The Most Beautiful City in Europe Destroyed by the Germans.
Scene of desolation in Louvain. On the right is the magnificent Town Hall, considered one of the most marvelous pieces of architecture in Europe’s which escaped almost untouched. In the center, however, the famous St. Peter’s Cathedral has only the walls standing. (Copyright by the International News Service.)
Ruins of Ypres After the Bombardment.
The old Flemish town was the center of hot fighting between the Allies and the German troops in the battles for the possession of Belgium. At the right of the picture are seen the ruins of the famous Cloth Hall, one of the most famous medieval buildings in Europe. (Copyright by the International News Service.)
CHAPTER XIII
A BELGIAN BOY’S STORY OF THE RUIN OF AERSCHOT
[PITIABLE PLIGHT OF BOY OF SIXTEEN STRANDED IN ANTWERP] — [HIS ARREST] — [A TOWN IN RUINS] — [BURYING THE DEAD] — [THE LEVELED GUNS] — [MARCHING AMONG GERMAN CAMPS] — [NO MONEY AND NO WORK].
To the thousands of unhappy Belgian refugees driven from their homes by the advancing Germans and transported to England the pity of the whole world has gone out; yet even more deplorable than the condition of these was the fate of those who were left behind to suffer at the hands of a relentless enemy. The story of a delicate boy of sixteen, as told in the following letter which he himself wrote from Antwerp to his former employer, an American living at the time in England, is typical.