Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-29
LETTER FROM GERMANY,
what the War has Done for the
-'III Great wafering-Place.
Correspondents Cincinnati Enquirer. :.

DISCLOSING Hioomt richbth " peehe,
silent and solitary; or, who had watched
the rain falling whole day long through
the grimy window of backwoods rail
way station, might think that he has had
an idea of dreariness and loneliness; SUI
ficient to cause shudderin looking back
upon it. A watering-place out of the
season. with the Kursaal closed, the
croupiers and cocottes fed, the shops
boarded up, and the hotels abandoned.
is also melancholy spectacle, q sort Of
municipal corpse, like dead Bacchante
stripped of her garlands. But think Of
such corpse galvanized The ideal Is
it not horrible2 a.q 20 sisi9
Fate, AZ sore throat, and some acei-
dents Of the wal, made il my unfortunate
lot for the past weeks to-smake the intl-
mate acquaintence Of such ghost.
When my doctor advised me to go and
drink "Kessel brunnen," whole array,
of brilliant recollections were awakened
dream of fair women" or old friends,
of pleasant excursions to the old castles
on the Lain, of donkey rides,
Of gay balls, of good dinners, OF
6irtations over glasses OF tepid water
before breakfast, and lounges over less
| inspiriting cognac before the table d hote
Ia holiday, in short, Of music and dolce
far niente. As all these souvenirs came
back to me, pressed the doctors hand
and went home to pack my trunk tA
was in Dusseldorf-that had been my
pleasant home for years; but IN the last
two months how changed Nearly all
INV friends we're away, and those who re-
mained entertained but one idea[tne
war. Nor had another myself. l had
seen, day by day, the troops passing the
railway station, and had shared their en-
thusiasm. | had seen the local regi,
ments depart, officered by my gayest
friends; while riding in their squad
rons was more than one young ar
tist of genius, called from his peaceful
occupation to die perhaps for his
country; and gladly had they ex-
changed the mahlstock for the lance, and
their pencil for the saber. l had felt
the anxious preocupation OF my neigh,
bors in the long days which. preceded
hostilities; the. suspense harder to bear
than bad news. Then came the first vic
tories, and the town broke out in tiags
and Chinese crackers, and then the first
yietims-train loads, boat loads of broken
humanity. d At first it was an excitement
also, especially when among the wounded
were to be seen red-breeched French
men Zouaves, Turcos--what potf Then
came more victories, Of which you know
all about, and more wounded. Turco'
we're no longer objects of popular euri'
osity, nor red breeches rarities. Hun
dreds swelled to thousands; the hospitals
the barracks, private houses filled rap
idly with the sick and the suffering Nc
words can express my admiration, OF thu
care and the attention the German peo
ple gave to friends and foes, but th'
sights were sickening, and IN my. case
myself an invalid, unable to assist, /
was uncomfortable. Added to the mora
gloom there has been that of ma
, ture also. Almost since the war brok'
! out il has rained at times with vioien
storms and unwonted thunder, sue
ceeded, after some lurid sunset, by day
. of gray rain and mist Y 2
There was almost no one to say good
, bye" to- except the doctor, and my de
, parture was not delayed. .o, ~
! All the way up the Rhine the old cas-
ties looked down through the rain on "
dications Of war. Trains passed upwit
soldiers of the reserves, with wheelbal
rows for the trenches before Metz an'
Strasburg, great siege guns and ammu
milton, and stores for the army and tn.
ambulances. Others passed down will
, prisoners looking gloomily out of tn
windows, and in the short space betweel
Cologne and Coblentz three trains hashe
/, by Of freight cars, and caught glimpse
! Of the straw, on which were bedded broke
! limbs and gashed bodies Of sufierln
heroes, with which they were filled.
. At Lahnstein, where, two months age
! impatient locomotives puffed every houi
I bearing gay freights to and from tn
! Baths, | had TO wait nearly halt da
i before train left. / luckily found Z
: friend at the station, who took me, whe
J we arrived at Ems, to his hotel, where h
! was the only guest.
Up TO July 10 the Kur-liste Shove
over 1000 visitors; since July Is ther
. has not been 100. The Hotel dAngle
: terre, where, when / last visited Ems,
4 had TO order my room a week before
!. hand, was now empty. Every hotel wa
i empty. but none was closed. The tow
had queer look about 1t, OF expectln,
somebody who didn't come, like cast
: in a fairy story before the Prince arrives
2 everything in readiness, but all siler
: and solitary. was somebody, for th
! headwaiter Of the Hotel de Flandr'
! (could | venture to be the only guest O
, the Hotel d'Angleterre2) and | wa
|, seized upon and conveyed away wit
n my baggage at once:
. 1t was raining and cold, and in waite
2 inq-place hotels, constructed for summe
= months and sun, there are no eonyen
' ences for making FIRE. The prospe'
4 was not encouraging. ! took my gru'
A and went to bed.
: Does il strike you that these details
q myself and my feelings are egotistic on
. trivial; that writing in the neighbnrhoo
4 Of such battlefelds, and in the midst (
q such serious occupations, my remari
I. are impertinent, if not unworthyf.
!, hope not. am trying TO show one sid
! Of the effects Of the war on this country
= Shall / confess ] am trying also 10 o
II cupy my Own mind with something ell
4 than battles2
n Here the prelude to the drama wa
;. played, reversing the habitudes Of II
J stage the farce before the tragedy,
y pass every day the spot in the garde
! where Count Benedetti made his ind
! erect attack on the King, and the do'
= where he was refused admittance. 1t
i true that the cause of the war is reno
: enough from the incident, but histories
= incidents make historical places, an
: future visitors here will share the intere
= with which view these. fg 81
= / compared Ems in my opening par
- graph, to ghost, and now to justify Il
70 comparison.
~ So few are the guests here that il mu
~ seem 10 each one as if the town exist
= (ifit does exist for him alone. In y
morning. Il is almost an event II iii
a fellow patient at the spring, when
IN modestly demand my glass; yet befo
- the "Kurhaus," under a pavilion, q
- ~ band Tor its ghost) plays its two hou
~ Of delicious music; musicians, in blal
" -. - I'll, hate follovvinO the rra(