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Title: Ways of War and Peace
Author: Delia Austrian
Release Date: May 30, 2014 [EBook #45828]
Language: English
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Ways of War and Peace
by
Delia Austrian
Stanhope-Dodge Publishing Company
U. S. A.
Larchmont, N. Y.
1914
Copyright 1914
by
DELIA AUSTRIAN
THIS BOOK IS
DEDICATED
TO MY MOTHER
With Whom I Have Enjoyed Much of the Beauty and Charm
of Europe and Also, Unfortunately, Have Seen the
Honors and Sorrows of War
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword 9
Students' Hostel in Paris 21
Paris, Past and Present 28
How Would You Like to Be a Refugee? 35
What Mobilization Means 79
The Price of War and the Price of Peace 96
Some Questions Answered as to the Causes of the War 105
What the World-War Will Mean to Womankind 114
Ask Your American Friends How It Feels to Be Without
Money 125
What the Queen of Holland Is Doing to Preserve Peace 138
What Royal Women Are Doing While Their Husbands
Are at War 144
What Will the Royal Children Do if Their Parents Are
Put Out of Business? 151
William II at Close Range 157
King George V, Head of the Allies 171
Two Russian Cities 182
Christmas Without a Santa Claus 196
FOREWORD
As I advance in years I look upon life as a good deal of a paradox; at
times it seems to be a mass of contradictions of love and hate, of
friendship and enmity, of truths and falsehoods, of war and peace. In
the same flash of time countries are throttling others; other nations
are straining themselves not only to soften the hardships created by an
international war, but to help feed, care for and dry the tears made by
the havoc of slaughter.
A most striking instance of this statement happened a few days before
the outbreak of the war. Through a mutual friend, while in Bavaria, I
learned that Miss Anna Eckstein, an American woman, who has devoted her
life to the world's peace movement was visiting her home in Coburg
Saxe-Weimar. It was a short distance from where I was staying, and I
asked Miss Eckstein if she would come to me. The answer to my invitation
was that much as she would love to see me we should have to defer our
meeting to some other time. She was starting to make a tour of the Rhine
cities, where she was going to give important talks on the work that was
being done to encourage the world's peace. This would take most of her
time until the early fall, when she was going to a peace congress in
Vienna. She said that I might help her by forming two local centers in
Chicago for the signing of many petitions pledging ourselves for the
peace idea platform. I had not much more than read this letter and put
the petitions away for safekeeping when the word came that the great war
was declared.
Time and again during the storm and stress of war this incident appeared
as the greatest of paradoxes. Here was a young woman who has consecrated
her life, her talents, energy and friendships for the purpose of making
the idea of world peace more than a chimera. Her efforts have failed for
the time being, because monarchs and statesmen, goaded on by a foolish
idea for stronger empires and more possessions, had thrown their nations
against each other, resulting in the most cruel and disastrous upheaval
of modern times. Many of the world's nations are hurling their
tremendous armies with their siege-guns, bombs, mines, air-crafts,
submarines and navies at each other. Awful and tremendous are these
gigantic masses of destruction. What they accomplish or fail to
accomplish will be forgotten when the work of such women as Miss Anna
Eckstein and Baroness von Suttner are inscribed in glory.
It was merely by chance I had the pleasure of meeting these two
brilliant women at the time of the World's Peace Congress at The Hague.
Miss Eckstein had come as a delegate from America bringing petitions of
three million names, signed by American men and women, including many of
the foremost professors, students, writers, artists, capitalists and
workers in all lines of industry. Though born in Germany, she had come
to America because she realized that our country believes in peace more
than it does in war. For many years she worked entirely with the peace
movement in Boston. But she soon saw the need of educating the young
people to the ideals and principles of peace. She made a campaign of
this country, talking from pulpits and platforms on what the peace idea
and ideal would mean for society the world over.
This educational campaign was interrupted for a short time when Miss
Eckstein went to take the American petitions to The Hague. She attended
the round-table talks, afternoon teas and receptions, where time and
again she showed that war, besides being futile was the most reckless
extravagance of modern times. The cost of feeding and supporting a
soldier would keep a child in school; the cost of a siege-gun would pay
for the building of a school house, and the building of a battleship
would give a country a new university. She showed them time and again
that besides suffering, war meant the destruction of a nation's best
manhood. It is the strong and energetic and the brilliant minds that are
picked for soldiers. It is the weak and old men along with women and
children that usually survive to suffer the hardships and the heartaches
made possible by war. It was at one of these international receptions
that I had the pleasure of hearing Miss Eckstein express some such
ideas. She spoke of the work of The Hague Tribunal, and had such
confidence in the sincerity of the governments and their representatives
that she thought any question of vital importance might be settled there
rather than that rulers should enchain civilization and throw nations to
the dogs of war.
Later, through a foundation by Mr. Edwin Ginn, the publisher of Boston,
Miss Eckstein went to Europe for the purpose of preaching the gospel of
peace. She talked in schools, theatres and concert halls before large
audiences composed of school teachers, and school children, government
officials and working people. But her chief purpose was to educate the
school children in the larger, more wholesome ideas of peace. Some of
the most spacious and handsomest halls in Germany were put at her
disposal, and some of the most influential German officials presided at
her meetings. She was equally well received, and was welcomed with the
same enthusiasm in France, Italy, England and the North countries. She
hoped to carry this propaganda into Japan, India and Africa. At the same
time she was working to carry a petition of thirty million names, signed
in all parts of Europe and the United States, to The Hague. This
stupendous work was almost finished when the war broke out.
It was at The Hague that I first heard Bertha von Suttner, a well-known
Austrian writer and lecturer. She became world-famous as the author of
"Lay Down Your Arms," which won for her the Nobel Peace Prize. Her theme
at The Hague was "Combatting Dueling in Germany." She told of the way
the sons of officers and of the aristocracy at an early age were
instructed to look upon dueling as an important part of their education.
The more cuts, the more glory, for it was splendid experience for the
more terrible combat of war. A deep gash in a man's face made him better
looking, for it showed that he had plenty of courage. She was gathering
a strong petition signed by men and women of many nationalities against
this wicked pastime. It was a few years later, in Chicago, that I heard
Bertha von Suttner speak on the war in the Balkans. She explained that
it was only a small spark in a greater conflagration. It was being
patched up, not settled, and unless the United States used her
persuasive and moral influence these issues would burst forth in an
international conflagration. This prediction has become a reality,
though Baroness von Suttner did not live to see the day.
For many years America has had a large National Peace Society. Though it
originated in Boston its members were composed of men and women living
in all parts of the United States. Besides promulgating a philosophy of
peace, through congresses and pamphlets, its delegates have gone to all
the important European congresses. This organization was instrumental in
influencing the United States to intercede in the Russo-Japanese war; it
was instrumental in making The Hague Tribunal a well-organized body. It
inspired Carnegie to give to The Hague Congress a building as beautiful
as the ideals and purposes of the Congress were noble and just.
Many of our greatest American statesmen and scholars have combatted
peace measures and advocated stronger armies and navies. Other men of
prominence in all parties have striven to keep our country in friendly
relations with other powers, making treaties a worthy substitute for
strong, military forces.
On the other hand there are those who say that the only way to
safeguard our country is to have a navy and army in keeping with its
size and dignity. Our present army and navy mark us as a second-rate
power.
There are just as many thinking men and women who say that if a man
carries a loaded revolver it is bound to go off some day. It may be
justly used in self-defense, but it is more than likely to injure an
innocent person. Mr. Bryan's recommendation of treaties backed up by a
year of consideration when differences take place is considered a safer
method.
These are all steps in the right direction, but they must be extended if
this is to be the last war of any real importance that the world shall
ever see. All action is based on thought, and much of our wrong acting
of today is based on wrong thinking. There will always be different
nationalities, just as there are various languages, religions, political
parties and economic views. Only a fool can say that French is a better
language than Italian or German. Only the narrow-minded will say that
the Protestant religion is better than the Catholic or Jewish faiths.
The same is true of nations. The French, the English, and the German all
have their just place. The French lead the world in making certain
articles better than all other countries. In certain other articles we
must look for superiority to the Germans, while for others to England
and the United States. The time has come when national jealousies must
give place to internationalism. When the interests of all the countries
must be greater than the interest of any one country. There is an energy
and competition that is to be recognized as healthy and praiseworthy and
necessary, and there is a hectic energy based on envy that is
short-sighted. We are so interdependent these days that few things can
happen in one corner of the world but before night it is heralded to the
other end. A great war cannot be waged on one continent but many of its
bad effects are felt upon the others.
It is foolish to believe that the time will come when nations can carry
out their work and plans without having their differences. Nations
always have had and shall continue to have differences. But these shall
be settled as amicably as they are between individuals. Just as there
are courts and judges to listen to individual grievances, so there must
be an international court and judges to settle international disputes
and nations, like individuals, shall be forced to abide by their
decisions. For nations must be trained to understand that the interests
of humanity are greater than the interests of any one people. Until they
can accept this point of view, naturally they should be assisted by
international courts and by an international army and navy to enforce
the decisions of such a court. Work must be constructive, for there is
not enough money and natural resources in the world that so much shall
be squandered for any such extravagant pastime as war. There is a moral
force and conscience in the world, no less than in heaven. The noble,
unselfish work done by Bertha von Suttner and Anna Eckstein are
evidences of this fact. The Hague Tribunal is also an expression of the
same ideal. Internationalism is higher than nationalism, and must be the
platform of civilization. But to make peace work and internationalism
more than a byeword they must be backed by an international court with
its lawyers and judges and its decisions protected by an international
army and navy to enforce the decisions agreed upon by the different
nations and their representatives.
There were few men in America who did more for the peace work of this
country than Dr. Edward Everett Hale. As Edwin D. Mead says of him, "He
stood for citizenship, he stood for education, he stood for
international peace and friendship. We called him in the later years of
his life the Nestor of our peace cause in America." He made his church a
temple of that cause. He said there should be no modern church which did
not have among its regular standing committees a committee on
International Justice, and such a committee he founded in this church.
Baroness von Suttner and Baron d'Estournelles de Constant both occupied
his pulpit.
Dr. Hale worked extremely hard to organize a Boston committee on
International Justice.
Dr. Hale and Anna Eckstein were the two fountains of inspiration for
Edwin Ginn, of Boston. Life had taught him that real riches and power
only have value as they work for social uplift. He was sure of this
after he met Miss Eckstein and saw the great work and effort she was
expending to promote ideas of peace in the schools of this country and
abroad. She influenced him to set aside one million dollars; the income
of the money was to be used for this purpose. He was so impressed by her
work that he asked her to give all of her time to educating the teachers
and children in Europe as well as in our country in the ideas of peace.
Dr. Hale was his other great inspiration in all the great peace ideas.
His first address in behalf of the peace cause was made at Mohonk Lake,
at one of the Mohonk Conferences in International Arbitration, and there
his last address was made. His first address was made in 1901, although
Mr. Ginn was present at the Mohonk Conference as a listener in 1897 and
1899. In 1901 he gave his first address, and he confessed that Dr. Hale
had influenced him greatly in this work. In this talk he said that
modern wars are due to mutual distrust on the part of the nations and
great armaments. This distrust can only be removed by education and the
right kind of co-operation. The great menace is the enormous armaments.
The tremendous armies and monstrous navies have become far more a
provocation and danger than a defense. He told the people at the Mohonk
Conference: "We are confronted by the military class, the war power,
with unlimited resources of wealth and men, and we can never overcome
these obstacles except as we perfect a great organization to meet them.
It will not do to leave this work to be done by a few. An adequate
counteracting influence could not be exerted simply by men who could
give to the cause only shreds and patches of their time. We must make
this a well-organized crusade; there must be men devoted to the cause,
as Sumner, Garrison and Phillips were devoted to the cause of
anti-slavery: men who would give all their time to it. And the cause
must have a financial backing such as it had never had before. I should
like to see a fund of one million dollars established before we marshal
our forces. We spend hundreds of millions a year for war; can we not
afford to spend one million for peace?"
He soon afterward gave fifty thousand a year for this work, and a
million bequeathed for the cause at his death. He welcomed Norman
Angell's great work, called "The Great Illusion," which brought home to
the business men of the world the futility of war.
He was also a friend and admirer of Samuel B. Capen, the head of one of
the two chief Boston peace societies. Mr. Capen was president of the
Massachusetts Peace Society, and also a trustee of the World Foundation.
It was as a representative of the World Peace Foundation that Mr. Capen
went on his journey around the world.
Edwin D. Mead is also one of the great pioneers in America's earnest
effort that has worked incessantly for international peace. He was at
one of the peace congresses in Europe when the war broke out. He has
been one of the prime movers of the Boston Peace Society, and president
of the organization. He has attended most of the important congresses in
this country and in Europe. It was also through his efforts that a
branch of the National Peace Movement was founded in Chicago.
STUDENTS' HOSTEL IN PARIS
Among the many pleasant reminiscences of Paris, few are nearer to
Americans than the Students' Hostel. This home was founded by a number
of wealthy American and English women.
It was started because art students and pupils of music had long felt
the need of proper protection in Paris. This need was compelled for two
reasons--the good hotels in Paris are expensive and they do not give the
home life necessary to students in a foreign country.
To this end the Students' Hostel was founded. It began in a simple way,
and it took several years of experimenting to put it on a sure
foundation. The club was started as a lunchroom for American business
women. Here they came and had luncheons at reasonable prices and found a
place to rest. Before long the place was inadequate, and the Young
Women's Christian Association, aided by a number of wealthy American
women and a few English women, bought out this place with the idea of
enlarging it. They had no sooner taken the place over when they
discovered that the building was inadequate for their plans. They
searched Paris for the right sort of accommodations, and were about to
give up in despair when they found a large, roomy building in the
Boulevard St. Michael. They negotiated with the owner, and after
offering liberal inducements the building became their own. It was some
time before they were enabled to take possession of the place, as the
entire building had to be remodeled.
It was only by chance that I came upon this organization one day in
July, walking home from the Sorbonne. The name "Students' Hostel,"
written on a large poster placed at the gate, attracted my attention and
I rang the doorbell. The door was soon opened by a maid, who explained
to me that the "Students' Hostel" was a hotel for American and English
girls studying in Paris. I asked if I might speak to the Secretary, and
I was led up one flight of stairs to an attractive office. Miss Richards
welcomed me in a kindly voice, saying, "We are always glad to meet
American girls. I shall be pleased to explain to you the purpose of our
work. This is a hotel, not a charitable organization, though it was
founded through the aid of wealthy American and English women. We hope
to make this hotel self-supporting in a few years, though it could not
be accomplished in the beginning. We have more than a hundred girls
living here. The greater part are studying French in the Sorbonne,
though a few are devoting their time to the study of painting and music.
"Most of the girls who come here are delighted with our arrangements,
for they enjoy all of the independence of a hotel and the comforts and
the social life found in the home. They may come for the entire winter
or stay a week, as they like. All we demand are letters of introduction
from two people of influence and from the minister of the church which
they attend. Three dollars and fifty cents per week is the price set on
a room, though a girl may have more luxurious apartments if she wishes.
A dollar and a half more pays the weekly board, while we have spacious
bathrooms where baths may be had for ten cents. Every day at four
o'clock tea is served in the tea-house during the winter months, and in
the gardens when the weather permits. This is given without extra
charge.
"In order to make the Hostel as serviceable as possible to all, a fee of
one dollar a year is set as membership. This entitles a girl to the use
of the library, to take advantage of the French conversations held and
to attend all the weekly entertainments. There is no limitation put on
creed, excepting that the girls who live in the home are expected to
attend Sunday afternoon services held here and prayer-meeting once a
week. They pass their evenings as they think best--studying, reading,
listening to lectures, and enjoying splendid concerts given in our home
by well-known artists."
When this explanation was ended, I was shown through the home. The first
room entered was the dining-hall. The room was filled with many small
tables covered with snow-white linen and dainty china. A girl could not
have wished for more in her own home. Across the hall was a small room
with a comfortable lounge, called the rest-room, where girls can retire
to rest after meal hours, or when they come home from their day's study.
But the real rest-room is the library, furnished with plenty of lounges
and large easy-chairs. The bookcases contain more than five hundred
English and foreign books. Some of these were bought with money raised
by private entertainments. But the greater number were given through
donation parties by friends invited to come and spend the evening in the
Students' Hostel, some form of entertainment being prepared for them.
The price of admission was a book they had read and were willing to
donate to the library. The Secretary explained: "The first time we
ventured on one of these donation parties we questioned the results, but
our friends are so generous in supplying us with books that hardly a
winter goes by without our having one of these with results that have
far exceeded our expectations.
"Several nights in the week there are lectures given by well-known
writers and scientists; some of these are only free to the boarders of
the Hostel; to others, friends are invited. Weekly concerts are given.
The programs are made up by professionals and students of the Hostel who
are studying music. One evening a week and Thursday afternoon are set
aside for receptions, when the Secretary and the students receive their
friends.
"The second floor is given over to bedrooms. It would be difficult to
find more attractive bedrooms in any American College. The rooms are
large and well lighted, decorated with artistic wall paper and curtains
to match. One part of the room is filled with a couch, used as a place
of rest by day and a bed at night. The rest of the furnishings of the
rooms include student's table, a lamp and several comfortable chairs.
The remainder of the furnishing is done by the students themselves. Many
of the walls are hung with gay posters, banners, and photographs of
friends. Most of the girls have only one room, though a few who are
studying music find the sitting-room necessary. Before leaving Miss
Richards, I inquired who were the women who had done most to make this
delightful home possible. She answered that would be hard to say, as
there have been many, and some do not care to have their work known. It
was only after I pressed the question a second time that she answered,
"Well, I suppose Miss Hoff is the American girls' best friend in Paris.
Helen Gould (I do not know her married name) has always given our home
warm support, and last year when she traveled in Italy she established a
Students' Hostel in Rome. But one thing I wish you would tell our girls
at home. That this is a hotel and not a charitable organization, and a
woman who stops here need not feel she is sacrificing her spirit of
self-reliance and independence. All we try to offer is a comfortable
home at prices within the reach of most American girls who come over to
study in Paris. We make an effort to do two other things; to try to give
the right protection so necessary to girls who live in the French
capital alone, and comradeship we all need when living in a foreign
land. Five dollars a week is what a girl must count on to live here.
"Besides home and board, we have French classes for our girls conducted
by able instructors for a small tuition; these teachers give private
lessons, and when it is desired to coach girls for their examinations in
the Sorbonne.
"The students of music are not neglected. Certain hours of the day are
set aside for practicing. We have weekly concerts at home and make an
effort to get reduced rates for our girls when any of the great halls
offer concerts that are worth while.
"Yes, we are trying to do much for our girls who come here to study
painting. Many of them wish to live in the Latin Quarter and they find
it really impossible to obtain the comforts that they are used to at
home. Here they can enjoy the art student's life and have protection.
Many discover that they are not ready to enter the Ecole des Beaux Arts;
as for the large studios, they do not always offer enough individual
attention for the student. For these we have a large, well-built studio
of our own, where classes are conducted by some of the best masters of
Paris."
Before leaving the Hostel I was invited into a garden gay with roses and
carnations and the merry voices of happy girls. They were gathered in
little groups, drinking tea, chatting French, and discussing the work
they had accomplished that day. A pretty American girl approached me,
saying, "Will you have tea, bread and butter?" In a few minutes she
brought me tea on a pretty Chinese tray.
We laughed and chatted in turn, telling of our work and aspirations. As
we sat in the beautiful twilight of that summer day we never dreamed
that Paris would be threatened in a few weeks and the Students' Hostel,
so dear to American artists and students, would become deserted.
PARIS, PAST AND PRESENT
I hate to think of Paris in a sombre tone, for Paris likes to be gay at
all times. It is the natural tempo of the city, for whatever may be the
follies of this Parisian capital, she is always beautiful, lively and
gay. Her large, wide boulevards are now deserted, except for an
occasional regiment of French and English troops that hurry along, or
now and then an auto-car speeding up the boulevard carrying some high
officials on an important mission.
Most of the fine shops in the Avenue de L'Opera and the Rue de La Paix
are closed and heavily shuttered while their handsome stock of pearls
and other jewels, fine dresses and furs, are hidden in vaults and put
away in packing trunks. Even at noontime, when the streets are usually
thronged with the working-girls hurrying to their luncheon or out for a
half an hour's exercise, the streets are deserted except for the
appearance of some tired-looking shopgirl trying to earn a few cents in
spite of present conditions. The beautiful hotels, always crowded this
time of the year, are empty except for a few Americans who are
lingering, waiting for a boat to take them home. The large cafés on the
boulevard are all closed. It is only the small tea-rooms and bars that
dare hope for any business.
The smart people who live out near the Bois have heard too much about
German Zeppelins to venture out on a beautiful day, and forbid their
nurses taking the children into the park. It is only the poorer people
in the Latin Quarter who insist in taking their children in the
beautiful gardens of the Luxembourg for an airing. As night falls, the
people gather in crowds to watch the skies. They have let their
imaginations dwell so long on Zeppelins and bombs that many imagine they
see these awful implements of war when they are watching harmless stars.
At the other end of the city, they gather round the Eiffel Tower, which
now bears the highest artillery in the world. Here are placed immense
machine guns. Up at Montmartre, the people gather in little circles to
read the letters they have received from their soldier boys and to
discuss the possibility of Paris being captured. They have forgotten all
about their once lively dance-halls and cabarets. There are but few
artists left in this quarter now, for they have either gone home or to
the front, while the women and children amuse themselves reading the
last extra or listening to an organ-grinder giving them many patriotic
airs for a few sous.
How lonely and sad these vacant streets and boulevards look, contrasted
with their appearance on the 15th of July, which is France's national
holiday. Then there was dancing on nearly every street corner, made
livelier by the throwing of confetti, careless laughter and much
kissing. The Queen of Beauty ruled then, while now havoc and the
cruelties of war are in supremacy. Except for a few soldiers and
officers moving up and down in the Bois, that splendid park is quite
deserted. The famous cafés, such as Madrid and Armoneville, have closed
their doors. It is hard to imagine that these restaurants were visited
by no less than five thousand people during an afternoon of the races.
Less than two months ago, the great markets of Paris were crowded with
country people hurrying in with their carts, horses and mules. In a
short time they had distributed their splendid supply of meats,
vegetables, fruits, flowers and small merchandise without and within. By
seven o'clock the place was crowded with women of all social classes and
wealth. Now the great crowds have dwindled, for the markets only display
the barest necessities and the women only come and buy as they actually
need them.
It is said that thousands of women have been thrown out of employment,
for more than sixty per cent. of the women in Paris were working women.
No sooner had war been declared than most of the small shops closed
their doors and this threw hundreds of women out of work. A few of the
leading dressmaking establishments carried their main business over to
London, but they could not give employment to all their people. A few of
the large stores kept open for a while, but soon their men were called
to the front and so their business did not pay. I wonder what has become
of the great numbers of designers and artists who were dependent on
foreign purchase for their livelihood? Occasionally a pale, haggard girl
passes by, as though she was seeking employment in a designer's studio
or in an artist's atelier. But business is at a standstill and there is
only employment for a very few out of many.
The flower markets which always made Paris so attractive have vanished,
even the famous flower market in front of the Madeleine. It is only an
occasional old woman who has the courage to try to earn a few pennies by
selling roses or lilies of the valley.
The streets lack all energy, even in the afternoon, when there is so
much energy in Paris. The women have neither the courage nor the money
to start off on any shopping trips. The French women now appear in
simple attire and are limiting their shopping to the few things they
need. Many have been deprived of their large incomes, are managing to
do their own housework and are looking after their children, while those
who can still afford things are busy working for the Red Cross, visiting
the hospitals and _craches_.
