The Washington herald., 1917-01-21
Interesting Chats
From Hotel Lobbies

II do not think It will be very long be-
fore the Germans try to force a passage
through the Swiss Alps" said Paul Won l.
Rutger, Of Basle, Switzerland, who is
stopping at the Shoreham. While II has
been nearly six months since l was in my
native country" said Mr.. Rutger, II
know enough about conditions to believe
war the Germans will make an attempt
to work a greater hardship on the Swiss
than she did on the Belgians. Germany
is now getting to the point wnere she
cares not whit for neutral opinion You
ask when she ever did care for itr I
think, never.
But conditions in Germany are becom-
ing so acute that in desperation the Prus-
SLAMS are likely to destroy anybody and
anything in their path. The Swiss are
very well prepared, and l do not believe
any one In Switzerland has any conf
dence in the German statement that Ger
many had no wrongful intentions toward
Switzerland. II the Prussians think It
will help matters any they would not hesi-
tate, in my opinion, to enslave every Bel
gian and Frenchman that they can get
hold OF. And when the day comes for
the German army to attempt to monkey
with the Alps, you can rest assured that
there are going to be plenty of hot pota-
toes laying around and that German nm
gers are going to get severely burned.
We have not been asleep and we know
all about the scrap of paper.
And we remember the Lusitania also.
The Swiss men and boys have all had
military training under a democratic gov
ernment. 1t is hardly likely that the
Germans will be able to repeat the in
credibly horrible outrages she enacted in
Belgium to terrorize the people. Most
Of the German crimes were not COM
mitted for gain, but to impress people
with the terror and might of German
arms.
But when she reaches for Switzerland
you can bank on it that the German army
will get big surprise, and you can also
bet that the Germans are on their last
legs"
NO one knows any better than / do
the Importance of good roads; the lack
of them has cost me and some of my
| friends a small fortune" said Emery H.
Porter of Tallahassee, Fla. registered
at the Ebbitt" I believe that II a GER
tain portion of our country roads were
Just as good as the streets of Washing
ton, the cost OF living would not be half
so heavy.
Not long ago." said Mr.. Porter, 81
bought piece OF land in Florida, about
thousand acres. I did that because /
am not a very young man. and wanted
a place to live when retire from bust
ness. There was one good road, a dirt
road through the place. and / started to
| improve upon that. About six months
later 1 went around to see how some
bitches had had dug for drainage were
coming along, and would you believe it,
could not find my road? know Il
sounds like q ghost story. Nobody swiped
the road; It Just naturally washed away
and almost completely disappeared An
other short road a mile away was not
touched, SO started to investigate. /
found that the other road was solid con-
| crete and had withstood the heavy semi
| tropical rains and storms.
Nearly everyone laughs when / saw
my road left me an I never saw II again.
The damage otherwise to my place was
| SO great that 1 resold the place for a
| little less than 1 paid for It. I found
| that several other persons had had the
same trouble and that no one took the
| trouble to tell the next purchaser Just
the other day I heard that my forrner
property had been assessed at three times
the rate 1 was taxed for it-all because
| the buyer took the trouble to make the
roadbed so heavy that nothing less than
a tidal wave could move II. II bad
taken the trouble to look seriously into
practical methods of road building 7
would be very much richer,-for the prop-
erty rapidly is being converted into a
! cattle ranch. Lots Of farmers in Florida a
are doing the same thing, utilizing the
long pasturing season. and growing beef
cattle, but until someone got busy on the
| road proposition, 1t was q gamble"