the way, holding us up at frequent
intervals to look at our papers. They have it in for Belgium, and are in
bad humour. We had some fine samples of it during the day.
We stopped not far from Huy for a picnic lunch, and then got under way
again, being stopped frequently all the way to Liège, where we sought
out the Consulate. The Consul had gone to Spa to look after some English
people, but I said my few words to his wife and daughter, and then
hurried away toward Visé and the Dutch frontier.
_Visé n'existe plus!_ Goodness knows what was done to the place, but
there is nothing left but blackened walls. It took us a long time to
find unencumbered roads and get through between the fallen walls. Not
far from the edge of town we found the last German outpost, and were
promptly put under arrest because my _laisser-passer_ did not bear my
photograph. The officer in command cursed me roundly for daring to come
through Liège without reporting, placed two armed soldiers in the car,
and ordered us sent back. It was futile to point out to him that passes
issued by the Military Governor General did not need to conform to the
local rules; in fact, it only made him peevish. We scorched back over
the road to Liège, but I succeeded in making the soldiers stop at a
small town where there was a local headquarters of some sort with a
colonel in command, I got him to look at our pass which had been
confiscated by our guard, and, after hearing my case and thinking
heavily, he unenthusiastically said we might proceed. We went back
through Visé even faster, and enjoyed the look of our lieutenant when
told he had been overruled. After a minute or so he became very affable
and said he had a brother in Jefferson City, Mo., and a nephew in
Sacramento, _Californien_, who runs an _Apoteke_. Just to show there was
no hard feeling, I gave him a cigar, and a few minutes later we crossed
the Dutch frontier, where we created a sensation. A big crowd gathered
around the car, and, by the time the leisurely custom officers had
examined the papers given me by the Dutch Legation, they were packed so
tight that it took the united effort of several officers and citizens to
get us extricated.
Holland is taking no chances, and has quantities of troops massed in
that part of the country. There are frequent posts to stop travellers
and examine papers, and there is practically no traffic on the road save
that of a military character.
Near Maestricht we ran into a large detachment guarding a bridge. Our
papers did not satisfy the commanding officer, so we were once more
placed under arrest and hustled through town to headquarters. The
officers there were very courteous, and, after examining my papers, made
out a _laisser-passer_ for use in Holland and sent me on my way.
By this time it was dark, but we determined to push on as far as
Roermond--50 kilometers. Here we found a charming little hotel--the Lion
d'Or--and after a good supper, got early to bed.
The next day I planned to take the two ladies--who have good nerve, and
don't turn a hair at being arrested--to Rotterdam and then run down to
Antwerp, some 280 kilometers, a long run in war time.
We were off at 6:30, and bowled along beautifully in a bitter cold wind
until we were in sight of Tilburg, where the engine broke down. Eugène,
the chauffeur, tried everything he could think of, and tore his hair in
rage and shame. Finally we got a soldier on a bicycle to go into Tilburg
and get a motor to tow us in. Then two good hours in a garage before we
were in shape to start.
We caught the boat at Moerdyck and got into Rotterdam a little before
four. I installed my companions at the Maas Hotel, overlooking the same
old Meuse, and then started back through the rain toward Antwerp. At
Willemsdorp we just missed the boat for Moerdyck and lost an hour.
Eugène raged and smoked many cigarettes, to the danger of his health,
because his _sacrée_ machine had lost us so much time.
At eight we got to Rosendaal, near the Belgian frontier, and were
forbidden to go any farther until morning, as the outposts were taking
no chances.
Had a good supper at the little hotel, had my papers viséed by the
Belgian Consul, and at 6 o'clock yesterday morning was up and away, by
way of Putte.
The Belgian outposts received us with levelled rifles, but when we got
near, one of the officers recognised me through his glasses, and we got
through without any more trouble. Arrived at the St. Antoine as
everybody was coming down to breakfast. The Germans were bombarding the
outer forts, and they could not believe their eyes when I came in. Not
a word of news had got through the lines for some days, and I was nearly
torn to pieces by the excited friends.
I had coffee with Colonel Fairholme, and got all the news he could tell
me. Malines has been bombarded again, and Antwerp is filled with
refugees. Before I left, the Germans had occupied Malines itself and
were bombarding the fort at Waelhem.
