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M'HEXKY, ILL. M'HENBY PLAr&TDKAI KR m -* >-i •; - «l I -•I,-#** CbloafQ Tribune prints * long M?;!v copyrighted dispatch from James tC ^ O'Donnell Bennett, staff correspondent, '*<*? *' <iated at Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, which In specific detail disputes and fei', ffeSfc" denies the charges of cruelties and atrocities lodged against the Germans In Belgium. Mr. Bennett, in company trlth John T. McCutcheon of the Chica- So Tribune, Irvin S. Cobb of the Sat- P, nrday Evening Post, Roger Lewis of the Associated Press and Harry Han­ sen of the Chicago Dally News, trav­ eled 100 miles through 20 towns and their observations lead him to the firm .v.*: conviction that the reports" of baf- srpe-Parities alleged to have been per Mr. :0 trated by German troops are false­ hoods.. t The following dispatch to the Asso- • dated Press, evidently forwarded by E ? Soger Lewis, Is In substantial agroe- meat with Mr. Bennett's story Iu Um '•*^1' Chicago Tribune: ] • By the Associated Press. Now York.--An Associated Press •t&ff correspondent of American birth and antecedents, who was sent from the New York office and was caught Brussels at the time of the Ger- |jiman invasion, held as a prisoner for £,\ several days, and who finally escaped | to Holland, has sent by mail the fol­ lowing Btory of his experiences: "The night before the Germans en- \ tared Brussels, wlyn the Belgian civil jtk guards and refugees began pouring / into the city from the direction of Louvaln, they brought stories of un­ speakable German atrocities, maltreat* xnent of old men and children, and the violation of women. "The Belgian capital Ineeled with ap­ prehension. Within an hour the gay- ety, the vivacity, and brilliancy of the city went out like a broken arc light. The radiance of the cafes was ex­ changed for darkness; whispering groups of residents broke up hurried­ ly and locked themselves Into this homes, where they put up the shut­ ters and drew in their tri-colored Bel­ gian flags. Fears of Brussels Quieted. "The historic Belgian city went through a state of morbid consterna­ tion, remarkably like that from which It suffered on June 18, 1815, when it 'trembled with the fear of a French vic­ tory at Waterloo. \ "In less than 24 hours the Belgian citizens were chatting comfortably with the German invaders and the al­ legations of German brutality and de­ moniacal torture dissolved into one of the myths which have accompanied all wars. "Neither in Brussels nor in Its en­ virons was a single offensive act, so far as 1 know, committed by a German soldier. In a city of over half a mil­ lion people, invaded by a hostile army of perhaps a quarter of a million sot diers, no act sufficiently flagrant to demand punishment or to awaken .pro­ test came to my attention. None Knows of Outrages. "The frightful reports that had pre­ ceded the Gernfen army into Brussels included the disemboweling of old men and the Impaling of children on lances just outside Louvaln. Investigation not onjy failed to substantiate these rumors, but could not even discover any one in the immediate vicinity who credited them. "An eye witness of raimpeachable veracity told me that the worst be­ havior he had observed during the first German entry into Louvain (August 19) was that of a German soldier who leaned from his horse and kissed a pretty Flen#eh girl who brought him * glass of beer. "I marched for days with the Ger­ man columns, often only one day be­ hind the fighting, with the houses that had been burned still smoldering, the ground freshly broken by shell and trampled by horses and men, and the memory of the German advance vivid ll| |he minds of the inhabitants. No Proofs of Murder. r "I interviewed an average of twenty persons in each of a dozen towns and found only one instance of a noncom- batant who had been killed without a justifiable provocation. In this case the evidence did not clearly prove that the man had been wantonly murdered. "He lived in one of the typical small Belgian countryside houses which com­ bine the comforts of home with the lure of a small public bar. This house wtus at the north of Merbes-le-Chateau, a town through which a large part of the German army passed oa the road to Maubeuge. "A son of the murdered man, whose name was Arthur Nicodem, shewed me blood clots on the floor marking the plm where Nicodem fell, his throat by a saw-edged German saber. r English Flrsd From House. *lt was said by some inhabitants It the murdered man showed a pair Of binoculars; but a more