“They tell of invaders who scattered powder around or threw petroleum into their houses and then set them afire.

“And when did this happen?  Yesterday!  It is not a matter of centuries ago in distant climes, but yesterday, and quite near to us.  Yet one cannot believe it was really yesterday that these things were done.”

One of the fugitives explained to M. Brieux why after the first hour of their flight she had to carry her elder child as well as her baby.  She showed him a pair of boots.

“I felt the inside with my fingers,” says Brieux.  “Nails had come through the soles.  I looked at the child’s feet.  They were dirty with red brown clots.  It was blood.”

CHAUNCEY DEPEW ON A RUNNING-BOARD

Chauncey M. Depew, former United States Senator for New York, was in Geneva when the trouble began.  He said on his return:  “After crossing the border into France we picked up men joining the colors on the way to Paris, until our train could hold no more.

“Whenever I stuck my head into a corridor the soldiers would set up a cheer on seeing my side whiskers.  They mistook me for an Englishman and cried:  ‘Long live the entente cordiale!’”

IN THE “VALLEY OF DEATH”

The fiercest fighting of all that preceded the Russian victory at Lublin was in a gorge near the village of Mikolaiff, which the Russian soldiers reverently named the “Valley of Death.”

The gorge was full of dead men, lying in heaps, according to an officer who participated in the battle.  “When we attacked at 3 o’clock in the morning,” he said, “the gorge contained 15,000 Austrians, a large proportion of whom were mowed down by the artillery fire which plowed through the valley in the darkness.  The Austrians surrendered and we entered the gorge to receive their arms, while their general stood quietly on a hill watching the scene.  Eight of his standards being turned over to the Russians was more than he could bear, for he drew a pistol and shot himself.”

GENERAL USE OF KHAKI UNIFORMS

The war put everybody into khaki, with a few exceptions.  On the battle line or in the field the English soldier and the English officer get out of their richly colored and historic uniforms and into khaki, of a neutral hue.  The Germans are in gray.  The Austrians have most of their soldiers in khaki, and the Russians all wear khaki-colored cloth.  The French still cling to their blue coats and brilliant red trousers, although steps are being taken to reclothe the army in more modern fashion, and the Belgians have a uniform that is very similar to the French.

The French and Belgian officers are dangerously ornamented with gilt trimmings during warfare and present such brilliant targets that some of the Belgian regiments during hard fighting with the Germans have lost nearly all of their leaders.