Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-03
WHOLE Of GERMANY
ON MARTIAL PLANE
Difficult to Distinguish Be-
tween Military and Civil
Life in Empire.
HARD TO GET IN COUNTRY
BY FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.


mand the front ranks of the endless
line of gray-green soldiers stiffened
looked toward Excellency Won kluck
framed in the arched entrance to the
Adlon Hotel. and Numbered by in goose
step. They We're veterans all: three regi-
ments. accompanied by their wives,
children and friends. and bound rein
forcements for the Somme front. at that
| time the deadliest hell of all the battle
! fields
| Garlands of flowers We're wreathed
around rifles and dun steel helmets. and
bouquets gave color to the much pa tched,
frayed and faded uniforms. Bullying
knapsacks. from which boxes, bags.
parcels and heavy boots dangled sagged
on the troopers backs. and as they
swung firmly past. their faces earnest.
tense, disciplined. somber one felt keenly
! the mighty, emotionless. impersonal
power that is guiding and managing
every energy of this whole people in the
| travail Of world war. The management
of this grim, businesslke soldiery reaches
every where. that it is difficult to tell
where military life leaves off and civil
| life begins.
Aswarm With Soldiers.
| The cities. towns and villages are
aswarm with soldiers. There are the in
| Vulnerable veterans. back from Russian.
French. Servian and Mesopotamian bat
tie fields. any number of highly trained
soldiers held in reserve for some such
contingency as the recent entrance of
Rumania into the war. and thousands of
raw recruits being hammered into shape
One passes almost as many soldiers on
the streets as one passes men in civilian
clothes 1t is not uncommon to see an
officer collect several hundred salutes
along a few blocks of crowded Berlin
thoroughfare. Even the clerks and the
girls have caught the manner. and now
greet each other with a fleeing, careless
pressure of fingers upon the brow.
Life flows on back home at words of
command. Military authorities of last
instance are always in the background.
and almost every man is potential
soldier. Into the intense earnestness of
this life, the stranger. unless he is a
prisoner of war. fits badly. From the
moment he crosses the German borders
he is card-indexed as one of a list Of
exceptions, and, as such, his words and
Ceremony to Get Into Country.
The stranger finds it a matter of con-
siderable ceremony to secure entrance
into Germany. At the nearest consular
or diplomatic post to the border guard
that he seeks to pass he obtains the
proper countersignature to his pass
port. The border watch is notified of
his coming. At the border he and the
other passengers of the day are kept
in a bare room under guard. his pass
port is taken from him in exchange
for a number. and he must await the
calling of this number to begin the
formal ceremony.
The ceremony is something similar
to the Indian reception of running the
gauntlet. One is admitted into the room
of inquisition. where soldiers are every
! where, and pass down line of desks,
where he must answer questions con-
corning his nationality. personality,
destination and business. Then the
baggage is investigated. This investi-
CATION is painstaking. conscientious.
nerve-teasing. Everything in trunks
and bags is taken out, opened up.
thumped and shaken. Everything of
the nature of paper. letters, wrapping
| material, photographs. books and Wis
| iting cards is retained. Other articles.
| if harmless, are rcpacied and their cof
fers are sealed.
Personal Examination Next.
=
| far. one next undergoes the personal
| examination. Beyond the baggage
| room, on the way to German soil, are
rows of small cells, like bathhouse
| rooms, with a soldier to each room.
| Fresh from your baggage strain, you
are ushered into one of these, un-
dressed to the skin anl inspected with
| detailed care. Your pockets, your shoes.
| your wallet and your collar are next
examined. If again all is well, you
i scamper for your train, for you must
within twenty-four hours. Your one
| comfort is that you have your pass
J port again in your possession. Passing
| over the border out of Germany calls
for the same formalities. only SITTER
| When you arrive in a German city
YOU must notify the police personally
and have the date and hour of your
| registration stamped upon your pass
| port. You are then free to begin life
as exception. Secret service people
J everywhere are interested in you. If
you think out loud the police get fairly
| good abstracts of the tenure of your
thoughts. These. together with data
on your manner of conduct your pref
| erences, the things about which you
show curiosity and your wanderings.
| become matters of archive for or
against you. This archive is carefully
| examined before your photographs and
| finger prints are taken and you are
permitted to depart for home.
Hotel Employees in Secret Service.
| Every. hotel clerk is part of the secret
police. The head waiter. the chamber
maid and boots are in the game to take
| you unawares. 1t is policy to lead an
open. ingenious life. to court publicity
by leaving papers scattered in the open.
and to leave trunks and bags unlocked.
| In the streets. on park benches. in the
| cafes. at the railway stations and upon
| the trains. the secret police are always
| on the lookout for something strange.
| At the first hint of ominous mystery
| trouble grows rapidly for the unhappy
suspect. So many neutrals have crossed
! into Germany and hidden their spy
work under the cloak of business err
| rands that today an incurred suspicion
| is a dangerous thing.
! An elaborate watch is kept upon all
aliens. Enemy aliens. however, the old
| men. the women and those German
| women married to subjects of the enemy
| countries, are under restraining SUI
pervision. They must not leave the town
| in which they live. They must report
daily to the police of their district and
have their special passes stamped. They
must exercise double caution in every
| act and word.