New Britain herald., 1916-10-18

unannounced and to all intents and ! purposes 'incog." There are few who
 recognized him as Rudolph Carl von Slat1n, baron of the Austrian Empire,
 Pasha of Egypt, lieutenant general of
 the Egyptian army, major general of the British army, and six times the
 recipient of the coveted British orders rom companion of the Bath to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Vic-
 torian Order all won by distinguished
 service. He was inspector general of the Egyptian forces under General
 Sir Francis Wingate when the crash
 of war in 1914 brought new crisis ir his already eventful life.
 Love for Austria Strong When the parting of the ways came ir 1914 Slatin found his love for Austria was still strong although most
 of his life had been devoted to Britain
 and her wards in Egypt. He had be- come essentially a part of the English
 military machine. But he could not
 fight against his fatherland, nor could he serve in any way against the country which had meant SO much to him and which had lavished honors upon him.
 So Slatin respectfully met the issue.
 He resigned his English and Egyptian
 commissions, sheathed the sword
 which had been part of his very life, and passed into comparative security in the very midst of war. Slatan felt, however, there was one service he could render with all propriety He returned to Vienna attached himself to the Austrian Red Cross and now is doing all he can to better the con- 1P of al in his own country but as part of a
 plan to bring about reciprocal agree ments among all the nations in arms Slattn suffered sufficiently himself as a prisoner in the Sudan to have the widest possible sympathy with any sort of captive.
 It so happens that this very unique personality of the war now has come into more or less direct relationship with America. His mission in Stock holm was to meet here a representa-
 tive of the American embassy in Pe- trograd to discuss further means of
 relief for the hundreds of thousands of Austrian civilians interned in vari- ous sections of the big northern em pire. The Austrian government, he
 said, was ready and anxious to CO.,
 operate in any possible way to better
 the COnQlClOn Ol prisoners SouoIdlly
 and would gladly reciprocate for any
 thing Russia might do. He also ex-
 pressed the appreciation of the Aus
 trian government for the relief work
 already accomplished under the direc-
 tion of the American embassy at
 Petrograd. Slatin, who devoted his
 life to militarism, speaks now of war
 cnly from the standpoint of humanity.
 1T would like so much to be able
 to say when 1t is all over that I had
 done something to help the sufferers
 in this tremendous war; he said
 somewhat wistfully to a correspondent
 of the Associated Press.
 Not Much Hate in Austrians.
 we Austrians, you know" he
 added rather significantly, have not much hate in ourmake-up. I think great deal of the ill-feeling in the war has been engendered by the congregations and bitter words printed constantly in the belligerent press The newspapers do not give the people a chance for sober thought or ref1ec- | ton. But l am not one of those who l believe that hatred, thus fostered, will 1 continue long after peace is declared. 1
 As one of the softening or amelio- | rating influences likely to hasten a return of good feeling, I believe that | kindly treatment of prisoners of war is of paramout importance I should | also like to see a policy of exchange as far as possible. In this way men who had been well treated, would return to their native land and bring word to the people at home that perhaps the enemy was not so nlx ho I1 . oll that he had some kindly traits, was a human being and that the world might still be large enough for all of us to live in.
 "I do not believe we can go on fighting forever-I mean either at arms or through a so-ca1led boycott do not believe the world at large will approve boycott methods. I do not believe this spirit of enmity can last. It must burn itself out in it's cwn fire. Take in the case of your own American Civil war What struggle between man and man could have been more bitter than that? Take the Fashoda incident between France and England. People are luick to forget and perhaps to for give, if only they have the chance to 10 it.
 We believe Russia is doing the test she can for our prisoners" he said, "but the task at times has been ,oo great for the facilities at her dis oosal There is especially the matter of medical supplies and proper cloth- ing. And then, too, one must consider m the treatment of prisoners their former environment and mode of liv- ng. We think we rather spoil our soldiers in Austria as a rule. so that ,ur prisoners even though treated with the identical consideration shown a Russian soldier in his own barracks, will feel certain undeniable nsrdships. On the other hand Eng