The Heel of War Author:George Brinton McClellan Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER HI BELGIUM UNDER GERMAN RULE Conditions are not abnormal in any way. Unemployment exists because capitalist class will not resume usual industrial ... more »activities. Train service superior to that of France. Crops unusually abundant. Plenty of native labor to gather it. No lack of cattle, sheep or poultry. Newspapers running as usual. No rigid censorship in evidence. In fact there Is little to suggest German occupation. Effectiveness of Belgian Red Cross Organization. Excellent work of American Relief Commission. 1WISH that it were possible that we might cross Belgium on our way to Holland," I said to a friend of mine who occupies a high position in the German Imperial Government. "There is nothing easier than to arrange it for you," he replied, "but for your wife is an entirely different matter. With the exception of some nurses, no ladies other than Belgian have been allowed to cross into Belgium since the war began. However, one can but try, and I shall telegraph for permission to the Military Government at Brussels." In twenty-four hours the permission came, and in twenty-four hours more we were on our way. We broke the journey at Kb'ln and, accompanied by five trunks, left there at 8 o 'clock the next morning on one of the three daily express trains, which, with their dining cars, run through to Lille via Liege, Louvain, and Brussels. There were three other civilian passengers on board, and all the rest were officers and men returning to the trenches after a fortnight's leave, for Germany has enough troops to allow each man at the front two weeks' leave every six months. We crossed the frontier at Herbersthal, the formalities being about the same as thosein force on entering Russia in time of peace, except that our luggage was not opened. Our railway ...« less