prdbable explanation is that English outposts had concealed themselves in the house, from which they poured a rain of fire upon the first German Invaders. The inference that the shooting was done by Belgian civilians may have in­ flamed the Germans to reprisals. "In that neighborhood four houses had been burned and one was still ablaze as I passed on Wednesday, Aug. 26, "This town of Merbes-le-Chateau* which had been the scene of an unim­ portant skirmish between the Ger­ mans agd English on the previous Sunday, was riddled with rifle shots. The small number of windows Intact showed that the Germans had mad$ a deliberate assault upon the residents of the town. But the inhabitants themselves admitted that all of the shooting had been done by a com­ paratively small number of Germans, and that the firing had not been be­ gun until English soldiers who had concealed themselves in the houses had fired first upon the Germans. New* of Incident Goes Far. "I-have emphasised the one fatality of the noncombatan.t because the news of it traveled up and Sown the 8ainbre and across to Hantes-Wiberie and Soire-sur-Sambre, multiplying as it went and developing ghastly and in­ human details until it seemed an un­ answerable reproach to the whole German empire. "With this one possible exception, I - did not encounter in Nlvelles, in Binche, Buissiere, or Soire-sur-S&m- bre, or any of the other towns I visited, a Blngle Incident of mistreat­ ment or any sort by German officers or soldiers. "Brulssiere--particularly the lower part of the city--had been virtually destroyed by a cross fire from French and German artillery. Tops of brew- eries had been hurled bodily to the ground, and walls had "either disap­ peared or become grotesquely dis­ lodged. Burgomaster Denies Reports. "Into this town 130 French killed and more than a hundred wounded were brought In a single day. Au­ gust Blairiaux, burgomaster, said that he knew of no cases of German cruel­ ties, except distant rumors which he had learned to discredit. It ought to be said to the credit of the Belgians that they have not allowed their bit­ terness toward the Germans to carry them Into unfair recrimination. "Robert J. Thompson, American consul at Aachen, visited Liege during and after the capture of the forts. It is the opinion of Mr. Thompson that no outrage was committed by tier- mans during the several days' fighting there. "There are, of course, reported out­ rages beyond investigation, either on account of their vagueness or because it is Impossible to weigh the provoca­ tion, It is known, for instance, that 112 natives were killed in Renouchamp, not far from Ardennes; German sol­ diers say that they were killed be­ cause they fired upon them from the roofs and windows of the houses. Differ on Louvaln Incident. "The history of the absolute de­ struction of the historic city of Lou­ valn with Its cathedral and its univer­ sity is by this time well known. The German version of this Is that the in­ habitants, under the direction of the burgomaster, established themselves In the • church, where they also in­ stalled a machine gun. They proceed­ ed to greet the Germans with a deadly fire. "The Belgians say, on the other hand, that part of the German army, mistaking one of their own retiring di­ visions for the enemy, opened fire upon them, whereupon, deluded into thinking this an assault ,by Belgian civilians, the Germans razed the city. "I have not been able to acquire any direct evidence in regard to these last two instance®, but the explanation gen­ erally credited by disinterested per­ sons is that the Belgians, who had laid down their arms, according to the bur­ gomaster's proclamation on the en­ trance of the enemy, took them up again when it looked as if the Ger­ mans were retreating from the town, and opened fire from their windows upon a retiring German train, Jarotzfky Tells Outrages. "The most authoritative German de­ nial of German offense comes from Maj. Gen. Thaddeus von Jarotzsky, military'governor of Brussels, who in­ formed me that In numerous cases he had been received with a pretense of friendliness by Belgian civilians, who later fired upon the German soldiers from windows and from between the roof tiles. This was done, he said, after a declaration of surrender by the burgomaster and proclamation warn­ ing the citizens against any show of resistance. "In such violations of the rules of war, the general said, he punished the offender by burning the houses from which the shots were fired "1 can only say that in every case of reported outrage or reprisal