Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-09-15
UNFOLDS THRILLING
STORY OF GERMANY
[Continued from First .Page.1

ask permission to spend my own
money. could not leave Berlin
without getting a permit from the
not step one foot outside the confines
of the city without this official per-
mission.
1 had to be in the house at 10 p. m.
be out. If 1 went to a theater or a
concerts and wanted to remain out
after that hour, / had to go to the
police and get paper testifying that
1 had the gracious permission of the
powers that be to stay out. l was
not permitted to leave the house be-
fore a. m. though to tell the truth
that order never bothered me-but 1t
was the only one whoch was not an
inconvenience.
During those last few months.
after the United States entered the
war, I kept inside as much as possi-
BILE, for Americans were utterly hated
everywhere.
Hate Against America
Before the United States came into
the war, the Germans expended al
"Gott Strafe England" was the Ger
man prayer. But now, the hate is
equally divided between the United
States and England.
Even before the United States came
into the war. the Germans thought
that we should not sell munitions to
the allies. They accused us among
themselves for helping the other side.
They laughed at President Wilson and
his notes. Wilson is easy" one
could hear people say on the street.
and laugh about 1t, every time a
fresh German outrage prompted an
other remonstrance from our Presi-
dent. HE is a good letter-writer,
that is all he can do" the people
said.
When the United States really en-
tered the war, the people at first
were surprised. Then they were con-
temptuous. America never will send
soldiers" they said. "She will give
money and food-and she is doing
that now. She will not fight"
But when the news filtered into
Germany that our boys in khaki were
really ordered to the battlelines in
France, Germans began to sing diff
ferent tune. They began to be more
fearful. Not so many laughs and
sneers were heard, although the
newspapers and the soldiers tried to
make the people think that our men
would not give good account of
themselves in battle. And with the
passing of the German self-confi-
dence came a greater degree of hate
toward us.
OF course no American in Berlin
dared to show an American flag. l
had one in my room, a beautiful silk
one, and my landlady begged me to
be sure and take it with me when l
went. Il would be afraid. even to
try to destroy it," she said, "for fear
some person would see me with it,
Slapped Soldiers Face
Toward the last, when 1 went shop
ping, l never went into the smaller
stores, for fear 1 would be insulted
or not served. My girl friend. who
was from South America, had lived
for seven years in Germany and she
could speak German so fluently that
no person suspected her. But 1 never
got rid of my American accent; and,
frankly. I was afraid. for there are a
lot of things I would rather do than
face a German hate-filled mob.
Americans are treated with the
utmost disrespect in Germany. An
American girl 1 knew slapped the
face of a German soldier who insult
ed her outrageously, while she was
walking through the avenue called
"Unter den Linden" He said things
to her which. in America. would have
landed him in jail, soldier or no SOL
dier. But she had no protection. The
soldier called a policeman and the re-
suit was that the American girl was
tried and given twelve days to leave
the country for Insulting the Kaiser
by slapping one of his officers.
AS for myself-when I would get
on street car, I always would step
back to let German officer pass be-
fore me, IL he also were boarding the
car. OF course all German women do
that, but imagine what that would
mean to an American girl! I would
not have dared step up on the car
before soldier.
Walking along the streets, the SOL
diers jostle you or step on your feet
without thinking of apologizing. One
is not permitted to speak English.
One day, in one of the parks in Ber-
lin, I met a girl friend l had not
known was in Germany. We were de-
lighted to see each other and began
talking in English. A woman pass
ing by stopped and forbade us to
speak in that language.
But what we are saying is none of
your business" 1 told her.
THAT does not matter" she said.
81 will call a policeman and have you
put in Jail If you don't stop"
And the worst of 1t Is that she
could have done that had she so
wished.
A Cafe Incident
Another time l remember was when
I, with some friends from the Spanish
embassy, were in a cafe. We were
talking Spanish. A German officer
sitting in balcony above us did not
recognize the tongue and thought we
were speaking in French. He sent
down q card on which he had written
How dare you insult the Kaiser by
speaking French in Germany?"
One of the men from the embassy
demanded an apology from the officer
explaining that we were talking
Spanish. And. as he was from the
embassy, the officer apologized. But
had we really been speaking French
we would have gotten into trouble.
AS sample of the way Americans
are regarded. 1 can cite the case OF
a young musician 1 knew, named
I.angstraus, an American despite his
German-sounding name. He composed