escaped the shooting and burning were sent toward
Germany. We do not at this writing know for what purpose.

The fire continued for several days. An eye-witness, who on Aug. 30 left
Louvain, describes the state of the city as follows:

"From Weert St. Georges," he says, "I have seen nothing except
burned towns and crazed villagers lifting to each comer their arms
as a mark of submission. From each house was hanging a white flag,
even from those that had been set on fire, and rags of them were
found hanging from the ruins.

At Weert St. Georges I inquired from the inhabitants the cause of
the German reprisals. They all assured me that absolutely none of
the inhabitants had fired; that all arms had been previously given
up, and that the Germans had taken vengeance on the population
because a Belgian soldier of the Gendarme Corps had killed a Uhlan.

The population which remained in Louvain took refuge in the suburb
of Heverle, where they are all piled up, the population having been
driven from the town by the troops and by the fire.

The fire in Louvain began a little above the American College, and
the city is entirely destroyed, with the exception of the Town Hall
(Hotel de Ville) and the depot. Today the fire continued, and the
Germans--far from trying to stop it--seem rather to maintain it by
throwing straw into the fire, as I have myself seen in the streets
behind the Hotel de Ville. The cathedral and the theatres have been
destroyed and have fallen in, also the library. The town resembles
an old city in ruins, in the midst of which drunken soldiers are
circulating, carrying bottles of wine and liquor; the officers
themselves being installed in armchairs, sitting around tables and
drinking like their own men.

In the streets dead horses are decaying, horses which are already
inflated, and the smell of the fire and of the decaying animals is
such that it has followed me for a long time."

The commission up to this writing has been unable to obtain any
information regarding the fate of the Burgomaster of Louvain, nor
regarding the prominent persons taken for hostages.

Conclusions of the Commission.

By facts which have thus far been brought to its attention, the
commission reaches the following conclusions:

In this war, German occupation of territory is systematically