After breakfast I started out on my carefully planned campaign. First to
the Consulate-General to get off some telegrams, etc. Then to the
Foreign Office with a lot of things to attend to. I was able to give van
der Elst word that his son is in Magdebourg--a prisoner, but not
wounded. The look on his face when he got the news paid for the whole
trip. I saw M. Davignon, and went with him to see the Prime Minister,
who had heard I was there and had sent for me.
On the way we saw hundreds of miserable refugees from Malines pouring
down from the station. The courage of these Belgians is beyond all
words. Save for the two in the freight station yard at Louvain, I have
not seen a woman crying! It may be that they are numb, but they have
none of the stupidity of numbness. And when you think that these very
women will be creeping back to their homes and caring for the German
wounded they find there, it gives you a fine lump in the throat.
I paid a call at the French Legation, went back to the Consulate-General
to sign my telegrams and mail which had been hammered out, and then to
lunch. Got away at 3:30 to the banging of heavy siege artillery and
invitations to come back "if we are still here." As I was getting into
the car, Prince D---- plucked me by the sleeve and pointed at the
Cathedral tower high above us. "Take a good look," he said. "It may not
be here when you come back."
We made good time through the rain, but missed the boat at Moerdyck, and
spent an hour on the dock. Got in at ten, ravenously hungry, had a
snack, and then to bed.
Up again at six and took the seven-thirty train for Flushing. It loafed
along through the country, and we did not sail until eleven. We have to
go round to Folkstone, but hope to be in by six o'clock.
There are not more than twenty people on the ship, and the way they went
through our credentials was a caution. I was glad I had taken the
precaution to provide myself with American, British, German, Dutch and
Belgian papers for the trip. There is another examination at Folkstone.
* * * * *
_On board the S.S. "Brussels," off Flushing, October 5, 1914._--To
resume.
We got into Folkstone last Wednesday evening at sunset, and got through
to London by eight-fifteen. All the latter part of the crossing we were
spoken from time to time by British destroyers, which bobbed up from
nowhere to warn of floating mines or give directions as to our course.
The entrance to Dover was surrounded by destroyers, and looked grim and
warlike, and what's more, businesslike.
Thursday morning I got up as late as I decently could and went down to
the Embassy to find Shaler and Couchman waiting for me. They had been
in London since Monday, but had not made much progress with their
mission of getting food for Brussels. This was due to no lack of energy
on their part, but to the general difficulty of getting attention for
any matter at this time. I went with them to the Belgian Legation, and
after a talk with the Belgian Minister, we got things started.
As the food was intended for the civil population of Brussels, it was
necessary to get the Belgian Minister to secure from the Foreign Office
permission to ship it through the blockade. He felt that he must have
some instructions from the Government at Antwerp for his guidance in the
matter, so I telegraphed at some length, with the result that he had
ample instructions before the sun went down. The next day he made three
or four calls at the Foreign Office and matters were got under way.
Shaler is buying the food and getting it ready for shipment, and now all
that is holding things up is the actual permission to go ahead and ship.
Shaler has had some talk on the general problems that confront us with
Herbert Hoover, an American mining engineer, who has given some very
helpful ideas and may do more still.
Shaler and Couchman had an experience at Liège they did not particularly
relish. They were pulled up by a Landsturm guard somewhere in Liège,
taken to the Kommandantur, where it was discovered that they were
carrying a number of messages of the
"We-are-well-and-hope-you-are-the-same" variety. Without discussion they
were pushed into cells and treated to talk that gave them little
comfort. They spent the night in jail, but by some means contrived to
get word to the Consul, who arrived and delivered them before breakfast.
It evidently grieved the Germans that they could not take these two out
and shoot them, but they yielded with a bad grace and turned them loose
to hasten to the Consul's breakfast table.
* * * * *
_Brussels, October 11, 1914._--On Saturday afternoon late I went with
Harold Fowler to call on Sir Claude MacDonald, who had been to the
Embassy twice to see me about the English Red Cross nurses in Brussels.
I tried to reassure him as to their safety, but he went to see the
Ambassador later in the day and asked him to send Harold Fowler back to
Brussels with me to bring the nurses out. This suited me perfectly, so
we made preparations to get off together.