which was susceptible of investigation I haVflj, found either that the outrage was af figment of the Belgian mind or that It was more tfian halt "excused by ctavj cumstances. ! "The prevalence of the Belgian prac-, tice of sniping from the houses was perhaps indicated by the warning ot the German officer, who acted as guard for five American correspondents, in­ cluding myself, who were being takea as prisoners from Beaumont to Aachen in an army train. We were advised to lie down on the floor of the car as the Belgian snipers would shoot at us from the houses. But there was no firing. "This, of course, is not a brief for the German army; it is an account of 'German conduct aa it appeared to an impartial observer who had the rather extraordinary opportunity of traveling for days with the German columns, over a distance of more than a hun­ dred miles through a dozen important cities and towns. "Sometimes I was near enough to the front to see the white artillery smoke spurt into clouds along the horizon and hear the double detona­ tions which came from artillery at short range. At other times I trailed behind through the desolate waste which a victorious army leaves be­ hind It < Pay All and Tip Wall. "On the contrary, I witnessed na» merous esses of the most careful cour­ tesy on the part of German soldiers. In Brussels they not only paid their cafe bills, but tipped generously. Along the road, when a German officer or soldier entered a Belgian house for food or shelter, it was not with a de­ mand but a request. In spite of the confusion and errors which arose from a strange tongue there was almost no friction of any sort The German soldiers were punctil­ iously considerate and polite to wom­ en and children, apologizing for th© discomfort they were causing. Upon leaving a house where they have been given shelter, I have seen them shake hands with the concierge, peasant woman, or in some cases with the gentlewoman of a Belgian villa, as pleasantly as if they were bidding adieu to their hostess at a week-end house party. "So many instances of this sort are at hand that a recital of them would be tedious. "Naturally inclined to be gruff with their soldiers, the German offlcers al­ ways gave the French prisoners a pleasant word, and treated them with every consideration. Not a single ex­ ception to this civility toward prison­ ers has come to my attention. "A French lieutenant and two Eng­ lish officers traveled with us In the prison train from Beaumont to Aachen, a halting Journey which took over thirty-sU hours. The train was "crowded with German wounded and French and English prisoners, and there was nothing to eat or drink* except a few fragments of rye bread, hard as a stone, and a little liquid compound of chicory, which in Bel­ gium masquerades under the name of coffee. Since there was not enough even of this disheartening fare to go around, German officers went without food so that the prisoners might be fed. Aid Owners of Cafe. "In a little cafe in Beaumont con­ cierge and madame had fled before the approach of the Boldlers and aban­ doned their business. Two offlceff found them in hiding, brought them back, and in a day th,ey had taken in more money than In any previous Week in their career. "These Incidents could be indefinite­ ly prolonged, but they would only ofr fer additional support to a point thai I think I have already established-- the universal kindliness of German soldiers as I have observed them. "I have seen perhaps half a dozen cases of drunkenness In observing nearly 1,000,000 soldiers, and these few were only good-naturedly maud­ lin. In Beaumont while I was detained for 24 hours in the small/<;afe pre­ viously mentioned, with an armed guard at the door, although specifical­ ly told that* I was not an ordinary prisoner, a swaggering pet^y officer of gome sort, lunged toward me and showed me the qharp convincing edge of his sword, insisting that I run my hand across it Warned to Avoid Drinking. "German discipline and German training seem to have put into the German soldier an exemplary behavior which is nothing less than remarkable. Before I fell asleep on the floor of the Beaumont cafe, with two German sol­ diers' guns, slanting almost over me. I heard the petty officer who was in charge of us, giving instructions to the guards, which included the state­ ment that any one of us who stirred outside the door should be shot. Then he counseled them, almost In a father­ ly way to drink only moderately, stat­ ing that If they became drunk he would recommend a sentence of 15 years In the penitentiary. "If the conduct of the German sol­ dier errs at all it is on the side of a too complete subordination. It is im­ possible for any one who has .seen much of the German system to be­ lieve in the tales of deliberate depre­ dations and unsoldierly conduct." ^©SCOTCH HIGHLANDERS CHARGING THE fiERMAN^ISiif' % *• J*1.