South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-12-08
THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMANY
Berlin appears Nearly the
Same as Before the War,
But It's Only a Veneer

ly there was M nOuriShment I'm il. or
the wrong kind. and the bird died.
There were few birds in the
parks Whether they died on were
killed for food 7 do. not know. /
heard them say that. always. Ber-
lin had a species of bird which de-
stroyed the mosquitoes This bird evil
IDENTIFY died or migrated, for last
summer the mosquitoes were ter
rIbIe there.
OF course every person who
knows anything about European ira
vel knows how the fleas plague the
traveller. They were bad in Berlin.
They seemed 10 be so much worse
after the war. And. after the war a
restriction was made that ] never
heard of before-every person leav-
ing the city had TO swear that they
had no fleas or lice with them-and
those coming into the city had TO
swear the same thing
If one had either fleas or lice. one
had 10 se- rid of them before one
left or entered the city.
Neither of these vermin is re-
garded in Europe with the same
horror as they are here In Ameri-
ca for a person "a have "a flea on his
body is a disgrace a shameful thing
But I'm Europe on joke about il
and. when you meet your friend. tell
them Of some rev way TO get rid
of the pests.
No Buildings; No Repairs
When they became roo bad
would 20 into the bathroom. hn the
tub with water. take off my clothes
and shake them well over the water
Then / would run that water out,
run some more i'm and take a bath.
] would be free of the pests then.
until. from some public conveyance
or some ones home. I could get "a
fresh supply
or I would shake them off on the
carpet and then sweep them out
They can't hop on the carpet They
stick.
The soldiers suffer terribly from
vermin Even in the best quarters
they have trouble. And the pocr
prisoners of war; do pity them,
for they have not the opportunity to
get rid of them that civilians or the
German soldiers had.
During the war ] saw onlv one
building in course of construction.
that was the terminal for new
subway. and women were WORKING
at that There are no artisans i'm
Germany now and no time TO build
The materials used for building also
are needed for other purposes. so
no repairs are being made. The
work of restoration inside and out
side the homes and buildings i'm
Germany will take a year after the
war is done. what will have to be
done i'm the districts devastated by
the war itself is beyond the imagin-
ton.
Respect for Roosevelt.
Germans have great respect for
Theodore Roosevelt.
Thank God. Roosevelt isn't pres
ident of the United States" I heard
dozens of times, before we entered
the war They don't seem TO know
much about our other military men.
what they think of Cen. Pershing
of course. L don't know, as they
hardly had heard his name when
started home
But 7 often have heard Germans
say that they would like to capture
Mr.. Roosevelt and lead him down
Inter den Linden. 7 believe that if
today. Mr.. Roosevelt were leading
troops i'm France il would have a
greater depressing effect on Ger
mans than anything else we could
do. II is a peculiar almost super
stitious feelnS they have about
Teddy" If ne has "bluffed" them
ne certainly has made good work of
Il.
Can't Understand Wilson.
On the other hand the Germans
cannot understand Prest Wilson.