Even more deserted is the Latin Quarter with the Sorbonne called the
Medicine and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Usually at this time of the
year they are busy with their annual house-cleaning preparatory to
receiving the many students that come from America, England, Poland,
Russia and Germany. Their doors are closed so tightly this year they
certainly will not be opened. The gaiety of the Latin Quarter is now a
thing of the past. A few soldiers sipping their coffee out of doors is a
commonplace picture for the gay-hearted artists that once promenaded the
street with their pretty models and coquettes. There is now no dancing
nor merry-making up at Montmartre, the real artists' quarter. The
streets are now so deserted they are excellent dens for thieves and
robbers, for gone are even the venders with their push-carts who made a
noise as they hawked their wares. Even the museums and picture galleries
are closed, and the only public buildings left open are those being used
for military purposes. The few women and children seen on the street
look frightened and worried. Any jar or noise seems to promise danger.
Sunday is like any other day, except that crowds of people hurry to the
Madeleine or Notre Dame to beg for peace or for war to be over. All the
stalls on the Seine are closed and the strand is vacant except for the
soldiers that patrol up and down. All the cab-drivers left in Paris are
either old men or women who find it hard to earn a few francs a day.
The country looks almost as deserted. Many a beautiful farm has gone to
waste because there is no one to look after the harvest. Still, the
women and children are doing their level best working on the farms and
doing all they can to save their vegetables and grain.
Many of the vineyards have been trampled on by regiments of soldiers and
most of the lovely champagne country is ruined. The hardest blow of all
was the news that the famous cathedral at Rheims had been destroyed and
all the famous buildings had either been laid in ruins or seriously
damaged. The cathedral is supposed to have the finest rose window left
in France and it was considered the finest piece of Gothic architecture.
It was in this cathedral that Charles the Tenth was crowned and that the
lovely Maid of Orleans saw the coronation of Charles VII which marked
the fulfillment of her vision. The beautiful Church of Saint Jacques has
commemorated her life in beautiful stained glass windows, while the
museum, rich in treasures that memorialize her life, has also been
destroyed. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the poor French
people who love their country so well are brokenhearted as they look out
on the approaching night, wondering what will happen next.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A REFUGEE?
How would you like to be a refugee for four weeks, fleeing from the
horrors and hardships of war? How would you like to be cut off all this
time by mail and cable from relatives and friends? How would you like to
be many thousand miles from home, with little money and no credit,
trying to meet your obligations and at the same time sharing the little
you have with those less fortunate than you are?
This is a brief summary of my experience won from the war. The situation
looked so hopeless because the war came like a thunderbolt out of a
clear sky. I was at Bad Kissingen in Southern Bavaria when the news came
that Austria was threatening Servia with war. Though some of the
alarmists were confident that this meant the beginning of a world war,
the German papers assured the nations that everything was being done to
confine the war to Austria and Servia. Even the Austrian Emperor had
said that his country had started the war and it was up to him to work
out his own salvation.
I was therefore more surprised when the word came on Saturday that
Russia had mobilized for the purpose of crossing the German frontier.
This mere threat seemed to paralyze most of the Americans who were busy
taking their cures in this Bavarian resort, for until then they had only
heard war spoken of at far range. Many of them went mornings and
afternoons to the Kurgarten and tried to drown their sorrows in the
beautiful strains of the Viennese orchestra, which they listened to in a
listless way. The thought uppermost in their minds was how would we get
out if Russia really declared war on Germany?
The most panicky and energetic got busy and left, but most of the
Americans tried to pull themselves together and to wait for further
developments. Our unsteady nerves and heavy hearts were reassured by the
articles in all the German dailies saying that they were doing their
level best to stay out of the fight and to keep the war confined to
Austria and Servia. The foreign diplomats, even of England, gave the
same reassuring reports. This promise of good faith and friendship was
given out on Saturday, so on Sunday when word came that Russia had been
mobilizing for three days to cross the German frontier, it came as a
shock. But Germany still tried to ward it off by granting Russia twelve
hours to give some sort of explanation for this work. This Russia did by
sending some of her forces across the German frontier.
By noon on Sunday our sanitarium was in a pandemonium of excitement, as
it became known that many German officers were being recalled and were
busy packing their trunks to catch the first afternoon train back to the
Prussian capital.
I tore down-stairs two steps at a time. In the hallway I met a German
countess weeping in real sorrow while her grandmother was trying to
console her. When I inquired the reason for all this grief the
grandmother said that her grandsons were officers and had been called to
their different regiments.
In the dining-room that noon there were one hundred and seventy-five
worried men and women of many different nationalities. They were
plotting and planning how they could escape the war, or at least get to
their homes. The Germans had soon decided to leave without any delay for
Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and other German cities so they could tell
each other goodbye before the men started for war.
The Russian merchants and bankers were alarmed and they started for St.
Petersburg and Moscow to escape being made prisoners in Germany. There
were two Persian princes who hurried to the minister of war and obtained
permission to take out their auto-car and started for Lucerne that very
afternoon. Many Americans who had auto-cars with them made the same
move trying to get to Berlin, The Hague or London, but most of these
were shot at before they had gone very far. The two Persian princes
barely escaped being shot as Turkish spies.
In less than two hours only thirty-five guests were left in the
sanitarium; most of these were Americans and Russians who were wondering
if they had not made a mistake by staying. They were comforted when they
heard the next day that most of the people who had left had not gotten
very far.
The thought that we were living in a military country on the eve of one
of the world's greatest wars was just a little nerve-racking. That
afternoon we took a carriage drive through the woods to one of the
neighboring towns. It was a beautiful summer's day, and it was hard to
think that a terrible war was about to break over this placid scene. The
picture was made more attractive by the many peasants out for their
usual Sunday holiday in their large farm wagons. These carts were
crowded with German families of the usual size, children, parents and
grandparents. Though they did not look jovial, the expression of their
countenances never indicated that they realized that a great war was
pending.
It was after five when my mother and I returned to the sanitarium that
afternoon. I had been resting less than a half-hour in the large hall
when a head-waiter came and threw an extra bulletin in my lap, which
read that Germany had mobilized and declared war.
The men seated near me turned pale; they were too stunned to make any
comment on the situation. I waited until I had calmed myself and then I
bounded up to my room. My mother was resting at the time, and by the way
I tore into the room she must have thought a tiger was about to break
loose from the zoo.
"It's all up! It's all up!" I cried, as I sounded a bell for a porter to
come and help me pack my book-trunk. I cleared the bureau drawers and
the tables and he commenced to pack with as much enthusiasm as though we
were going off to join a regiment. Then I proceeded to take the dresses
out of the wardrobe and began to pile everything high on the beds.
"Have you gone crazy?" my mother said, only to get the determined
answer, "No, but we are off tomorrow," as I continued to add more
clothes to the great pile. I proceeded to explain that I had engaged a
Swiss man to take us across the frontier and then we would decide
whether to go to Holland, Belgium or England.
While talking and working, I failed to notice that one of the nurses had
been in the room giving my mother some medicine and had overheard the
conversation. I was also unaware of the fact that she had gone
down-stairs and told the head-doctor that I was informing the patients
that Germany had declared war. He sent up one of his assistants, who
said that I was creating a panic in his sanitarium. His remarks in
German, translated into English, were somewhat like the following:
"You are an egoist to create all this excitement; don't you know that
the maids are out in the hall crying?"
I answered that I was sorry if any of the women had been made hysterical
by the news but I was in no way responsible for the war.
I soon saw that it was as difficult to combat the egotistical in peace
as in war, so I decided to sit steady and await an opportunity. The next
morning I went down at six-thirty to see what the fifty thousand guests
were doing and how they took the situation. The place about the
music-stand was packed with Germans and German-Americans who were
listening to such strains as "Der Wacht am Rhein," "Deutchland über
Alles," intermingled with our own "Star Spangled Banner." The only
comment made on these strains were the cries of "Hoch! Hoch!" from time
to time. At the other end of the grounds was another mob of men and
women reading the extra bulletin that a Russian regiment had crossed the
frontier and Germany had declared war. The men had a worried look and
the women were pale and anxious, but all showed magnificent control.
There were no cries heard of "Down with Russia!" or "Down with France!"
Many of these Germans were still filled with hope that Sir Edward Grey
would bring these foreign powers to a satisfactory understanding.
It was not until Tuesday that the first men enlisted and martial law was
proclaimed. A large part of the promenade was roped off and guarded by
petty officers. Nobody crossed this plot of ground under penalty of
being shot.
The proclaiming of martial law was a new experience for me, so I stood
behind the ropes for hours at a time, seeing the young men come to the
front, take the oath and enlist. The first regiments were only boys,
still unmarried, living in romance rather than actuality. But I soon
decided that it was not as hard for them to bid their sweethearts
goodbye as it was a little later for fathers to bid their wives and
several clinging children farewell. A week later it was even harder to
see the old men, many of whom had served in the war of '70 and '71,
gladly come forth again to join the rank and file. More than twenty-five
thousand men enlisted in a week. They ranged from nineteen to forty-five
and came from all conditions of life; the richest and the poorest alike
were eager to go and fight and if necessary to die for their country.
They were impatient to change their civilian uniform for the
earth-color uniforms. It was pathetic to see some of them hand over
their old suits to their wives, for I wondered if they would ever use
them again. But they seemed hopeful as they moved on, singing their
favorite military strains. Each regiment had its favorite song; with one
it was "Der Wacht am Rhein," with another "Deutchland über Alles."
This continued for a week, until twenty-five thousand men had been
called out from Bad Kissingen and surrounding country. Most of these
were farmers who had to drop their work before the harvesting of their
grain. This work was turned over to women and children, while young boy
scouts came and volunteered to work on the farms. The men were called
into the different regiments mornings, noons and afternoons, until I
wondered if it would ever stop. They marched off only to form new
regiments. As I climbed the hill one day a middle-aged, kindly woman
said to me in a choked voice, "I am giving everything I have in this
world to this war, my husband and five sons. Four of them are to fight
against France and two against Russia." She controlled her grief as she
spoke, but it was not hard to see that her heart was broken. Many of the
men working in our place were called out without getting a chance to
tell wives or mothers goodbye, while one man confessed modestly that he
was to be the father of a first child in less than two months. In a
week's time the male population was so depleted that it was hard to find
a man walking in town or out in the fields. The few young men left were
so ashamed they had not been taken that they hastened to explain that
they belonged to the Landsturm and that they would be called out during
the next two weeks. That most of them went willingly is shown by the
fact that in a week's time Germany had over a million in arms. When a
young man was refused by one ministry of war he applied to another and
did not give up until he had been refused five or six times. Even the
tear-stained faces of mothers and sweethearts did not influence these
young men from rallying around their flag. These German women were
perfect Spartans and were glad when they had four or five sons to give
to their country. They are trying to do their best to fill the gaps made
by husbands and sons in homes, in the fields and in the shops, taking
their positions in stores, in banks and on street cars.
In a few days these peaceful Bavarian people settled down to their daily
routine. They were not surprised when France as well as Russia declared
war on them, for it was what they naturally expected. But the news that
England also had declared war came as a terrible shock. This news
fanned the fire into a terrible flame and goaded the Germans on to a
point where they felt they must lose all or win all.
Although the Americans were sympathizing with all this sorrow they had
plenty of worries of their own. By half-past eight in the morning and at
three in the afternoon, there were such crowds of people gathered before
the small banks and ticket agents that it was next to hopeless to get in
without being crushed, even if one wanted tickets or money. The Germans,
Russians and English were foremost in these crowds, for the Germans felt
they had to get home while the Russians or English wanted to escape
being taken prisoners. Being an American, I felt that I was well
protected until one morning I was stopped by a German and was accused of
being a Russian. One day two of these men stopped me and I understood
enough of what they were saying to know that they wanted to prove that I
was a spy. Fortunately I had my passport with me, and that was enough to
prove that I was an innocent American looking for friends and money
instead of working with bombs.
The Americans in our sanitarium were fairly quiet until the word came
that the banks were closed; at least, they would only give out money on
German letters of credit. This information was aggravated by the fact
that England had closed the cable in Germany. Paradoxical as it may
seem, it was strange to us that the days moved on just the same, the
days multiplied themselves into a week, and we had a board-bill staring
us in the face with no prospect of money. I thought our host might be
kind enough not to present us with a bill at the end of the week, but it
came in just as usual. I was so angry that I left it there for a week
without looking at it. I soon made up my mind if I could not get out of
Germany the best thing to do was to bring some money into Germany.
I had some friends living in Frankfurt to whom I confided our distress.
I do not know which was more difficult, keeping up a German conversation
over the telephone or assuring them I was hard pressed for money. After
a dozen serious conversations over the 'phone, backed up by a number of
German postals, I got two hundred and fifty dollars from one and
seventy-five dollars from another. I also got two letters from friends,
one from Berlin and the other from Dresden, asking if I needed help, and
I hoisted the signal of distress in a hurry. Only a small part of this
money could be kept as a reserve fund, as we now owed two weeks' board.
Fortunately the banks had opened again and our government had sent
instructions to give us money on our letters of credit, using their own
discretion. I had to wait all day until I could get near a bank, and
then the cashier said one hundred and fifty dollars was all we needed.
When I explained it was not enough he became angry and accused me of
calling him names. He made a terrible fuss in his bank and for a few
moments I thought he would have me arrested. The question of money was
only one of the many difficulties. Germany was so excited by the
presence of spies in her midst that she at times accused the twinkling
stars of being bombs thrown into the air. Determined to rid her country
of spies, she sent policemen accompanied by watchdogs to search the
Russians and to find out the whereabouts of the others. One morning we
were notified we must all present ourselves at the schoolhouse where we
were to exhibit our passports or other credentials. It was really a
funny sight to watch nearly two hundred thousand Russians and Americans
trying to force a way into a small schoolhouse. When the work first
started, the soldiers and first aides tried to arrange the throng in
single, double and triple files, but after half an hour's venture the
rope gave way and the people found themselves where they started. I was
soon tired with the overpowering mob and went home to begin all over in
the afternoon. After two hours hard work we had gone from the first step
to the inner door. The actual work went more quickly, for when the
recorder saw passports marked with the red seal of Washington, D. C., he
was satisfied and asked few questions.
When the German mail man did not appear for a week it gradually dawned
upon us that we were not getting our mail and we wanted to know the
reason for this. We soon found out that if England had closed the cables
Germany had closed the mail, and that we could not have our letters that
were marked U. S. A. until they had been opened and read. Some of the
more energetic Americans went to the German minister of war and
complained. This complaint was sent on to Berlin. After a week's fuming
and worrying they were told that they must go and have their pictures
taken. Every one who wanted his mail had to pay fifty cents for a small,
ugly-looking picture made payable in advance. They presented it at the
ministry of war and only a small number were allowed through the gates
at a time. The most daring of the soldiers teased the Russians about
their names, and even had the impudence to tease the unmarried girls
about their age. By the time they had pasted the pictures upon the
papers, the funny-looking scrawl looked like certificates worthy of a
rogue's gallery. After these minor details had been attended to the
question paramount in our minds was: "How could Uncle Sam bring all his
children home?" There was a rumor that one of our warships, "The
Tennessee," was to be dispatched to the other side to deliver money and
good cheer. We heard that she was also authorized to buy ships, but we
wondered if ships could be bought, and, if they could be, would not the
other nations raise objections. A group of successful business men in
our sanitarium delegated themselves as captains and pilots for an
unknown ship and began studying the map of Europe. There was a great
diversity of opinion as to which way we should go if we went in a body.
First they recommended Switzerland, only to find out that Switzerland
had closed her gates because she feared a food famine. Then they
suggested Italy, but this was vetoed because Italy is hard to reach from
Bavaria and the ships sailing from Italy are very small. One of their
happiest suggestions was Belgium, until they heard that Belgium had been
drawn into the war against her will. I think a few recommended England,
but this was promptly vetoed because England was at war and the channel
was choked with mines. Strangely, no one thought of Holland. In the
leisure moments they busied themselves taking up a collection for the
Red Cross and sending important messages to Gerard, our ambassador in
Berlin. He consoled them by saying there was no immediate danger and
recommended that we send for our consul in Coburg. After patiently
waiting a few more days our vice-consul appeared.
He was shut up for several hours with a delegation who had invited him
down. I have no idea what transpired at that important meeting, for no
new work was undertaken to get us out of Germany. He was busy telling us
about his hardships and that it had taken him thirty hours to make a
five-hour trip. He got busy looking after the passports of those who
were fortunate enough to have them and making a record of those who
wanted them. He promised to get them emergency passports signed with the
biggest red seals he had. As he spoke to each one of us in turn he asked
for the name of some relative or friend in the United States, adding
that if anything happened to us he could notify our friends at home.
When the Americans worried him about how we should get home, he assured
us that transports would be sent over in due time to get us all back
safely.
On hearing this, my mother brought me before the vice-consul and asked
him what he thought of our going to Holland by way of Berlin. The very
question seemed to frighten him, for he argued that if it took
thirty-two hours to make a five-hour trip, it might take weeks to go
from Bavaria to Holland. He was sure that some of the tracks had been
pulled up and that some of the rails and bridges might be laid with
bombs. He argued that even if we escaped these difficulties we might be
thrown out on the fields any time and might have to run miles crossing
the frontiers. He said that the small coupés were so crowded with people
that he had seen men and women stand at the stations for hours while the
more fortunate ones were crushed into third-class coupés or into baggage
cars. My mother was then resolved not to move until our government
should send transports to take us home and we should go home in a
private car. I said nothing, but had my eyes set on Holland as my goal.
A few days later I happened to go into the Holland American agency and
told the man to wire to Rotterdam and see if he could get us a room. To
my surprise and delight I was informed the following week that we could
have a whole cabin on the Rotterdam, sailing on the 29th of August. Then
my mother refused to pay the fifty dollars down, for she was confident
that the Holland American ships would not run. I kept her in the office
to hold the telegram while I tore up hill to consult a successful
business man from St. Louis as to whether I should pay fifty dollars
down on what seemed to be a good chance. He argued that woman's
intuition was often better than a man's reason and that I should follow
out my original plan. I won my mother over to our way of thinking by
telling her what she had still left in American Express checks and that
she could use them instead of money. When we had secured a cabin I felt
as rich as John Bull does since he has secured control of the English
Channel. Hardly a day passed but I looked at the ticket to see that it
had not been lost. Then I began to tell people at the sanitarium and
wired my friends in Berlin advising them how to get out of Germany.
By this time the first mobilization was over and there was an interim of
about ten days before the calling of the Landsturm, which meant the boys
from twenty-one to twenty-five and the men from forty to forty-five.
The ticket agent told us that we could go at any time, that the longer
we waited the worse it would become, and that by delay we were
considerably reducing our chances for getting away. He could sell us
tickets for a stretch but that there were no more through tickets to be
had. In contradiction to this statement, the doctor who had the
sanitarium said that he had been at a committee meeting of the railroads
and they admitted that there were many hardships in trying to get away
at present. Every day I noticed men and women hurrying to the station
carrying their hand luggage, and letting the maids from the pensions
carry their small trunks.
There was an Hungarian couple at our sanitarium who had been waiting
for weeks to get back to Budapest. One day the woman told me she had
bought provisions for five days and they were going to start the next
morning, for she thought they could make the trip in five days. This
gave me new courage, for I believed that if she could get back to
Budapest I could get to Berlin. At the same time I heard that
long-distance telephone connections with Berlin had been reopened. After
trying for some hours, I made a connection and got some friends who were
stopping there. To my surprise, they told me that our Embassy in Berlin
had chartered a special train and they were to be off in the morning.
Still, I did not give up hope that I would meet them in Holland. The
next morning I went off and bought two dress-suitcases and a straw
basket, which were to hold my most prized treasures. I put on my good
spring suit, jammed three good dresses and more than a dozen waists, set
aside one winter hat, and a cape to carry on my arm. Then I proceeded to
unpack the jewelry case and put the jewelry into satchels.
By the time I was ready to get my Swiss courier he was gone, so I had to
take a swarthy German, who had acted as interpreter at the post-office,
as a substitute. When the doctor called that afternoon and saw a
stranger in my mother's room he wanted to know what he was doing. I
admitted that we were planning to leave the next day and intended taking
him as our aide. Another storm broke on the calm, for the doctor argued
that neither was my mother strong enough nor I courageous enough to make
the journey alone. I said little but thought much, and was determined
that it must be now or never. I ate up in my room that evening, for I
did not want to talk it over with anybody and wanted to finish on my own
impulse. Our chambermaid, Marie, was both surprised and worried when she
heard that we were going, and said: "Think over it well, for the
geheimrath knows best." That night I was so feverish that I could not
sleep and I told my mother that she must decide for herself, but that my
advice was for her to go. In the morning there was another discussion as
to whether I should take my French books and notebooks. My mother and
maid said that if they were found on me I would be arrested as a spy,
but I was determined to take a chance and I am glad now that I did.
A strange incident occurred that morning when the Swiss man whom I had
at first secured returned, and the German appeared a few minutes later.
Our maid and a porter favored the Swiss man, so I compromised by paying
the other man five dollars for his trouble. I left my mother to pack
the odds and ends and to give the final decision that we were going
while I went back to the minister of war to get the permission to leave.
We took our luncheon in our room as we did not wish to be bombarded with
questions, but a number of friends heard that we were going and they
came to wish us Godspeed, brought us candy and cookies, and begged us to
take letters to friends across the sea.
When we reached the station we found it guarded and patroled by soldiers
and no one could pass the gate without showing both a ticket and pass.
It was even more difficult to get three seats in a coupé, for a Russian
family was taking care of a sick man and said they had only places for
their nurses. When we ventured into another compartment a German woman
with her grandson tried to keep us out. After we had become friendly she
admitted her reason was that I looked like a Russian and she refused to
ride in the same compartment with a Russian woman.
We only rode a short distance when we had to get down and wait for
another train going toward Berlin. We loaded up our compartment with six
bottles of strawberry selzer, as we were more thirsty than hungry. At
six o'clock we found ourselves seated in a small primitive station
restaurant crowded with people. Among them were several active officers
and a number of retired officers on their way to Berlin. After supper I
was talking with one of the petty officers, who said that they were
hopeful though they knew they had hard battle ahead. Moreover, they
would never forget the friendly attitude America had shown them in this
terrible world war. It was twelve o'clock before we were allowed to go
through the gates and another hour before our train pulled out. The
conductor explained that we would have to wait an hour until an Italian
train had passed. He suggested that we should take great care in
crossing the railroad tracks and when we got into our seats we should
not change, the reason I do not know. There were signs posted on the
window, "Keep your heads in and beware of bombs." This frightened my
mother so that she would not move, but I was too curious to see what was
going on outside to obey orders. For one hour a half-dozen guards went
over the tracks looking for bombs and then they came into our coupé
looking for spies. At one o'clock we were wondering if we would ever
reach Berlin without being blown up with bombs. I had a weird, strange
feeling, for I saw heads now and then bobbing up in the distance. I
thought they were ghosts at first, but finally discovered that they were
only cavalrymen riding in the baggage car. It was nearly four o'clock
when I became so exhausted that I could keep awake no longer and slept
for an hour and a half in an upright position. My travelling companions,
including my mother and a Norwegian woman going to Christiania, were
more fortunate in this respect. We had breakfast at Weimar, and I could
hardly think of this lovely Saxon city and the center of German culture,
the home of Goethe and Schiller, being disturbed by war. The large
station was crowded with soldiers watching for spies. As usual, one of
the soldiers believed that I was a Russian, and he was surprised to find
my passport identified me as an American. I should not have minded being
thought a Russian if they had not looked upon the most unsuspected
people of Russia as spies. We reached Erfurt, which is known as the
garden of Germany, for its beautiful flowers. Here my mother introduced
me to a handsome German boy, seventeen years old, who had volunteered
and was hurrying to Kiel to be accepted into the navy.
