Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-12-06
CHAPTER XVI.
Germany in Wartime,

slogan: Deutschland uber allies"
when the great war, which was &c
achieve Germanys aims, commenced:
it came almost as much as surprise
TO the Germans as it was to the rest o.
the world. They knew it was ineVi-
table and they looked forward eagerly
to Der Tag" but when it arrived the
hustle and excitement, not to say
panic, which developed throughout
Germsny was so pronounced that II
some cases it approached the ludicrous'
Obviously the people were kept IL
ignorance of the plans OF their Wa'
barons in order that hostilities migh'
{ ..fa as a complete surprise to them
and give color TO the governments
contention that the war was forced
upon Germany.
So little thought did we give to the
complexities of the political situation
that on Friday, July 81, 1914, my wife
;nG | started Ill on a motor trip. We
bed heard so many rumors of war
"rithin the j.. 2yious ten years that we
saw no r;..&on why an amicable solu-
tinn should not again be found as Il
had always been before.
On our way out the Charlottenburge
Chaussee we passed the kaiser and the
kaiserin driving to Berlin from Pots
dam at about sixty miles an hour, and
there were other indications of ac-
tivity, but we attached little impor-
lance to them.
When we reached Potsdam, how
ever, and saw thousands of tons OF
coal heaped up between the railroad
tracks which were ordinarily kept
clear, we realized that preparations for
war were being made in earnest and
we stopped to consider whether II
would not be better after all to return
home. Such was our ignorance Of war
that we decided that, even though it
were not advisable to motor in Bel
GUM and France, where We We're
bound, we might safely plan a tour in
the Black forest in Germany.
We had left Berlin late in the after
noon. In the evening, when we arrived
at Gotha, we found that the younger
walters in the restaurants and hotels
had already left and that the older re-
serves expected general call the next
day.
The next morning we started for
Frankfort. As We passed through vii
lage after village, war preparations be-
20 came more and more evident. Measures
were being taken everywhere to arouse
nthusiasm-young men gathered on
school steps were singing patriotic
songs, students were marching and
speeches were being made in the mar
ket places.
About five o'clock that afternoon we
arrived in Frankfort. The whole place
was in fever of excitement over the
mobilization posters and their resent
ment against the French was being
aroused by "eytras," which were
handed out without charge, announc-
ing that the French had already
dropped bombs on the railroad at
Nurnberg and that French officers in
autos had over-ridden the borders. |
The ridiculous statements about |
French flyers dropping bombs on the |
lai'"aad at Nurnberg had not the |
slightest foundation, Of course.
The older people who had lived |
through the war of 1870 had interested |
audiences for once while they related |
rast experiences and gave advice as to |
what preparations to make. A posi- |
bility OF food shortage seemed TO be |
uppcrmost in all minds, and the gro
cerieS We're stormed with eager buy |
ers. Salt suddenly jumped to rs cents |
Mound and other things in proper
ton.
ca Sunday, August 2, all the gaso-
line in the country was Communicated, |
and we heard of many American tour
lists being put out Of their cars in the |
cities and even on country roads, no |
matter how inaccessible to trains they |
might be. We accordingly decided to |
stow our car away in an old wagon |
shed attached to a hotel and sought to |
return to Berlin by train.
At the railway station there was |
such tremendous crowd that it was |
quite impossible to get anywhere near |
the ticket Office, and anyway no prom |
Use could be given as to trains to Ber-
lin.
Trunks and bags were piled high in |
every available space and it was |
months before that enormous pile Of |
baggage was finally sorted out.
We decided to defer our effort to |
reach Berlin until Monday, since there |
seemed no hope of getting away that ;
day.
On Monday morning, the streets |
were filled with excited crowds de-
stroying every sign with a French +,
word on it and looking for spies. The |
papers had announced that the coun- :
trv was full Of French spies, women
as well as men. I saw the crowd stop .
an automobile, take woman out and !
literally tear her clothes to shreds be-
fore the police succeeded in rescuing |
her from the mob and took her to the
police station. The general SUPPOSE
ton was that all the man spies were
masquerading as women and the nrst
thing the mob did was to pull out hair
n;ns TO see whether the hair was real.
On Monday evening, we managed to
edge our way into the last through
train to Berlin. We were side-tracked
.....,>,o.,I>Ia +imes to allow frOOD