*'1 KAISER ADDRESSES .TROOPS AT VIRT0N ^4 . V *». -V i. ' *Horf&a&ffi.--The Cologne Gazette reports that the German emperor de­ livered a speech to his troops after the battle of Vlrton, near Longwy, when he visited his son. Prince Oscar, who is commandant ot the grena- 41ers. The kaiser appeared in«the evening with his suite in five automobiles. He his sen and then walked along J0FFRE HAS CLOSE CALL; ESCAPES GERMAN AMBUSH 'M t . ' london.--The Dally Mail corre­ spondent In Paris wires: "From s Frenchman wBe volun­ teered his motor car and is now driv­ ing it for officers of the general staff, I hear that General Joffre had a nar- tow escape some days ago. He was %elng driven by Boillet, a French rac­ ing driver, and the Germans seem to aave laid an artillery ambush for him $ thank regiment me par- oa eon- the lines greeting the men, who were quartered in the village. Standing In the middle of the square, the kaiser said "I greet yon ss you. I have often on parade and now tlcular pleasure quered land. Tour regiment fought as I expected and as your fathers fought in 1871. The battle of Virton will be eternally inscribed In letters of gold in the his­ tory of the war. along the road by which they knew he would have to travel. "As soon as the car reached the por­ tion of the road on which the German guns were trained shells fell all around it One fragment as large as a "teacup struck the bonnet, but neither the general nor th^, driver was In­ jured. Boillet dashed on at full speed and was out of the danger zone be­ fore the Germans could fire again." Tunis yearly distills, of orange 0,000 pounds Spain devotes 3,684,710 H The Scctch Highlanders, here seen charging a retreating body of Germans tn Vtance, are among the hard*--t .asd most stubborn of Great Britain's fighters. REJOINING THEIR REGIMENTS VIA 0STEND These soldiers know what it means to stand up before the grueling Are of the Germans. In the heat of battle they were cut off from their regiments arouiid Namur And were compelled, is ofdiv^w iwto twlf 0(n0V|» to 14 back through France via Havre. The photograph Bhows them landing at Ostend. MACHINES OF THE BRITISH FLYING CORPS m Sir John Frenches stated that the British flying corps has been rendering Invaluable aid of their machines are here shown. The photograph was taken oa the continent but the censor forbade mention or the locality. AIRSHIP PROTECTING PARIS LOUVAIN'S CATHEDRAL IN RUINS "Our comrades In the eastern army fought gallantly, also the army of the crown prince. The fourth army, under the duke of Wurtemberg, ad­ vanced victoriously. Our enemies are withdrawing In flight "The eastern army has driven three Russian corps over the frontier. Two Russian corps capitulated on the open field. Sixty thousand men and two generals were taken prisoners. "For all these victories we have to thank but one--that Is. pur God, who Is ever over us." WAR COST8 ENGLAND *44.80 EACH SECOND London.--The cost of the war up to date has been $11,265,000,000. The cost to England alone,v .based on figures covering 43 days from Au­ gust 1, has been $166,500,000. This is at the rate of $3,872,093 a day, $161,337 an hour, $2,689 a min­ ute and $44.80 a second. French military dirigible hovering above Paris on the lookout for the German airships which several times sailed over the city and dropped bombs. A crowd of Parisians la seen watching the sky cruiser. The people of Paris became so so» customed to the visits of the German aeroplanes that they treated them ss an amusement Keep Down Urfe Afeid tTrie aotcMtiS polsoDforn*41na1d«o«rt*oStt)p B digesting wftftln foods, especially •MHHr a<l t>r th* tHftabig op ot norra and mmmf la •ad --„ oellB darlnf •xertlon. tlrlo acid 1s harmless ms Imw as the kliluMS Alter It promptly ttotn the blood, but pwMS who oTerao and uric acid eo fiat that It overloads Qm Uood. waakccs the kid­ neys, and attacks the narVas, caasiog rb««- mattc pain*. It forms fravel, hardens the arteries and brl niison dropsy or Bright* disease. By restoring the kidneys to normal MUvltr i'iils help to Wernna^lMWI AnlffinoiiCasr^ Mrs. C. Somrr.sr. 1917 Newport Ave-. Chicaco, 111., says: "A severe cold is x n y k l d n i r i brought on back- ache that obliged me to n to bed. I vu In agony for wtelca. The kld- n e r secretions were so disordered that I knew where the trouble cam* from. On a friend's advice, I tried Doan's TC 1 d n s T Pills and they rid me of the pain * kidney weakns The euro & *_• lasted for y« * i ; „ 6®t at Any Star*. SO* a Bus D OAN'S V.I'IV goamfOLBtrnw ax. wifpalo,w,t. "The magnificent cathedral of Louvaln. the interior of which *w utterly wrecked by the German troops, although the outer walls remain standing.