Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-02-06
qTXENBAUGH'S FINAL LETTER
omaha Member Of Ford Party De-
cscribes the Last Days Of
Travel in Europe.
voYAeER HAS RETURNED HOME

@hN 'oHN ueSe OF the Fofu feoce party
IN Europe are described IN a letter writ
ten by Walter A. Hixenbaugh. ST., Of
Omaha TO his parents, dated January
10 at Rotterdam, but concluded later at
Falmouth. Mr. Hixenhaugh has now re-
turned home. His last letter descriptive
Of his travels Is as follows:
ROTTERDAM. Jan. 1O.-Mr. ana Mrs
W, A Hixenbaugh, Omaha, Neb. pear
folks: Ny last letter finished up INV trim
up TO the time left CopenhaEen. we
lett Copenhagen in a special train Fri
day, January & and n great crowd OF
friends we had met at receptions and
mass meetings, were at the station to
give US hearty send-off At the end Of
zealand Island we transferred 20 a ferry
and after another transfer TO a train, and
osck 70 Z ferry again, we SIGHTED the
coast Of Germany At about $50 In the
afternoon, and drew Up TO the dock at
Warnennunde. where five handsome Off
ficers came aboard. clothed In long gray
overcoats and gray service caps. IL was
raining heavily and the officer in charge
gave the order TO permit us TO take
refuge under the train shed from the
rain. Our passports were examined al
phAbeueslly, as we got into the train
This was the so-called Sealed train %
which the English papers accused the
German government of furnishing us
This was not the case. and although the
train Yves under charge Of the German
officer, and we were not allowed 70
aiight, yet every comfort was supplied
US and we were permitted to look out
when the train stopped.
Describes Officers.
Major Baur had charge of the train
as far as Hamburg; he had a bad leg
which kept him from field service. His
wife sind daughter were in Red Cross
service and his two sons had been
killed in action by American shells, 10
he thought-though he spoke without Bit
tefness. He said all those soldiers we
had seen on the dock at Warnemunde
were physically incapacitated for field
action. From Hamburg to the border the
train was In charge OF Major Marquart,
Of the Deaths Head Hussars. who had
won his iron cross in Flanders for rally.
ing his retreating troops for last stand
before the advancing French. He was
hit In the leg by bullet and the bone
shattered. and now he has charge OF one
OF the government trains. His black
patent leather helmet had a small deaths
head button on II, and a spike on the
top which unscrews and Is replaced In
peace times by plume. He had a
sense OF humor. and once he said to us:
well, you are now in the country hated
by all the world
1t was Friday. mo meat day so we
had eggs at the meat course. Tuesdays
and Fridays are known as mo meat
meat meat IS sSiS Is 1est sr or on govern.
nent kfainb.s There is no restriction
placed vpon buying enough meat the
Rreeedirg day e last over Tuss S,aS. ana ana
people obey the spirit OF tue Law, and
help their government econoniiEe. As we
were eating we passed through Lubbock,
without stopping, and at $50 came to
Hamburg. Quite a crowd was waiting to
take the electric suburban train, which is
owned by the city although It is run on
seriousness OF the people was very notice
able. Everyone seemed stolid and life
less, and when we waved at them there
was no response. not even q smile. There
were many soldiers about and we saw
woman ticket teker and woman taxi
driver. On the other side of the train
which was just behind US. TO come I'm
There was tragedy In all their faces, too
The train vas kept locked all the time.
Newspaperfnen were drinking to the
health of the German major, but when
no stepped out for a moment they drank
toast Eau vtctore de la France"
Gets'view OF EIbe.
We saw the Elbe. the lights on the
nurses on the platform. we passed
through Bremen about 10 p. m. About
q. m. we arrived at Veuthelm on the
stfipped and searched. as we heard others
had been. We filed into the Customs
"War Commandments" were posted in a
conspicuous place and asked people to re.
frain from meat and economic and eat
sugar and the like. We stayed here
ever an hour. There were about ten
officers here-all handsome, all polite, all
speaking perfect English, and all in
You found that we se' are not such beasts
after all, haven't your"
We discussed our peace plans at length
20 oO on p"s until one side or the he other was
crushed. and Germany was determined to
fight Until this was done. At last We
passports were satisfactory, and that we
might continue into Holland without
baegsge examination. or further delay
con paItments in the train. As Joe o'Neil1
Of the New York World sain: '''rne rest
Of the trip was good fireside stuff. but
4 won't d, for the columns OF the Amer
lean press
Amsterdam Reached.
Al 10 o'clock we reached Amsterdam.
and had a short Tina TO look about the
town. Canals were everywhere with the
big fiat barges. brown sails and long
lie milk carts. With bright shiny cans.
and drawn by dogs In harness. II was
typicaily Holland. alright, and We left
DasssE Tn RsT res
tulip fields are, we arrived at The Hague
about II o'clock In the morning.
The Hague (Den HaAg, IaHuye or
Gravenhage). means the Counts Hedge,
and from the year 1850 on wae the huntI
ing lodge of the counts Of Holland
The hedge, or wood, is still north OF the
city and in the old days was filled with
game. II is now the only wood In Hol.
land, except that one at HARLEM. In
the afternoon we walked out LANCE
Poten, past the BELLEVUE hotel through
the deer garden and into the wood. 1t
wac a beautiful wood filled with big
trees covered with heavy moss, for IN
Holland II never gets colder than forty
two degrees Fahrenheit. The House IN
the Wood" Is a big country house. which
Is the country palace OF the royal family.
The first Hague peace conference, was
held there, and, because OF It's seclus-
ion. It Is often used for diplomatic meet
ings.
students 10 Go Home.
Sunday morning, January g. we learned
the students would have to 90 home on
the Holland-American liner, NoordRm-
sailing Monday night, instead OF the Rot
terdain. sailing Saturday night. because
accommodations could not be secured
for all on the Rotterdam. We were all
bitterly disappointed, for We had hoped
20 have time to visit some Holland
cities and become acquainted with Hol-
land, as we had with the other coun-
tries, and for a short time, We forgot
m r. ssceufera of enthuaiaau."