That day we counted thirty-two transports carrying German soldiers
toward France, and it was only after I had seen them that I knew what
German organization meant. In the baggage car was the cavalry--every man
to his horse, and all had been instructed that consideration for horses
came before themselves. The cannon and other field provision were on
tracks, but I was told that the powder and dynamite was carried at
night instead of in daytime. There were many automobiles with Red Cross
doctors and officers accompanied by chauffeurs, who were to carry them
into the enemy's country. Everywhere one met courage and enthusiasm.
Essential marks showed printed in chalk on trains--"We shall eat our
Christmas dinner in Paris" and "It is a short way from Berlin to Paris."
After luncheon I walked through the town down into the deep valley,
where hundreds of young men were lying in the grass waiting to be
enrolled that afternoon. At the end was a garden with a large house
which was being turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers, and I saw a
number of Red Cross nurses and doctors getting things into shape. At
three o'clock a military train came along carrying soldiers to Berlin.
There was only one coupé vacant and that contained a high officer and
another high official. The officer was kind enough to get out and make
room for us. It was long after twelve o'clock when we reached Berlin,
and we noticed that the big bridges connecting the city were well
protected with soldiers. Thousands of women and children were waiting to
see the American refugees hurrying to Berlin, or soldiers hastening to
spend a few hours with relatives before they went to war. Except for
these great crowds at the station there was no disorder, and it was hard
to imagine that the Prussian capital was in the throes of such a mighty
war. Our hotel was out in the Thiergarten, the loveliest part of Berlin,
and was cool even in summer weather. The hotel manager was a Dutchman,
and he had great sympathy with the American refugees. He was kind enough
to say that if he met any Americans he would keep them there as long as
they wanted to stay on credit. Next morning, bright and early, we
hurried off to the Embassy, which is a handsome and imposing building
near to the German Embassy. Though it was only half-past nine, there
were more than three hundred people waiting to get in. A number of young
officials were trying their best to line the people up in double files
and to keep order. Here again I had great difficulty in proving my
identity. It was only after I showed my passport that I was allowed to
enter. Within the doorway there was a jolly negro trying to keep the
women happy--his aide was a German who was doing his best to try and
keep order. This was no light task, as our Embassy was looking after the
affairs of the English, French and Russians along with its own. A number
of college boys waiting to be returned home had offered their services
and were assisting the clerks in their work. Our Embassy had been so
overburdened with work that Mrs. Gerard was there all day long helping
her husband. This work included giving out of passports, the O. K.-ing
of passports, selling of tickets on special trains and the giving out of
money to stranded Americans.
The expressions of the people waiting outside seemed to say I care for
nothing save "Home, Sweet Home" or "Take me back to Grigsby's station."
After getting our passports signed we were told to come back next day
for our tickets for the special train. In the meantime we had to turn
over our passports to the German minister of war and get them back at
our own Embassy. The rest of the time was put in visiting a few of the
galleries left open, watching the great crowds of people that surged
around the Emperor's house, trying to get a glimpse of him, and in
trying to get the latest news of war from our own papers. Sunday morning
I went up to the Dom Church, the great church of Berlin, which was
packed to the doors with German men and women bent in solemn prayer. For
the Landsturm had been called out that morning and thousands of men knew
that they would have to be off to the war in the morning. At noon, when
the many church doors were thrown open, thousands of people passed out,
the men with heads uncovered, the women pale and earnest, but all
resigned and willing to do their best. All eyes were bent to the palace,
for the lowered flag showed that the Emperor was at home making his
preparations for leaving that night. This was the first day for a week
that there had been quiet around the palace. Until Sunday thousands of
people were gathered all day long singing the Kaiser's favorite songs
and shouting "Hoch! Hoch!" every time they caught a glimpse of him, and
especially when he ventured out on the balcony to make a speech to his
people. That afternoon hundreds of people gathered with their children
in the Thiergarten to enjoy the animals and to listen to the military
band play many patriotic airs. This was the last peaceful Sunday that
hundreds of husbands spent with their families. Next morning many a
tired woman commenced to work to help the Red Cross, and to put the
different hospitals and royal homes that had been turned into hospitals
ready for the wounded soldiers. The Empress did her share, and the Crown
Princess gave one of her palaces for this work. On every street corner
there were young girls and women hard at work getting contributions for
the Red Cross. Berlin became so deserted of men that it was next to
impossible to find men salesmen in the shops, while they were even
trying the women out as conductors on the street cars. The banks were
more than half emptied of their clerks and the police work was being
done by the older men.
Our special train that was to take us to Holland left on Tuesday, so we
had to be at the Embassy on Monday for our tickets. Though the tickets
were not sold until eleven o'clock that morning, by nine many were
waiting patiently to put in their orders. There were first, second and
third class tickets sold, but these could only be bought by Americans. I
tried to get one for our Swiss courier, but I was told that this was a
special train for Americans, and so I had to leave him behind. As I look
back to those few days spent in Berlin, many pleasant incidents in the
midst of the Prussian capital in the throes of a world war recur to
mind. One of these was the approach of the Kaiser, accompanied by a high
government official, as they rode through the Brandenburger Thor along
Unter den Linden to the ministry of war. He was simply swarmed by his
people, who yelled, "Unser Kaiser! Unser Kaiser! Hoch! Hoch!" Although
he appreciated their loyalty and patriotism, his face showed great care
and worry and he seemed to have grown ten years older in a few weeks.
A pathetic incident was the great crowds of people who came and went out
of the Dom Church Sunday morning, where they went to pray for strength
and resignation. The crowd was so great that only Germans were allowed
to enter church that morning. It was an inspiring sight to see men of
all ages, accompanied by their wives, children or sisters, come out
with resolute faces, realizing the danger but determined to give their
all for the cause.
It was Tuesday afternoon that our special train was ready at five
o'clock to take us from Berlin into Holland. Though the train was not
ready much before five, hundreds of anxious Americans were on the
platform by three in the afternoon. Most of them had plenty to do in the
two hours before our train pulled out. Some had to look after their
trunks, make sure that they were being placed in the baggage car, while
those who were not fortunate enough to have trunks with them discussed
at length the probability or lack of probability of ever having their
luggage again. There were many people lost in the crowds; mothers had to
look for their children, wives for their husbands. A large delegation of
newspaper men and publishers appeared with high mounds of literature on
the war, begging the Americans to see that this reading matter should be
scattered broadcast in our country. Even more interesting were the
crowds of American women left behind, who brought all the way from one
to a dozen letters, asking us to post them when we reached New York.
Many had tears in their eyes as they asked this favor, and not a single
man or woman on that special train was hard-hearted enough to refuse.
Among the number of women who came to me with letters was a sweet-faced
brunette about thirty. She said that she had just made her début in
Berlin with much success as a singer. This was what she had told her
husband, along with the fact that she was living in a nice pension where
she had become acquainted with a well-known tenor and his family, who
were taking good care of her until she would be able to come home. She
gave me all this information because her letter was written in German,
and she feared I might not take it unless I knew its contents. In less
than a quarter of an hour's time she returned with a large bouquet of
roses, saying this was a mere expression of her appreciation.
Our train pulled out at five o'clock sharp with much yelling and waving
of handkerchiefs and fans. Out of this noise one heard the cry,
"Godspeed!" "Give my love to all the dear ones at home!" "Good luck!"
"Auf wiedersehen!" which was answered by the refrain of the song,
"Deutchland über Alles!"
This special train was packed with anxious-looking men, women and
children. They seemed so happy to get out of a land of war into one of
peace, that they never grumbled at the thought of sitting in a day coach
thirty hours without any sleep except what they got napping.
All along the line we saw beautiful fields waiting for the harvest to
be taken in by the women and children. They were doing their best to
supplement the work of their fathers and older brothers. Whenever they
noticed our train pass and realized that we were Americans they waved
their hands and shouted in friendly greeting. Our coupé had four seats,
so by taking turns every one got a chance to rest an hour or two.
It was not until two o'clock the next day that our train reached
Bentheim, which is on the Dutch frontier. Our train did not pull up to
the platform as usual, so all the passengers in turn had the pleasure of
taking a three-foot leap. This was the German side, so our luggage had
to be examined before we could pass over the Dutch frontier. There were
only two ticket windows for nearly three thousand people, so we were
wedged in like sardines. There were no porters to carry our hand
luggage, so we had to hoist it on as best we could. A short ride brought
us to the Dutch frontier, where we were all told to get down and have
our luggage, even to our hand luggage, examined again. As we could not
get any porters many of us refused to get down, with the plea that we
were refugees and not tourists.
When the custom officials saw that some of us stood firm, they boarded
the train and examined our things in a superficial way. The more
obedient, who did as they were told, fared badly by their obedience.
There was such a mix-up inside that many came back minus valises,
dress-suitcases, carry-alls, steamer coats, and even lost their seats in
their coupés. The passengers were divided between Amsterdam, Rotterdam
and The Hague. A large number of these were without steamer passage, but
they were hurrying to Rotterdam determined to get something, even if it
was steerage. There were plenty who had boarded our train without a
dollar in their pockets beyond a railroad ticket to help them out, and
they were trusting to good luck or what friendships they might make on
the way for help. Many were loud in their praise of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard
for the friendly advice and the financial aid they had been given by
them. In spite of the hardships endured by the financial embarrassment,
loss of trunks, lack of sleep, there was much humor and joviality, which
is so valuable to the American people in difficult situations.
It was after one o'clock when we reached Wassenaar, a small suburb of
The Hague. The hotel had been originally built for a golf club. It was a
large, red brick building, set in a beautiful garden with such wonderful
flowers as only Holland can grow. Surrounded by this splendid wealth of
scenery, it was hard to imagine ourselves in the midst of countries that
might be racked and ruined by war. The next morning we visited the
Palace of Peace, handsome but imposingly simple. As we looked upon its
splendid rooms, decorated with pictures dedicated to peace, it seemed a
blasphemy to God and man that such a building should remain if men are
to fight out their differences with the cruel weapons of modern warfare.
For a short time we abandoned these disquieting thoughts and visited
some of the lovely Dutch shops, where we found a few inexpensive
souvenirs for our friends who were anxiously awaiting us at home. We had
our luncheon in a quaint Dutch restaurant where dainty sandwiches and
Dutch cakes were served on the prettiest of Delft china.
Then we hurried to our Embassy to find out if the Tennessee had landed,
as we all expected letters and hoped for money from home. One of the
clerks said that the Tennessee was expected in England that day and
would probably reach the Dutch coast in a day or two. Our Embassy was
crowded with Americans asking for passports, money and information. Mr.
Van Dyke and his clerks, assisted by boy scouts, were working overtime
to gratify all these demands.
A number of our clerks looked anxious that afternoon, as gossip had it
that the German Consul had been called back to Berlin that day, and if
Holland were thrown into war she would flood her entire country in less
than twenty-four hours' time. Our men thought it was an exaggerated
rumor, but still they were advising people to leave Holland as early as
possible. As we hurried along the streets and past the vacant lots, we
saw hundreds of soldiers going through their daily exercises so that
they could join the regular army when needed.
There was a great crowd of people waiting before the palace, anxious to
see their Queen start off for a daily drive. Soon the automobile
appeared, carrying the Queen and a friend for a drive out in the woods.
Though she has grown older she is as sweet and girlish as ever. Her
friendly smile shows that she has the determination to meet cheerfully
the most difficult situations that may confront her before the war is
finished.
We were about to take the 'bus up to our hotel when one of our friends
stopped us and said, "Are you willing to leave tonight if I can secure
passage for us four on the Ryndam?" I was so surprised by this question
that I thought our friend, who had been studying in one of the German
clinics, was losing his mental balance as a result of overstudy and war
talk.
"Go tonight!" I exclaimed. "Why, we only came at one o'clock this
morning. No, indeed; war or no war, I want one week of rest in this
lovely, peaceful country."
"This is no time to romance," he explained. "You can enjoy pastoral
beauties in our own U. S. A. There is talk that Holland may go to war
tonight. If she does she certainly will flood the country before she
stands for any nonsense such as Belgium has." With this he helped us
into the 'bus and boarded the five-o'clock train for Rotterdam, to take
his chance of getting four tickets at the eleventh hour.
When I got on to my splendid terrace window overlooking the garden I was
ready to sell out at any price. I argued that it was better to be shot
than to go crazy, and I knew that fifty-six hours without sleep or three
days and nights without sleep in a week was too much of a strain. The
beauty of these rosebeds and ponds seemed to comfort my jaded nerves
more than the happy thoughts of home.
So I took tea on the terrace and forgot all about an ocean voyage until
the face of my watch announced it was six o'clock and time to pack. By
seven our little party of three were ready for supper, but we had no
idea whether we were going to stay that night. We had two auto-cars for
our party of eight, in case the added four joined the two couples who
had passage secured on the Ryndam.
Our friends waited until nine and then they got ready to go, fearing
that they might miss their boat if they were detained any longer. They
suggested that they would give all the assistance they could, even to
besieging the captain to wait a little longer.
By ten the guests started to retire and most of the lights had been put
out. The doctor's wife, who was a young married woman, tried to read an
exciting story in one of the English monthlies, but she was so worried
about her husband I am confident she did not know a word she was
reading.
We tried to get the Holland American line at Rotterdam but the wires
were not working--were out of order. Shortly before twelve o'clock we
got a telegraph message sent over the telephone which said, "Tell the
Americans to come to the Ryndam at once." The message sounded so
strange, and, being unsigned, we feared it might be a plot to get us and
that we were being suspected as spies. This did not frighten the
doctor's wife, who insisted on going and looking for her husband. We
gave orders for the automobile to be called, and the man answered he did
not want to make an hour and a half trip at that time of night. I
answered that he must come around at once and set his price. It was
nothing more nor less than forty dollars, and he insisted on having
every gulden of it before he would turn the crank of the car. There were
a number of other delays, for we could not find a porter, and the room
waiter refused to carry our baggage to the car. Then the manager had
promised to take us to Rotterdam, but he said it was too late for him to
venture out in such times, and it was only when we offered the house
porter a five-dollar bill that he consented to sit on the box with a
revolver in his hip pocket.
Then our punctilious proprietor delayed us with our bill, for he was
more anxious that he should not charge us one cent too much or too
little than that we should catch our boat. We were even further delayed
by feeing the help, who still stood around for their tips while our
escort explained that money spoke in war times.
Finally we were off, and certainly this midnight ride compares favorably
with Paul Revere's famous ride. I do not know how many kilometers we
covered per hour, but I do know that if anything had bounced against us
or we against anything we would not have lived to tell the tale. We went
through deep woods, dark streets, through small villages and through
long, narrow dams at breakneck speed. We had the right of way except for
the tolls that had to be raised, for the soldiers watching at a distance
and for an occasional drunkard that tumbled into the streets. We went so
fast that every time our automobile took a bridge it flew several feet
into the air. It was only kind Providence watching over us that saved us
from being shot as spies--at least being taken prisoners. It was one
o'clock when we entered the Holland American office and gave up a good
cabin on the Rotterdam for two berths in the auxiliary cabin on the
Ryndam.
As we came on board we saw our ambassador, Mr. Van Dyke, tell some of
his friends goodbye and wish them Godspeed. We stopped to hear some
people exclaim, "My, that was a splendid speech--I guess he is sorry he
is not going home--well, if a man wishes to be an ambassador he must do
his duty and watch his people--I wonder how many of us will take his
advice and keep neutral in thought on this trip." As soon as we got on
board we found that ours was not a choice cabin. It was one of the forty
cabins made in a week in the hold of the boat usually made to keep the
trunks.
I decided not to go to our cabin that night, as it was nearly two
o'clock before the boat pulled out, and then we sat around and chatted
some time about the mines in the channel and the possibility of our boat
striking one and being blown to pieces. When we tired of sitting on deck
we went down into the dining salon and slept on benches in impromptu
manner. To tell the truth of the matter, we were reaching a point where
a few hours seemed a luxurious amount of sleep. Many who did not find
the early morning air too brisk camped out on steamer chairs outside.
Next morning my mother and I went down to see what our cabin was like.
After reaching the lower deck we had to climb down a small ladder to get
to our room. The company had tried to make the hold attractive by
arranging palms and flowers around the walls. The center of the hall was
usurped by trunks, for about one-third of the first-class passengers had
been fortunate enough to save their baggage. Some of the flat trunks
were useful, for they served as chairs and benches when our cabins
became too crowded during the day.
Much to our surprise, we found that our small cabin was designed for
four people, though it was only large enough for two during the day. I
gave my mother the lower berth, and then the question became pertinent
how was I to scramble into the upper one. I made many futile attempts
trying to bolt and then taking a turn at the ladder. I succeeded in
reaching the last step, but only went so far as bumping my head against
the ceiling when I tried to crawl in.
The lady who had the other lower berth soon saw that my efforts were
futile, and since she was extremely slight she kindly offered me her
lower berth. Unknown to the authorities, we sent the fourth occupant
into our friend's room and reduced the number to three. Thus we had one
less person in our room than the rest of the people in the auxiliary
cabin, but we found out that there were just two too many when rough
weather came.
Though everybody on board that boat had said the day before they were
willing to ride steerage and to suffer all conceivable hardships without
complaint, providing they could get away from warlike Europe, our
captain confessed that he never met so many complaining people at one
time in his life.
This was just a little annoying to him when he remembered that he had
already been placed as a naval officer on a Dutch man-of-war, and he had
only been recalled because he knew where the mines lay, and the company
felt he was competent to steer our ship safely out of the harbor.
Many of the passengers only muttered in a low voice as long as they were
in the channel, for they feared the floating mines, though not a single
mine broke loose and floated near our vessel. We were met by a number of
English naval war boats. The ugliest of these was a small torpedo boat
which stopped us before we were out of the English Channel. Our boat
cried "Halt!" as soon as we saw this little English racer coming toward
us with her guns leveled toward our bow. As soon as we were near enough
to hear her words one of her officers gave the following queries: "Where
do you come from?" "From Holland," was the prompt reply. "What have you
on board?" "A cargo of humans," answered the captain, loud and clear.
"Where are you bound for?" came the pertinent answer.
"For New York," they were told. Then came the fearless command:
"You may follow me to Scilly Island, where we will examine your papers,
and if they are satisfactory you may go on unmolested."
It was just luncheon time when our boat stopped and two of the English
officers came on board to examine our papers. Before going up to the
bridge he went down into the hold and looked at the baggage and into the
cabins. After examining our papers carefully they found the nearest
approach to German enemies were naturalized German Americans. With
English tact, they chatted with some of the men awhile and then went
down the side of the boat and were off.
We encountered a number of English men-of-war on our way out of the
English Channel but were only held up twice. As soon as they saw our
papers signed up by the first man-of-war they let us go very promptly.
As soon as we got out of the channel away from mines and men-of-war our
tired, jaded refugees began to nag the purser from early morning till
late at night. There were those who said that they consented to go
steerage because they thought steerage was fixed up like first cabin.
When they saw that their complaints were futile they sent over one
socialist leader to have it out with the overworked purser. The
passenger exclaimed: "I tell you it is an outrage, we are not immigrants
but good American citizens. I do not look like an influential man here
but I am a strong factor in the socialist party in New York, and I will
make this company look sick when I get there."
In marked contrast to this burly, rough man was the refined New England
woman, a professor in one of our leading girls' colleges. She begged the
purser to try and find three berths for her and two of her colleagues in
either the first or second cabin, and asked if he in the meantime would
see that the steerage was cleaned up and made a little more comfortable.
A few days later I saw this professor walking on the first promenade
deck telling some of her friends she felt like a culprit taking a
first-class berth while her friends were left behind. More than a
half-dozen worthies were brought over from the third cabin to the first.
A college girl was among this number, who had been travelling with her
brother. She had gotten into our cabin by mistake, and when I explained
to her that her room was around the corner she begged me to leave her
things in our room until she found her cabin, and she said: "I was in
hysterics for joy when my brother took me out of the third class, and I
know I shall die if I have to go back there."
There was a talented blind boy pianist who had been travelling with a
friend giving concerts abroad and a committee of wealthy men brought him
into the first class; he had such a sweet, kind face, I am sure he was
as uncomplaining among the steerage as he was after he had been provided
with a comfortable berth. Though there were not enough first-class
cabins for all the women and children found in the third, the committee
of wealthy men went down every day and saw that the steerage was kept as
clean as possible. But there were just as many complaints among the
first-class passengers, for those down in the auxiliary cabins tried to
get rooms on the promenade deck, or at least have the privacy of their
own rooms. Most of them who were at all comfortably placed found their
complaints useless.
Gradually these passengers became more resigned, for we had five days of
rough weather, and many of them were too seasick to worry about where
they could lay their heads. A few of the humorous people on board soon
discovered that the auxiliary cabins were all marked four hundred, so we
dubbed ourselves "The Four Hundred"; because of the flowers we dubbed
it the Palm Garden or the Ritz Carlton. As soon as the weather
moderated some of the enthusiastic women were busy getting up a Red
Cross collection for Germany. Then there was a petition gotten up by
some German Americans, thanking the Germans for the kindly treatment the
Americans had been accorded. The men in the meanwhile occupied
themselves wondering if the stock exchange had been closed, discussing
the merchants' marine and the duty of our increasing the navy.
One night we had a terrible electric storm which was a beautiful sight.
It was so strong it fairly lit up the rooms, but every time a crash came
we thought our end was near. The women, who were most afraid of the
storm felt doomed; they got dressed and went up into the upper cabin,
concluding that they would rather be shot at by cannon than to be
drowned at sea. The climax to all of our troubles was the making out of
our declaration and being held in quarantine at Ellis Island. Many
objected to this treatment and argued that they were good American
citizens and not immigrants. This was not much more than a form, for the
health officers only glanced at our papers. It is strange what an
influence this war had on women's consciences. There was not one woman
who had been born in this country, though she had lived abroad several
years, that wished to call herself a non-resident. In spite of heavy
luggage lost the women were so glad to get home that they made most
honest declarations. As our boat landed the dock was so packed it was
hard to distinguish our friends among the thousands standing on land
waving their hands and shouting a welcome home. Since we only had
dress-suitcases left our baggage was soon inspected, and in less than a
half-hour later we found ourselves in a comfortable New York hotel. It
only took a hurried breakfast and a refreshing bath to make me soon
forget my own hardships. Still, I shall never forget the suffering I saw
as I fled from the horrors of war, and I am now confident that the
expression "War is hell" is as sure and true as the fact that there are
stars in heaven.
WHAT MOBILIZATION MEANS
Have you ever been to war? Unless you can boast of the Civil War or the
Spanish-American War this question may sound futile.
Have you ever seen a manoeuvre? Unless you have been an invited guest at
one of the French or German manoeuvres you have but a faint idea of what
a gigantic review for active military service is.
Have you ever seen a mobilization? Probably not, unless you were one of
those who rallied around our flag in the Spanish-American War or in the
late Mexican crisis.
Much as you may have read how the European countries have been gathering
their forces, it is all a faint picture compared with the actual
gigantic work that has been taking place during the early periods of the
war.
Until I had seen a small part of this tremendous work, I had always
thought of mobilization as the task of gathering a certain number of
regiments led by their officers, and sending them off with their horses,
cannon and provisions to a point of attack. Though these are all a small
part of a great undertaking, mobilization is a gigantic, living,
breathing, throbbing force, where millions of men may act in concerted
action and still every individual must play a small part in this
melodramatic action.
I was fortunate enough to have been in Germany when the word was sounded
that Russia was mobilizing, and that Germany would do the same unless
Russia gave her some satisfactory explanation for her aggressive action.
When no answer came, at least no satisfactory reply, a declaration was
made that Germany was mobilizing. What did this mean? It meant the
bringing together of the most perfectly trained and equipped military
force of modern times. For just as England has seen to it that she may
retain the proud title of "Commander of the Seas," Germany has been
equally proud of her magnificently equipped military forces.