^ the right is the beautiful old hotel de ville, or town hall, which almost S»ns of the city's buildings was spared. NEW YORKERS BECOMING IRRITABLE OVER WAR to •Sew York.--"Giants win. Kaiser loses." That ingenious cry by an en­ terprising newsboy on a Broadway cor­ ner, when the New York Nationals won a game and th© Germans advanc­ ing on Paris met a reverse, almost caused a riot. Sympathizers with the allies cheered the gamin to the echo, and bought all his papers, while the adherents of the kaiser denounced the hoy roundly and threatened to nut him off the street The incident served to show that the nerves of the war-weary crowds of the greater city are on edge. The novelty of the great European conflict has worn off long since, and the peo­ ple are beginning to take sides. Par­ tisans are becoming Irritable, and on the street corners these days numerous fistic encounters are averted only by the vigilance of the policemen who are stationed snmnd *U the bulletin boards. A changing sentiment, too, Is no­ ticeable. At the outset of the war al­ most all the expressed sympathy was for the allies, English, French and Russian, possibly because there were few Germans about After the Germans succeeded in in­ vading France, and got so close to PariB that the French capital was moved to Bordeaux, there was an In­ crease of German sentiment Ger­ mans and German-Americans are ooming bolder. They awrasi feelings unreservedly. Make the Do its Duty Nine tsiries 5n ten when the fiiteP 4ft right the stomach and bowels are rigfrt CARTER'S LITTLE ~ UVER PILLS gently butfirmly < ^ pel a lazy liver tc^H^HIf'VlQTTn'c do its dut" ^^•ViHRIUW ITTIX PILLS. ty. Cures Cc stipation, digestion. Sick Headache,4 and Distress After Eating. SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL P1KX Genuine must bear Signature PARKER'S HAIR BALSAM A toilet preparation of Bsertfc Helps to eradicate dudrolt For Ra«taring Color tad Beauty to Gray orFsilsH Hate BOo. ami $1,00 at Dnmista, UNDISTURBED BY THE CLAMOR Sudden and Deafening Noise Hsd No Effect on Occupant of New York Park, Be was lost In dreamy contemplar Uon of the busy thoroughfare with it# hurrying throng, unminded of the grime and stains that marked an4 marred his old-fashioned garments, when suddenly there resounded upon the air an ear splitting roaT, a terriflp clangor, a stifled shriek from som% frightened women, a babel of voices and a rush of scurrying feet. He stood transfixed, rooted to the spot without power to move a muscle^ an expression of unconscious a*feony upon his noble face. Breathlessly he waited, unmindful of the curioua glances bestowed upon him, and the little newsboys crouching at his gaze fixed rigidly upon the spot- from whence liad arisen that cry ot terror. The crowd parted, e heavy truck moved lumberingly aside and fc Broadway surface car went on Its way. . Still he did not move, nor did the1 stern expresalon upon his bronze^ features relax. ^ For he alone of all that crowd ha# - nerves sufficiently hardened to wltlfe stand the terrifying clamor and cof£ , fusion. He was the statue ot Nsthsi , Hale.--New York World. W, . • All for America. Lest year the United States impor|i> ed knit goods to the amount ot $5,871^ ' 863 and this year will have to gel along without the imported goods. It is now the fashion for women to "sao- riflce" themselves for their countries andw hat better sacrifice could Ameri­ can women itiake than cheerfully to wear American-made clothes during the next few years? Let evei^QgMI; d e c l a r e f o r A m e r i c a n g o o d s . ^ v r ?Ol R OWN DRl'GG18T WTLL TEIX_ rjr Murine Kyu B»in«lyJorin"'* w Byes and Granulate Byell lust Kye Comfort. Write for tiy '• Jb'tcu. AiurUM Kye Bsme&r Cfe. Red. Weak. Watesy Ids; No SaajrUBf-- Sook of tbe Mje am ad* fin l^hisas^. -The Real Proof. "is that new play so fun of reeK ism?" "Well. It's taking In reel money." CARE,F0R YOURtolR •x-; olive growiiif •• I. :/ -AM J SOAP ;i3| And Cuticur* OintmeaL They cleanse the scalp, move dandruff, arrest felling jf ' hair and promote hair health. ^ Samples Free by Mail '- 4 CuUcura world. . ........ "1 *£&r -J& > .v i' i. ̂ . Sfci.'I*#*.