A statement issued by the Press Bureau on Thursday night
and published in Friday's papers is a very interesting piece of official journalism, though, after the manner of things official, somewhat belated. Though published on the 18th, it was dated the 14th, and only covers the period from September 10th to 13th. In effect it describes the great rearguard action which took place on Friday, the 11th, and Saturday, the 12th, and which ended in the Germans placing themselves in their new position—the great battle which, as the state- ment points out, is still unfinished. Some of the incidents recorded are very important. Specially horrible is the account of the treatment accorded by the Germans to the town of Senlis. A poacher shot a German soldier, and for this the German commander assembled the Mayor of the town and five other leading citizens and forced them to kneel before graves which bad already been dug. Ultimately they were taken to a field and shot. They had, of course, done nothing worthy of death, and in all human probability would have given everything they possessed to prevent sporadic shooting by stragglers.
