Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-16
TRIP into berlin
FULL OF THRILLS
Correspondent Braves condi-
tons of Anarchy to Visit
City of Riots.
HOTELS FEARED TO OPEN
BY GORDON STILES.
Cablegram to The Evening Star and the
Chicago Daily News. Copyright, 1919.

BERLIN, Germany, January delay
ed).-Twenty minutes before midnight
tonight I arrived in the heart of the
haps an account of my experience in en-
tering the city will give an idea of con-
ditions in the German capital
At Q o'clock this morning l left Olden-
zaal, the Dutch frontier town, with the
prospect, if there were no delays, in
reaching Berlin at S o'clock in the even
ing. Such news as trickled through
from here was far from reassuring, with
the result that there were few travellers,
and consequently the trip was extremely
comfortable There was some anxiety
among the passengers as to the connec-
ton with the main line at Lohne. as ru-
mors were afioat of the activity of the
Spartacus crowd in Dusseldorf, the
starting point of the Berlin through
train. 1t was but few minutes. late.
however. and by 1 O'Clock the last lap
of the journey was begun at Hanover
Three Women Braved Trip.
Alarming reports reached US here
about the fighting in Berlin and no pa
pers from that city had come through.
until only about fifty civilians remained
These included three women. The rest
of the passengers were officers and SOL
dlers. There was feeling of extreme
tenseness at every one of the frequent
stops at signal stations, and there was
a great clatter of opening windows the
moment the wheels ceased to reyoive.
In spite OF the interruption all went
well and it looked as though we would
get through without trouble. especially
1rya fh4 IA as,. -l>
the outskirts of the capital came into
view. They were certainly welcome
sight and congratulated myself on my
arrival in such short time.
Passengers Ordered Out.
But shock came at Charlottenburg
station. When the train drew in all the
passengers were peremptorily ordered
out: Questioning drew forth only vague
replies to the effect that the Spartacus
forces We're attacking the line just be-
yond and that it was impossible to
reach the center Of the city.
Thus was left standing at 10 p.m.. in
strange section, where there were no
hotel accommodations and apparently
no means of transportation. There were
strange sights in the ''platZ'' in front of
the station. Dozens of groups of people
OF all classes were swarming about ex-
cited speakers mounted on boxes under
tLO VI Tic cASClTlC llSnIS. D6-
tachments of government soldiers were
appearing suddenly from the side streets
and buildings and hurrying in this and
that direction.
One party Of dozen soldiers came up
escorting a young woman who struggled
and cursed as she was hurried into a
military headquarters that once had
been asdainty modiste parior. She was
Spartacus adherent and was Missed by !
the crowds as she disappeared with her !
captors.
Determined to Push On.
I determined to try to reach Inter |
den Linden, but was told that it was !
impossible. Some assured me that the |
center OF the town was in ruins II
thought, however, that things could not |
be much worse, so / set out walking
along the streets, which were all bril- |
liantly lighted, and after an hour reach |
ed the geological gardens. where found |
that the subway trains were still run
ming. decided to try to make the
kaiserhof Hotel, as the subway station
is directly across the street. But on my
arrival there found that the station
was closed. The train not stopping, 1
alighted at the next station and started
to pick my way back
This section was in remarkable
contrast with the suburbs Here the
lights were out, and only the moon
shone down the streets, which seemed
deserted.
Hears Crack of Rifles.