The Washington times., 1917-09-24

way Of the line running through Saar-
brucken our train was often halted
because of long trains Of hospital cars
on their way from the front to the
base hospitals in the rear. and as we
entered France there were many evi-
denees of the obstinate lights which
in August, 1914. had ragged in this
part OF the country. Parts of the
towns and villages which we passed
were in ruins and rough trench lines
were to be discerned on some OF the
hillsides. At the stations weeping
French women dressed in black were
not uncommon sights, having just
heard perhaps Of the death, months
before, of a husband. sweetheart, or
son who had been mobilized with the
French army.
The fortress city Of Metz, through
which we passed, seemed to be as ami
mated as a beehive. Trains were con-
tinuously passing. Artillery was to
be seen on the roads and automobiles
were hurryinE TO and fro.
The great general headquarters of
the Kaiser for the western front is in
the town of Charleville-Me sit
uated on the Meuse in the department
Of the Ardennes, which department at
that time was the only French de-
the Germans. We were received at
the railway station by several officers
and escorted in one of the Kaiser's
automobiles, which had been set apart
for my use, to a villa in the town of
Charleville, owned by a French manu-
facturer named Perrin. This pretty
little red brick villa had been chris
tened by the Germans 'Sachsen villa"
because 1t had been occupied by the
King of Saxony when he had visited
the Kaiser.
Used Kniser'E Silver.
A French family servant and an old
gardener had been left in the villa,
but for the few meals which he look
in the villa two of the Emperor's
body huntsmen had been assigned,
and they brought with them some of
the Emperor's silver and china.
The Emperor had been occupying a
large villa in the town of CharIeville
until a few days before our arrival
After the engineer of his private train
had been killed in the railway station
by a bomb dropped from a French
airplane and after another bomb had
dropped within a hundred yards Of
the villa occupied by the Kaiser he
moved to a red brick chateau situated
on a hill outside of Charleville, known
either the Chateau or Bellaire.
Nearly every day during our stay
we lunched and dined with the chan
cellor in the villa OF a French banker.
which he occupied. About ten persons
were present at these dinners. the
chancellor's son-in-law, Zech: Pritt-
witZ, and two experts in international
law, both attached to the foreign of
flee. At two dinners appeared Won
Treutler, the Prussian minister to
Bavaria, who had been assigned to
represent the foreign office near the
person Of the Kaiser, and Helfferich, !
who, toward the end OF our stay, had
been summoned from Berlin.
Happy Family at Headquarters.
had been working hard at German, |
and as the chancellor does not like |
to talk English and as some Of these |
persons did not speak that language, |
we tried to carry on the table con-
versation in German, but l know that |
when / tried to explain to Helfferich |
the various tax systems OF America |
in German / swan out far beyond my |
linguistic depth.
During our stay here received |
cables from the Department of State |
which were transmitted from Berlin |
in cipher, anu which Grew was able |
TO decipher. as he had brought a code |