claim that their commanding officer was shot by the son of the
Burgomaster. The Belgians claim that he was struck by a stray bullet
fired at random by one of his own men in the marketplace. However that
may be, the whole place was instantly in an uproar, and quiet was not
restored until the town had been sacked and over one hundred and fifty
people killed, among them women and children. The Burgomaster and his
son and a priest were among those shot and buried outside the Louvain
gate. One of those taken to the place of execution was spared on
condition that he should go to Louvain to tell of what had happened.
Louvain has been cleaned up a lot, and we stopped there only long enough
to have our passes examined at Headquarters, getting back a little
before six to a warm welcome.
The other motor was due at six, but did not come, and after waiting up
till midnight, I turned in. Jack bobbed up yesterday at noon. The car
had been stopped at the frontier because several of the passengers had
not proper papers. Jack threw out his chest and insisted on being taken
to Antwerp to see the Military Governor. His passport, as bearer of
despatches, did the business, and they were allowed to proceed under
armed guard. They were kept overnight in the Hôtel Webber, and then Jack
and Mme. N---- were allowed to come on to Brussels in the car, while the
others were detained.
Marshal Langhorne came in to-day from The Hague to effect formal
delivery of the first bargeload of food, and had weird tales to tell of
his adventures by the way. Thank goodness, the first of the food has
arrived in time, and if the flow can be kept up, the worst of our
troubles will be averted.
With this first consignment of food came the story of how it was got
through in such record time. Hoover is one of these people who is
inclined to get things done and attend later to such details as getting
formal permission, etc.
With Shaler's forty thousand pounds and promises of five hundred
thousand dollars more, he went to work and placed orders for twenty
thousand tons of food, costing two million dollars a week. This he did
on the theory that money would come along later, when the need was
realised, but that the Belgian stomachs would not wait until collections
had been made. He purchased the food, got it transported to the docks,
and loaded on vessels that he had contrived to charter, while all the
world was fighting for tonnage, got them loaded and the hatches closed.
When everything was ready, Hoover went to the proper authority and asked
for permission to ship the food, announcing that unless he could get
four shiploads of food into Belgium by the end of the week, the people
would begin to starve. The functionary was sympathetic, but regretted
that in the circumstances, he could not help. It was out of the question
to purchase food. The railways were choked with troops, munitions and
supplies. Ships were not to be had for love or money. And above all, the
Channel was closed to commerce.
Hoover heard him patiently to the end.
"I have attended to all this," he said. "The ships are already loaded
and ready to sail. All I need from you is clearance papers. You can let
me have them, and everything will be all right."
The high official could hardly believe his ears:
"Young man," he gasped, "perhaps you don't realise what you have done.
Men have been sent to the Tower for less. If it were for any other
cause, I hesitate to think what would happen to you. But as it is, I can
only congratulate you on some very good work."
And that's how we got our food in time.
Fines are being imposed on towns on one pretext or another. The other
day two policemen got into a controversy with a German secret-service
agent who did not explain who he was, and got a good thumping for doing
various things that a civilian had no business to do. This morning von
Lüttwitz comes out with this proclamation:
On the 28th of October, 1914, a legally constituted court martial
pronounced the following sentences:
(1) The policeman De Ryckere for having attacked, in the legal
exercise of his duties, an authorised agent of the German
Government, for having deliberately inflicted bodily hurt in two
instances with the aid of other persons, for having aided in the
escape of a prisoner and for having attacked a German soldier, was
condemned to five years' imprisonment.
(2) The policeman Seghers for having attacked, in the exercise of
his legal duties, an authorised agent of the German Government, for
having deliberately inflicted bodily hurt on this German agent, and
for having aided the escape of a prisoner (all these offences
constituting one charge), was condemned to three years' imprisonment.
The sentences were confirmed on October 31st by the Governor-General,
Baron von der Goltz.
The city of Brussels, not including its suburbs, has been punished
for the injury by its policeman De Ryckere to a German soldier, by
an additional fine of Five Million Francs.
