Evening star., 1914-08-19


first lord. Similar scenes were witnessed
later in the day, when the house of COM
mons adjourned for few hours. Mr..
Churchill was again an object of popular
enthusiasm.
No Hostility Shown.
! Inside Charing Cross station one came
In more intimate touch with the realities
of events on the continent. The platform
was packed with Frenchmen and Ger
| mans recalled to the colors. Most of them
were youths in the early .wenties The
| conscripts stood about in groups eagerly
| reading the war editions and discussing
| the. chances of getting through to their
| regiments in the dis!ocated condition Of
the continental railways. The Germans
were bound for Gravesend to join
! steamer there.
\ The Frenchnsn were travelling via Ca
| lais. and read with obvious concern the
by the railway company describing the
disorganized state Of traffic in the north
OF France Though their countries are
at war and in a few days they may be
| there was no open display of Franco
German hostility among the young SOL
| diers. They appeared to be facing the
| call Of duty with calm fortitude. How
many of them. one wondered, will see
London again?
| One of the great reception halls at the
Savoy Hotel has been turned into the
stranded American visitors ark of refuge
and there all day long they hold what ap-
pear to be very pleasant receptions. greet
ing long-absent friends and exchanging
exciting stories. They were wretched in
| the days when they feared that for all
! their credit they could get no cash but
arrangements have been made now, and
they have cash enough to go on with,
while they are being shipped across home
as quickly as possible.
tho$
We're scared stiff of England" are going
home as steerage passengers, though
they came frst-class. Lots Of their
| friends are doing the same. finding some
| consolation in the thought that no emil
grants will share their accommodation
Many of the stranded are professional
women. chiefly teachers, many are col
| lege youths and numbers are wealthy
last have had their faith in the power Of
money severely shaken in their flight
from Europe.
Capture Deserters.
Two pretty girls told an exciting story
Of their hasty rush from Austria, the
wild scramble to get seats in the crowd
ed trains, the long hours of starvation,
the search through the carriages at the
frontier, where the authorities pounced
on two deserters. one of them the father
of eight children, and dragged them
away to be shot at sunrise.
In such panic 1t seemed a light
thing to leave every scrap Of luggage be-
| hind, but it was another thing to ar
rive in England penniless and with moth
| ing but the clothes they wore. People
have been very kind to them here, say
all the Americans gratefully. They just
| love England. but they long to set their
heels into the states again.
There have been many last boats on
~ nxH4 h.,k f1nCf
| reached Charing Cross Thursday night
about half past eleven had every ap-
pearance Of the last. 1t was over an
hour late from Folkestone. The people
journey. There were several parties from
Germany. One was Of Americans, two
women and a man. They told me that
| they had come from the Black Forest,
and had been on the way for four days.
They had had to come out Of the train
several times. and once had to walk be-
| tween stations. but they had had moth
ing to complain Of in the circumstances.
They had seen no demonstrations
against Englisl. people.
/ An English party had had harder
i time and one of them had been arrested
l and released. All the passengers on the
1 ship had been on board. then turned OF
with the news that the ship was not
going. then on again. The boat was
crammed to the bow. and thirty or for.y
1 passengers were said to have been LETT
on the quay. There was intense anxiety,
as every one believed it to be the last
boat The voyage across was an awful
experience to many who. having no
1 news, believed the channel to be sown
with mines and sea fight in being:
No one knew what horrors were hidden
in the darkness on the face Of the wa
/ ters. One passenger described to me
4 how he saw part of the British heet SO
near that he could discern the number o.
a submarine (Which he gave me), ana
they reached England in warmer mood.
| At Charing Cross one women-a for-
eisner-broke down, and q porter tr1ed 70
i comfort her and kept on saying:
you're quite safe. ma'am; this ie Eng
i Iand-England, you know, ma am, ana
although she did not know English she
Il seemed to understand. There were many
americans and a large party OF japanese
and twenty Irish nuns who had been at
4 a convent in Belgium.
Il A round Of the various barracks ana
recruiting depots In London reveals more
than the usual crop OF disappointmen.s
for would-be soldiers. The reasons Tor re-
section are many and varied. Defective
teeth is a common thing. 1t ts no use
irving the inspecting doctors with the
4 time worked joke about not being wanted
to eat the Germans. False teeth are
passed without trouble. but men with
signs Of decay in their natural TEEN are
told to '.stand aside" Eye troubles.
Saafness and defective respiration are
also the cause Of many reflections.
Boys Try to Join.
The greatest difaculty for the officers Is
with the large numbers Of lads who are
a. H.