Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-14
EUROPE SH|VERS,
CITY DOCTOR SAYS
Lieut.. Penn G. Skillern Returns
With Danish Bride and
Talks of Trip
DELIGHTED TO GET BACK

Europe seems bitterly cold. There
Is literal absenn of heat: YOU sit in
the theatres and hotels and other pub
lie places with your overcoat on. The
public buildings have been neglected
They seem tarnishcd and lack the glow
of well-kept places. Food is extremely
scarce. These three conditions give the
whole land an atmosphere that is drear
and uncomfortable.
This is the impression Europe of to-
day makes upon the casual traveller.
according to Lieutenant Penn Gaskill
Skillern, of the United States Naval
Reserves. Lieutenant Skilern is a
prominent physician of this city He
went to Denmark last September to
marry Lisa Nalentiner. of Kjorge. They
were married in Copenhagen in Octo-
ber and returned home by way of Ger
many. Belgium and France. The lieu
tenant and his bride just arrived at his
home. 2l1 South Thirteenth street.
Protest High Prices
Everywhere the people. AS they do
here, protest against high prices, con
tlnucd the doctor. "Evprywhere are evi-
denccs of the startling lack of coal. In
England, only theatres are open nights.
but there are no after dinner parties be
cause all the restaurants must close at
10 :'". The streets are deserted at II.
In Berlin. there is no heat in the trains.
At Wiesbaden the people walk about
the baths in their overcOatS At Paris.
at the opera, the women do not wear
evening gowns because it is too cold.
1T is the same with food and fabrics
You cant buy sugar in England In
order to save their supply. dealers are
forbidden to sell candy after p. M.
In England visitors are not permitted
to remain as guests in homes for longer
than four weeks.
No longer do you see the customary
burgher in Germany with his note
worthy cmbonpoint. Our guide in Pots
dam invited us to inspect him. Once.
he said, sadly. and he pointed to part
of his anatomy situated under his vest
pocket, Once, there was comfort here.
genial. girthful comfort. Look ut me
now! | wrap my coat around me twice.
And all the while the kaiser stored away
tons and tons of food, l went hungry,
and my wife starved to death.
They do not use tableclOthS and
serviettes and curtains in Germany.
They have no fabrics. What napkins
they use are of paper.
'In France. there is little food Only
condensed milk. and they make their
Ice cream out of that.
Metal Money Scarce in Germany
"They have no metal money in Ger
many, excepting the ten -pfennig pieces,
which aren { worth anything more. They
use paper money. The German mark
used to rate four to every American
dollar. ] got twenty seven for every
American dollar | spent in Germany.
France suffers a scarcity of silver
coins, because of the scarcity of silver
Today it costs one and one half francs
worth of silver to make franc piece.
The authorities have found it necessary
to arrest quite number of people be-
cause they were boarding away silver
coins and selling them at high price
In Switzerland as silver ore.
''Everywhcre there is an amazing
fear of the Reds, and yet you see
no especial manifestation of them.
Passports are carefully vised by every
country through which you pass and
visitors are not permitted to stay in
England-if they are not British sub
Jects-fOr more than a month.
81 went through Germany in my
navy uniform and was treated every
where with the highest courtesy. I went
along the Rhine and saw vineyards
prosperous in the sunlight, and couldn't
help but feel the hidcous contrast of
the fields of France, where out of
IS,DOO houses at hnplInS,a only IOuT-
teen entire ones remain standing. where
in between the rows of barbed wire in
no man $ land at Chateau Thierry, the
farmers have planted pitiably meager
crops, because there is no other place
to plant them.
cts a great JOY to be back in a
country where everything seems so
prosperous and rosy"
Doctor Skillern was for nine months
aboard the U. s. transport "Orizaba, ="
in the capacity of medical officer. Later
ne was stationed at the navy recruit
ing station. 1915 Arch street, this city
from which assignment he was sent to
France on the Baron Won Steuben,
where, after the armistice, he took care
of wounded French prisoners of war
who were being released and crossing
from Germany into Francs
Doctor Skillern met his wife at the
Christmas ball held in 1918 in the
American embassy at Copenhagen. 1t
was at the time that he was attached
ito the "Orizaba," the first American
vessel to enter that port after the
declaration of war.
Doctor Skillern is the son of DIR.
Penn Skilern, ST., and will live with
I. his wife at the fathers residence on
Thirteenth street.