The Sentinel=record., 1915-05-09
WORK AT EMBASSY
 IS MOST DIFFICULT
AMERICAN AGENTS AT PETRO. GRAD CARING FOR GERMANS
 HAD BIG TASK
Responsibility Rested With Our State Department. However, and Soon the Conditions Were Properly Met.

Petrosrad May S.-The system hur- riediy instituted by the American em-
 bassy at the outbreak of the war, for
 the relief of German and Austrian res
 dents of Russia. has been developed by Montgomery Schuyler, special agent of the State Department. into smoothly working machine which nan
 d es the details with utmost dispatch.
 Mir. Schuyler's work is done and he has turned the management of this re- lief work over to II. II. D. Pierce. an- other appointee of the State Depart ment. and has left for home 10 look after his personal affairs, pending pos sible similar assignment in another field.
 When the war began the embassy in Petrograd found itself poorly equipped to handle the extra work in the care of the Germans and Austrians
 In addition to being shorthanded. not
 member of the staff spoke German. Hungarian, or any of the Austrian dia-
 ects. Charge d'Affairs Wilson was
 given authority to hire nelp. if neces- sary, and go ahead on his own mia
 tive. The first embarrassment was | lack of funds Neither the German or
 Austrian governments appeared to ap-
 preciate the requirements il this di-
 rectIon that developed immediately 1 The amount first authorized by them | for the work was totally inadequate
 to meet the demands This difficulty
 was overcome, however. and soon ra- | lief funds hesa uto pour in.
 In the early stages, the plieht of Germans and Austrians taxed not on
 lv the embassy staff, but was a poser for the Russian local authorities throughout central and southwestern
 Russia. These aliens were ordered I from their homes by thu aXegenc:es Of
 war. within a zone extending for sixty
 miles from the frontier and from
 many districts along the Baltic Most
 of them were caueht without money.
 and were driven off to interior towns
 in a penuiless plight
 Accordingly. the American embaa- sy and the Ameriran consulate7. where there were sucn. became flood
 cd with appeals for funds Charge
 Wilson. and his assistants Jones and Fumess. worked night and day over 1 the mass of cable and man correspo1-
 renee that grew from day to day X l bureau of inquiry was established. apart from the embassy proper, in ] charge of Karl Rukman. a Swede. tenn 1 porarily employed and soon funds were being dispatched in every direc- ton at the rate of from 10000 to 5o.- GOO rubles daily With the arrival of Schuyler early in January he strengthened this inquiry bureau by emp owing corps of typists and clerks. and organized another bureau at the embassy to handle all genera, inquiries. regarding both civil and mi. itary prisoners and for the transmits sion of personal funds. which began arriving from relatives of the detained ones Throughout the country Schu Ter organized the civil prisoners theu-I selves by having one of their number chosen as the rosp sponsiblc head of each individual group. charged with trans hitting details of requirements of the members To this responsible head funds were sent for relief
 This responsibility had formerly rested on the local Russian police a1. thorities. and Schuyler compimented them warmly for the generally con. scieutious and efficient discharge of tional tribute to them that in several instances German members of certain groups have written. asking that the chief of their own selection be re- moved and the Russian police official be replaced
 Iu the midst of all these operations came Ambassador Marye. He found Secretary Wilson running things in a highly commendablc way aud was sat isfed to leave practical control of the relief work in his hands until Schuyler arrived
 Before leaving for home Schuyler made a tour of the military camps as far to the southeast as the Turkestau frontier returning through the Trans caspian and Caucasian country He travelled G,oo0 miles, inspected eight camps containing approximately 800, GOO prisoners. On his return, he said that on the whole the prisoners were