The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-01-13
HELD UP MANY TIMES.
TRIP FROM LONDON TO BERLIN
HALTED VERY OFTEN.
Reporter Takes Letter
From Herbert Hoover to Ambassa-
dor Gerard in Berlin.

The delays and interferences tt
| which neutrals travelling bstweeI
London and Berlin are still subjec
were we'll illustrated by the expert
ences of an Associated Press repre-
sentative who just made the trip ant
undertook the amusingly hazardou!
task of carrying an unsealed letter
from Herbert c. Hoover, chairman
of the Belgian relief commission ir
London, to Ambassador Gerard il
Berlin.
The correspondent had made every
preliminary preparation that embas'
sizes and travelling bureaus could sug'
gest. He had lodged four photo.
graphs of himself at the American
embassy. He had waited in line over
an hour to have his passport vised al
the Dutch consulate in London and he
arrived at the Victoria station in Lon.
don three hours before the train for
Folkestone was supposed to start
There the suspicious Of various ma
tions are to hos treacherous purposec
were first aroused.
"Have you any letters or photo
graphs?" was the simple question, to
which his candid reply started the
trouble. He answered he had one
photograph and one letter. The
sleuth, who was at the moment. un-
screwing the top of a bottle of tooth
powder, presumably to- ascertain
whether the contents were iyddite or
some equally deadly agency, looking
up keenly, accepted the profrede
proofs of domestic devotion (the pho
tograph was the picture of his wife
and child), and opened Mr.. Hoover 8
letter.
"Do you realize that this letter
contains the names of many British
ships?" queried the vigilant defender
Of his majesty's shores.
"I do" said the reporter with all
the solemnity of the wedding cere-
mony.
"Yet you want to carry it to the
enemy's country?"
"Yes!"
"Will you please talk with Inspec-
tor Seacock, of Scotland Yard?"
Inspector Seacock, whose name re-
called the Crippen trial, gave the
American a searching glance. DO
you know what all these ships are2"
was his first question.
"Mr. Hoover says, if you will no
tice, that they are the ships which
are carrying the food to hungry Be-
gians," was the reply.
"Well, you can't take it to Ger
many"
The reporter then wrote on the
envelope a suggestion that Mr. Hoov-
er send it t Ambassador Gerard in
the embassy pouch and asked the in
spector if he could get out of the pen
to get a messenger. There seemed
to be no definite reply, but after a
few moments delay the inspector re-
turned and said: ION second thought
think you can take it. 1t seems to
be a perfectly open matter"
So the message went safely to Hol-
land, where the inspectors at Flush
ing and Ozendaal never hesitated in
will meet with Mrs. H. Marlborough
at Bentheim, on the German side Of
the frontier, the letter came in for
expert examination on the part Of the
whole staff Of the helmeted inspec-
tors, whose questions ranged from
inquiries as to the place Of birth Of
the reporters parents to questions as
to the business and motives OF MT.
Hoover. Every passenger on the
train was passed and many of them
were staring in at the suspect through
the window before the staff finished
with the reading of the letter.
Don't you know that it Is forbid
den to carry such q document into
Germany?" "Can you swear that
these ships reilly are carrying food
into Belgium" IF you are not per-
sonally aware of the exact facts,
don't you realize that you may be
committing q serious crime to en-
deavor to carry this letter to Berlin?"
And so on. The reported murmured
something about running the risks II
it would help hungy people. This
gave him his courage and in his best
German, he asked what they pro-
posed to Go about it. This was an
inspiration, as nobody had thought of
it before. It was decided that. the
reporter could go on, that the in
spectors would consider the possibili-
ties Of harm in the letter and, If 1t
seemed wise to give it to him, 1t
would be sent to his Berlin address.
One week later it had not been so
delivered.