Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-25

Cleaning Desks in Berlin
Sad State Of Soils Roll.Top
Exclusive Dispatch from
DCNRAyEN p1EAK
The worlds Largest Besk-Ciesuine
Eoutrartoe

Correspondent ad interim for sweet cider
EVIDENTLY important changes are to
IL be expected in Germany, for I was
hurriedy summoned to Berlin recently by
Prince Max to undertake the task of clean.
ing some important desks for him. 1t
appears that when he and Doctor Sof
took charge of affairs lately they found
the rolltops that had been used by the
cabinet and the general stan in a de.
plorable state of confusion. After some
struggling they confessed themselves un-
able to bring order out of, the mess and
sent for me.
N1ERE no. the cable tolls so high
w might interject here a few remarks
on the general theory of desk.keeping.
Truly great men usually have their desks
in apple-pie order or hire an assistant to
take care of the problem. ! well remem.
ber what a pleasure il was for me TO sur
vey the working quarters of Ralph Waldo
Trne, Orison SWEET Marden sand Edward
Earle purinton. Everything was in its
place; the pigeon.holes shone with genial
trimness; every remark uttered was taken
down by stenographer and filed before it
was answered. 1t is only the mollycoddle
type that permits his desk to get the
better of him.
Imagine my amazement. therefore, when
Prince Max took me through the War
Onlce and the apartments of the cabinet
minister's. and ! realized the immcnsity of
my task The desk of Hindenburg, for in
stance, in a state to appal any pro.
fessional desk excavator. Hindy was alb
al Ipr;p A., ipt od t,t l,, mic
holes with pathetic gesture. There" he
said. you see the kind of job before you.
In that desk Hndy has 800 drafts for the
! conditions of an armistice. Every che of
them has been discarded, as ] know that
I'och won't listen to them: but old Hindy
wistfully keeps them cutterng up his
office. In this filing case he has seventy
five vouchers for the indemnity France is
to pay us. made out in decreasing sums
according as he withdraws his lines.
have been telling him that he'd better
stop his calculations or he'll find that in
demnty becoming negative figure. But
he's persis tent old dear. Here YOU OBJ
serve" the rummaged in the mountain of
documents on the table, ''s a chart show.
ing the progress of swimming lessons
among the Landsturm. in case it should be
necessary to get them rapidly across the
Rhine Now Hindy will never clean up
this stuff: while he's away ] want you to
see what you can do. | think, though,
you'd better save these two" lie pointed
to an English Phrase Book and a brightly
illustrated booklet, Summer Lodgings on
st. Helena" issued by the st. Helena
Business Mems Association.
"And poor Solf." said Max tenderly, as
we approached the office of the Secretary
for Foreign Affairs Hes over at Pots
dam this evening, sitting up with the
Kaiser, who has bad headache. His
desk was in a terrible condition when he
took it over from Kuehlmann, but it is
indescribable now"
1t was indeed. | glanced over it with
practiced eye and ran through some of
| the papers piled up. | saw an album of
| photographs called Peaceful Sceness sAlong
the Berlin -Bagdad Railway: expense ac-
counts of firing squads loaned to Lenine
and Trotzliy: vouchers for the burial fees
of German governors in Ukraine and am.
| bassadors in Moscow; "A schedule Of saa-
ries to be allowed the Kings lof Courland,
| graph of Woodrow Wilson which was much
| thumbed lit had evidently been scrutinized
| with great care); and several rough drafts
| OF letter beginning Dear President wiz
| son, the reritdble representatives of the
| German people In Overwhelming majority
| dssemJlcd--- I noticed also a letter from
| Lenne complaining that several weeks
| salary were overdue, and drawerful of
| half written notes addressed MIR. Fred
erick Oederlin, Washington, ID. e.
Anything you find in Doctor Soils desk
relating to the colonies may safely be de-
| stroyed," said Max. 81 am given to under
| stand by Herr Balfour that Solf will have
| no further need for them. That will sim
| plify your task little"
"My advice, Prince I said. would be
to make clean sweep of all this stuff
| On that basis | can undertake the job
| But to sort over this mass of papers and
| classify it into it's varying degrees of flu
| tlity and error would take me lifetime.
And how about your own desk? Is that
| in the same condition.
II think it is a little better than Solf's -
! he said sadly, but not much. You see,
old Hertling left things awfully upset.
When Kuehlmann remarked that the war
could not be ended by military means alone
he was quite right What we need l said
is an expert desk-cleaner That IS why l
| sent for you. ! guess you are right. De-
| stroy all that junk. When Solf comes back
he will be so tickled he'll embrace you
Then you can get started on my rolltop
| and Rosners."
"One other thing" ! said. There Is a
| certain desk in Potsdam, "A very exalted
| desk indeed. that think had better make