It may take years to answer the question whether this army was being
organized and trained for aggression to make other nations bow to
Germany's will, or whether the intelligence of the German nation
realized that the issue at stake during the Franco-Prussian War had not
been threshed out and would have to be answered later. For, as Bismarck
said in a conversation with the interviewer, W. B. Richmond, "Germany is
a new empire and it must be protected from possible assault by one or
two or both powers, one to the east, the other to the west of us. You
must remember that the next war between France and Germany must mean
extinction for one. We lie between two lines of fire; France is our
bitter enemy and Russia I do not trust. Peace may be far more
dishonorable than war, and for war we must be prepared. Therefore, while
Germany's very life as a nation is at stake, I cannot give the attention
that I would otherwise wish to as regards the encouragements of the arts
of peace, however much I may believe them to be, as you say, necessary
to the highest development of the nation as a whole."
The German people of all classes were familiar with this prophecy,
therefore they were not surprised, and more, they were prepared, when
Russia and France in turn threw down the gauntlet of war. In most of the
cities and towns you heard the familiar words spoken by men of all
ranks, "Well, it doesn't matter much; it had to come, today or tomorrow,
only the allies had planned to wait three years longer; then the French
soldiers would have their three years' service and the Russian Army
would have been reorganized. The allies thought that we might be found
napping, but we are pretty well awake, and it is to be a fight to a
finish."
Therefore, when the word mobilization was spoken throughout Germany it
was more than a call. It meant that every boy and man capable of
carrying a gun was more than ready--he was dead anxious to join his
regiment and die for his country. Whatever a man's rank might be,
whatever his daily occupation was, and however responsible the work, he
forgot it all in the eagerness to go to the front. One day I happened to
be in a large bank in Berlin when the president received his call. He
read it as though he were getting an an invitation to a Bankers'
Association banquet instead of its being a call to go to the front. He
had all his affairs in shape to go, and after a short talk with some of
the directors and a friendly goodbye to his associates, he closed his
large rolltop desk, put his hat upon his head and was off.
I chanced to be in a restaurant in Berlin one day when I noticed a group
of soldiers already dressed in their dark gray uniforms drinking their
afternoon coffee and smoking their cigars leisurely. Between the puffs
of smoke, I heard the following conversation: "Shooting down Frenchmen
will be rather different work than singing Sigfried and Tannhauser at a
thousand dollars a night."
"You musn't be so mercenary," answered another. "A campfire and a bed on
the ground will make me appreciate the comforts of a New York hotel
another season, more than the other, while sauerkraut and Wiener wurst
are fair exchange for lobster à la Newburg and chicken patties."
While a third piped up, "I know I will have a more enthusiastic audience
when I sing the Wacht am Rhine to my regiment than I have when I sing
Rigoletto on first nights in New York."
The same enthusiasm was shown by painters, sculptors and writers of all
kinds. What was a thought on paper, on canvas or in stone now compared
with the privilege of doing service for one's country!
While the first regiments were being called out, more than one million
reserves had offered themselves _freiwillig_. They were willing to go
and take any place, even the most dangerous, in any regiment, just as
long as they could serve their country.
One day I met a hairdresser who had two sons; the one had been called
into service and the other had enlisted and was to be called out in two
weeks. When I asked the father if he did not object to having both sons
leave he said, "It is better to have them go than to have them grumbling
every day at home because they cannot help the fatherland."
A few days later I met two young men on a train. They were tired, dirty
and impatient. The explanation for all this was that they had offered
themselves at a neighboring ministry of war and were refused because
there were too many reserves on hand.
About the same time a young girl told me seven of her relatives had been
called into service. One of her brothers-in-law was disqualified, for he
had been hurt while doing his one year military service. Still he was
determined to go, and applied at six different ministries of war before
he was finally accepted to help build up the Landsturm.
More than two-thirds of the great physicians and surgeons of Germany are
in the war. Many of these are volunteers. Those who are too old for
active service are doing their duty in hospitals or in the Red Cross
field. But many who could do this lighter work are fighting in their
regiments. As one well-known German physician said to me, "No, indeed, I
want to go with my regiment. When my country is at peace I am willing to
look after the sick, but now it is time for me to fight. I wish it were
today, for two days seems like two months when a man is ready to go."
I saw another physician work all day until nine o'clock in the evening;
though he had received his commission at seven, he continued his work as
though nothing had happened. Then he gathered a small package of papers
which probably contained important letters and money, which he handed
over to the physician in the institute. He then hurried to his room and
put on his military clothes--they were those of a third-class military
officer. The change in costume seemed to make a different man of him. He
was no longer a physician but a war hero. He bade each one goodbye in
turn, even to the scrub-women, saying he hoped that they would all meet
again next year, and then he hurried to his room to get a few hours of
sleep as he had to leave at five next morning. The only care he had on
his breast was what would become of his mother--a dear old lady of
seventy, whom he loved very much--if anything should happen to him.
One day while walking across the country road, I stepped up to a farmer
and said: "When do you go to the war?"
"Next week," came the blunt reply.
"And who will do your work while you are gone?"
"What's a buxom wife and four sturdy children good for if they can't do
a man's work when he is off at war?"
The same readiness to go before they were called was as paramount among
university students as it was among the farmers and merchants. A corps
of young Heidelberg students offered themselves and asked that they be
taken in one regiment. This wish was sent to the Emperor and was granted
them. Even the younger students were too much fired by the desire to
help to stay at home. One day I came across a young boy seventeen years
old, hurrying with full might to get to Kiel, where he had an
appointment on a naval boat. He was a handsome, sturdy lad of fine
feeling, but he felt it was necessary to fight, and if need be to die
for his country. He explained that he was the only son of a widowed
mother, but even his great love for her could not check him.
Even the younger boys ranging from the age of fourteen to sixteen felt
that they were shirking their duty because they could not go. I heard
one young boy say to his grandmother, "Isn't it too bad I am only
fourteen; if I were only two years older I might do something for my
country."
"Be patient, and your turn will come," said the old lady,
good-naturedly.
This eagerness to go was a great aid in hurrying the mobilization.
Hundreds of officers who were off on their summer vacation hurried back
without an instant's delay. In all the cities, and even in the small
towns and villages, the commons and kurgartens were turned into
training-grounds for the reservists, and meeting-places for those
enlisted.
Though I saw more than fifty thousand men called out in one Bavarian
center, in two weeks' time every man was there to take the oath and to
get his military clothes at the very minute appointed. As they donned
their blue military uniform, they had no idea that another special suit
was awaiting them when they should get into active service.
There were hundreds of thousands of earth-colored uniforms kept in
reserve that no one knew anything about, except the ministry and the
highest German officials. There was no disorder, no wasting of time, no
asking of foolish questions--every man was a unit in a great whole. From
a common soldier to the highest officer, they were ready to do their
work intelligently and enthusiastically. The only emotion they showed
was an impatient enthusiasm to get across the German frontier and into
active service as soon as possible. They knew that this war was to be
one of life and death and a fight to the finish, but all fear was
forgotten in a hope of being able to do something for their country.
They often explained the situation by drawing two circles, one within
the other--one very large, and one extremely small--as they said, "When
you come again Germany is bound to look like one of these circles."
When the mobilization was ordered, every farmer brought his horses to
the town, where they were inspected. The horses found strong enough for
battle were taken, and the others were sent back to the farm. The same
thing happened to the automobiles--they were taken without a word of
notice--the government kept those that they wanted and returned the
others.
Though hurrahs, songs and laughter mingled with the tramp of feet as
fifty thousand soldiers formed in line and hurried to the front, this
was only a small part of a great picture. All day long in Berlin we saw
officers flying along in automobiles hurrying to the ministry of war to
get their instructions, and then hastening off to the front. They all
seemed ready and self-reliant.
The nights were not wasted in Berlin, where they were used for
manoeuvres to try out the forty or more Zeppelins which Germany owns.
Even the passenger Zeppelins, known to many Americans for the trips they
made through the Black forest, have been turned into war dirigibles.
Count Zeppelin himself had offered his personal services to take charge
of his invention. It was said new factories were being opened to turn
out two new air-crafts each month. Though the Krupp works at Essen had
been working right along making new siege-guns and special bombs for
Germany, it was said that the factory had put on a large force of men
who were working night and day to make an added supply of ammunition. On
my way from Bavaria to Prussia I saw a number of automobiles flying
across the country carrying their officers to the front. Now and then a
Zeppelin flew overhead practicing before it should venture into France
or Russia.
Most interesting of all were the military trains, forty-two in number,
packed with soldiers and their officers. Though some of them were wedged
so tight they had little moving space, they laughed, smoked, and waved
good-naturedly as they were being hurried across the frontier.
I saw many regiments hurried, at meal-time, into depots. They were led
across into open fields where large, wooden houses with many wooden
benches had been erected. The work was being done under contract, and in
this way thousands of soldiers were fed in a short time.
The baggage cars were crowded with cavalrymen and their horses. Though
their horses and the straw in the car were immaculately clean, these
soldiers were less well off than the infantrymen in the third-class
coupés, for it seemed to me that the horses were getting more than their
share of the room.
Besides these regular coupés, there were many freight cars which carried
all kinds of canned goods and other provisions. Others carried a great
number of small collapsible boats, which are used as pontoons in
crossing rivers. More interesting than all this were the cannons. Some
of these were the common cannons, while now and then loomed a great
siege-gun.
I was told that the cannon-balls, bombs and other explosives were
carried into the country at night, as they did not want to take any
chance of igniting and killing the soldiers.
Besides those designed for active warfare, many were used to carry
messages over the battlefields and for the Red Cross service. I saw
dozens and dozens of handsome automobiles lined up on these car-trucks
carrying messengers and doctors across the frontier.
But German mobilization means every precaution possible for their
country as well as foreign aggression. Now and then I passed gangs of
workmen making ditches and trenches, repairing railroad tracks and
laying new ones. Every station was guarded by one or more sentries,
according to its size. They kept their eyes on every passenger who went
in and out of the station, and when they were the least bit doubtful
they asked for one's passport on short notice. I shall never forget a
picture of the morning I breakfasted at six o'clock in Erfurt. I and
some friends were just seated at table when a sentry approached us and
asked for our passports. He scrutinized each one carefully, and when he
was satisfied we were not spies he left us and approached a group of
Russians. They looked as exhausted as they were frightened as they
explained they had gotten permission to go home. When they reached the
frontier they were told they could not go across, and they found so many
of their countrymen on the border that there was not half room enough
for them, and they were on their way back.
Everywhere there were vigilant watchers looking for spies. Some were so
alert that they tried to make Russians out of harmless American
refugees, while others went so far as to accuse them of being spies. I
myself was sometimes accused of being a Russian, and had hard work to
prove my identity. Those Americans who had the daring to venture out in
their automobiles got the worst of it. The soldiers on watch thought
nothing of shooting at their cars and taking the innocent occupants
prisoners. A gentleman and his wife who went from Baden-Baden in the
Black Forest to Bad Kissingen were shot at and arrested five times
before they got there. Word was brought to the village that some French
spies were coming and that they should wait for them. The mob was there
to greet them with pitchforks and axes, and when they saw the French car
the peasants were sure that these were the people they were after.
The case became more complicated, as none of the party, including the
chauffeur, could speak German, and only understood their
gesticulations--not their threats and volleys. They were only saved from
being shot by the appearance of two officers who, after examining their
pockets carefully, found some American papers and letters. Still, these
officers did not wish to rely on their own judgment, and so they took
their prisoners to the burgomeister. He explained that he could not give
any opinion until he took their films from their kodak and had them
developed. Their innocence rested on the kind of pictures they had
taken. As the woman told her story, she said, "It was only a miracle
that her husband hadn't taken pictures of soldiers, as that was his
favorite kind of photography."
Next day the burgomeister returned the kodak and the developed films,
explaining he was sorry he had detained them, and he did not see any
reason why they should not go on. So he sent the soldier who had been
guarding them day and night to act as their protector.
They had only gone a short way when they were arrested in another town,
and they had to go through another trial to prove their innocence. They
said that their experience in being arrested was becoming commonplace by
the time they reached their destination. Some of these guards were so
vigilant that they lost their heads completely and accused innocent
women of all ages as spies.
I was traveling on a train one day when I heard a terrible noise in a
neighboring coupé. Word had been telegraphed that there was a Russian
spy dressed as a German officer. In his coupé there sat an American man
and his wife and a German friend, and they were accused of being his
accomplices. Some of the mob boarded the train, leveled revolvers in
their faces, and were ready to drag them all off, when they were stopped
by some higher officials. After half an hour's questioning and searching
of pockets, the Americans were let go, and the foreigner was taken off
and shot as a spy.
Vigilant as were the officials about catching every spy, they were
equally anxious to protect the lives of every innocent man and woman,
especially the Americans. At night our trains were never allowed to
start off until the rails had been carefully inspected, to see that
there were no bombs on the track, and not the smallest bridge was left
unguarded.
After the regular army was called out, there was a lull for ten days,
and then came the starting of the Landsturm. These included the young
boys and those ordinarily considered too old for active service. Some of
these were sent right to the front, and others were put into six weeks'
training ready to fill in the gaps when they should be needed.
There is no feeling of rivalry in the Germany army, for every man feels
he has a post to fill and that he can do a small part in winning a real
victory. As they love to explain, every man is equal on the battlefield,
whether he be a prince or only a poor peasant boy, whether he be a
general or a common soldier; as they march on to death or victory day
after day, and week after week, they are inspired by the words: "Unser
Gott, unser Vaterland, und unser Kaiser"--"Our God, our Fatherland, and
our Emperor."
It was this inspiration that made the Reichstadt vote ninety million
dollars at once. It was that which called the socialist party along with
the democrats to arms. It was that which made the Emperor tell his
people: "I forgive everything--we are all Germans." It has been this
inspiration that changed small petty states into a large imperial
government. It was this inspiration that changed a strong German horde
into a people that loved culture, art and education. It was their
patriotism that made them brandish the sword in one hand because they
feared their enemies and still kept their other hand and brain free to
work for social uplift. They have created cities of which they may well
be proud, adorned with beautiful theatres, opera-houses, parks, statues
and public gardens. Patriotism was the fount at which they drank, and it
has created such master minds as Goethe, Schiller, Wagner and Gerard
Hauptmann.
I believe that a nation that loves home and fireside and romance as much
as do the Germans energized a great standing army for protection and not
for war. I believe that their methods may have been wrong, but that
their heart was right; for a nation that has faith in God, in their
ruler, and in their country, a nation that spends its energy for music
and beauty, may be misunderstood, but such a people cannot hate their
fellow-men.
THE PRICE OF WAR AND THE PRICE OF PEACE
When word was given that the German Empire had declared war, it was
known that she had nine hundred thousand men at a cost of two hundred
and fifty million dollars on hand. But the mobilization of her several
million troops at the end of the first week increased the cost to many
times that amount. This did not frighten her, as her chest at Spandau
had been swelled from thirty millions to ninety millions. This was
enough to last for three months. When it was found out the other day
that the war would last for some months longer, the National Bank of
Germany, along with many other German banks, raised enough money on
bonds to keep Germany going until after Christmas, without making a war
loan, though the cost to France and England is somewhat less
individually, still it amounts to nearly the same when the two countries
are taken together. A conservative cost of the war per day is fifteen
millions, of which Germany is said to spent eight millions.
Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, the French economist, estimates that each of the
greater belligerents is spending an average equivalent to $200,000,000
monthly.
In presenting these figures to the Academy of Moral and Political
Sciences today (October 17th), he said that he considered it probable
that the war would continue for seven months from August 1st.
Accordingly, the five greater powers engaged were committed to an
expenditure of $7,000,000,000. Each of the smaller states, including
Japan, will have expenses of from $600,000,000 to $800,000,000 to meet.
"One might say that the war will cost the fighting powers roughly from
$9,000,000,000 to $10,000,000,000," M. Leroy-Beaulieu continued. "These
figures, which do not take into account the losses of revenue during
hostilities, will be met.
"The larger part of the savings of the world will be absorbed by the
taking up of national loans, and economic progress will be seriously
checked."
These figures are only a small part of the entire cost. It is not
unusual to read of thirty to fifty thousand men being slaughtered in one
great engagement, and about the same number being taken prisoners.
Germany has in three months already put more than three millions into
actual combat, with a reserve of two millions, and she can raise ten
millions if necessary. On the other hand, the allies say if Paris is
lost it must be retaken; if one million of allied reinforcements are
not enough to accomplish it, there will be two millions and three
millions.
These numbers represent the flower of European civilization, for only
the sane and healthy are valued in war. These men include hundreds of
the ablest scientists from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, from the
private and government laboratories in Berlin, Frankfurt and Freiburg.
Along with these are the great professors of all the sciences and the
liberal arts, many of whom are world-renowned in the great universities
of Europe. Included in this magnificent rank and file are the painters,
sculptors, musicians, along with the celebrated architects. These men
rise to the tens and hundred thousands, and every time one of these men
goes down we are reminded of the fact that he may never be replaced, and
it will take many centuries to give back a little of the culture and
genius they represent.
But the backbone of a nation is its agricultural force. The German
farmers and foresters are a pride to their nation. Nearly every one of
these has been called or volunteered in the ranks and files, and already
many thousands have been food for the cannon and guns. Their wives and
children are trying hard to do their part to replace the work, but all
they can give is a feeble effort.
The same is true of France, which has the richest fields in the world.
Most of the soil yields two harvests. These farmers take wonderful pride
in their farms and truck-gardens, and when the great painters, Millet
and Corot, dedicated their genius, they found worthy subjects for their
brush. I have traveled through miles of this farmland in France, and its
beauty was a splendid poem of what God had helped man to do. Much of the
rich vineyard and champagne country has been destroyed by war and
neglect, and it will take years of hard toil before it can be repaired.
When this war was less than two months old, whole towns, such as
Louvain, Bruges and Rheims had been laid in waste. This destruction has
meant the loss of thousands of homes, public buildings, churches and
cathedrals, and priceless works of art.
It has also meant the destruction of many miles of railroad, river and
ocean transportation, and the closing of thousands of factories.
It has called forth a sudden demand for certain quantities of
ammunition, horses, wagons, hospital supplies, fuel, food and clothing,
with a great increase in prices on these products.
Credit, which has been the natural and easiest way to carry on business
between individuals and nations, has been put at naught. As a result,
paper and silver have depreciated in value, and people begin to want
gold, for in war gold is the only medium of exchange one can be sure of.
Unfortunately, at the present time, there is not enough gold to do the
world's business, and owners of securities, day after day, have been
trying to sell their stocks and bonds for gold.
In many countries the governments have had to declare moratorium, which
means that none need pay their rent and debts until further notice.
The world's trade has been paralyzed; as a result, most of the stock
exchanges of the world have had to shut down. The New York Stock
Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade are included in this number,
because if they kept open the foreign countries would exchange their
shares and bonds for gold, and much of our gold would be carried to the
other side.
Because of our added diplomatic responsibilities abroad, we have had to
raise one million dollars, and also two and a half millions for the
Americans stranded on the other side. Many of our factories have closed
because they dealt in a heavy export trade and for which at present
there is no demand. Most noticeable in these trades are the manufactures
of cotton, of metal, agricultural and other machinery, copper and
lubricating oils. Many others of our industries are without the goods
which they import from abroad, including silks, wines, hides and skins,
dyes, nitrate of soda, china, etc.
This war has been such a jar to industrial conditions that many
manufacturers are reducing their daily output considerably, while others
who have a capital are afraid to invest, and are hoarding it in the
banks.
Though it is impossible to say how long this war will last, one thing is
sure, the loss to trades the world over is great and will increase as
time goes on. Worse still than the loss of trade and productive labor is
the fact that actual capital is being destroyed, being really burned up.
When the war is over there will be an enormous war debt to pay, and the
loans on money will be high. This destruction of wealth and property
means that many of the countries of the world will be poor for fifty
years at least, and the value of railroad and other stocks in America
and Europe will depreciate.
When the men of the world return to work, there will be a great fall in
prices because of the greater amount of productive work, and it may
result in a fall, at least a temporary fall in wages, though wages will
increase after things are once more established. This war may be a boon
to the financial and industrial life of our country and give us many new
marts of trade in commerce, but while the war lasts it will mean
financial strain and hard times in many industries. It certainly will
cripple European life, civilization and culture for fifty years.
The game of war is a dangerous and expensive one; it means the building
of great war-boats, torpedoes and other submarines, as well as
air-destroyers, along with the manufacture of bombs, mines, powder, etc.
This war shows that the game is being played on such colossal scale that
it may take many millions every year to add to the army, navy and
air-craft. It is not to be forgotten that a great man-of-war costs from
three to five million dollars, and a good torpedo boat many hundred
thousands. The shooting of a cannon ball of a siege-gun means an
expenditure of three thousand dollars for each fire, and it takes four
shots to pierce a heavy fortification. The siege-gun can only be used
about thirty times, and then it is useless. If this game of war is to be
continued, it will mean the burning up of capital, depriving men and
women of every luxury and many necessities for much of the energy of the
world, and no less of the money must be used to that end. Do you not
hear a song more beautiful than the cries and groans of war? Do you not
hear the call of life and creation, the making of more homes and the
caring for those homes? Many hundred years ago men knew the game of war
and practiced it, because they were savages, and in this way earned
their livelihood. It was only after they rose from savages and
barbarians to civilized men that they laid their bows and arrows aside
to cultivate the arts of peace. On all sides are seen results of this
work--in busy factories, in the laying of cables, in the building of
railroads, in their engineering feats, and in the stretching of wires
overhead. Their towns grew until they became cities and capitals, made
splendid by fine pavements and sidewalks, adorned with many handsome
public buildings, gates, fountains, statues, etc. A testimony of all
this beauty and energy is seen in such capitals as Berlin, Paris, London
and Washington. These cities have given pleasure to millions of people,
and this beauty has had large commercial value to these countries. These
capitals are a pride to the people who live there, and a never-forgotten
pleasure to those who have spent happy days visiting their libraries,
picture galleries, museums and gardens. Two of these cities, Berlin and
Paris, are splendid examples of what can be done where there is plenty
of civic pride. Berlin is a symbol of law and order in its large,
well-kept streets, splendid gardens and imposing public buildings. Paris
is a woman's city--it breathes with joy and artistic grace. This note is
symbolized on a sunny afternoon at the Place de la Concorde, and in the
Bois in the springtime, when you see thousands of happy children at
play.
These two cities, along with our own beautiful capital adorned with its
many handsome avenues, public buildings and private mansions, testify
for uplift and civic pride. It will be impossible to have many beautiful
cities and to improve our civic conditions if we go on playing this
awful game of war, which means the destruction of capital and what man
has made. But if we disarm and make other nations disarm after
gratifying the most immediate needs, there will be plenty of money left
for libraries, great and small, libraries for the city, and libraries
for the town, for museums and galleries, for public universities, for
parks and gardens adorned with statues and fountains, for the building
of bridges and the making of good roads. These are the things that are
beautiful and worth while. They are the complement to nature's work and
God's work, and the sun will glorify them during the day and the stars
will bless them at night, for creation and not destruction is the
purpose of this universe.
SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED AS TO THE CAUSES OF THE WAR
The questions uppermost in the minds of many people are: "How will the
war end? When will it end? Who is in the right? and Who is in the
wrong?"
Since our country has declared neutrality, there is only one thing for
every sensible American to do--to have sympathy for every man who has
been called to the front, and for every family left worrying and in want
at home.
There are a number of questions that enter into this war. Foremost among
these is militarism. There is not a country at war today that believes
that a government is made for its people, their theory being that a
people belongs to its government. Therefore it is the interest of the
country, not the interest of the individual, that counts. This idea is
part and parcel of the old feudal form of government, where there were a
few mighty feudal lords and many vassals or dependents. These dependents
lived on the estates of their lords and got their sustenance from them.
In turn they had to swear life and death allegiance to their lords,
fight for them in times of danger, accompany them on crusades and amuse
them in time of peace in jousts and tournaments.