The Governor of Brussels,
BARON VON LÜTTWITZ,
_General_.
Brussels, November 1, 1914.
Last night we dined at Ctesse. N----'s to celebrate everybody's safe
return.
* * * * *
_Brussels, Sunday, November 8, 1914._--Barges of food are beginning to
come in, and we have the place filled with people with real business
concerning the food and a lot of the usual "halo-grabbers" anxious to
give advice or edge into some sort of non-working position where they
can reap a little credit.
We are put on German time to-day.
On November 4th the Governor-General came out with a proclamation
ordering that German money be accepted in all business transactions. It
is to have forced currency at the rate of one mark to one franc,
twenty-five centimes. As a matter of fact, it is really worth about one
franc, seven centimes, and can be bought at that rate in Holland or
Switzerland, where people are glad enough to get rid of their German
money. Any shop refusing to accept German paper money at the stipulated
rate is to be immediately closed, according to the Governor's threat.
* * * * *
_Brussels, November 9, 1914._--Late in the afternoon Jack and I took Max
for a run in the Bois. While we were going across one of the broad
stretches of lawn, an officer on horseback passed us, accompanied by a
mounted orderly. To our surprise the orderly drew his revolver and began
waving it at us, shouting at the same time that if that ------------ dog
came any nearer, he would shoot him down. The officer paid no attention,
but rode on ahead. I started after them on foot, but they began to trot
and left me in the lurch. I ran back to the motor, overtook them, and
placed the car across their path. The officer motioned his orderly to go
ahead, and then let me tackle him. He took the high ground that I had no
reason to complain since the dog had not actually been shot, not seeming
to realize that peaceable civilians might have legitimate objections to
the promiscuous waving of revolvers. He declined to give his name or
that of the soldier, and I gave up and let him ride on after expressing
some unflattering opinions of him and his kind to the delight of the
crowd that had gathered. They did not dare say anything direct, but as I
got back into the car they set up a loud "_Vive l'Amérique_." The
officer looked peevish and rode away very stiff and haughty. Of course,
since he refused to give his name, there was no getting at him, and I
was free to be as indignant as I liked.
The Germans are tightening up on the question of travel in the occupied
territory, and we are now engaged in a disagreeable row with them over
passes for the Legation cars. They want to limit us in all sorts of ways
that make no difference to them, but cut down our comfort. They will
probably end by giving us what they want; but when it is all done we
shall have no feeling of obligation, having been forced to fight for it.
* * * * *
_Brussels, November 14, 1914._--On the morning of the 10th, I came down
to the Legation and found things in an uproar. A telegram had been
received saying that two trainloads of food, the first shipment for the
Province of Liège, would cross the frontier in the course of the
afternoon, under convoy of Captain Sunderland, our Military Attaché at
The Hague. The Minister and I are the only people authorized to receive
shipments; and, as no power of attorney had been sent to the Consul at
Liège, things were in a nice mess; and, at the request of the German
authorities and the Committee, it was decided that I should go down,
receive the stuff and make arrangements for its protection and for the
reception of future shipments. The German authorities were so excited
about my being there to head off any trouble that they hustled me off on
an hour's notice without any lunch. I contrived to get Jack's name put
on the _laisser-passer_, so that he could go along and see a little
something of the country. Joseph, the Legation butler, was wild to go
along as far as his native village to see his aged ma, whom he had not
seen since the beginning of the war, and he rode on the front seat with
Max who was much delighted to get under way again.
Jack was thrilled with the trip, and nearly fell out of the car going
through Louvain and the other ruined villages along the way. As we were
in such a rush, I could not stop to show him very much; but in most of
these places no guide is needed. Louvain has been cleared up to a
remarkable extent, and the streets between the ruined houses are neat
and clean. On my other trips I had had to go around by way of Namur, but
this time we went direct; and I got my first glimpse of Tirlemont and
St. Trond, etc.
