The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-08
GETTING OUT OF GERMANY IS 4
 TASK FOR CHILD

undergo when entering or leaving Germany is very stringent and try l ing, and as the war continues is grad
 ually becoming more rigid. When
 went into Germany in 1915 via Ben- 1 theim and came out again by the | same route my examination was l reasonably thorough, but this year.
 going into Germany and coming out
 via Warnemunde, were revelations of
 examination of luggage and of person carried to a point beyond which it l would be almost impossible to con- | ceive.
 AS the examination is made stricter
 and stricter from time to time, and ] as it is also changed, whenever it l is found that spies try to smuggle cipher dispatches in new and hither- 1 to unsuspected ways, I will describe 1 my personal experiences coming out 1 of Germany via Warnemunde' and also relate, as they differed from
 mine, the experiences of other Amer | jeans who came out at the saFne time. Having been told that no one was allowed to take out either printed or
 written matter, and also having heard that there was much trouble about photographs, I took all my books. duu LO IAo
 German Foreign Office. There every thing was carefully examined by As-
 sessor Roediger, done up in one pack age and sealed in several places I ] received a letter signed by Baron von Mum, head of the press department of the Foreign Office, asking the from tier authorities to pass the sealed package without opening it. My re- clyi ho
 authorities to pass me and my be-
 longings with as little trouble as
 possible" was refused and I was told that such letters were no longer given. A friend of mine who. had come in to Germany a few days before told me that on reaching Warnemunde tickets were given out and that pas sengers were examined in the order
 of the train from Born. He told me arranged matters with the. conductor of the train from Bern. He told me
 where to stand just before we reach ed Warnemunde, pointed out to me, when we arrived, the man who gave out the tickets-and I received No. 1. I had with me a large trunk, two grips and a hat box, and my exper- fence coming into Germany led me to believe that unless I was we'll up in the line I might possibly be held over in Warnemunde until the following cay. As the steamer I planned +U take for the United States sailed from Copenhagen the next day, it was es- sential that I should not be detained. Enteringra a building right by the train, I was told to go through a long room, and was halted at the door of another room and asked to produce my passport. After it had been carefully scrutinized I was pass
 ed into another room. There I found
 porter with my grips and hat box, and I was asked to identify my trunk. All my luggage was then placed on a wooden bench, and an officer and sub officer came over to take charge of the examination. Fortunately for me the suboffcer had lived in New York
 for eight years, and not only spoke
 English, very we'll, but was inclined
 to be friendly. I was informed that everything would be examined and that all my things must be taken out
 of my grips and trunk as well; more
 over, I was told that I must take out and also put back the things myself.
 I never pack my trunk; it had
 been packed by the chambermaid at the Hotel Bristol on Inter den Lin-
 den, and when I left Warnemunde, it's appearance beggard description. All my handkerchiefs, collars, shirts,
 drawers and socks were examined, one by one. to see whether any con- cealed papers could be located or whether anything was written on or sewed into them. Handerchiefs were entirely unfolded, shirts, drawers and socks were turned inside out, and always there was a careful and per sistent search. Every crease was ex- amined. My. soap was cut in pieces and 8 stick of camphor ice that had
 been cut in two places when I came
 into Germany, was cut in another
 place. First the grips were exam ined, and then the hatbox; then, tray by tray, everything in the trunk was
 gone over. My boots and slippers were examined. with great care, and
 fortunately, I had no boots that had been recently resoled or reheeled
 otherwise they might have been rip ped apart. This, I was told, is fre- quently done.
 Coming into Germany the exam ming officer had torn out the stand in my hat box, on which the hat rested, I had this fixed in Berlin, but I might better have waited until I returned to New. York, because, as it was impossible for him to get his