Though feudalism as a form of government is no longer fashionable, it
still survives in spirit. Thousands of men are employed in Europe in
different ways by their governments or by their monarchs, and they are
in honor bound to fight for these kings and princes. In times of danger,
these men are employed on railroads belonging to the government, working
in palaces or on royal estates, or in the army. There are many old towns
in Europe where you see feudal palaces perched on high hills or
overhanging crags. These were protected by drawbridges, moats or great
encircling walls. All that remain of their past glory are the deserted
ruins, mouldered walls and drawbridges, but the spirit of these feudal
rulers still remains. They now live in capitals in the winter and on
lovely estates in the summer. They have from five to twenty estates
apiece. Many of these places are only used a few weeks out of the year.
Their permanent residences are adorned with priceless furniture,
tapestries and ornaments. These are kept up by a retinue of servants,
while even those that are occupied for a short time call for plenty of
care and expense for their maintenance.
Hard though it is to believe, there are palaces that have been twenty
years in the process of building and are still not completed. When a new
monarch comes to the throne it is not unusual to have his palace
refurnished from top to bottom. Entertaining at these courts means a
great expenditure of money, for their china-closets are crowded with
priceless china, finest glass, silver and gold service for all
occasions. Though the menus planned for any of these state affairs are
costly, the great extravagance comes in the fine wine-cellars, rare
fruits, and the hot-house flowers used for decorations. I have walked
over royal estates for a half-day without reaching their limit. The
place included summer houses, pagodas, alleys, private promenades,
stables and carriage-houses.
More than one royal stable in Europe has more than two hundred royal
carriages. Among these are coronation coaches, state coaches, funeral
coaches, guest coaches and private coaches. The finest of these are
lacquered with silver and gold, while the harnesses and whips are made
of real silver and gold. The private carriages include landaus,
victorias, and a great number of fine automobiles. Many of these are
used only a year or two, and then are sold or exchanged for others.
Even more splendid are the stables, which include fine horses and
beautiful ponies gathered from many parts of Europe and the Orient. The
caring of these horses involves much work and cost. I have seen as many
as a hundred men at work caring for one of these royal stables. Some of
these horses have rare pedigrees and need excellent care. They are not
used on all occasions--some are kept for state functions, others for
private use, and still others for military practice.
A court is not complete without handsome coronation jewels to be worn at
coronations and great state balls. These include priceless crowns
studded with diamonds, pearls, sapphires; vieing with these are ropes of
pearls, pearl and diamond rings, high orders set with diamonds, rubies
and emeralds, and gold swords with hilts set with brilliants and rubies.
A country might have all these things, and still she would be lacking in
dignity unless she had her own royal guard. These stand watch day and
night to guard the palace, and to change guards is accompanied with so
much ceremony that it often takes an hour's time. If it takes a royal
guard of nearly a thousand men to protect a palace, it requires a
good-sized standing army and navy to protect any of these royal
countries. The newest of these countries can boast that her army is not
an integral part of her government. Even France, which is a republic in
name, is a military form of government; it is the army and the army man
that has the last word to say.
A part of this royal system of government is colonization. Just as Spain
counted her power and wealth in her colonies, so do most of the other
European powers do so today. England gets much of her strength and
wealth from her colonies--they work for her, give her men in times of
danger, and permit her to control the channel with courage and boats.
Her imperialism gave her the courage to tell us that she claimed certain
rights to the Panama Canal because of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty. Though
India and Canada have brought her much wealth and strength, many say
that she has looked upon Java, Holland's rich possession, with an
envious eye, while much of her friendship for France is based on her
African possessions.
Though France has not an enormous population, she always speaks of her
need of more territory which she has found in Morocco, while even the
smaller countries, such as Belgium and Holland, have valued their
colonies as their greatest prize.
Germany is the last of the great powers to look for colonies. This she
has done because she found her own territory too small for her growing
population. After looking about carefully, she found out the easiest way
to enlarge her territory was to get more control in Africa. The
question was finally settled when France gave her a small part of the
Congo. This was done almost at the price of the sword and the bayonet,
and France and England then decided that they would cry halt if Germany
tried for any other extension of territory in Africa. At the same time
France had not forgotten that she had given Alsace-Lorraine to Germany
by the treaty of 1871, and she hoped to get it back again some time in
the future.
Russia and Austria had not been friends for many years, and Germany
increased this feeling for herself when she made an alliance with
Austria in 1879. Russia had always looked upon Austria as her chief
enemy, and she was greatly irritated by Germany's alliance. Russia
thought by joining hands with France she would offset the power of
Germany and Austria. The Triple Entente thus faced the Triple Alliance.
England, isolated from the continent of Europe, was not worried by the
triple alliance until she saw Germany spring up as a great commercial
nation. She looked upon Germany as her chief commercial rival, for she
saw the trade-mark "Made in England" gradually being supplanted by that
"Made in Germany."
English merchants managed to tolerate German merchants in the markets of
Europe, but when England saw that Germany was beginning to build up a
strong sea-power, she was determined to offset her by courting the dual
alliance of France and Russia. The terms of her agreement with these two
powers have never been published, but it was probably arranged that if
Russia or France should ever get in any serious difficulty, England
would mediate for them. This was to be a protection to England, and a
check to Germany on the one side and the Balkan states on the other. For
Servia had not forgotten that Austria had annexed Bosnia and Herzegovnia
in 1908. By stepping forward in the list against Austria, Servia became,
as it were, a protector to the Balkans, and a thorn in the side of
Austria. She did this because Bosnia is inhabited by people of Serb
speech. Russia, while acting as a protector of Servia, saw the advantage
of using Servia as a cat's-paw. The murder of the Austrian prince and
princess by the Servian government, backed by Russian influence, was
merely the match that set the powers of Europe fighting together.
Whether the conflagration should spread beyond Servia depended on
Austria and Russia's attitude. Austria hoped to confine the fight to
Servia, while Russia showed her warlike attitude by mobilization. In
mobilizing, Russia showed a hostile attitude toward Austria and Germany.
After the Russian general mobilization became known in Germany, the
imperial ambassador at St. Petersburg was instructed, on the 31st of
July, to explain to the Russian government that Germany declared the
state of war as counter-measure against the general mobilization of the
Russian army and navy, which must be followed by mobilization if Russia
did not cease its military measures against Germany and Austria-Hungary
within twelve hours, and notified Germany thereof.
As the time then given to Russia had expired without the receipt of
reply to the Emperor's inquiry, the Emperor ordered the mobilization of
the entire army and navy on August the first at five p. m. The German
ambassador at St. Petersburg was instructed that in the event of the
Russian government not giving a satisfactory reply within the stated
time, he should declare that Germany considered itself in a state of war
after a refusal of her demands. However, a confirmation of the execution
of this order had been received, Russian troops crossed the frontier,
and marched into German territory. A few hours later France mobilized,
and the next day opened hostilities.
There were still hopes that England would come to the fore and settle
the dispute. She said that she would remain neutral, providing Germany
did not touch French coast, Russian coast, and respected the neutrality
of Belgium. But Germany did not see how to make this promise and still
meet her two formidable enemies, and thus a world-war began.
Just as it will take time to say who will be the winner and who the
loser by this war, so it will take time to say who was responsible for
this condition. For nations as well as for individuals, supremacy
becomes mere madness when it is gained by guns and battleships. This
bellicose system may once have been popular when piracy and feudalism
prevailed, but this military peace, which trembles and rumbles all the
time, forewarns earthquakes.
It was an American who made the peace palace a reality. It must be
America again who will make eternal peace more than a promise. When the
time comes for the stopping of this awful carnage and bloodshed, America
must insist that every nation in the world shall lay down her arms and
that they shall change their men-of-war into merchant marines for the
benefit of mankind. This is the fulfillment of the building of the
Panama Canal.
WHAT THE WORLD-WAR WILL MEAN TO WOMANKIND
Have you ever stopped to think what this world-war will mean to
womankind? While thousands of Germans, Russians, French and English are
daily slaughtered, wounded or captured, what does this mean to the
thousands of women who are patiently waiting for their return?
Though the fewest of the European women want war, or are in any way
responsible for it, they are taught to believe that every man belongs to
his country first and to his family afterwards. If you were in Germany
during this life-and-death struggle you would certainly find out that
the German women are natural or at least trained Spartans. They are
confident in the belief that however much a man is needed at home, he is
more necessary to his country when she is in danger. This is the belief
of rich and poor alike--the Kaiserin and the Crown Princess hold to this
ideal. No less than the poorest Bavarian peasant woman, the Kaiserin and
the Crown Princess were at Potsdam when the war broke out. They did not
suffer their husbands' return to Berlin alone, but came into the city
with them, drove through the city, and were recognized by the people as
part protectors of the country. Whenever the Emperor came out on the
balcony to address his people, he was accompanied by his wife. She
showed so much self-control and determination that many of the people
said they had two rulers instead of one.
When the Landsturm were called out it was rumored that the Emperor was
going to leave Berlin for the front that very evening. One of the
Kaiserin's intimate friends asked her what she would do while the
Emperor was gone.
"What shall I do?" was the sensible reply. "But stay at home and look
after all my children; this means all the women and children in the land
who need me, as well as all the soldiers who are brought back wounded."
That these were not idle words is shown by the fact that as soon as war
was declared the Empress gave forty thousand dollars out of her own
private fortune to the Red Cross. Ever since the war started she has
spent all her leisure time visiting the different Red Cross hospitals to
see that all the soldiers were getting the proper food and attention.
Her work has not stopped here; she went to all the markets to see that
all the provisions possible were being brought in to the people, and
that food should not be raised above the ordinary prices. Though the
Crown Princess is a happy mother of four lovely boys, as soon as the war
broke out she and her children accompanied the Crown Prince to the
palace. As she drove through the streets, she was received with the same
enthusiastic cries as her husband, for she is greatly beloved by her
people, and they knew that she would do her duty at home while her
husband was leading his division to war. Her lovely face was brightened
by the usual happy smile, showing that she was ready to do her part
rather than to thrust her burdens on the world. She turned over one of
her palaces at once as a hospital, and took personal charge of the work
herself. She is doing as much work as the Red Cross nurses, and, though
her husband has been in many dangerous positions since the war broke
out, she has never shown any personal anxiety. That the Emperor
appreciates this is shown by a telegram he recently sent to his
daughter-in-law:
"I rejoice with thee in the first victory of William. God has been
on his side and has most brilliantly supported him. To Him be
thanks and honor. I sent to William the Iron Cross of the second
and first class."
The other daughters-in-law of the Kaiser have shown the same courage and
forbearance. Princess Eitel Friedrich said goodbye to her husband with
as much enthusiasm, while the youngest, Joachim, who has just been
married, was hurried to the church for a second marriage before the war.
Even the young Princess Louise, who is the mother of a young baby, had
to say farewell to her beloved husband who went to join his regiment.
She went up to visit her mother for a few days in Berlin, and then
hurried home to look after her baby and the people.
Their example has been followed by all the princesses of Germany who,
besides acting as regents while their husbands are gone, are giving all
their time to Red Cross centers. Hardly had the war been declared when
thousands of women of all classes offered themselves to different Red
Cross centers. When told that they had never had any training in Red
Cross work they begged for some menial position, such as supplying the
soldiers with food and drink as they came in and out of the stations.
Many have applied to the dietary cooking schools, where they are doing
special cooking for the soldiers, and now they are glad that they were
taught to cook at home.
Many of the maids in private homes are too impatient to stay and do
their routine work, and they have also gone to the Red Cross centers
without pay. As one maid said, in a small Bavarian town, "How can I see
others working for their country while I stay on and work for myself?
Though I have only two hands to give, I give them willingly for the Red
Cross work. I can clean rooms and scrub floors, if I cannot do anything
else."
This same determination and courage came to the women when they told
their husbands and sweethearts goodbye. In the small towns the women and
girls waited for hours to see their husbands and sons go out. Though
their hearts may have been heavy, their faces wore happy smiles, as they
shouted: "Alas, farewell!" or an enthusiastic: "Auf Wiedersehen." In
their own homes they showed the same courage and determination, as one
girl said to me, "I was coming home with my sweetheart yesterday, and I
couldn't help but cry just a little when I told him goodbye, but my
sister-in-law never shed a tear when her husband left. She got his
things ready in a hurry, and, when he went down the street, she took her
child on her arms and stood in the window waving to him until he was out
of sight."
One German woman had six children and her husband go to war, and when
one of her friends tried to console her, she answered: "My only regret
is that I haven't six more to give to my country."
The officials' wives have shown the same splendid daring. Many of them
are young married women with babies. They hurried to Berlin with their
husbands to visit with them a day or two before the men should be called
into active service. They were seen walking with them unter den Linden,
or dining with them in restaurants. They talked of everything but war,
and when the time came to say goodbye they hurried to the trains and
bade them goodbye, as though they were only going on a short trip. The
families in need of support, while husbands and brothers are gone, have
found much protection in daughters and sisters. Thousands have taken up
men's work in the cities and in the country. They are working long hours
to fill the gaps in banks, postoffices and railroads. Most of the
drygoods stores turned over the positions in the family to a wife or
daughter so that the family may not need. Even girls offered themselves
as conductors and motormen on street cars. They proved themselves
competent for conductors, but they found the work of motorman too
strenuous.
The women on the farms have been working long hours for their children,
sometimes weakening under their load to bring in the rich harvest.
Though the Belgian men showed that they had splendid courage in fighting
for their principle of neutrality, the real heroines were their women.
In more combats than one, when they saw their men worsted, they seized
the guns and swords strewn on the battlefields and even fought in hand
combats with their enemies and would not give up even when worsted. When
their houses and towns were on fire they refused to retreat. The consort
of the king of Belgium, though she has three little children of her own,
has given a large part of her private fortune and most of her time
trying to provide her people with food and shelter.
Though Holland was the first to mobilize when war was declared. Queen
Wilhelmina insisted, through her ministers, that her country was to keep
perfect neutrality. This she has reiterated time and again. As she says,
"Not that I have so much fear for the horrors of war, but I do not wish
to see my women and children suffer the hardships resulting from war."
The French women have the reputation of being timid and light-hearted,
but this war shows they have plenty of courage and self-control. When
war first broke out in France some of the people, especially in the
large cities, were hysterical, for they had not forgotten the
experiences suffered in the Franco-Prussian war. But the courage shown
by the women to do or die, soon brought a great reaction of
self-control. Hundreds of women were seen promenading in the woods or
sitting at the cafés just as though nothing important had taken place.
Many of the wealthy French women in Paris and in the suburbs turned
their beautiful homes into hospitals for wounded soldiers. Thousands of
others have formed Red Cross centers. The more experienced in nursing
hurried to get commissions following their husbands to the battlefield,
while hundreds of less fortunate have been sewing at home or in schools.
They have also been busy providing food and clothing for destitute
families.
The English women are more isolated by their position, still they have
not been lacking in providing their men with the few comforts that war
can offer. They have formed Red Cross centers, gone off to nurse their
soldiers and offered their services on battleships.
Though America has not been in the war her women have not been negligent
in doing their part to allay the suffering and hardships of combat. No
sooner was the rumor of war given than did the National Red Cross of
America start a campaign for the purpose of sending Red Cross nurses and
supplies to all great centers of Europe. This involved many technical
difficulties as well as plenty of work and expense. For, besides
painting the ship white, it was understood that the entire crew was to
be American men. They had to get plenty of money together so as to make
the work efficient. Before fitting out their supplies they canvassed the
different countries of Europe, finding out what were the especial needs
of the different armies. They heard that one country was in special need
of stretchers, a second absorbent cotton, a third hospital gauze.
Thousands of Americans living abroad have joined the Red Cross centers
of the cities in which they were living and are giving much of their
time and money to strengthening the work.
Others who were in the war zone and waiting necessary accommodations to
get home, interested themselves forming circles among their friends and
giving their contributions to the general store, while the wives of our
different ambassadors have stood at their post giving of their strength
and fortunes to needy and destitute Americans, who daily come to them in
distress. When advised that they should return home for safety they
answered that their places were at the side of their husbands.
This is an epitome of what woman has done to relieve suffering, but what
does war mean to her? It means the useless sacrifice of those that are
nearest and dearest. It means the breaking of the nearest of the family
ties, of the love and protection that makes these homes happy and
complete. This war is daily creating heartaches and wounds for
thousands of women and children that can never be compensated by any
possible glory of war. This war will create millions of tear-stained
faces, millions of breaking hearts that can never be comforted nor ever
be made joyous. Even when these young widows reach an age when their
hair will be tinged with white, they can never forget the hardships that
are now being made by this ruthless combat. These women may yoke their
backs to the burden and bear their suffering in silence, but the grief
will be greater for being suppressed. The pictures of daily suffering
are too dramatic and too intense to be forgotten in a year or in a
lifetime. Millions of these women have gone through the trials and
sufferings of child-birth with a joy in their hearts that they could be
the proud mothers of good families. These same mothers are now being
forced to give these sons for useless slaughter so that the greed of
nations can be appeased.
But the hardships will not end with the loss of life, it will mean the
sacrifice of every luxury, every comfort and even the bare necessities
of life for thousands and thousands of women. The main support of their
family gone, they will have to offer themselves as bread winners for
their families. Thousands of good businesses and factories have already
been swept to the ground, and thousands more will be destroyed before
this war is ended. Millions of unprotected women and girls will cry for
work, but after cities and towns are destroyed there will be little left
for those in need.
But there will be other hardships for these many unprotected mothers and
daughters. Thousands of families have worked and saved for years to buy
small homes and farms which they might call their own, and these have
been destroyed like beautiful grain by a horrible gale. Thousands of
others have saved for years to possess small fortunes, and these have
all been destroyed.
O, thinking woman, woman of all lands, do you call death, destruction of
life and property, glory of war? Did God create human lives and fertile
lands to have them all fall before the greed of man? If He had done
this, He would be an unjust God, but since His watchword is "Glory to
God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, goodwill to men," it is your duty,
mother of the race to come, to cry halt to this awful carnage, to make
your watchword in your prayer brotherly love instead of brotherly hate.
For if there is one God, there is one brotherhood, and all humanity can
only be linked to that God by brotherly love.
ASK YOUR AMERICAN FRIENDS HOW IT FEELS TO BE WITHOUT MONEY.
If "war is hell," then to be in a strange country without credit and
funds is certainly purgatory. If you do not believe this to be true, ask
any of your friends who happened to be in the war zone and they will
certainly corroborate my story.
Though I was grief-stricken by the news that the great powers of Europe
had decided to wage a world-war, I knew that this feeling was
intensified when the banks of Germany refused to recognize any foreign
letters of credit.
I should not have had a dollar to my name had my mother been well, but
as she was quite sick I went to the bank twice that week, for I thought
if she were worse later I could not leave her. We had just paid a week's
board-bill and I vowed that we should not pay another until the banks
gave us more money. I was so angry when I saw another week sneak round
and another bill appear, that I left it unopened on my bureau for a
week.
Before long I realized that being angry would do no good. I must hustle
and get some credit. The first few days it was hopeless, for there was
a perfect run on the two small banks in our town; sometimes there were
several hundred people waiting at the doors for them to open. Most of
these were Russians and Poles trying to get the money out of the banks
and to hurry home before it was too late.
One day I worked my way through the crowd and got to the cashier's desk,
where I was refused. The clerk said that he would give me change, but
since England had made war it was foolish to take their checks, as it
might be months before he could cash them. I saw it was foolish to argue
the point, but I was furious, as up to this time he had been so
solicitous about our having enough money.
The clerks at the other bank were even more disagreeable. They were all
right to the Germans, but they treated Americans as a lot of dead-beats,
who were more accustomed to travel on credit.
But I was comforted by the fact that though there were plenty of wealthy
men in our sanitarium, they were all in the same box. There were a
half-dozen millionaires whose united fortunes represented at least fifty
million dollars, but they could not raise five hundred dollars on it.
They said little, but the seriousness of their faces showed they thought
much. If they ever knew what poverty meant it was so many years ago
that they had forgotten all about its sting. These tight circumstances
did not bring out the soft, kind side of their nature, it seemed to make
them skeptics instead. They were silent and taciturn, and acted as
though a short conversation indicated a "financial touch."
One of our multi-millionaires, who poses as a splendid church-worker,
never let his acquaintanceship extend beyond a nod or a "how do you do,"
as though he thought a warmer friendship meant financial aid.
He was traveling with a friend who had less in fortune, but more heart.
His friend promised to look after mother and me, but somehow the
philanthropist put a damper on the promise.
I then turned to a wealthy brewer and he said that he would O. K. our
bills if we did not get the money. This remained a promise, for he never
was tested to put his promise into execution, though he did go into the
bank one day and tell the clerk to give us twenty pounds more.
It came about, after worrying and waiting a week, in this way: The word
came that our government had arranged so that we were to get some money
on our letters of credit. After standing out in the hot sun a half-day
the bank clerk gave my mother and me one hundred and fifty dollars on
two letters of credit. I objected, saying that we were entitled to one
hundred and fifty dollars apiece. The clerk replied curtly that the
money to be paid out was at his discretion. The one hundred and fifty
dollars was intended for traveling expenses until we should reach
Berlin. He did not seem to take cognizance of the fact that we had a two
weeks' board-bill to pay before we should get that far.
When I appeared with my mother a few days later in quest of more money
he was furious, as he accused me of calling him a d-- thing, though I
had only accused him of being a disagreeable person.
It looked for a while as though the bank clerk was determined to have me
arrested for calling him a bad name. I afterward learned that even in
homes of peace you can be arrested for calling bad names and the offence
becomes worse in war times. I was afraid that he might accuse me next of
being a spy, so I made my escape and never saw the man again. The brewer
and my mother finally quieted him and he gave us twenty pounds, or one
hundred dollars, more. Some of the men finally arranged so that they got
a few hundred dollars every week, at least enough to pay their board.
But I consoled myself by saying that there were some who had less credit
than we had. There was an American man who had lived for years in
China, and he said that he could not get a dollar. A Chicago lawyer
took pity and shared his fifty pounds with him, trusting to fate to get
some more.
After realizing fully that I could not get any money from the small
bank, and in such desperate times it was foolish to depend on promises
for aid, I decided to campaign for more money.
Just before the cables had been closed, I had been advised from home to
seek advice and financial aid, if necessary, from two men in Frankfurt;
the one I had met six months before and the other I did not know. At
first I thought I would take a train and go up to Frankfurt to shorten
the process of borrowing money. Though it is only a five hours' trip,
under ordinary circumstances, from where I was, it had been prolonged to
a fourteen hours' journey. I did not want to trust to the mail, as less
than ten per cent. of the letters written were being received. I was
glad to find out that I could wire for twenty-five cents, as money was
too precious to be wasted on long distance messages, and it broke my
heart every time I had to send a cable.
One evening I decided to find our Frankfurt friend. I soon discovered I
had undertaken a large contract. When I looked in the directory I could
not find his business address. I was about to give up in despair when
the happy thought came that I might find it in the telephone book. I
found the name, Heilburg, 61 Beethoven strasse. It's fortunate that many
of the streets in Germany are named after the composers and artists, for
though I had only been there once, I remembered they lived on a musical
street.
After waiting a half-hour I got my party, and had as much difficulty in
making him remember who I was as I had in holding an intelligible German
conversation over the 'phone. I thought the man would drop at the 'phone
when I asked him for two hundred and fifty dollars, and he compromised
on half the amount. Though his intentions were the best, it took a
week's hard telephoning every day until I actually had the money in my
hand.
In the meanwhile I had received another cable from home telling me to
call up a certain banker in Frankfurt. When I approached him on the same
subject on the 'phone, he said he had never heard my name before, and I
could not expect him to hand out money to a person he did not know. I
acquiesced in his statement and said that his brother in America was a
great friend of my brother. To this he answered he believed all I said
was true, but did not see how he could loan me money without being
authorized. Finally we compromised on seventy-five dollars, and he
promised to let me have more if I sent our letter of credit. I refused
to do that, as I knew it would only be lost in the mail.