When we reached Liège we went straight to the Consulate without pausing
to set ourselves up at a hotel, but found that nothing was known of
Captain Sunderland or his food trains. Thence to the German headquarters
where we inquired at all the offices in turn and found that the
gentleman had not been heard from. By the time we got through our
inquiries it was dark; and, as we had no _laisser-passer_ to be out
after dark, we had to scuttle back to the hotel and stay.
In the morning the Consul and I started off again to see what had become
of our man. We went through all the offices again, and as we were about
to give up, I found Renner, who used to be Military Attaché of the
German Legation here, and is now Chief of Staff to the Military
Governor. He cleared up the mystery. Sunderland had arrived about the
same time I did, but had been taken in hand by some staff officers,
dined at their mess, and kept busy until time for him to be off for
Maestricht. He was, however, expected back in time to lunch at the
officers' mess. He was also expected to dine with them in the evening. I
left word that I wanted to see him and made off to get in touch with the
members of the local committee and make arrangements as to what was to
be done with the food. We sat and waited until nearly dark, when I
decided to go out for a little spin. I gathered Jack and the Consular
family into the car and went for a short spin.
After losing our way a couple of times we brought up at the Fort of
Chaudefontaine, which was demolished by the Germans. It is on top of a
veritable mountain and it took us some time to work our way up on the
winding road. When we got there the soldiers on guard made no trouble
and told us that we could mouse around for fifteen minutes. We walked
out to the earthworks, which had been made by the Belgians and
strengthened by the Germans, and then took a look at the fort itself,
which was destroyed, and has since been reconstructed by the Germans.
They must have had the turrets and cupolas already built and ready to
ship to Liège, for the forts are stronger than they ever were before
and will probably offer a solid resistance when the tide swings back,
unless, of course, the allies have by that time some of the big guns
that will drop shells vertically and destroy these works the way the
German 42's destroyed their predecessors. It was very interesting to see
and hard to realise that up to three months ago this sort of thing was
considered practically impregnable.
When we got back we found that our man had come and had left word that
he could be found at the Café du Phare at six o'clock. We made straight
for that place, and found him. I made an appointment with him for the
first thing next morning, and went my way.
I was bid to dine with the German Military Governor and his staff, but
told Renner that since we were accredited here to the Belgian
Government, accepting German hospitality would certainly be considered
as an affront. He saw the point, and did not take offence, but asked me
to come over after dinner for a talk and bring Jack along, the which I
promised to do. While we were dining, a soldier with a rifle on his
shoulder strode into the dining-room and handed me a paper; great
excitement, as everybody thought we had been arrested. The paper was a
pass for us to circulate on the streets after dark, so that we could go
over to the headquarters. It was written on the back of a menu in
pencil. Although dinner was over the entire mess was still gathered
about the table discussing beer and Weltpolitik. At the head of the
table was Excellenz Lieutenant-General von Somethingorother, who was
commanding a German army on the eastern front when they got within
fifteen miles of Warsaw. After being driven back he had an official
"nervous breakdown," and was sent here as Governor of the Province of
Liège--quite a descent, and enough to cause a nervous breakdown. There
was another old chap who had fought in the Franco-Prussian war and had
not yet quite caught up with this one. I foregathered with Renner and
got my shop talk done in a very short time. Then everybody set to to
explain to us about the war and what they fought each other for. It was
very interesting to get the point of view, and we stayed on until nearly
midnight, tramping home through a tremendous downpour, which soaked us.
The next morning at eleven I met Sunderland. We saw the Governor and the
Mayor and Echevins, and talked things out at length. I had to collect a
part of the cost of the food before I could turn it over, and they
explained that the chairman of the local committee had gone to Brussels
to negotiate a loan; he would be back in four or five days and if I
would just wait, they would settle everything beautifully. That did not
please me, so I suggested in my usual simple and direct way that the
Governor rob the safe and pay me with provincial funds, trusting to be
paid later by the committee. It took some little argument to convince
him, but he had good nerve, and by half-past twelve he brought forth
275,000 francs in bank-notes and handed them over to me for a receipt.