On Sunday evening we left Fenchurch Street at six, with a little group
of friends to see us off. About the only other people on the train were
a King's Messenger, a bankrupt Peer and his Man Friday, and a young
staff officer. Each set of us had a separate compartment and travelled
in lonely state to Tilbury, where the boat was waiting.
As we got aboard the _Brussels_, her sister ship, the _Dresden_, just in
from Antwerp, pulled up alongside, and Mrs. Sherman, wife of the
Vice-Consul, called me to the rail to give me the latest news. She said
that everything was going to pieces, that some of the forts had fallen,
and that Antwerp might be under bombardment before we got there. Then
she went ashore in peace, and we went below to seek the seclusion that
the cabin grants, and fortify ourselves for the bombardment.
[Illustration: View of the Meuse at Huy]
[Illustration: Refugees fleeing toward Dunkirk before the German
advance, after the fall of Antwerp
_Copyright by the International News Service_]
We got under way during the night and dropped down to the mouth of the
Thames, where we lay to until daylight, before starting across. The
first sound I heard was a hail from a torpedo-boat destroyer, which sent
an officer aboard to lay our course for us through the British mine
fields. We made our zigzag course across the North Sea and fetched up at
Flushing, where we picked up a pilot to take us through Dutch waters.
When darkness overtook us we were just about on the Belgian frontier
line and had to lie to for the night, getting to Antwerp Tuesday morning
about nine.
We found the place in a great hubbub--everybody packed and ready to
leave. They had been on the point of departure since Friday, and the
uncertainty had got on everybody's nerves--and no wonder.
Several thousand British Marines had arrived and were doing good work,
holding back the Germans, while the exhausted Belgians pulled themselves
together for the evacuation. The Belgian forces had been fighting with
little rest and no sleep until they were physically incapable of further
resistance. How human strength held out so long is the great marvel.
Winston Churchill was in the Legation when I arrived, with General
Rawlinson and Colonel Seeley.
After a call at the Foreign Office, most of which had been installed on
a boat in the river, I went to the Palace to see General Jungbluth. He
was not there, but Countess de Caraman-Chimay said that the King wanted
to see me.
I was taken straight up to him in his Council Chamber, where I found him
seated at a great table covered with maps and papers. He pushed them
aside wearily as I came in, and rose to greet me. He talked at some
length on the war and the ordeal of Belgium, but was chiefly interested
in how the people were being treated. His interest was not only for his
own friends, but he showed particular interest in learning how the
poorer people were being treated--whether the poorer quarters of the
town were keeping calm and avoiding trouble with the Germans. He was
most anxious that they should avoid doing anything that would arouse the
Germans against them. He spoke simply and touchingly of his confidence
in the loyalty and patriotism of all his people, and his certainty that
they would come through the war with an even greater love of country.
The rest of the Palace was in confusion, with servants packing and
orderlies coming and going. But the King's room was in perfect calm. The
King sat quite still in his armchair and talked quietly, without haste.
He was very serious, and it was clearly to be seen that he felt his
responsibility and the suffering of his army. But his determination was
just as evident. He realised that the evacuation was inevitable, and
having made up his mind to that, he devoted his whole energies and
thoughts to seeing that it was carried out effectively and quickly. He
has a very patent faculty of concentration and of eliminating his own
personality and feelings. I have seldom felt so sorry for anyone, partly
perhaps because all of his sympathy was for others.
When the King finally rose to dismiss me, he said:
"The Queen wants to see you. Will you come back at half-past two?"
I had planned to leave for Brussels immediately after luncheon, but, of
course, this was a command to which I gladly yielded.
The St. Antoine was all hurry and confusion, and the dining room was
buzzing with conjecture as to whether the bombardment of the city would
begin before the exodus was accomplished. The Military Governor had
posted a proclamation to warn the population that it might begin at any
time. There was a certain amount of unconscious humour in his
proclamation. He advised people to retire into their cellars with
bedding, food, water and other necessaries; to disconnect the water, gas
and electricity; to stuff the staircases with mattresses, as a matter of
protection; to take with them picks and shovels, so that they could dig
themselves out in case their houses fell in; and after a few more hints
of this sort, the Governor genially remarks:
"Having taken these precautions, the population can await the
bombardment in calm."