I decided that I had enough to pay my board-bill for the next two weeks
and that was a good deal more than others had, many of whom were living
on credit or paying with checks and drafts. There were two or three of
our guests who did not have dollar to their name, for all the English
and French credit had been cut off. At the end of two weeks I saw my
funds being depleted and I decided it was necessary to start on another
campaign. In the meantime I had received a letter from a cousin in
Dresden and I answered that I could use a little money. That week she
sent me two hundred dollars, which paid our board-bill and debts accrued
on telephone, telegraph and cable messages. When I left I still owed one
week's board-bill. At first it looked as though our host did not intend
to let us go without paying, but when he saw I was firm about paying no
more he yielded, and said the rest could be paid after we got home.
Money was so tight there for four weeks that anything beyond spending a
penny for a newspaper was considered foolish extravagance, and I scolded
my mother one day for spending twenty-five cents for flowers. Every time
I took a carriage to make a long business journey I considered myself
wicked, and a carriage ride for pleasure was out of the question. The
only extravagance I knew was giving some money to the Red Cross society
and some generous tips to the men who went off to the war. At times I
thought I should forget how to shop if I ever reached the point where I
had plenty of money of my own.
The condition of Americans in Berlin was not much better. I met friends
with less than a dollar in their pockets. A doctor and his wife had come
up from Carlsbad to Berlin with a quarter between them. Here they were
fortunate enough to meet a friend who loaned them two hundred and fifty
dollars for a ticket and traveling expenses.
There was a professor and his wife who were trying to get a second-class
ticket on a Holland-American boat, though they only had twenty-five
dollars in their pockets. They trusted to luck for their ticket and
their money. Good fortune favored them, for on their way from Berlin to
Holland they met a Southern man, who helped them get their ticket and
paid for it.
Every day dozens of young girls who had been studying abroad, and
teachers off for a summer's holiday, presented themselves at the German
Embassy, telling their hard-luck stories of how they were down to the
last cent, and that they would have to be home by the time school
opened.
Mrs. Gerard took care of many of these cases herself and saw to it that
they were provided with third-class tickets.
At the hotel where I was stopping I met an American lady with three
daughters. She said that they had enough funds to take them home in four
weeks by the strictest kind of management. The mother and the two young
girls had taken over the task of doing the family washing in the
bathtub, while the eldest girl was earning one dollar a day for
stenographic work at the Embassy. A little later I met two girls who had
been in Hamburg. They managed to pay their board and part of their
tickets by helping the council out there.
I soon found out that even with money in my pocket, it was hard to make
money count, for when it came to getting change they would only give you
paper money of small denominations. Gold was the only thing that spoke,
and silver was as much at a premium as paper was worthless. I found many
people who were going without their next meal because they could not get
their paper money changed. I went on a shopping expedition for an hour
one morning, just to get a hundred marks changed. I was told that
thousands of Americans were stranded in Switzerland, who were without a
dollar and without a ticket. As a friend wrote to me, "It is a pitiable
sight to see so many of our American women and children, including
artists, invalids, school teachers, and mothers with families, who have
been educating their children in Switzerland, driven almost to
destitution. They come back with tears in their eyes from Swiss banks,
because the clerks try to find any possible flaw in their drafts and
refuse to honor their letters of credit. Even the more generous of these
bankers have only a few hundred dollars a week on which to do business.
"Those of us who are living in Swiss families and boarding houses are
fortunate, for the Swiss people are intelligent to understand our
predicament and to feel sorry for us. But many have been living in
fashionable hotels, where the prices mounted immediately when tourists
came piling in by the hundreds. These proprietors expect to have their
bills paid weekly, which means that many of their guests are without a
dollar. I am sure that more than one wealthy woman has parted with more
than one handsome piece of jewelry to pay a week's board bill for
herself and her children. The question uppermost in every one's mind is,
"When will the Tennessee with its chest of two hundred million dollars
arrive, voted by Congress for the relief of Americans?"
"I am sure that the greatest hardships are being known by those who have
been living in the mountain resorts in Switzerland, where they have
been cut off from all communication. I have seen a number of such people
come staggering into our town carrying dress-suitcases, exhausted for
want of food and sleep."
On our boat coming home there were a number of destitute cases, men and
women without a dollar to their name. After a few days a committee of
wealthy men got up a fund to help them out. The day before our boat
landed a New York Citizens' Club sent word to our captain that they
should look up the destitute cases and they should be provided with
money when they reached New York. Among the cases presented some were
worthy and some were not. One woman made her plea that she had been
separated from her husband a few years before, as a reason for getting
money, though she had plenty to take her home.
The American women had been made destitute by losing all their baggage
and can count their material wealth in dress-suitcases. The first time I
decided to start for Holland the railroads were allowing tourists to
take their trunks with them, but two weeks later they said they would
not be responsible for any baggage taken. The most daring took a chance,
only to leave their luggage in the stations. I saw stations that were
piled high with five thousand and more American trunks. Some of the
people were fortunate to get their trunks to the frontier, only to lose
them on the boundary line. My mother and I left eight trunks on the
other side. These are divided between France and Germany. Still we are
glad that they are distributed in this way, for however the war goes, we
ought to get some of our belongings. On our boat I heard that there are
nearly a hundred thousand American trunks in Paris and the same number
in London. Unless these trunks are regained, many a woman will have to
content herself with two dresses and one hat this winter.
On our boat many a woman bewailed the loss of her trunks, as she said,
"Just to think, this is my first trip to Europe and I haven't got one
thing to show for it. It has been the dream of my life to say I owned a
Paris dress and hat. A hundred dollars is a good deal to pay for a hat
and a dress, but certainly they were worth it, if I only had something
to show for it.
"I didn't mind for myself, but it doesn't seem like being away unless
you have presents for the family at home. I had bought my sisters each a
handsome evening bag, mother a handsome scarf and father a beautiful
amber pipe."
These hard straits are in marked contrast with the luxurious way in
which Americans have been traveling and living abroad the last ten
years. Our steamers have reached a point where they were perfect ocean
palaces, comparable with the finest New York hotels. The hotels in
Europe have been transformed from simple boarding houses to marble
palaces, equipped with every luxury and comfort. A room and bath in any
first-class hotel brought seven dollars a day and a suite of rooms at
thirty was not considered extreme. Many of the restaurants were so fine
and fashionable that they didn't even print prices on their bills of
fare.
In the summer resorts ten years ago, a hotel keeper boasted of having an
omnibus to take the people to the station, an elevator and a few
bathrooms. To-day these simple hotels have been transformed into perfect
palaces. Golf links, tennis courts and tango teas. The Americans are in
no small part responsible for these high prices and foolish luxuries.
These hard times, experienced in the war zone, may result in bringing
them to their common sense, so that they can again enjoy the simple
living.
WHAT THE QUEEN OF HOLLAND IS DOING TO PRESERVE PEACE
If you were only in Holland for a few days you would find out that
Wilhelmina is the best ruler in Europe and one of the ablest
stateswomen. No sooner had Europe gone to war than she had her
government give orders for mobilization. Little Holland was the first
after the declaration of war to declare neutrality, and they have kept
their faith in not giving aid nor showing any partiality to either side.
This has been no small task, for England has been pressing her on one
side to join the allies and Germany would like to use her in a material
way, especially in the bringing in of food supplies. England has time
and again made charges that she was assisting Germany in spite of her
neutrality. On the other hand England has several times seized food
supplies that belonged to Holland, saying that she was importing them to
send them on to Germany.
In spite of these difficulties, such as seizing Dutch boats, because
they carried Germans and Austrians going home to fight for their
country, the Queen of Holland, backed by her country, has shown an
abundance of common sense.
At a recent opening of Parliament she addressed her people, saying she
hoped she could keep perfect neutrality. This they would do unless they
were forced into the war, for both she and her people wanted peace more
than anything else in the world.
In order to maintain this peace in an honorable way, she, sided by her
ministers, has done everything in her power to make a bold stand should
one or the other of the nations cross the boundary.
When in Holland a few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to cross one of
the Dutch frontiers. The boundary was well guarded with men to see that
none of the marching men nor contraband of war should be carried across
the border.
The entire standing army and a large part of the reserves, nearly a
hundred thousand men in all, are scattered between the cities and the
boundaries. It is said that she can call a much larger force to the
front in case of actual warfare than she has at present. In nearly all
the large cities, such as The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, I saw a
large number of young men going through all kinds of military tactics.
They were learning how to drill, how to fire, how to dig ditches and
build impromptu forts in haste.
That Holland is determined to make a bold stand and fight for her
rights if needed, is shown by the fact that she has mined her coast and
dynamited her bridges so that she can cut her dams on short notice.
There was such a rumor the day we were at The Hague. It had been falsely
rumored that the German Consul had been recalled that day and that the
country would be flooded within twenty-four hours.
The Dutch took little credence of these wild rumors, and continued their
business and went through their work of mobilizing in the same quiet,
energetic way. In spite of their delicate position, there is not a
country in Europe that seemed less interested in the war than this north
country. The hotel-keepers were too busy looking after the welfare and
comforts of tired Americans to take time to discuss war. The shopkeepers
were too busy supplying the tourists who had any money left with old
Dutch silver and delftware to worry about the war. While the steamship
company were too occupied enlarging their boats with auxiliary cabins,
getting extra crews and recalling their captains, who had already been
sent to the front, to bother their heads about war scares. It may be a
mere coincidence, still it is a strange one, that some of the persecuted
forefathers fled from England and remained in Holland until they came to
our America. It is just a little strange that an American gave such a
handsome peace palace to the world, and it should find its place in
Holland. It is no less strange that the Queen of Holland and her
ministers have taken such an active part in all the peace movements. In
the last few weeks they have been most energetic in succoring Americans
who fled from Germany and Austria, and she has been most active in
getting these refugees home.
As I saw the Queen of Holland leave her palace one afternoon in an
automobile, the crowds waiting about her palace to greet her showed that
she is near and dear to all her subjects. The fact that she was not
surrounded by any soldiers or civil service men shows that she has
nothing to fear from assassins. Every man in the crowd took off his hat
as a mark of respect, while the women greeted her with shouts and the
waving of handkerchiefs.
Though she is the third richest ruler in Europe, she refuses to indulge
in any foolish extravagance. Her palace at The Hague is pretty, but
simple, while she finds the one in Amsterdam too large and too expensive
for common use. She spends a large part of her own private fortune for
providing Creches, an old people's home. She is never so happy as when
she finds among her people an energetic mother with a good-sized
family. The one great unhappiness in Queen Wilhelmina's girlhood was
that she wanted children and was deprived of having them. Her mother and
friends say that she has grown ten years younger since she had her
little daughter. She is the pride of her mother's heart, though the
Queen makes every effort to see that she is not pampered by herself or
her subjects.
Although Queen Wilhelmina is fonder of her home and more interested in
the welfare of her subjects than she is of public life, she is a
splendid stateswoman and diplomat.
She never signs any paper, whether it is important or unimportant,
without carefully studying its contents. There is little about the
history of her people or her kingdom that she does not know, for she
believes much of her ability as a ruler depends on her knowledge of the
past history of her country. She is very proud of her own ancestors and
her people, because she says that they have been brave at sea and at
home and have always aimed to play fair. She has not been blind to the
fact that her neighbor, England, has been jealous of some of her
colonies, especially of Java. But she does not believe in worrying about
that fact.
On the other hand, she is also aware that in the past Germany dreamed of
some day uniting Holland to her own territory, if not by conquest by
the coming of a German heir. The Queen smiles when she thinks of the
Dutch people becoming English or Germans, for she says they are too fond
of flowers, windmills, cows and meadows to be anything but good Dutch
people. The Queen of Holland realizes that her people are divided in
their feeling in this war. The peasants and the fisherfolk feel that
they have more to gain by being friends of England, and they are strong
pro-English in their feeling. The aristocratic party sympathizes with
Germany, either because they have large business interests in Germany or
they are related by inter-marriage. Though the Queen of Holland is
married to a German prince, her attitude is one of neutrality in thought
and action. Whenever any of her politicians or friends try to get her
frank opinion she changes the subject by talking of home affairs, such
as "How is your lovely wife and your family?" Because she is interested
in the things nearest to her country and to her heart, she develops the
trades of her people instead of spending their money for building great
bulwarks of defense against the enemy that may want to devour her. She
places more confidence in the men of her country and their loyalty,
aided by her dams and dykes, than in a large costly army and navy.
WHAT ROYAL WOMEN ARE DOING WHILE THEIR HUSBANDS ARE AT WAR
It is a well-known fact, that in case of war, monarchs have a new
responsibility thrown upon them, for they become commanders of the army
along with their executive duties. Most of these direct their campaigns
from their own royal palaces and from the ministry of war. An exception
to this is that of Albert First, third king of Belgium, and the Emperor
of Germany.
When King Albert saw that his country was being attacked, and his people
in danger, he took command of the army and left his wife to guard his
three lovely children. Crown Prince Leopold, aged thirteen; Prince
Charles, aged eleven, and the little Princess Marie Jose, aged nine. It
was with trepidation and great grief that he told his young and
beautiful Queen Elizabeth, of Belgium, formerly Princess of Bavaria,
good-by. She reminded him that her courage and determination had in no
small part contributed to the reconstruction of the commerce, finance
and order of their kingdom. If she had done this much she certainly
could look after her own family now and do her part to ease the
suffering of her people. She showed that this was more than a promise,
for as soon as orders came for the evacuation of Brussels she and her
children left the palace and sought a new and simple home in the heavily
fortified town of Antwerp. This queen, who had endeared herself to her
people by her heroism and thoughtfulness, was determined to do her duty
now as she has always done since her husband came to the throne. Wasting
no time, she planned for the comforts of her children for the time she
would be gone, and then enrolled as a Red Cross nurse. She has entered
thousands of homes, left grief-stricken by the horrors of war, and has
comforted thousands of heart-broken wives and mothers. Kind words are
only a small part of her methods. Where they have been destitute for
want of money and food she has made every effort to see that they were
relieved of these material wants. Not discouraged by the fact that she
can get but a limited amount of money from the public treasury at this
time, she uses most of her private fortune to carry on her work. In
towns where she has visited and found families left shelterless, by the
burning and sacking of homes, she has worked with tremendous energy to
get these families into safe quarters and paid the rent herself. She has
found work for hundreds of women to do in the fields and has given Red
Cross work to many more, paying them out of her own purse. The Empress
of Germany was not crushed by the news that Germany was about to enter
into a world war. When her husband appeared on the royal balcony and
made his address to his people she was at his side, and though her face
looked careworn there was no sign of weakening. While he was busy
consulting with high government officials and ministry of war she was
equally energetic doing her part to organize the Red Cross work
throughout her empire. She at once gave thirty thousand dollars to the
national fund, and from time to time has added to the general
contribution. It is said that the Emperor wept when he heard there was
no alternative but war and explained to his sons that they must all go
to the front at once, but his consort showed no sign of weakening, as
she told her sons, one by one, good-by, and even when the Sunday night
came and she had to bid farewell to her husband. She busies herself all
day sewing for the Red Cross and visiting the many hospitals in Berlin,
to which thousands of wounded soldiers are brought.
Though the Crown Princess Cecelia has had the reputation of being
worldly-minded and fond of all out-door sports, ever since the war broke
out she has shown that she has a very serious side to her make-up. She
was in Potsdam with her four boys when the war news came, and when the
Crown Prince hurriedly made up his mind to go to Berlin, she and the
children accompanied him. When they drove through the streets thousands
of her country women greeted her with shouts and tossing of flowers and
her happy, sweet manner, so free from fear, did much to inspire them
with added courage. She drove to the station with her husband when he
went to join his regiment, and instead of shedding tears she laughingly
suggested that he write her and the children a love letter every day.
Then she busied herself looking after the palace she had given over for
a hospital, looking after every detail of its furnishing. Though she has
four children of her own, who take much of her time, she never lets a
day pass without visiting this hospital in person and makes it a point
to see that every need of the wounded soldiers is gratified. She has
given much enthusiasm to her two sisters-in-law, along with many
thousands of German women, in their Red Cross efforts. Because of her
energy there are few circles of women in Berlin, even to the American
women living there, who are not doing Red Cross work.
Though Holland was the first country to mobilize its army after war was
declared, the Queen of Holland explained to her people that since
Holland was a peace-loving country, it would keep the strictest
neutrality. Though the country has been goaded on by the promises of
gains on both sides, their little Dutch ruler has refused to allow her
people to do the slightest thing that might break her neutrality. Though
not a week has passed since the war began, without there being rumors
that Holland was about to be thrown into the arena of war and the
country to be flooded, Queen Wilhelmina tends to her affairs of state
and goes about her social duties just as though Europe were in a state
of perfect tranquility. On the opening of Parliament, the other day, she
discussed conditions and expenses caused by the war and explained that
whatever this mobilization might cost they would continue to enforce
this principle of neutrality.
Queen Mary, of England, has always enjoyed the reputation of being a
good mother and a capable housekeeper, rather than a social leader,
since her husband came to the throne. But ever since war was declared,
in England, she has been tremendously active in doing her share to
supervise and enlarge the Red Cross work. Though she never discusses the
war with her husband or friends she spends every bit of her leisure
making the rounds through all the hospitals in London, which are looking
after wounded soldiers. Very wealthy, in her own right, she has
contributed quite a fortune to increasing the number of hospitals in
London and adding to the Red Cross staff. Her approach is always known
by the many bundles she brings with her. More than once she has heard a
sick soldier ask for something special to eat, a new pipe or a book, and
she makes it a point the next day to see that his wish is gratified.
Though she has the reputation of being reticent among her friends, she
never goes through a ward without passing a personal remark to every one
of the wounded soldiers. Every one of her acquaintances at court is
doing Red Cross work, and many of them have entered into actual nursing
on the battlefield largely through their queen's initiative.
Though Queen Elena of Italy is a Montenegrin princess, she has
discouraged her people from joining the Allies, after they had promised
neutrality. At times this is no easy matter, as all of Italy seems eager
either to join the German flag or the standard of the Allies. Though it
would seem that the Queen might share the prejudices of her people,
still she has not forgotten the promises her country has made to Germany
and Austria. Because of this fact she allows nobody in her presence,
whether friends or employes in her home, to enter into a discussion of
the present war.
It is also well known that Roumania only needs a spark to catch the
flame, believing it may be possible for her to get something out of this
present upheaval, but their sensible Queen Carmen Sylvia is using her
talented pen to speak the word of peace, while her daughter-in-law is
employing her schools of sewing to contribute their part to the national
Red Cross work. The lovely Queen of Greece never loses an opportunity,
and up to the present time has been a potent factor in keeping her
country out of war. Though America has no queen to inspire us to the
needs of suffering humanity in this crisis, through the initiative of
many noble women, a Red Cross ship was fitted up at great expense to
bring money, nurses and hospital supplies to all the Powers at war.
Hundreds of circles are busy at work in many of our cities sewing for
the National Red Cross Society, or for some special Red Cross center.
Thousands of women, made refugees by the war in Europe, many of whom are
still unable to get home, are giving much of their time and as much
money as they can afford to the Red Cross work. No less important has
been their work of praying that war shall end and peace shall once more
be established. For these women are determined that, if their voice
counts, life shall never again be destroyed by war.
WHAT WILL THE ROYAL CHILDREN DO IF THEIR PARENTS ARE PUT OUT OF
BUSINESS?
It has been rumored time and again that there is a possibility of most
of the monarchs being put out of business by this war. The question then
presents itself: "What may happen to their children?" Certainly if the
Emperor were to be exiled, his sons have been so well educated that they
will have no trouble in making a living at home or abroad. All except
the youngest one, Prince Joachim, have visited one or the other of the
German Universities. They are well versed in the history of all
countries as well as the literature and fine arts, so they would have
little trouble in offering themselves as exchange professors in some of
our large American universities. Certainly their culture and information
as to the real causes of the war would be valuable, and it would also do
much to bring the two countries into closer and friendlier relations.
If the Crown Prince did not favor this idea he would be counted an asset
with his charming wife and their lovely family, both in our diplomatic
society in Washington and among the most ultra society of Newport. For
both the Crown Prince and his charming wife are very fond of Americans
and have always shown a decided interest for everything American
including the tango, ragtime, golf and tennis.
If the Czar of Russia should be put out of business he would find that
his young heir would have to become more of an athlete and less pampered
to be popular among young American boys, especially if he ever aspired
to an American university. Still the Czarina's daughters are so
beautiful and charming they would soon be made welcome wherever they
went. Their perfect manners and careful education would make them
noticed anywhere and they are all beautiful dancers.
The Prince of Wales, much like his grandfather, King Edward, is a born
diplomat and might certainly make himself valuable at our diplomatic
court in Washington. Diplomacy is his natural bent, though he has felt
it his duty to study the tactics of the navy. He has traveled much and
has made it a point to study the life of a people wherever he has gone.
His younger brothers have had a fine military and naval training and
could certainly become officers in our own navy. His sister, the
Princess Mary, is as charming as she is unspoiled. Clothes and jewels
play a small part in her life. She is a great reader and fond of
traveling. Her bringing up might show many an American mother how to
bring up a daughter, heir to wealth and position, without being spoiled.
If the King of Italy were to be put out of business along with the
others, his family, as neighbors, would be a pleasure anywhere, for both
his little daughters and his two sons are as unspoiled as any children
could be expected to be. They ride horseback, climb mountains, and fish
and enjoy any kind of outdoor life without being a nuisance to their
people or those about them.
The Queen of Belgium has three young children, just like steps. Though
they are the loveliest among the royal children, they are the least
spoiled. When their mother assumed the duties of housewife in Brussels,
she surrounded her children with plain, wholesome conditions. The late
King Leopold had robbed the palace of much of its splendor, but this
sensible Queen was pleased to see that her children could be brought up
in a plain atmosphere. Her two boys are splendid sailors and would have
no trouble in entering the naval academy in our own country, while her
little daughter knows all about housekeeping and is a beautiful sewer.
She would certainly be a prize to any young man looking for a sensible
wife.
Though kings sometimes have queer ideas as to what is best for their
country, they, advised by their wives, nearly always train their
children in a plain, sensible fashion. Though they are surrounded by
luxury, they enjoy very little of it themselves. Before they are very
old their hours are filled with study of some kind, and they are given
little time for play. Their days are crowded with military tactics,
studies of their own and foreign countries, and diplomatic relations. An
hour or two of rest a day is considered sufficient recreation and their
summer vacations are limited to weeks instead of months.
THE GERMAN EMPEROR AT CLOSE RANGE
WILLIAM II AT CLOSE RANGE
A great deal has been said about the firing lines of the different
European countries, but little is known of the war lords at close range.
Though I have never hobnobbed with royalty I have lived for long
stretches of time in the different capitals and cities of Europe,
especially in Berlin. There I have seen the Emperor and most of his
family.
I have seen William II driving through the Brandenburger gate hurrying
from his city. I have seen him taking five-o'clock tea with his wife,
his sons and their wives at Sans Souci, in Potsdam. I have seen him
addressing his people out on the balcony of his palace after war had
been declared.
In these three instances I saw three different types of man; the
statesman, the father of a happy home, and the war lord.
He is more than average tall and well built, still in the prime of life.
His strong body and healthy color mark him as a man alive with energy.
He stands for the famous Hohenzollern, challenging eyes, full lips,
retroussé mustache and imperious air. Still, as I looked at him more
closely, I noticed that his left arm is withered--almost of no use. In
spite of this hindrance he is an excellent, easy horseman, as much at
home in the saddle as are his great generals. When at manoeuvres he has
been known to sit nine hours at a time without any feeling of
exhaustion. He proves himself no less energetic when hunting, which has
been a favorite pastime for years. He has made a record of shooting for
hours at a time without feeling much fatigue, even when bringing-down
game two a minute.
