The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-15
GLOOM IN PARTY
OF BERNST0RFF
AS SHIP LEAVES
Sailors on Interned Craft
Cheer But Rest of Har-
Dor is Silent.

phere that seemed to have ABOUT
more of a goodby-a finality of part
ing-than an auf weldersehen C'til
we meet again'D, Count Johann vor
Bernstorff, who was Germany's Am
bassador in the United States for eigh
years. started for home at 40
O'Clock yesterday afternoon on tn
Scandinavian-Ameri liner Freder
Tx VIII
Those who knew the man per
haps regretted his going, for he had {
eharm Of manner, and he took hi
dismissal with spirit of gamenes
that was boand to appeal to Ameri
cans. And before he went he sai(
some nice things about the way il
which the people of this country hat
treated him.
No Big Show of Regret.
But if there was any widespread
u regret over his departure it failed tc
manifest itself in any open fashion
= as his ship got away.
When the Frederik, leaving an up
per Hoboken dock, moved down past
the seIf-fnterned German merchant
men lying at the lower end of the
Jersey town, the red, white and black
flag of the Fatherland dipped at their
81 sterns. Little groups of German
sailors clustered along the taffrails OF
the long laid-up vessels, waved their
caps and shouted "Hoch! Hoch!" But
that was all.
Gathering speed the Danish liner
slipped down the river, through the
bay, past Sandy Hook, and at 5:45
4 vanished from view,. heading north
east for Halifax, where the British
* will examine her before she pro-
ceeds to Christiansand, Norway, and
: Copenhagen, Denmark. But in all
Il her run down from her dock and out
to sea she received not so much as a
whistle-toot Of farewell. No tug,
no ferry boat, not even a little mo-
4 tor-craft sounded an adieu. The big
4, black hull moved along through a
lane of silence.
Count Soon Went Below.
Count Won Bernstorff removed his
soft brown hat as his national ensign
was lowered in his honor. He waved
1T above his head in returning the
cheers of his humber compatriots.
Just for a few moments then, was he
visible on the deck of the F'rederik.
Then he retired to his suite-probably
as much affected at this time as he
had been when he talked to friends
while the ship was in dock. He was
not in the open when the liner cast off
her pilot at the Ambrose light vessel
and got into her stride.
All in all, it was a pretty gloomy
sort Of getaway. Everything was or
derby; everything was polite: but an
air Of depression seemed to surround
the whole proceeding. 1t was flu
nereal.
No particularly uhtoward incident
occurred. Early in the morning a
young crank waved a foolish letter
at the former ambassador and was
promptly arrested He was harmless
and SO was his missive Three shot
gums were seized by Secret Service
/ men examining the luggage Of pas
sengers on the Frederik The weapons
were merely sporting pieces and were
turned over to the purser Of the ship
70 be given back to their owners upon
arriving at their destination
Some rubber-which is ruled as
contraband by the. British-was found
In the possession Of a couple of tray
ellers and was sent ashore. Count Won
Bernstorff knew only of the crank in
cloent and was not disturbed by that
Flowers Filled Stateroom.
When the ship sailed the suites Of
the Count and Countess Won Bern
storf and Of the Prince and Princess
datzfeldt were, piled deep with or
ch1ds, roses and other flowers sent by |
German and American friends. Thew
appreciated this immensely, they said. |
From some of the German party
although not from these particular
lndlviduals-came a pretty eompli- |
ment to the United States as the |
Fredertk backed into the stream. At |
least score Of them, and noticeably /
some of the embassy party, waved I
american flags. Not single piece of
German bunting was visible.
The ships band played the rather
solemn national anthem Of Denmark
,as she started off. At her forepeak
the Stars and Stripes flew. At her
ma1nmast she carried the lines blue
and white flag. At her stern the blue
edged white cross of Denmark f1utter-
ed on Its field Of red, and forward
and aft, on each side of the vessel
was painted this emblem Of neutrality.
Her name stood out in 10-foot letters
on her black hull.
Cut Down Cost of Voyage.
q
The .Frederik carried 654 Npassen-
gers altogether, in two classes, first
and third-250' in the latter. She
was chartered outright by the re-
turning German officials at a cost or
$4,000. OF this they got back $780,
600 in fares from unofficial passen-
gers DESTROYS Of travelling to Ger
many or Scandinavia Because she
was, so to speak, the private proper
ty of the Germans, no one except
their most intimate friends was per-
mitted to board her at the pier All
other farewells had to be said ashore
200 feet away from the gang
plank.
The special train carrying Count
Won Bernstorn and his party from
was run right through
Hoboken to Fourteenth and Hudson
streets, three blocks away from the
pier. 1t arrived at z o'clock The
Count and Countess and the Princess
Hatzfeldt appeared on the rear plat {
form of their private car a few min {
ties later. Fully ESQ Hoboken DO
icemen, secret service men and mem t
oers Of the neutrality sq,-ad, sur s
founded the train. Not half that
many curious persons were on hand.
The count wore q soft brown hat.
! black fur lined coat with an astra-
han collar. a brownish tweed suit | i
md tan shoes with spats to match c