The German authorities have offered to spare the historic monuments of
Antwerp in their bombardment, if the Belgian General Staff will send
them maps of the city with such monuments and hospitals clearly; marked.
I found that it had been arranged in Brussels that I should collect the
plans on my way through Antwerp and deliver them to the German
authorities in Brussels, and, of course, agreed to do so.
After luncheon I went back to the Palace, where I was immediately
received by the Queen in her sitting room. Her Majesty seemed quite
oblivious of the confusion in the Palace, and, like the King, she was
chiefly concerned as to the welfare of the people left under German
domination. I was able to give her comforting news as to the treatment
of the people of Brussels. While we were talking, the roar of the German
guns seemed to increase and made the windows rattle. There was an outcry
in the street, and we went to the window to see a German aeroplane
pursued by a British machine. We watched them out of sight, and then
went back to our talk. The members of the Court had tried to prevail
upon the Queen to leave Antwerp, but when it became evident that the
place must be surrendered, she refused to move and told me she would
stay until the King left. And she did.
When I got back to the hotel, I found Eugène with news that the
differential of my car had broken, so that we could not start. It was
important that we lose no time in getting the plans of the town to the
German authorities, so I got Baron van der Elst to go with me to the
General Staff and explain the situation. General de Guise promptly wrote
out an order that I should be given the best car to be found in the
city. Armed with this, Eugène set forth and gathered in a very pretty
little limousine to bring us back to Brussels. It was evidently a lady's
car and almost too pretty, but we were not exacting and took it
thankfully. However, it was too late to start out through the lines, so
we gave up the idea of leaving before morning. We had thought of taking
the route of the army and getting to Brussels by way of Ghent, but the
people at the General Staff said the road was so crowded with transport
that we would make little progress, and that the better course would be
to take exactly the opposite direction and go by way of Tournhout.
[Illustration: Graves of civilians shot by the Germans]
[Illustration: A typical proclamation
PROCLAMATION
A l'avenir les localités situees près de l'endroit ou a eu lieu la
destruction des chemins de fer et lignes télégraphiques seront
punies sans pitié (il n'importe qu'elles soient coupables ou non de
ces actes.) Dans ce but des otages ont été pris dans toutes les
localités situees près des chemins de fer qui sont menacés de
pareilles attaques; et au premier attentat à la destruction des
lignes de chemins de fer, de lignes télégraphiques ou lignes
téléphoniques, ils seront immédiatement fusillés.
Bruxelles, le 5 Octobre 1914 _Le Gouverneur,_
VON DER GOLTZ
Translation:
In future, villages in the vicinity of places where railway and
telegraph lines are destroyed will be punished without pity (whether
they are guilty or not of the acts in question). With this in view
hostages have been taken in all villages near the railway lines
which are threatened by such attacks. Upon the first attempt to
destroy lines of railway, telegraph, or telephone, they will be
immediately shot.
The Governor,
VON DER GOLTZ]
[Illustration: Two illustrations titled "Views of the Fort of Waehlem
after its bombardment by the big German guns"]
I took several of the ladies of the corps down to the boat, which was to
take them to Ostend, which was to be the next stand of the Government.
They all took it coolly and went to bed, as though there were no
bombardment going on. The King and Queen, the Prime Minister, and the
representatives of the allies remained in town overnight.
On one of my trips out of the hotel I met the Queen coming in to say
good-bye to Princess Koudatcheff (wife of the Russian Minister), who was
ill. She stopped to greet us and make inquiries as to each one.
After dark the crowd began to melt. Winston Churchill came down with his
party, got into motors, and made off for Bruges. The Belgian officers
staying at the hotel got off with their units, and by ten o'clock the
staff of the British Legation, Fowler and I, were left in almost
undisputed possession of the hotel. The water-supply was cut. The lights
were out and the place was far from gay, particularly as nearly all the
servants had fled, and we could not get anything to eat or drink.
Most of the town repaired to the cellars for the night, but we decided
that if it really came, we saw no choice between going down with the
house into the cellar and having the house come down on top of us, so we
turned in and got a night's rest, which, I am free to confess, was
rather fitful.
All night long motors were snorting away, and all night long the guns
kept pounding, although they did not seem to get any nearer. With the
intelligence that one has when half awake, I carefully arranged a pillow
between me and the window, as a protection against shells!