He has made hundreds of speeches on all subjects, that showed a gift of
natural eloquence as well as a keen and impetuous nature. He believes in
the divine mission of the Hohenzollern. As he expresses it: "It is a
tradition in our house to consider ourselves as designed by God to
govern the people over which it is given us to reign. Every day I think
of ways of helping you, but you must help me, not by means of the
opposition parties that you have so often rightly combated, but by
explaining to your sovereign and having confidence in him."
Bismark disputed the Emperor's right to act directly with his
ministerial colleagues, citing a decree attributing to the Prime
Minister alone the responsibility for official acts and prescribing that
no important measure should be adopted without prior submission to him.
It is to his army that he looked for greatest strength and support. "In
my army we are made one for the other, and we shall remain closely bound
whether God gives us war or peace. It is the soldier and the army, not
majorities and parliamentary decisions, that have forged the unity of
the German Empire."
He has a thorough knowledge of engineering and electricity, paints
pictures, plays chess, and he does all this with the use of his one
hand. He feels that all these things are his avocations, an outlet for
his energy. With his great talent for organization, he realized that a
country to be prosperous needs factories and plenty of trade schools. He
was absorbed in the trade and commercial schools along with the school
of forestry, which have had an international and enviable reputation,
and which has made Germany one of the great industrial powers of modern
times. He gave every incentive to have his men stay at home in
encouraging all kinds of factories, lake, and water ways, the building
of canals, ocean liners and merchant marine. For it was the increasing
of the numbers of ocean liners and merchant marine that made German
merchandise popular and well-known in most of the ports of the world.
He has kept abreast of the times regarding the manufactures in England
and the United States. He has always taken an active interest in the
machinery and electrical contrivances used in American factories and in
the home.
Every year he sent many men to this country to study the methods
employed in our shoe factories, tanneries, cotton mills, our electrical
appliances and telephone services. As a result many of the German
factories have the best of American machinery, American mechanics at the
head, and they have worked out their telephone service, typewriters,
adding machines and cash registers after our designs. Though the Emperor
spent much of his time enlarging the army and navy, he considered these
as a safeguard to his country, but it is the commercial interests of
Germany he has at heart most.
He loved to read about the Panama Canal and to hear people discuss it,
for he recognized it as the great engineering feat of the century. He
would rather had it said that Germany had built the Panama Canal than
that she had organized the largest and strongest army in Europe. So
eager was he to know all these things that he mastered six languages
fluently. He began his day's work at seven and continued it until five,
with a short interval for his noonday meal and afternoon drive. Though
he often had a few intimate friends to supper, his evenings usually
finished with work which lapsed way into midnight.
Though the Emperor is often blamed as having precipitated the war, the
point is overlooked that Servia, backed by Russia, was trying her utmost
to disintegrate Austria. When Austria made war on Servia without
consulting Germany, it was the war party in Germany that held it was up
to Germany to help her ally. The Emperor of Germany was lukewarm in this
matter. He felt that the war should be confined to Austria and Servia.
He was surprised and grief-stricken when he returned to Berlin and
learned what had happened. It was only after he learned that England and
France were backing Russia that he considered the war justifiable.
As he said, when he made his speech from the balcony, he hoped that
German swords should only be drawn to protect the fatherland. But after
war was once declared he showed, by the way he talked and discussed war
matters with his generals, that he was a worthy pupil of the great Von
Moltke, and a firsthand strategist. For he had not forgotten Von Bulow's
plea to his countrymen, that under no circumstance would France pardon
or forget the seizure of Alsace Lorraine by the victorious Germans of
1870. On this head he writes:
"When we consider our relations with France, we must not forget that
she is unappeased. So far as man can tell, the ultimate aim of French
policy for many years to come will be to create necessary conditions
which to-day are still wanting for a settlement with Germany, with good
prospects of success."
Of Anglo-German relations Bismark wrote: "England is certainly
disquieted by our rising power at sea and our competition which
incommodes her at many points. Without doubt there are still Englishmen
who think that if the troublesome German would disappear from the face
of the earth England would only gain by it. But, between such sentiments
in England and the fundamental feeling in France, there is a marked
difference which finds corresponding expression in politics. France
would attack us if she were strong enough. England would only do so if
she thought she could not defend her vital economic and political
interests except by force."
Though Europe was on the brink of war time and again during the
twenty-six years of his reign, the Emperor always cast his vote for
peace, as one of our great statesmen, William H. Taft, said on the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the Emperor's reign: "The proof of the
pudding is in the eating. When the German Emperor went upon the throne
and developed his independence of Bismark and his intention to exercise
his own will in the discharge of his high functions, there were many
prophecies that this meant disturbance of the peace of Europe. Instead
of that the truth of history requires the verdict, that considering the
critically important part which has been his among the nations, he has
been for the last quarter of a century the greatest single individual
force in the practical maintenance of peace in the world."
Likewise Theodore Roosevelt says of him, he was "The one man outside
this country from whom I obtained help in bringing about the Peace of
Portsmouth, was his Majesty William II. From no other nation did I
receive any assistance, but the Emperor personally and through his
Embassador in St. Petersburg, was of real aid in helping to induce
Russia to face the accomplished fact and come to an agreement with
Japan--an agreement the justice of which to both sides was conclusively
shown by the fact that neither side was satisfied with it.
"This was a real help to the cause of international peace, a
contribution that far outweighed any amount of mere talk about it in the
abstract, for in this, as in all other matters an ounce of performance
is worth a ton of promise."
Though Emperor William has been accused of having precipitated the war,
he was off on his yacht taking a vacation when the murder of the
Austrian nobles took place, and Germany faced the question of war
through her alliance. It is said that the Emperor broke down and sobbed
like a child when he met his sons in his study after war had been
declared.
As Andrew Carnegie recently explained: "The Kaiser himself is a
marvelous man, possessed of wonderful ingenuity. He has done more good
for Germany than any other man before him. He has built up a great
foreign commerce and a marvelous internal business."
The trouble was started by the German military caste that rules the
country. They are responsible for the war. The Kaiser gathered around
him a group of men who, unknown to him, acted in concert, and in his
absence took the action that could not be altered.
The Kaiser has always been devoted to his home and his children. He has
given much time to their education, for he believes firmly, "Spare the
rod and spoil the child." Though he has the reputation of being severe,
he is far more lenient with other people's children than his own.
His sons were trained to serve in the army quite like the sons of the
poorest peasants, and when the war broke out they were the first to
hurry to their regiments. Though one of his sons had just been married,
he had to leave his bride like all other young lovers.
The Empress has been a splendid check on the Kaiser's strong and
determined nature, for though she is submissive and tender, she has
great poise and is extremely restful. She has never worried him about
her domestic affairs and still she has taken a keen interest in all his
doings.
The Crown Prince is different from his father in build, as he is in all
other respects. He is tall and slight, good-looking and gracious, and
acceptable to his people. Next to taking an active interest in his wife
and children, America appeals to him most.
Though he is much more of a soldier than a diplomat or statesman, he is
more democratic than his father, and he is tremendously popular with his
people on that account. This he has shown to his men ever since he went
to the front; the comfort of his soldiers is constantly before him. He
makes it a point to see that his men are provided with socks and shoes.
When a student at the University of Bonn he had the reputation of being
a good mixer. In spite of his fair hair and blue eyes he has always been
closer to the war party than has his father. He is a fearless horseman
and has a deep knowledge of military tactics. The Crown Prince received
his first military training when he was hardly large enough to mount a
horse. He and all his brothers have continued this training all through
their boyhood. First the Crown Prince went to the Prince's Academy
Military School at Ploen, and completed this work at Danzig. Though a
severe leader, he has always been the idol of his regiment, for he never
asks his people to do the things he is unwilling to undertake himself.
He has always been as popular with women as with his soldiers. He is
exceedingly fond of American women and has been admired by many an
attractive American girl. Several times he had his heart set on taking
one for a wife, but his father showed him the impracticability of such a
venture. But he is extremely fond of his home and devoted to his wife
and four lovely boys. They are splendid comrades, much more so than the
average German woman is with her husband. When the war broke out
Princess Cecilie said that she would join her husband at the front just
as soon as she could. One of the dispatches sent by way of The Hague
from Berlin says that Cecilie, the German Crown Princess, accompanied by
her two eldest sons, left Berlin to join her husband at his headquarters
in France. She proposed personally to bestow decorations upon officers
of her dragoon regiment. Though the Crown Princess is naturally
delicate, having inherited tubercular tendencies from her father, she
and her husband, along with the children, devote much of their time at
winter sports in Switzerland. She and her children toboggan, ski, skate
on the ice, and partake of all winter sports. She is so fond of exercise
that she sometimes neglects the question of handsome costumes. On more
than one state occasion she has had to devise something in a hurry
because her wardrobe had run low. She takes more pains selecting her
sporting costumes than her evening toilettes. The first time the Emperor
laid eyes on her he was charmed by her beauty and grace; as he told one
of his friends, "I might look the kingdom over and I could not find a
lovelier wife for my son."
She is no less beloved by her mother-in-law, the Empress. When she
should come to the throne the Empress imagined she would be spoiled, as
she was used to having her own way. To her surprise she found the Crown
Princess a capable home-maker and an ideal mother. She loves to ride and
romp with her four children, and she is the liveliest of the number.
From the time the war broke out until the present moment she has never
shown the least sorrow at being alone with her children. Her one great
ambition has been to allay the suffering of her people. She is a great
favorite with her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. When the young
Princess Victoria Louise fell in love with Prince Ernst, the Duke of
Braunschweig, the young girl confided the secret to her sister-in-law,
who did more than her share to bring the romance to a happy issue. When
one of the Crown Prince's brothers fell in love with one of his mother's
ladies in waiting, the Crown Princess took her under her wing and thus
allayed the Emperor's displeasure. Though Prince Eilet's wife has the
name of being haughty, she has never shown that disposition with the
Crown Princess, with whom she is on friendly terms.
The Emperor hates pomp and display, and all his family follow his
precepts in enjoying a simple home life. They are seen to best advantage
in their lovely gardens at Potsdam, having five-o'clock tea on the lawn,
happy and care-free away from the pomp of the court.
He is equally proud and happy with his other children, August Wilhelm,
Oscar, Adelbert and Joachim. Like the patriarchs of old he takes himself
seriously, too seriously, happy in devoting his whole energy and
intelligence to his people.
KING GEORGE V, HEAD OF THE ALLIES
It is true that King George V of England and the British Empire is one
of the chief figures among the Allies, which include England, France and
Russia. It is true that his father, King Edward, was largely responsible
for the making of the Entente, or treaties, with the Allies, but he no
sooner came to the throne when he renewed them and brought France and
Russia into more intimate relation than they had ever been.
It was the last week of April of this year that King George V and Queen
Mary made a short official visit to Paris. It was a week of splendid
festivities. The temporary residence of the British rulers was furnished
with the finest of Gobelins, Beauvais tapestry and furniture. All the
main avenues and principal thoroughfares from the Gare Saint Lazare out
to the Bois were richly decorated with English and French flags and
bunting. From the time the royal pair made their entry until they
started for home they were greeted by millions of French and English.
The streets were crowded all day long with men and women shouting
themselves hoarse with "Vive le Roi, et vive la Reine!"
The royal pair were fêted with receptions, luncheons and costly
banquets. The intervals were filled with special performances at the
opera and the theatre. There were kinemacolors and moving pictures
showing the important incidents in the history of the royal pair,
especially the Durbar of India. A small English daily was published
giving all the doings of the royal pair while in Paris and even at home.
There were a number of important diplomatic meetings between King George
and M. Poincare, the French President. The papers reported that King
George had made it clear to the French people he wished to continue the
friendship that has existed for nearly a century between the countries,
and to strengthen the alliance which King Edward had created. By the
time the royal pair were ready to make their departure King George had
won the reputation of being a great statesman and good diplomat. This he
showed in his friendly attitude towards Russia. It was probably in good
faith made by France that England accepted a friendly attitude towards
Russia, for they had been suspicious of the Czar and his government,
fearing that they had designs upon India. Another diplomatic stroke was
the treaty that had been made by King Edward with Japan to protect
British interests in the Pacific.
These royal visits and treaties show that England had brought herself
into closer diplomatic relations with the continent than she had ever
done. Until the last fifty years England tried to keep herself as
isolated from the European continent as she could. It was only after the
Franco-Prussian war, when Bismarck suggested a treaty with Austria, that
England commenced to look around for some allies to offset this power.
This feeling grew stronger when Germany began to increase and strengthen
her navy. For England covets the title of being mistress of the seas,
just as Spain did during the time of the Spanish Armada.
King George has shown himself an equally able diplomat and statesman at
home. This was especially noticeable when on February 11, 1914, he
opened one of the most momentous Parliaments in British history. The
Irish crisis was the principal problem during the session, and in his
speech his majesty spoke of the question in such momentous words as
these: "This question, unless handled now with foresight, judgment and
in the spirit of mutual concession, threatens grave future
difficulties."
The king was supported in his opinion by Walter Asquith, who has been
the firm champion of home rule. He predicted civil war in case the
demands of Ireland were not satisfied, and taunted the government with
pusillanimity in the face of the recent events in South Africa. He then
moved an amendment to the reply to the speech from the throne "that it
would be disastrous for the House to proceed further with the government
for Ireland until the measure had been submitted to the judgment of the
country." He showed his calm judgment and steady hand when the
threatened Ulster uprising took place by proposing home rule for all of
Ireland that wished it.
These radical moves were the more surprising, for King George was spoken
of as a strong conservative when brought to the throne. This was seen by
the patience the Queen and he showed during the coronation in England
and India. They were spoken of as mere figures by the Liberalists
because they went through the endless festivities from the great
procession to the numerous banquets with a smile, with words of patience
and good cheer. It was the first time in many centuries that an English
King and Queen had made a long trip to India to partake in their
coronation festivities at Delhi and Calcutta. They wished to renew the
pledge made by the late Queen Victoria when she assumed the title of
Empress of India, emphasizing the incorporation of the great peninsula
into the British Empire that all her Indian subjects were the children
of the Great White Queen. They showed that this was more than a promise
when they reached Bombay on the 4th of December, 1911. At half-past
nine they and their royal suite drove out to the fête grounds, adjoining
the Bombay Gymkhana building. Here in an open space some 26,000 children
had been drawn up in a large semicircle, over against the centre of
which was a dais for the King and Queen. As their majesties drove up at
a quarter to ten, four selected groups of children belonging to the
European, Urdu, Gujarati and Marathe schools sang each two verses of the
National Anthem in their own tongue. Though they sang in their own
tongue and danced their native dances, they shouted "Long live the King
and Queen" as enthusiastically as would have done the same size body of
English children.
The coronation at Delhi took place on the 12th of December. The royal
pavilion was used as a centre of a semicircle, with a radius of about
240 yards erected round the circumference for spectators. All around the
base of the mound ran a processional road, so that their majesties could
drive under the eye of the onlookers. From the southern margin of this
road was erected a huge stand with seating accommodations for ten
thousand spectators. The stand was protected by a steep, sloping roof,
ornamented with Oriental cupolas. The royal pavilion rose from a broad
base in three tiers and ascended by broad stairways to a central
platform surmounted by a huge gilt dome. The royal dais was protected
by a canopy of crimson velvet, trimmed with crimson and gold fringe. At
the royal approach the principal officials and the ruling chiefs took
their places at the base of the stand. They were dressed in their rich
Oriental silks of orange shot with gold or silver ornamented with
armlets of gold, jeweled swords, priceless brooches, orders set with
rubies and emeralds and diamond ornaments fastened in their caps. The
arena was crowded with British and Indian cavalry, handsomely trapped in
gold and red velvet. There was a long procession of English cavalry and
marines, enlarged by a great number of native cavalry. It was shortly
before noon that their majesties appeared at the entrance. The approach
was made known by a salute of 101 guns. They were welcomed by the great
throng present, every one rising to his feet, and they drove round the
grand stand showing themselves to all present. They were welcomed by
great shouts of joy with singing and music, British and Indian airs
intermingling. After their majesties were seated on the throne
surrounded by their suite and attendants, the King rose and announced
the ceremony of his coronation in person to his subjects in India. He
ended his promise of good faith by these words: "To all present,
feudatories and subjects, I tender my loving greetings." Then the
Viceroy came forward and expressed his homage, bowing low thrice as he
approached the throne. He was followed by the ruling chiefs of
Hyderabad, Baroda, Mysore, Kashmer, Rajputana, Central India, etc. These
were led by the Nizam, who were dressed entirely in black, except for
the yellow, mitre-like headdress. After them came the chief justices and
judges of the High Court, the Viceroy's legislative council, the
governors and lieutenant-governors. The ceremony lasted for more than an
hour, and was extremely picturesque. The British officials dressed in
staid blue uniforms made a suitable background for the rich Oriental
costumes and priceless jewels worn by the Indian princes. Their
salutations were no less interesting than their costumes, as they one by
one approached the dais in turn expressing their promise of homage. Some
used the gesture of throwing earth on the head once or oftener; others
simply bowed. The Rajput chiefs almost without exception laid their
swords first at the feet of the King-Emperor and then at the
Queen-Empress with deep obeisance. Most interesting of all were the
chiefs of Bhutan and of Sikkim, who after bowing reverently, brought out
two white shawls, such as they use to drape the images of their most
sacred gods, and spread them before their King and Queen. There were
other festivities included in the Durbar, one of which consisted of a
great banquet to 173 of the most distinguished British and native
guests. There was the same display of rich Oriental dress and elaborate,
shimmering jewels. The next day the King reviewed his native and British
troops, awarding the most valiant of his officers the Albert medal. The
King held a levee of his officers while the Queen-Empress received 120
ladies of the families of the ruling chiefs.
Another splendid royal entertainment was a large garden party in the
fort of Delhi. There were groups of entertainers and jugglers. These
interspersed freely with great lords and ladies and splendid cavalry and
infantry. Their majesties soon appeared and took their place on the
ramparts, where they received the immense throng. The same ceremony was
repeated at Calcutta. While there the King divided his time between the
polo grounds and the public hospital. At Nepal the King and his party
hunted and they were successful in laying low a good bag of tigers.
Shortly after their coronation the King and Queen showed that they are
fond of many of the mediæval traditions. They restored the Order of the
Bath and laid much stress on the Knight of the Garter. The Knights of
the Garter have a beautiful chapel at Windsor, where each has a stall.
Though King George inherits the diplomatic qualities of his father, he
has little sporting blood in him. He keeps a racing stable and has many
fine horses. He also attends to all the large races, but he does little
betting, because the Queen is opposed to gambling. He is fond of all
outdoor sports, such as tennis, golf and polo, and he encourages his
sons in these pastimes by joining with them at these sports.
Queen Mary is an ideal companion for King George. For she believes that
to be a good Queen means first a devoted wife and mother. She is
interested in all the King's affairs, whether it is a coronation in
England and India or caring for the wounded soldiers in the hospitals in
London. She is fond of good living and dressing, but she is opposed to
everything that suggests foolish extravagance. After the coronation she
was greatly opposed to the refurnishing of Buckingham Palace. Though she
is supposed to wear her state gowns once, she has them remodeled time
and again. She objects to modern dancing, especially the hobble skirts.
She likewise frowns upon the light-hearted American social leaders, who
before her day were so popular at court. When King George ascended the
throne the Queen asked him not to smoke anything beyond an occasional
cigarette, nor to drink, to bet, nor to have ladies at his club.
The royal family has an ideal home life in London and in the country.
Much of their time is given over to sports in fine weather and reading
aloud in bad weather. At Sandringham they have great droves of pigeons,
which the entire family love and care for.
Little was known of the Prince of Wales until he became of age and
inherited his title. He went through this difficult ordeal with ease and
grace. He was educated by Mr. Hansell, an English tutor. Later he
studied at Osborne and Dartmouth. He did his year's service as a petty
officer and went through the discipline and hardships of the common
marine. When the war broke out he offered himself for active military
service, and was greatly disappointed because he was not accepted. His
brothers are being educated in the same simple and unspoiled fashion.
His oldest brother, Prince Albert, was born in 1895. He entered the
Naval College at Osborne, remained there for two years and then spent
two years at Dartmouth. The younger brothers are George, Henry and John.
Princess Mary has had her teachers at home; she is a well-educated girl,
who has given more time and thought to her study of languages and music
than to clothes. She was given her first evening gown for the coronation
and her first jewelry when she was sixteen. She will not be allowed to
make a formal début until she is of age. The Queen insists that her
daughter shall be trained to become an intelligent mother and capable
housekeeper before she marries. When she does, it must be a love match.
For Queen Mary was engaged to the Duke of Clarence, and after six weeks
of courtship he died. Shortly after she was engaged to his brother,
Prince George.
Though England and Germany are fighting each other with a death's grip
they are closely related. The Emperor is a cousin of King George, and it
is said that both King George and Emperor William wanted to bring the
two families together. It looked as though the promise would become a
reality, for the King and Queen were present at the marriage of the
Emperor's daughter--Victoria Luise--to Prince Ernest of Brunswick. The
Germans say that the label, "Made in Germany" instead of "Made in
England," along with Germany's sympathizing with the Boers, are the
causes of their animosity, while the English say that German imperialism
and militarism are to be crushed once and for all time.
TWO RUSSIAN CITIES
Though Moscow is an old city, great effort and large sums of money have
been spent making the place modern and attractive. Everywhere are the
houses surrounded with trees and gardens brilliant in color and laid out
with exquisite care.
That the city is old is shown because it is irregular and without plans,
but there are new sights at every turn. The city is inclosed by a number
of old gates. Passing under an ancient gate one reaches a narrow street
suggesting an Eastern town. Then crossing the Red Place, one passes
through the Holy Gate to the platform of the Kremlin. This part of the
town is as old as it is interesting. It is more picturesque because of
the large square and round towers surmounted by spires. The walls on one
side are skirted by the river. A splendid effect in color is had by the
gold and silver domes shimmering against the brilliant green, blue and
red of the sky. A magnificent view is had from Sparrow Hill; the ascent
is made by a steep and tortuous road. From this point the river looks
like a silver belt girding the city. On the opposite side the wooded
hills run steeply down to the water.
The general view of Moscow is brilliant and grand. The many-colored
roofs give richness to the picture. From the middle rises the fortress
of the Kremlin, the many churches send up a forest of dome-capped
towers. The Kremlin speaks of many centuries, as it was founded 800
years ago. The principal place is the Kittye Gorod in front of the
Spasskie Gorod. It is entered by a vaulted road, where is seen a
handsome and a world-famous bell, supposed to have been cast in 1800. A
great quantity of gold and silver was used in the making; the height
from the summit to the base is 16½ feet, while the greatest thickness is
22 inches.
Another interesting feature is the Museum of the Imperial Treasures. The
interior is wonderfully light and graceful. In the first hall are
resplendent banners and suits of ancient armor; the other halls are
filled with many costly treasures. There are gold, silver, agate and
crystal vases, silver tables and gold plate of every description.
The city proper is as unusual looking as the fortress. It is a lozenge
shape, lying northeast and southwest. In the center of this is an
octagonal area inclosed by a second line of ramparts or walls. This part
is really the city; beyond is a suburb laid out in gardens densely
inhabited. Within the octagon is a third area called the "Chinese City."
Its southern wall is washed by the small river Moskya. This is a
southern barrier of the Kremlin and is a fortress of nearly triangular
shape. The two outer walls are modern in style. The city is laid out in
a succession of concentric zones which start from the Kremlin. The
streets are hilly, therefore the tram cars are drawn by four and six
horses.
