The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

tempted first to make his way to Munich
 by way of Paris and Berne, Switzerland.
 but was not successful. He was unable to
 proceed beyond Paris. Stories related to
 him of the hardships endured by Ameri-
 cans marooned in Germany impelled him
 to make a second attempt and in com
 pany with MT. John Moran of New York,
 whose wife was last heard from in Nun
 ich, Dr. Martin started again through
 Holland There he fell in with MT S.
 Bergman of New York, who had just
 spent three days in an English prison
 at Winchester owing to his inability to
 prove his American citizenship. Of his 1 experiences pr. Martin says:
 We as Americans had little difficulty in passing through the German lines, but
 Mir. Bergman was stopped until finally he exhibited his release from the English
 prison upon which his photograph was pasted.
 At Crefeld we secured an automobile to take us to Cologne. Through the eff l forts of MT. Bergman who upon arriv- l ing at Cologne learned that 500 of his automobiles in a factory in Berlin had been communicated by the government 1 for war purposes, we secured the neces-
 sary permits to proceed. We covered over HOO miles on Saturday and Sunday and found to our immense relief that Mrs. | Moran and Miss Stone were still in Nun | ich.
 Gasoline Sales Barred
 "In the meanwhile the military authori- ties had ordered that no more gasoline 1 be sold to noncombatants Several Amer 1 ba1 talx ax- 1 the authorities when their owners re- 1 vealed their existence 5y appealing for 1 fuel
 MT. and Mrs. Moran decided to remain 1 in Munich, but Miss Stone and l left Monday with, as I supposed, only two | gallons of gasoline in our car. We had determined to keep on going as long as possible.
 "Once safely out of Munich, our enter prising chauffeur revealed to us, covered | by blankets, several cans of the precious | fluid, in all enough to get us half way to our destination.
 During this journey we actually were l within the lines of the German army At | one point between Cologne and Crefeld we passed entrenchments being rapidly 1 thrown up by thousands of troops. En- trenchments extended on both sides of 1 our highway and as far As the eye could | reach there were masses of troops with l field guns and munitions. Moving in the direction of Belgium, between Cologne and Bingen, was a continuous line of 1 troops, provision wagons and ambulances.
 Sees 5000 French Prisoners
 At Frankfort coco French prisoners | were pointed out to us. We appeared to
 be the only persons travelling who were not soldiers or officials, snd the journey | was continuous thrill, as we momen- | tarily expected to be deprived of our slen- der stock of gasoline. Our fearless chauf- I feur worked his siren and passed the car avan of war at a rate of 40 miles an I hcur
 At Cobenz we had to make our way through enthusiastic crowds who were l watching the passage of trains loaded
 with Belgian prisoners. We constantly met ambulances filled with wounded sol ders.
 "It was a constant source of wonder to | us that we were not asked oftener to eX-
 plain our presence. Only at rare intervals
 were we requested to show our papers,
 and when it was seen that we were Amer
 jeans we were greeted with studied cour-
 tesy.
 We arrived at Cologne Tuesday night, : after having run 250 miles during the day. We pushed on to Crefeld. The highway
 was congested with guns ambulances and
 munitions of war of all kinds At only
 one time did we seem to be in real dan } ger; this when two soldiers pointed
 their guns menacingly at our heads as our deliberate chauffeur took his time
 in stopping on their orders.
 I Aided by Chauffeur This last stage of our return journey was the most difficult of all As we were travelling on a far highway in the im- | mediate rear of a great battlefield, we were stopped dozens of times. Our suc- Il cess in getting through was due largely to the resourcefulness of our chauffeur. Among other things which helped us
 was little German flag he had placed on the radiator of the machine. It seems
 that an order, of which were ignorant had been issued by Emperor William
 that German flags were not to be used on automobiles except those in the service of military officials and members of the royal family For two days we had been protected by flag we had no right to
 use. and this, together with my Prussan cap and a military coat worn by my niece. accounted for our success in avoid ing explanations and obtaining gasoline. | Judging from my trip and the ex- periences of Miss Stone in Munich, Amer jeans are as safe in Germany as in Chi cago or New York. We did not parade the American flag, because we knew that many persons were seeking the proteo- tion of the stars and stripes who were not entitled to it.
 
 Finds Germany Prepared "t Is impossible to make the trip we
 did without being profoundly impressed lSwith the thoroughness of the prepara-
 tions Germany is making for every con-
 tingency that can arise on land. The
 morale of the people was inspiring. They
 expect to win. and they have no thought
 of turning back or of failure. There is
 no more difficulty in obtaining money in
 Germany, if one has credit and can be
 identified than there is in London. } Tn three weeks I have been an eye- , witness to mobilization in France, Eng land and Holland. It is difficult to say which preparations I admired the most They all have been so magnificent, yet so different. Tn Paris it was On to Der. l lin. In Germany it Is quietly assumed that 1t is London, Paris, St. Petersburg
 In London 1t is an impressive but ominous . silence"
 i Miss Sarah Oller Mrs. L.. H. Reed and Miss Oller, all of New York, with Misses
 Roth and Doller of Pittsburg, reached London today from Lucerne, which they n left Monday. Miss Sarah Oller says there F are thousands of American tourists ir . Switzerland anxious to get out and they f are crowding the trains since railway i. communication has been reopened to tho north.
 q Hollands Best Friend @ London Cable to the New York World e The Standard has received the following r from its Rotterdam correspondent: