Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-01

III NhO llOAhGo Vic pClo WSlC
wearing out, the curtains were get
ting shabby. There was no attempt
at refurnishing or repainting inside.
The floors lost their gloss and show
ed the need of the paint brush.
When we moved into the fiat this
spring it was very shabby. 1 asked
the woman from whom we rented if
she could paper it and have it fresh
oned up. She said no, not until after
| the war.
| 1t is hard even to keep things
clean, let alone keep them in repair,
without soap. And there was no soap
to wash ones face, not to speak of
floors and walls and chairs.
The furniture in the stores is be-
coming exhausted and no person is
! making any more. Leather of course
is terrible scarce. Something's when
1 would go to have the heels on my
shoes Strengthened the cobbler would
say he had nothing to fix them with.
He would take off the broken layer
but had no more> leather to put a
new layer on. When you had your
shoes half-soled (and when you ure
allowed only two pairs a year you
are very glad to have this done), the
cobbler would use a thick paper spe-
cially prepared.
Vermin Cause Trouble
There were few birds in the parks.
l had beautiful bird, but it died.
think because / was giving it the
wrong kind of food. could not get
regular birdseed, and 1 gave my bird
substitute they sold me. Evident
ly there was no nourishment in it,
or the wrong kind, and the bird died.
There were fel birds in the parks.
Whether they died or were killed for
food L do not know. l heard them
say that, always, Berlin had a species
of bird which destroyed the mos
quitoes. This bird evidently died or
migrated, for last summer the mos
quitoes were terrible there.
OF course every person who knows
anything about European travel
knows how the fleas plague the trav-
eler. They were bad in Berlin. They
seemed to be so much worse after
the war. And, after the war a re-
striction was made that l 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 fieas or lice, one
had TO get rid of them before one
left or entered the city.
Neither of these vermin is regard
ed In Europe with the same horror
as they are here. In America for u
person to have flea on his body
Is disgrace, a shameful thing. But
in Europe you joke about it and,
when you meet your friend, tell them
OF some new way to get rid of the
pests.
No Building; No Reapirs
When they become too bad, [
would go. into the bathroom, fill the
tub with water, take off my clothes
and shake them we'll over the water.
Then l would run that water out,
run some more in and take a bath.
l would be free of the pests then,
until, from some public conveyance
or some ones home, 1 would get a
fresh supply.
Or, ! 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 poor
prisoners of war-I do pity them, for
they have not the opportunity to get
rid of them that civilians or the Ger
man soldiers had.
During the war I saw only one
building in course of construction,
that was the terminal for a new sub
way, and women were working at
that. There are no artisans in Ger
many now and no time to build. The
materials used for building also are
needed for other purposes, so no re-
pairs are being made. The work of
restoration inside and outside the
homes and buildings in Germany will
take year after the war is done.
What will have to be done in the
districts devastated by the war itself
Is beyond the Imagination.
Respect for Roosevelt
Germans have great respect for
Theodore Roosevelt.
THANK God, Roosevelt isn't Presi-
ident of the United States" 1 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 Gen. Pershing. of
course, / don't know, as they hardly
had heard his name when l started
| home.
But 1 often have heard Germans
say that they would like to capture
Mr.. Roosevelt and lead him down
Inter den Linden. I believe that If,
o-day, Mr.. Roosevelt were leading
troops in France 1t would have
greater depressing effect on the Ger
mans than anything else we could
do. 1t is a peculiar. almost supersti-
tious feeling they have about Ted
dy." If he has "b1uffed" them he
Can't Understand Wilson
On the other hand the Germans
cannot understand President Wilson.