New Britain herald., 1917-02-12
PETTY TACTICS OF GERMANY . AN ANNOYANCE TO GERARD
American Ambassador and Staff Greatly Inconven- fenced By Official Red Tape in Berlin.

Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb
 II, via Paris. Feb. 12.-Most of the
 members of Ambassador Gerards
 large party gave a genuine sigh of relief this afternoon when the Swiss
 border was reached, for the strain of the last few days had told more or less upon the majority of the travel. CTS. ..
 Ambassador Gerard met cordially the newspaper men who crowded about him on his arrival at Zurich clamoring for interviews for papers all over the civilized world but he kept rigidly to his determination not to speak for publication until after he has reported to President Wilson.
 The strain of the situation for the Americans in Berlin had been height
 cned toward the end by the efforts
 Of the German authorities to induce
 MT. Gerard to open negotiations for
 an amendment to the Prussian-Amer- ican treaty of 1799. At the same time the German newspapers were flooded with reports of the seizure of Ger
 man ships by the United States and
 with stories of difficulties and indig- mites encountered by Count Won
 Rernstorff. Ambassador Gerard has
 refused permission to communicate in cipher with Washington and the authorities ignored all denials of tho tories printed in the German news paper untN an official message re- ceived through the Spanish embassy made it clear that the stories were false. Prior to this Am bassador Ger ards telephone wires were cut, his
 mail and telegraphic privileges stop
 ped, so that he could not even in-
 struct the Amerian consuls and he was in his words. prisoner.
 Petty Delays Among Americans. No American could obtain any definite information. It was pointed out to the officials in vain that their measures were only applicable to actual war and that the admirable self-restraint and politeness of the
 German people, with the resultant
 good effect, was being jeopardized.
 Delay followed delay and one ex- cuse was made after another until
 Friday night, when the foreign office suddenly announced it's willingness to permit MT. Gerard to depart on the following day. The names of cor
 respondents and of other persons
 were added to the list. but even then
 petty delays and uncertainties fol-
 lowed until shortly before the train was boarded.
 Mir. Gerard's farewells were said in a friendly though formal manner. Many Germans were in the throng at the station, which consisted part ly of Americans who had not received permission to depart on the embassy train and must await the police rou tine before being allowed to leave. The fact that it was not generally known that Mr. Gerard was depart ing reduced the demonstration at the South German stations to a minimum. The older women and the children were assigned to the sleeping cars on the train. The younger persons rode ir the day coaches and made the trip of twenty hours to the border with no , serious discomforts. The party was accompanied by two representatives of the foreign office and guarded carefully by men from the secret ser vice. The customs inspection and other examination at the border were reduced to mere formality.