Then there are the droskys--vehicles set on either side with no support
to the sides or to the back. But the peasants consider the tiligae their
national vehicle. It is a rough sort of basket fixed on four or six
poles. Primitive though these carts are, they are well adapted to the
hilly and uneven roads. In the street one sees a motley crowd of
venders, myriads of women with bright-colored kerchiefs over their
heads, street-hawkers, beggars and priests in long, black, flowing
robes. The streets are lined with cobble stones and bowlders and low,
white houses, mostly one-story high.
Moscow has a number of pretty parks; the Petropki Park is the most
noted. A part is ornamented with flower-gardens and statues, and the
remainder is woodland. At the entrance are some pretty summer villas
built of wood and ornamented with fretwork.
Moscow, like all others in the empire, is rich in churches and shrines.
The most sacred of all these minor chapels is the Iversky Virgin,
situated at the gate. The exterior walls are made of imitation
malachite; the roof is a sky-blue cupola spangled with gilt stars. The
facade is panelled with paintings of saints, framed in embossed brass;
in front is a platform raised three steps from the ground. The number of
worshipers and visitors to this shrine are so many it was found
necessary to make the steps of iron. When the Czar arrives at Moscow,
the first thing he does is to worship at the shrine. Another interesting
church is that of Vasseli Blagemor, which occupies one end of the place
with its bouquet of fantastic cupolas and spires built by order of Ivan
the Terrible. This church is considered unusual because there are two
chapels in the basement. Above are nine chapels. The interior glitters
with hundreds of brass tapers that are always lighted. The image, which
is the usual Byzantine type, is a dark brown color. It has a big jewel
on the brow, another in each shoulder and a net of real pearls on the
brow. Because of the many styles of architecture and the many chapels,
this is considered the most original church in the world. The belfry
building is a curious mixture of styles. The tower is Arabian and
Byzantine, with a suggestion of Indian on the fourth story.
The palace is in the form of a square. The state apartments are
particularly rich and are in good taste. The hall of St. George is 200
feet by 65 wide and 58 high. The handsomest of the state apartments is
the banqueting hall. The ceiling is splendidly decorated and the windows
richly draped. The hall is large enough to accommodate 200 guests. The
service is wonderfully beautiful; most of the food is served in gold
vessels.
Not far off is the Tower of Ivan Veliki, which serves as a campanile for
three cathedrals and has thirty-four bells. The largest is 65 feet in
circumference.
The city is ornamented profusely with statues and triumphal arches; the
most splendid is the Arch of Triumph. This is made of marble and is
surmounted by a beautifully carved statue of Liberty, while the arch is
ornamented with handsome bas reliefs.
Moscow has a number of attractive suburbs. One of these is Ostaukea; it
is well laid out and has many handsome buildings. This place is
especially well known for the splendid churches made of stone and
marble.
Moscow, beside having a great deal that is beautiful, is interesting
because the old and new meet in an unusual, almost grotesque, fashion.
They are not apart, as in Paris, London and many other European
capitals. They jog hand in hand as unevenly as the streets on which they
stand.
The traveler to whom St. Petersburg is unknown, imagines the city as
ancient, picturesque and irregular. But it is laid out as regularly as
many American cities. It is an ancient city, dressed in a new guise. It
is situated along the Neva, with many modern buildings and parks on the
one side, churches and old buildings on the other.
The location of the city is not attractive; it is built on several
islands in the delta. The ground is so low in many places that the
buildings have to be raised on piles. This morass was changed into a
splendid city by Peter the Great, who was insistent that he was going to
train himself and his people to a fondness for the sea. As a child he
had been frightened by the sudden rushing of a cascade, and for years he
could not see water without trembling and fear. When he was grown, he
said, "I shall build St. Petersburg here without bridges, that our
people may be constantly on the waters of the Neva, crossing and
recrossing." Since this time the city has grown and expanded greatly,
and bridges are a necessity. The St. Nicholas is a large, massive, stone
structure built on huge, granite piers. Three other bridges are large
floating structures which span the river in the summer, but are removed
as soon as the river is frozen.
On one side of the river are many pleasant summer homes and cottages
surrounded by beautiful flowering gardens. On the other side are the
barracks and the poorer part of the city.
Most of the public buildings are placed in a public square, so they are
seen with little difficulty. At one end is the large senate and synod;
before it stands the colossal equestrian statue of Peter the Great. To
the south of the Admiralty, the most important part of the city is seen,
the Bolshar Storma or Greater Side. Towards the west lies the Basilius
Island with the large splendid exchange, the important Academy of
Sciences and the university.
The city is divided into four large divisions, separated by the Great
and Little Neva and by the Great Nefka. The great side includes the
court, the nobility and nearly half the population. Here many of the
best streets and some of the handsomest residences are seen. The streets
are broad and well paved. Here are spacious and well-built houses, while
beyond are a succession of magnificent palaces. This need not sound
strange, as there are no European cities having so many princes and
palaces. Even the dwellings of the poor have a showy magnificence about
them. Everything is built on a gigantic scale. It is not unusual to
find a house occupied by two hundred families, but they are not built
high, two stories being the average height. Building a home in this city
is usually an expensive affair. The driving of the stakes alone often
costs hundreds of dollars.
But the palaces of the princes and nobility are usually as beautiful as
the other homes are plain and unattractive. Here are found richly
hand-carved furniture, splendid jade and malachite vases. There is so
much of everything that it is really overpowering. The royal palaces are
large and furnished at great cost. The Annitschoff palace is inhabited
more by the present imperial family than the Tauride palace. The former
stands on the great Pr'pektin, the neighborhood of the Fontanka, and
closes the brilliant range of palaces in the street. It was originally
built by Elizabeth. Some years ago it was bought as one of the Emperor's
abodes. It is handsomely built, though it has no historic significance.
A part of the court are usually here in residence, and it is here that
the Emperor holds many of his most important councils. Those who saw the
Winter Palace before the fire recall the mass of wealth devoured by the
conflagration. In six hours priceless furniture, ornaments and rare
pictures were destroyed.
The Hermitage is the San Souci of St. Petersburg. This was built by
Catherine and used for her retreat after her work and that of her
courtiers was done for the day. This palace is surrounded by beautiful
shade forests, refreshed by fountains and pleasant grottoes. On cool
days concerts and theatricals were given within the palace, while in the
warm weather these were held out of doors; beautiful music and rare
voices resounded through the forest then.
The people in Russia do not object to the cold, uninviting houses.
Pleasant days bring thousands into the streets below. The Nevsky
Prospect is a splendid street that intersects all the rings of the city.
It winds its way between the handsome residences, pierces the Chamber of
Commerce and touches the poorest parts of the city. Here all types of
Russian life are seen, from the proudest nobility, driving in their
auto-cars and handsome carriages, to the poorest peasants living in one
of those immense, densely crowded apartment buildings. The scene in this
portion of the street at about midday may challenge comparison with any
street in the world, and the spectacle is enhanced by the magnificence
of the decorations. Besides the handsome residences, there are many
large shops and cafés offering recreation to the crowds promenading up
and down.
St. Petersburg has a number of large summer gardens, which are an
adornment to the city and offer a pleasant rest to thousands in warm
weather. The Summer Garden is the largest and most attractive of these.
Everywhere are the large, well-shaded benches, thronged with matrons,
while the children play in the sand and catch their balls. On one side
of the Summer Garden is the Tzariziuski Lug, or Field of Mars. Now these
resorts are well nigh destitute of men.
There are a number of buildings in St. Petersburg that are worth
noticing. Of these the Exchange is certainly the most prominent. It
stands on the farthest point of Vassili Ostroff, with a large open space
before it, and it is reared on an elevated foundation. The granite quays
on either side give solidity, while a long flight of granite steps leads
down to the river. The space before the building is decorated with two
immense columns, supporting the prows of ships cast in metal and erected
to the memory of Mercury. The building is of immense proportions and
took twelve years to build. The great hall is lighted from above, while
at either end and on both sides are spaces in the forms of arcades.
There is an altar at one end, and a light is always kept burning for the
pious merchants, who offer up a prayer before they commence the
undertakings of the day.
The Hermitage Museum is a veritable treasure prison; there is a large
picture gallery, one of the finest and most celebrated in Europe. The
collection includes a large number of Dutch cottages, such as Van de
Meer and Ostada painted.
The gallery is equally rich in the old Italian and French masters. A
most interesting part of the collection are the treasures that were once
housed at Malmaison. When the Emperor Alexander was in Paris, he visited
the divorced consort of Napoleon, who spoke of the property that
remained to her and the insecurity of the possession. To protect it
until it could be reclaimed, Emperor Alexander bought the treasure and
took it to Russia.
The Foundling Hospital is another of the public institution of which the
people are justly proud. Though Russian, it is under German supervision.
The place is extremely large; this is necessary, for it is never without
5,000 or 6,000 children. The principal buildings are in St. Petersburg,
where the children are kept a few weeks. They are then sent to the
peasantry in the country, where they remain until they are six years
old. The girls return to St. Petersburg, while there is a branch for the
boys at Gatshina. The building at St. Petersburg is much more of a
palace than a foundling home. The main building is composed of what was
formerly the palace of Prince Bohinski and Count Rasumoffski.
When the children are grown they are relieved from all obligations
toward the institution. The boys are easily provided with positions in
the trades' and imperial factories; the girls are given positions as
teachers and governesses.
Though St. Petersburg has fewer churches than Moscow, it has churches of
all denominations and every style of architecture. Here are seen
Grecian, Byzantine, old Russian, new European architecture and what not.
The handsomest of these is St. Isaac's Church. The church is large and
imposing without. Inside it has many handsome decorations, costly
pictures of saints and gold crosses.
The roof is supported by granite monoliths from Finland, buried for
centuries in deep swamps. They are crowned with capitals of bronze and
support the enormous beam of a frieze formed of six polished blocks. But
the cupola is the crowning glory to all this splendor. It is made of
copper and overlaid with gold that glitters like the sun on a mountain.
The Russian capital is most attractive on a pleasant summer evening. The
scene presented by the Exchange, the university buildings, the Academy
of Arts, the Corps de Cadets and the Academy of Sciences, surrounded as
they are with well-kept greensward and splendid flower beds, present an
inviting appearance. The river is lined with sailing craft of nearly
every description, devoted to pleasure. It has several fine steam yachts
which are used by members of the club for making trips up the gulf. On a
summer's evening as one sits on the balcony of the English Club or
strolls up the quay, listening to the band in the garden of the Summer
Palace, the swift-moving passengers in their gayly trimmed barks made a
pretty sight against the splendid buildings and gilded spires of the
churches.
Not all the beauty of St. Petersburg lies in this one island. The city
is in a delta and is surrounded by a whole chain of islands. The wildest
and least inhabited is Neva, visited principally by seals and wolves.
Then there are the Volny Islands, the Truktanoff Islands, and some
others. These are swampy and overgrown with birch and scarcely known by
name to many Russians. They contain magazines and are used for powder
and other stores. The most interesting of these are the Gardens Islands,
which at one time were covered with scrubs, but Alexander and Nicholas
saw in them possibilities for raising flowers, and they have gradually
been transformed into splendid islands. Yelagin belongs almost
exclusively to the court; it is occupied by a château and beautiful
gardens. The court live here in the spring and early summer, when the
gardens blaze with brilliant colors. The houses are certainly modest
looking. The most interesting feature is that they are built on the bank
of the rivers and in different styles of architecture; one Gothic, a
second Italian and a third Chinese. The hothouses are wonderfully
supplied with cut and exotic plants and the peasants' cottages are
filled with splendid window boxes.
CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS
Have you ever stopped to think what Christmas would mean with no
Christmas tree nor Santa Claus? Still, this year many thousand children
will have a heavy heart instead of a happy Christmas tree. Many
thousands have lost their fathers in war and their homes have been
destroyed.
Many others have their fathers at war, and the mothers, with their large
families of children, are struggling from day to day to keep the wolf
from the door. Deprived of many necessities, they cannot enjoy the
cheapest luxuries. Under the inspiration of some of our newspaper
publishers, a Xmas ship was fitted out with toys of every description,
including dolls, baby-buggies, cradles, games, books and finery and sent
to the children of every land. This number includes the French, English,
Belgians, Germans, etc.
These gifts are not enough to make every child happy, but they will do
much to ease the heartaches and disappointments.
There are few countries where Christmas has as much significance as it
does in Germany. For Germany is the home of the fir-tree, and the finest
of these are kept for the winter holidays. In the late fall you see a
great many of the woodmen out in the woods laying low the fir-trees. A
few weeks later they have been shipped in great wagon-loads into every
German city and town.
For many months the many toy-makers are busy making doll's houses,
kitchens, kitchen utensils, dishes, a large variety of building-blocks
and those puzzles and games that have made the toy-makers of Nuremburg
and the city of Nuremburg famous. In the homes busy mothers are working
day and night making Leppkincuhen, tarts, cakes, cookies, etc. The extra
minutes are filled hurrying to the grocers to buy candles, fruits and
nuts for the tree.
These are all preliminaries for the dressing of the tree, which is
beautifully decorated with many candles, shimmering balls, small
ornaments, figured candies, stockings jammed full with fruits and
candies. Then the children get out their presents which they have bought
and made for their parents, brothers and sisters, and these are
dedicated to the tree.
The children are warned if they play unfair and try to see Santa Claus
he will punish them by taking their toys away, and perhaps he may never
come to see them again.
Though in most Christmas homes the trees are trimmed several days ahead
of time, it is on Christmas eve that the children gather to sing their
favorite airs, such as "O Tannenbaum," and to say their prayers. Then
the father makes an address to Santa Claus, reminding him of those that
have been good and suggesting, when necessary, that there might be an
improvement in the behavior of some of the children. The children are
then allowed to see the tree arrayed in all its glory. They dance around
the tree for some time, and suddenly every one appears to hold his
breath.
For Santa Claus appears, dressed in his heavy traveling-coat, with his
fur cap pulled down over his head and jingling his bells as he comes
along. The servants, where there are not too many, come in to join in
the festivities and get their presents from the trees. If there are
relatives or friends who have no Christmas trees of their own they are
often invited to join in the merry-making. The tree is kept lit for
three or four days, and is looked upon as an emblem of good fortune and
cheer. They gaze and gaze upon this brilliantly lit tree, brilliant with
light, festive with frost, silver, gold and many colored globes, as
though it had been waved into the room by some beautiful little fairy.
Joy hangs on every branch, a bright glow comes from hundreds of tips.
Though the absence of the Christmas tree is the greatest grief to the
children, the loss is heightened by the neglect of Santa Claus. This old
man is so grieved by this awful carnage and slaughter that he even
forgets his obligations to his children of many lands. Many million
children all the way from Norway to Japan will miss the fellow with that
great beard, his mischievous smile, and bushy eyebrows, half covered by
the cap pulled down over his eyes.
The children of Belgium will miss him as much as will the Germans.
Though the Christmas tree is scarce in Belgium, Santa Claus is greatly
beloved by them. Weeks before his coming the children are busy writing
him letters telling him all about their good deeds, their wishes and
their hopes, that they will not be neglected. The parents work hard to
keep his coming a secret, but their little ones are so impatient they
struggle to keep awake nights seeing what Santa Claus intends to bring
them. Once in a great while they see him climbing down the chimneys,
putting their toys before the grate and piling them high in their
stockings. The parents make a hard fight to see that their children are
remembered with some simple gift, for they know that their children are
heartbroken if they are neglected altogether. An English author, S. R.
Littlewood, tells the following story about a Belgium child's grief
because she had been neglected by Santa Claus, the story of the poor
widow and her daughter Julie: "It was Christmas Eve, but there was no
Christmas party, no cakes and toys and imps, for they were penniless and
starving. They had wandered through the snow all day and there was no
one who would help. Weary and forlorn, numbed with the cold and fainting
with hunger, they came back to their bare little attic with its broken
windows, its hard pallet bed. But Julie kept up a brave heart. She had
not lost faith. She, like the other children, would hang out her torn
stocking. This she did and she prayed that Santa Claus would not forget;
and while her mother slept she lay awake, wondering whether after all
Santa Claus would come. She waited and waited, and sometimes she grew
afraid, and even the sound of her breath startled her in the darkness
and the silence. But it seemed that Santa Claus would never come. The
old stocking hung limp and empty. As night wore on the air grew keener.
The wind blew through the roof above her head, she could see a star
shining. As it twinkled there alone in the far off depths of the sky, it
seemed to be flashing her a message--a message of hope. Never had she
seen so beautiful a star. Whilst she lay gazing it seemed to grow larger
and more glorious. Could it be that it was coming nearer? At last it
seemed to be close at hand--to fill the whole sky with light that
streamed through the little gap above her and made a splendor even in
that wretched garret. And now she sees that it is not really a star, but
a little company of angels winging their way together to earth. In the
midst is a chariot, drawn by white horses with wings and postillioned by
a cherubim, and in the chariot--yes, it is Santa Claus. Just over the
house the chariot and its escort stopped, the rent in the roof widened
and Santa Claus came down. Gently, lovingly as a father, he took Julie
in his arms, wrapped her in his great furred coat, set her in the
chariot beside him and with the throng of angels soared heavenward
again, and the rustle of their wings was like the music of the wind. All
the while the poor widow was sleeping, and when she awoke in the morning
she found the stocking still empty and the form of her little daughter
lying by her side--but it was cold and still. The poor widow kissed the
lifeless lips and closed the tired eyes, which even yet gazed upward to
where, through the roof, a tiny star could be seen, faintly glimmering
through the dawn. For all her tears she found comfort in her heart, for
she knew that Santa Claus had come indeed, and had brought for little
Julie the greatest gift of all."
There are thousands of such little Julies in Belgium weeping because
they are destitute of homes, father and Santa Claus' visit. Though the
English children are sympathizing with their little Belgian friends,
this great war has put a damper on their holiday spirits. In hundreds of
homes the fathers are fighting for the defense of their country; in many
more they are out of work. So, in Merry England there is little
merriment on this blessed Christmas day. The children are trying to be
happy with the few gifts given by their little American and European
friends. But they are sad when they recall the tall, heavily-laden
trees, so beautifully lighted that some of the longest tapers seemed to
reach the stars.
The absence of trees and presents is only a small part of their loss.
For only those who have eaten a Christmas dinner in England can
understand what Christmas day is without the feast. The great roasts are
simmering and crackling on the spits, while the vegetables of potatoes,
chestnuts and peas are boiling. These are accessories to the jams,
jellies, pumpkin pies, plum pudding, fruits and nuts. Several hours are
needed at least to consume such a dinner, and several days are needed to
get over the effects of such a feast.
Though the Norse countries, including Norway, Sweden and Holland, are
neutral, they, along with the others, are suffering from the most
terrible calamity of the century. The Norse people call their friend
Senter Klaas. He comes to them with white horses and flying sleighs that
carry him over the house-tops to drop his gifts down the chimney-stacks.
Though Senter Klaas has done his level best to visit these children this
year, as usual, he is bringing fewer Christmas trees with him--and his
bag is lighter. Instead of carrying kites, sleighs, skates, boats and
Dutch dolls, his presents include caps, overcoats, shoes, mittens,
dresses and aprons for those pretty Norse girls. Many of the Swiss
cities and towns are so high up in the cold, snow-covered Alps, that
many American children are unfamiliar to them. But this sister-republic,
which loves freedom, honor and integrity, should be extremely dear to
every patriotic little American. The Swiss are hard-working people, and
rich and poor alike in Switzerland rear their children in the same
simple, unspoiled fashion. But Christmas is a week for real merry-making
in Switzerland. Children and grown-ups alike are busy making visits to
relatives and friends. Those from the mountains come down into the
lowlands, and those from the villages into the cities. In every small
hamlet the stations are crowded with trees and Christmas boxes being
shipped in every direction. Mothers and daughters are using every spare
moment dressing dolls, and trimming dolls' houses for younger children.
While the fathers and older brothers are equally busy making watches,
sleighs and wooden Noah's arks for the younger boys. Switzerland is
world-famous for its fir and pine trees, so the Christmas trees are
often large enough to bear the gifts of several families. The trees are
beautifully trimmed with lights, gold and silver balls and plenty of
angels and grotesque figures, fashioned of wax and of sugar. The feast
and merry-making continues for three and four days in most Swiss homes.
The grown-ups and children are stuffed with goodies, including chickens,
jellies, candied fruits, nuts, raisins and cakes. When they can eat no
more they start off for a mountain climb or to skate on the ice, only to
return a few hours later to continue their feast. They are comforted by
the thought that they will only know high thinking and plain living for
the rest of the winter. This Christmas will be the harder to bear
because it is the evening star in the Swiss horizon. Switzerland is
being so heavily taxed this year by keeping her men on the frontier that
the people have little money for Christmas-giving. The tall trees will
be few, the small trees will be decorated with only a few candles and
trimmings, while the gifts will be limited to clothes and school books
for the girls and boys. The Christmas dinner will be a great deal
smaller, with fewer goodies than in other years.
Though Russia is so far away from Santa Claus' home and workshops,
Russian children get their full quota of toys, such as sleighs, skates
and dolls. Costly dolls, with real hair and handsome clothes, for the
children of the nobles and aristocratic classes, and pretty peasant
dolls for the middle classes and the peasants. Bobsleighs and skates of
different qualities for the boys of rich and poor, but this matters
little as long as they are bobsleighs and skates.
The children of Southern lands, from Spain, France and Italy, know
little about St. Nicholas and his own day of celebration three weeks
before, but to them Santa Claus means much as part of the Christmas
feast itself. In the streets and in the shops hundreds of children gaze
longingly and lovingly at the bebe or bambino in Italian. They beg to be
taken to the great cathedrals in Paris, in Madrid, in Florence and in
Rome, to see that wonderful Christ-child lying in the manger, protected
by the sheepfold, the peasants and the Wise Men. They go home and ask
their parents to give them a bambino such as they saw in the manger.
Some get handsome babies dressed in rich swaddling clothes; others are
given tiny wax dolls, but they are comforted in the thought that it is
the baby they saw in the manger. The finest of these dolls come from
France. About five millions are made every year and are sent to Paris,
where they are dressed in the latest styles. Shortly before Christmas
prizes are offered to the costumers dressing the finest dolls. In the
great shops days are set aside when this large number of handsome dolls
are shown to the children. Many a heart beats as those happy, sunny eyes
gaze on the lovely-made dolls, dressed in faultless fashion. The boys
have their exhibits of mechanical toys, including aeroplanes, trains,
motor cars and many others of the sort. These dolls are sent to all
parts of the world, and many find a lasting beloved home with little
American girls.
Santa Claus is known to be a very old man, with plenty of snow-white
hair and loving eyes, but he has different qualities and characteristics
in every land. When the early colonists came from Europe to America they
brought their different ideas with them, and together they molded a new
character. He loves old and young alike, and generous folks most of all.
He knows no difference in nationalities and creeds--he loves the
Protestant, the Catholic and the Jewish child equally. He loves American
children, nor no less than the German, French, English, Russian and
Italian children. He tells them that they are all children of one
Father, belong to one great family, and have one Home. The joys of one
are the joys of all, and the sorrows of one are the sorrows of all.
Because of this teaching, many millions of Americans are sad this
Christmas, and their prayers are that every heart should be filled with
love and peace, instead of hatred.
To make this a living promise, many an American child has asked to share
his Christmas gifts with some friend across the sea, and some have
offered all their Christmas gifts to sad, lonely children in Europe.
Though every great thinker and writer teaches us to love our fellow-men,
Dickens, more than all others, gave us the impulse of loving kindness
within and without the household bonds. He taught that each little home
was a world's great family, of which we are all children together. With
the glow not of log-fires, but of warm hearts, he scared away the
Christmas ghosts and Christmas goblin that had crowded round in the
gloom of the centuries. With an outburst of human tenderness he
challenged the cold and darkness, not of winter alone, but of the grave
itself. For, as Santa Claus kneels by millions of his children he
whispers these are all my children, one of God's many emblems of hope,
in innocence and beauty; born in human love, chosen as God's messenger
to spread the promise of peace and brotherly love.
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