Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20
Disbursing Officer WiImeth of
Tennessee Expedition
Sends Letter Home.
IS GREATLY IMPRESSED
BY CITY OF BERLIN
Reverence of German People in
Church Kaiser Attends Is
Commented Upon.

Berlin are recited in a letter to his
wife. dated September 1, by James l..
Wiimeth. chief clerk of the Treasury
Department, and disbursing officer of
the great American relief fund carried
abroad by the warship Tennessee He
reports his return to London and the
tremendous volume Of work entailed
by the relief activities.
I'VE left The Hague. Holland. at
o'clock Saturday afternoon. August %"
he writes. land reached Berlin at z
o'clock Sunday morning. The train on
which we Travelled was provided by the
Dutch and German governments. 1t
made express time, notwithstanding
the large movement of soldiers that Is
being made over the German lines. We
were told it would take us thirty-six
hours to make the trip. but it did not.
Il was never more surprised in my
life at anything than l was at the city
of Berlin. l think, almost without ex-
ception, it is the finest and most sub
stantlal city that i have ever visited.
1t is beautiful. indeed; has a distinct
type of architecture that abounds
everywhere.
Fun of Fine Statuary.
THE city is full of fine statuary, and
one large park Is as beautiful as any
thing / ever saw. 1 saw the German
capitol building; also the royal palace,
where Emperor William lives; also the
palace of the crown prince. All are
magnificent structures.
Il attended services Sunday afternoon
in the great church where Emperor
William woTshlps; it is called the
Dom l assume the seating capacity is
about 5000. 1t has mag nifcent or
gan. i was particularly impressed
with the reverence of the German peo-
pie and the manner in which they
conducted themselves during the hours
of worship.
The house was crowded; even the
Notwithstanding all this, it was so
quiet that l could hear the slightest
neise. ] thought of our own service
while / was in this royal church, and
could not help contrasting the church
building. and it's fine statuary and or
naments, with our modest, simple lit
tie chapel.
Il parted with the rest of our COM
pany at Berlin and came back to Hol-
land with the national director of the
Red Cross. We were about twenty
eight hours In coming back over the
same distance that we had done in
quite half that time in going.
Arranged for Train a Day.
IT came out on a refugee train bring
ing 400 American citizens. 1t was a
pleasing sight to see them on the
train. after having been tied up so
long. We found 1000 Americans in
Berlin who had been unable to get
away. We arranged for one train each
day until they all had been brought
out. That will mean about a weeks
time to move the number there But as
other people are coming in. it will re-
Qufre these trains for some time to
come.
'I stopped at a hotel in Berlin. which
Is patronized largely by Americans.
I saw some pople there whom l had
met before in the states. All told, 1
spent two rather pleasant days in the
great German capital: saw quite a bit
of 1t, notwithstanding we had q great
deal of work to do.
"Taxicab fare Is SO cheap in Berlin
that one can afford to ride around the
city without going to much expense,
wined and dined quite extensively
while in Berlin.
IT am glad to get back to The
Hague. where the great peace confer
ences have been held. The relief work
is getting along very well, and relief
is being extended Americans very rap
idly.
"Since writing the above I have
crossed the English channel. and am
again in London. l was pretty tired
out when I reached here"
Account Of Work.
A condensed account of his work in
London is given in letter dated two
days later, September 3. He writes:
II find myself still very busy in con-
nection with the multitude Of financial
transactions that are pressing upon me
daily. There is not a day passes that
i am not transferring money from Eng
land to different parts of the continent,
and answering all sorts OF inquiries as
who are in distress. It is an interesting
game.
Frequently 7 have but little time H.
which to collect my thoughts before q
transaction must be handled. The head
quarters of the American relief commit
tee is a busy place. So Is the American
embassy. where ! am writing this let
ter.
There are signs of war on almost
every hand Soldiers are drilling in the
parks. 1t Is frequent occurrence to see
them leaving by trainIoads or march.
Tag in the streets.
We saw some evidences of war when
We reached harbor at Falmouth from
chantmen. taken as prizes. were quietly
riding at anchor In the bay. One of
these. large German ship. was the one
Of which you read In the papers as hav-
ing tried to land arms and ammunition
in Mexico during the recent investment
OF Vera Cruz"