Sticking this into my pocket, I made ready to get under way, but there
was nothing for it but that I must lunch with them all. Finally I
accepted, on the understanding that it would be short and that I could
get away immediately afterward. That was not definite enough, however,
for we sat at table until four o'clock and then listened to some
speeches.
When we got down the home stretch, the Governor arose and made a very
neat little speech, thanking us for what we had done to get food to the
people of Liège, and expressing gratitude to the American Government and
people, etc. I responded in remarks of almost record shortness, and as
soon as possible afterward, we got away through the rain to Brussels.
After getting through that elaborate luncheon, getting our things ready
at the hotel, paying our bill, saying good-bye all around once more,
etc., it was nearly five o'clock when we got off and nearly eight when
we reached Brussels and put our treasure in the safe.
The Germans have begun arresting British civilians and we have had our
hands full dealing with poor people who don't want to be arrested and
kept in prison until the end of the war and can't quite understand why
_they_ have to put up with it. It is pretty tough, but just another of
the hardships of the war, and while we are doing our best to have the
treatment of these people made as lenient as possible, we can't save
them.
* * * * *
_Brussels, November 16, 1914._--Some more excitement yesterday morning,
when various British subjects were arrested.
Two German civilians tried to force their way into the British Consulate
and arrest Mr. Jeffes, the British Consul, and his son, although the
American flag was flying over the door and there was a sign posted to
the effect that the place was under our protection and all business
should be transacted with us. Fortunately Nasmith was there, and after
trying to explain the matter politely, he made for the two men, threw
them into the street, and bolted the door. The gum-shoe men were so
surprised that they went away and have not been back. Last night I was
called around to the Consulate and found two more men shadowing the
place. There seemed to be no danger of arrest, but Nasmith spent the
night there, and this morning I went around and took the Jeffes to our
Consulate, so that if any attempt was made to take them, we should have
an opportunity to protest. The higher authorities had promised not to
seize them, but apparently you can never tell.
Yesterday was the King's Saint's Day, and word was passed around that
there would be a special mass at Ste. Gudule. Just before it was to
begin, the military authorities sent around and forbade the service. The
Grand Marshal of the Court opened the King's book at his house, so that
we could all go around and sign, as in ordinary times, for we are
accredited to the King of the Belgians, but early in the morning an
officer arrived and confiscated the book. The Government of Occupation
seems to be mighty busy doing pin-head things for people who have a war
on their hands.
Countess de Buisseret's little boy was playing on the street yesterday
when the German troops passed by. Being a frightful and dangerous
criminal, he imitated their goose-step and was arrested. M. de Leval
went around to headquarters to see what could be done, supposing, of
course, that when it was seen what a child he was, his release would be
ordered. Instead, he was told seriously that the youngster must be
punished and would be left in jail for some days.
* * * * *
_Brussels, November 18, 1914._--This is another day of disgust. This
morning one of the servants of the Golf Club came in to say that there
were fifty German soldiers looting the place. In the afternoon Jack and
I went out for a look at the place and to get my clubs. We found a lot
of soldiers under command of a corporal. They had cleaned the place out
of food, wine, linen, silver, and goodness knows what else. Florimont,
the steward, had been arrested because he would not tell them which of
the English members of the club had gone away and where the others were
staying. Having spent his time at the club, the fact was that he did not
know who was still in town and could not tell, but the Germans could not
be convinced of this and have made him prisoner.
I stopped at headquarters this afternoon to see von der Lancken. As I
came out a fine Rolls-Royce limousine drew up on the opposite side of
the street--a military car. The chauffeur, in backing out, caught and
tore the sleeve of his coat. In a rage, he slammed the door and planted
a tremendous kick in the middle of the panel with his heavy boot. I
stood agape and watched. He looked up, caught me looking at him, and
turned his anger from the motor to me. He put his hands on his hips,
shot out his jaw and glared at me. Then he began walking toward me
across the street in heavy-villain steps, glaring all the time. He
stopped just in front of me, his face twitching with rage, evidently
ready to do something cataclysmic. Then the heavens opened, and a
tremendous roar came from across the street. The officer to whom the car
belonged had seen the display of temper from his window, and had run out
to express his views. The soldier did a Genée toe-spin and stood at
attention, while his superior cursed him in the most stupendous way. I
was glad to be saved and to have such a display of fireworks into the
bargain.
* * * * *
_November 19th._--One day is like another in its cussedness.
The Germans have been hounding the British Legation and Consulate, and
we have had to get excited about it. Then they announced to the Dutch
Chargé that our courier could no longer go--that everything would have
to be sent by German field post. You would think that after the amount
of hard work we have done for the protection of German interests and the
scrupulous way in which we have used any privileges we have been
accorded, they would exert themselves to make our task as easy as
possible and show us some confidence. On the contrary, they treat us as
we would be ashamed to treat our enemies.
This morning it was snowing beautifully when I woke up, a light, dry
snow that lay on the ground. It has been coming down gently all day and
the town is a lovely sight, but I can't get out of my mind the thought
of those poor beggars out in the trenches. It seems wicked to be
comfortable before a good fire with those millions of men suffering as
they are out at the front.
And now Grant-Watson[9] has been put in prison. He stayed on here after
the Minister left, to attend to various matters, and was here when the
Germans arrived. Recently we have been trying to arrange for passports,
so that he and Felix Jeffes, the Vice-Consul, might return to England.
The authorities were seemingly unable to make up their minds as to what
should be done, but assured the Minister that both men would be allowed
to return to England or to remain quietly in Brussels. On Friday,
however, the Germans changed their minds and did not let a little thing
like their word of honour stand in the way.
[Footnote 9: Second Secretary of the British Legation in Brussels.]
The Minister was asked to bring Grant-Watson to headquarters to talk
things over--nothing more. When they got there, it was smilingly
announced that Grant-Watson was to leave for Berlin on the seven o'clock
train, which put us in the position of having lured him to prison. The
Minister protested vigorously, and finally Grant-Watson was put on
parole and allowed to return to the Legation, to remain there until
eleven o'clock yesterday morning. I went over the first thing in the
morning to help him get ready for his stay in jail. At eleven Conrad
arrived in a motor with Monsieur de Leval. We went out and got in, and
drove in state to the École Militaire, and, although I was boiling with
rage at the entire performance, I could not help seeing some fun in it.
Grant-Watson's butler was ordered to be ready to go at the same time. At
the last minute the butler came down and said perfectly seriously that
he would not be able to go until afternoon, as he had broken the key to
his portmanteau and would have to have another made. The Germans did not
see anything funny in that, and left him behind.
When we got to the École Militaire, we were refused admittance, and had
to wrangle with the sentries at the door. After arguing with several
officers and pleading that we had a man with us who wanted to be put in
prison, we were reluctantly admitted to the outer gate of the building,
where British subjects are kept. When the keeper of the dungeon came
out, I explained to him that the butler had been detained, but would be
along in the course of the afternoon, whereupon the solemn jailer
earnestly replied, "Please tell him that he must be here not later than
three o'clock, or he can't get in!" And nobody cracked a smile until I
let my feelings get the better of me.
I was prepared for an affecting parting with Grant-Watson in consigning
him to the depths of a German jail, but he took it as calmly as though
he were going into a country house for a week-end party. I suppose there
is some chance that they may exchange him for a few wounded German
officers and thus get him back to England.
Since our snow-storm the other day, the weather has turned terribly cold
and we have suffered even with all the comforts that we have. And the
cheerful weather prophets are telling us that without doubt this will be
one of the coldest winters ever known. A pleasant prospect for the boys
at the front! Mrs. Whitlock and everybody else is busy getting warm
clothing for the poor and for the refugees from all parts of Belgium who
were unable to save anything from their ruined homes. It is bad enough
now, but what is coming....
Gustave has just come in with the cheering news that Ashley, our crack
stenographer, has been arrested by the Germans. They are making
themselves altogether charming and agreeable to us.