The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-02-25

floor. This secrecy that I found 1ea1-
ously guarded by the military authori
ties In Berlin melted me to make dill
gent inquiries about the wounded, and
I learned a considerable number of
facts that had escaped even notice of
my average Berliner friends.
No Wounded Seen in Streets
The authorities were jealousy
guarding the wounded from the sight
Of the people in the streets. The gov
eminent always managed to bring in
the wounded in the dark and quiet
ness of the night, and no repulsively
wounded and incapacitated soldier or
officer is permitted to roam through
the streets after they are restored to
health. While in cities of South Ger
many frequently saw groups of hor-
ribly repulsive looking incapacitated
soldiers and officers in the streets. but
in Berlin streets, for the last nine
months or so these sights had been
prohibited.
One night started to my hotel very
late, shortly after midnight, and on
reaching the corner of the building
I saw a row of vans, huge and bulky.
walked towards where the last one
of these stood, but I had not gone
livery near it when some one shouted
to me to turn back at once. 1 judged
that there were more than forty of
!, these vans in the row. 1t was not
until the following evening that l
learned the full significance of this
row of ugly vans. 1 learned that the
Prussian casualties had been so heavy
during the recent battles with the
English, that the government found
themselves unable to provide vehicles
to bring the wounded to the hospi-
tails. They had Communicated every
express wagon, and every furniture
van in the Berlin district. It has been
the custom Of the military authori
ties, whenever possible, to bring in
the wounded and carry out the dead
, at night.
Becomes Accustomed to Berlin Sights
The first few days of my stay II
Berlin caused me terrible mental mis-,
cry and it required much determine
ton on my part to persuade myself tt
remain in the city until had finished
my mission, but as the days passed
I. like the Berliners themselves, be.
came accustomed to the every day
street sights.
Another thing impressed me as very
, extraordinary during the first few
weeks of my arrival in Berlin. A
night, returning to my hotel late,
always heard the uncanny sounds o.
trains in the distance. In the pre-wal
; days? made inquiries of other stran
gers in Berlin who were from the
South of Germany, and no one coult
enlighten me on the subject. And be
sides, others complained of the samt
mental torture that they were exper
fencing at that time of the night
s Why Night Trains Sounded UncanD,
> But at last I learned the reason
Before the war Berlin never went t.
sleep, and the people who cared t,
go to sleep had been accustomed t.
retire amidst an atmosphere that wa
full of various noises and sounds. Blu
. now, beginning at II p. M, the cit
i was so still that every sharp and IN
! usual noise or sound penetrate
| through the still air with a shrillnes
that sends a feeling of horror througl
the brains of those who have not We
. become accustomed to the war-tim
j. Berlin night air. The trains had i
. the pre-war days reached and left tn
, station with even more frequency, bu
, no one had even take notice of thei
y sounds in the night. Before leavin
l for Germany, friends who had mad
short visits to Berlin had complaine
u to me in Switzerland that Berli
i nights had become ghostIy and thu
10 people heard unusual sounds at tn
: dead of night.
u Another thing that had been re
~ peated to me before leaving Zurich fc
k Germany was that travellers had toll
me that the streets of Berlin wei
full of cripples and that nearly ever
ID other person you met on the stree
D. was a cripple. The day after my a.
in rival this sight panied me too, and
&c at once proceeded to inquire into tt
Nv causes. I soon found out that thel
f. was nothing unusual about the!
n sights. There are the same numb
r. of peace-time civilian cripples in Be
al lin at present as there were duriI
n the pre-war days. But in the prev;
I'd days the streets were filled with ale
is and quick-moving healthy men al
n women. Now they have become a
ii solutely dsnuded of young men. II
r. people do not frequent the street
SIC and those who use the streets are
II infirm that the pre-war civilian cri
of pies stood up sharply before the We
h. thin background.
N But the sights that Mortified me t
,s. lmost were the long and weary lin
,o+ before provision stores.
XII In Food Line at a. m.
I'D Ny comrades urged ma to go out