The Washington times., 1914-10-23

VIENNA, Oct. s. CBy Courier to
Rome, thence by Mail to New York; -
Vienna is a city of lost hope, Of gloom.
of grave despair.
Once the gayest and most beautiful
capital of Europe, it is today the
ssddest, the most distressed. Silent.
hopeless protests against the horrors
Of war, which have turned this Won
derful. joyous city into a melancholy
sepulcher for the living, permeates
every stratum Of society.
I have seen procession Of 1909
mothers, whose husbands have died in
Galicia, carrying in their arms their
fstherless babes. They filed past the
great cold palace of the ministry of
war
1t was their mute appeal for peace.
Gray Wings of Dread.
have seen a procession of little chill
dren, plaintive and futile emissaries of
life, silently protesting against needless
death. -
/ have seen trains arriving, everyone
crowded TO suffocRtion with the wounded
and dying. From the midst of these
naineG and mutilated sickened and
SCuSrinS men, nave seen unCOlHpTt-
hending soldiers, dazed by the horrors
of war, crazed with JOY at beng home
again, dragged from their companions
and placed under arrest.
Their crime? Why they cried out in
the delirium OF excitement their curses
against the Russians who had brought
such terrible defeat to the Austrian
armies. For no news must be whispered
by the wounded or the fugitive which
reflects the truth of Austrian disasters.
And above these visual pictures Of the
melancholy Vienna of today. l have
sensed the touch of those gray wings
of dread which cast their shadow over
the toUn-the soiled, the sordid, the
horrible wings of Cholera ..
] have felt with the people, stalking
beside tbs hideous enemy-the Plague
its sisters Specter. Hunger.
Arrests Made Hourly.
In Vienna today, 10000 wounded are
being cared for in hospitals, schools,
universities, hotels, churches.
The Red Cross admits its inability to
care for all the wounded and the sight
Of helpless men, suffering needlessly and
hopelessily is one which confronts the
workers in the cause of humanity.
In all Europe there does not exist to-
day another capital where the public is
treated SO inconsderately in regard to
war news. The newspapers publish
nothing save the official statements
and their news can be guessed at Ar
rests are made hourly of Viennese Who
whisper word of Austrian defeat. Spies
are everywhere
In cafe on the Praterstrasse, | sat
in a nervous crowd and saw whispering
refugees from Galicia passing their story
on. furtively and fearfully. Suddenly /
saw Il young man, whose pale face told
Of recent suffering deserted. His COM
Lamion, who went TO the door, whispered
10 All officer and departed. In a moment
the fugitive was arrested. He had talk ed
10 a spy.
At the station. where the incornin s
trains bring new misery for gay Vienna
that was, ] talked with young mother
whose husband lay dead on the battle
field. She had fled to the capital to
plead with the government which had
taken her husband and robbed her chill
dren OF father. for means OF support
and some of the necessaries of life. She
told in patient, resigned tones of her
sufferings in bringing her three children
from Galicia, where her home was to be
her haven no longer, and where blood
ran deep in the garden beds which she
had tended so faithfully, waiting the
return Of her husband.
Herded Like Animals.
"Wher VIC arrived at the frontier"
she sald, 'the scenes were awful.
We were hcrGed like animals. and