Evening star., 1919-09-28

= N N the night of December 10.
191S. thirty days after tho
signing OF tho armistice
- that silenced the helligh
pandemonium on the west.
ern front, there arrived in Berlin
Germany, the first Americans n;,the
+ uniform OF their country since the
United States declared war for de-
mocracy and humanity. 80, 4 ~,
" Their leader, a bronzed, stalwart
gray-haired officer with kind, eyes
but with protruding chin that be-
spoke determination, was such an
American as, should be picked for a
mission OF "trail-blazing''. into un-
friendly. bewildered Berlin. -,
Upon my own arrival in the prus.
sian capital on February Is, where J.
was to- do duty for nearly six months
as official interpreter for the grow,
ing United States military mission
for the repatriation of allied prison
eri OF war, was able to visualize bet
ter from my own experience, and
from the telling the Pheasant recep-
tion the. Barliners gave to such
group, OF "ipterlopers'' who would
thus dare to- pass without knocking
through the portals Of their highly
revered shrine to prussianlsm.
4. Rrig. Cen. George III. Harris, vet-
eran Of wars which began when he
was an Indian scout in the; Dakotas,
ana. captain OF industry. Of washtng- :
ton. ID. C.., is OUT first American to
get TO Berlin. He was the first to
descend from the 5Armistice special;
running from Spa. Belgium: to Ber;'
Z lin; the first to elicit the surprised
gaze Of the oshnipresent crowds at
+Anhaltert Bahnhof, the railroad sta-
tion. ana. ever true to that charIcter-
istic which made every soldier fol-
low him, the first to press his way
Through. the tation crowds, which,
moved between surprised, curiosity
and offended dignity. gave way
in part, at least, to clear an aisle
that he might pass to the taxi stand
in the street. ,,..Js ....,.y i
- can hear q few welcome greetings
from .stragg1ers in such stat!on,
crowd. quoting rather those which
were hurled at mo In those nrst mo;
nonts Of staggered. surprise.
An excited dlthyram from women.
often the moro demonstrative OF the
: sexes when you passed thena, an oo-
casional something !, in German. and
not infrequently in Engiish,s from =.
I, .'veteran.. In neld gray. who had
picked mp. enough English from pris!:
onsrs ID be cute. and knew how TO
barrsge you with "bloody English
man.. ;or, In a. ht Of sarcasm ~ i
once, sencouhtered,' a ''Good- -evering.
aear"-fron, q ne!d gray sapgsant. Of
Infantry. VI. y .ir. $50
! Not WITHOUT some element of humor
must have been. this processiop sof
.'tsritishers' through. the .Anhalser
Eannhof's waiting rooms and lobby.
For, besides three alleutenants. CONS
posing q. staff of aids, there, were
two American colored. orderlies; wres.
{, tling. baggage. who hailed from South
Carolina, and Mississippt before the
=; Army called. Paylor and Tally the
generals col6red aids, were to: have
lots Of fuh with the Berlin popula:-
tton.| Mahysars guessing yet whether
these loyal dark skinned ordsrlies
were senegaiese or from some unex-
,plored wiids Of South America. Tally
has. often told: me. out Of q. broad
grin. that he WAS Some South Aneri-
q cAn." 80, j. &. ~.
We wers always at hskt. SURPRISED
~ abe Mnvartably regarded as lang77
.lishtiaehs But this Instant surprise
was. always ,hanished when it was
!, achslasrsd that we wore; the aafrs
shpp3o tkhaki that oiir British ',coisils.
WORE and. that the Rerliner. vi: !:
familiar with the diffsropce IN cut
and military. insignia .betwcen. tho
:uniform OF tho American and british
:oi!icer, was possibly better acquainted
:, With the latter from longer contact
! af the front. !: 4. ga1S'.s Il -, q, I,
IN this connection It may be said
that ip the early days Of tho Aineri-
gan missions presence In Berlin; there
was rsitected an attitude of considera@
PIE more bitterness In the streets and
public places against the English
than. against us. But let our Eng
lish .n0mrudes In arms know. as those