Evening journal., 1919-01-25

GERMANY SEIZED
j. S. PROPERTY
Huns Matched Each Move
Of America in Taking
Holdings
KNEW IN JULY
WAR WAS LOST
BY CARL sANDBURG.
N. E. A. stan Correspondent.

n. r.. "A. Oldu correspondent.
CHRISTIANIA tBy Malll-More than
s20o,oo0,OOO worth OF American property
was seized by the German government.
This is the estimate OF John Henry
Cooney. manager and custodian Of all
the properties Of the international Har-
vester Company in Germany during the
war. u was a year ago. he said, that
the German Imperial Government serv-
ed notice on him that It would begin
supervision" Of the l. H. G. factories
and oflces. On January 4s 1918. the
properties were formally .conflscated ;
and, on July 8. the b ONCE workers in
the Hamburg central branch were noti-
ned they must leave the Offices, and
stay away.
NO attempt to take our properties
was made until the American govern
ment began seizure Of enemy alien
properties in America. II appeared that
from time TO time the German govern
ment was endesvoring to match each
move Of the American government as
a reprlsal. .
"The Singer Sewing Machine Com
pany properties, amountlng~to several
million dollars, were conflscated in
January. and the once personel re-
moved IN July. They had agencies In
every German city OF more than 10000
population.
From the middle OF July. Il was
clear the German people knew they
had lost the war. The people and the
press talked about how every day
meant a Ligger bill for Germany To-
pay when the war was over.
The storm OF hate directed against
Americans In 1915 spent its fury and
exhausted itself by 1917. The old couple
with whom roomed in Hamburg were
devoted to me, and, II 1t had come 10
trouble, believe they would have per-
sonally defended me. ..-.t.
Fate played strangely with German
soldiers, as with those OF the Allies.
Men who saw other men fall all
about them, In trench warfare and In
the horrible mass attacks Of the Ger
man shock troops, came through un-
scratched, health unimpaired.
Il saw one boy OF 10 go away Au-
gust 2, 1914" says CoOney. He went
TO the front line trenches for IS
months. Men were killed at his right
elbow and his left elbow. He walked
over piles OF dead He went over the
top and saw lines OF men melt away
under the allied machine gun flre. And,
all the time, he was never touched by
a bullet and never had a sick day. He
was a flrst-olass mechanic, and was
later transferred 70 the telephone corps,
and then TO submarine repair shops.
saw him come back from the western
front, with his face the color Of green
ish clay. grlnning at his luck. t
AN OF our boys who come back from
the trenches came with faces the color
of clay. Even the whites Of their eyes
had this yellowish, greenlsh tint Of
the clay Of dugout walls In Belgium
and France. I say these boys stay
IN Hamburg a few months while their
wounds were healing. Gradually, this
clay color would leave their faces.
oyer Reineke, one OF our office
workers, was drafted. He was sent TO
the trenches in Poland; then, being q
good penman, he was requisit!oned for
headquarters ONCE work. Suddenly, all
sblebodied men were taken from head
quarters 0fice and put into Ukrainian
detachments.
Word came back 10 his family in
Hamburg that oyer was dead. The fam
lily tied crepe on their sleeves for a
week. A comrade OF oyer found a grave
In Galicia. marked with the name oyer
heinke,' lacking the second letter 70
OF the Hamburg boys name. Well, one
day this summer, Oyer Reineke came
hiking back into Hamburg. with
story Of how he had been in service
In the Caucasus and had walked 5000
miles back TO his home folks. II was
a big day in the Reineke house"