Evening star., 1919-08-31
TRIP TO THE NEW POLAND,
'NERVE CENTER OF EUROPE
Vivid Description of Run From Paris to
Warsaw on Diplomatic Train, Via
Switzerland and Austria.

way in which the terrible news could
be broken.
American Jewish Mission. go
The most highly official party en-
the train the american Jewish
mission headed by Mr.. Morgenthan.
former ambassador to Turkey. He
had with him Gen. Jadwin or the
Regular Army, Homer Johnson. the
third member of the mission. being
/ due to arrive later. The ambassador
quite won the hearts OF his fellow
/ travellers by the openness which he
displayed. and he made good use>sf
his time by almost daily conferences
with the Polish people who were on
board as to different phases Of this
most reNing and pressing question.
He quite disarmed those who. ..ap-
preached him on a diplomatic .baslS
by assuring them that the mission
was not so much interested in what
/ had taken place. as in trying to lind
solution of the problem.
| 1T Is not TO be denied that at the
! start the Polish people on the, train
were disturbed as to why .the.e
should be Jewish man on the mis-
sion, and not Polish man. and they
expressed the feeling that they would
perhaps have preferred an ail-Ameri-
can mission. Later this same feeling
cropped up in Warsaw, when the. mis-
sion began TO work. on the train.
hoEever, nov Mr. Morgenthau dissiRated !,
this feeling before arrived in
/ warsaw. and he left the train with
the best wishes OF all present who
expressed confidence that he would be
able to accomplish something before
returning.
All this is far away from the. tram
journey. The first break in the mo
notony came about > o'clock Friday .
morning. when Swiss guard. ader,a :
prolonged parley outside the. doos. I
! made his way into the stateroom 80
demand of me as to whether i had I.
any gold. | answered NO" with truth &
and some regret. and then heaEd the
porter rNlew The conversation or pro-
! test that the sentleman-meani
1 myself-was travelling on dipAs-a
matte passport: that even if L ha,i-,
gold. l was entitled 10 carry iso
| through. Afterward I learned, ti6ci
porter was really sorry that ! did MR.
have any, as he would have enjoyed
| asserting his authority and the sar- =
credness of my passport privileges
! before the customs man 80
Swiss Hotels Deserted. - -
( When tumbled into the restsur.ss n
car. the next morning was IN The
Swiss mountains, and for the time
! being ] forgot the miseries Of fire :
long Getour we were obliged to ina kc., }
! All day we rode through the noun &
tains. The most depressing sight WAS :
presented by the constant succession
! of hotels. well nigh deserted for fark
of the American summer travel tp- I
| deed. Swiss hotel man who man
/ aged to journey with US for wh Ils-
! said that the lack of American visit
orS was virtually a catastrophe, and
/ he was ready with willing earS yor :
any words of hope that the barriers ,
,tr1,t N -..te
to visit. In the end, though, he .made. :
| up his mi>r and admitted that they :,
/ would probably haze to hold on TIL
next summer, when. he intinaat ted.
they would try to do their best.
| The day was marked by second
customs and passport inspection un-
der the Swiss. There was hitch be-
cause of the failure of rubber stamp
to properly function on the passport
/ of gentleman with Russian Wills. .
! kers. and for two hours We waited
till this and other problems were. adj
| justed, but on the whole the Swiss of
ficials went through their labors in "a
most competent manner. -D..s
! Vienna is a sad city. a catacor1l heof, :.
a dying people. IT was impos'sible~te- Z
escape the feeling that a great de- Z
! preston rested over the place-,s it 3
was not the bread lines that w" found
| on the streets during the ride about .
! town. it was not the half-vacant. shop Z
1 windows. it was the sight of ih<- pcg~ :
| pie themselves There was not snriie- J
(! to be seen in the entire journey
/ through the principal streets -&SHen
the men and women walked in list
! less. half-hearted sort of a way. and
as for the children, they had a spin :
dley-shanked look. All the people
men, women and children-seeureu To- Z
have a sickly green sort Of a pailor..
Sugar there was none in Nienna. (
bread only in scant allowances, neat,>
minimum. and of hope or courage: ?
hardly any. We visited the great pic =
! ture gallery from which the Italians
have removed carvases which. the ?
! Austrians had originally stolen from =
them. The great gilt frames had
been left on the walls and in the va
cant spaces inside the frame S"u'rfsss >
inscribed the message that the Ital-
| ians had taken them At the entrance
to the rooms an attendant had set
up a desk and WAS soliciting names
| for a petition asking for the return Of !,
the pictures. but it was surprising
how many of the people refused. They :
turned away indifferently. with an in-
Quiry as to what difference did il make
| to why they were not pctitioning for
more bread instead of pictures.
Poor AuStria-not even wise was :
required on the passport to enter it. .
cross it, or leave il. but over the from
tier in Slavokia the red and white
officials fairly swarmed with an ex-ss
act inquiry to what goods were on
hand which were dutiable. and most
! scrupulous examination of passports.
The survey took some time. which
led one of the allied officials to say
that one Of the first logical steps. of !.
the league of nations must be to take Z
up the matter of uniform passports and r
customs examinations. especially at
people in transit. q. &
~
At the Polish Frontier.
All through the afternoon. the train
travelled over a farming country. a.
great plain. and when the entry was =
made into Poland late in the evening.
where another customs investigation
was made the wide sweep or thecf
Polish plain with the farm lights-ia =
great semf-circle could be foundss
around us. There was one impreSsiTe
incident at the Polish frontier. On'S
the train, as ii happened, were hair.
a dozen or more Poles who "'w'ers
making their first return TO Pola nd :
since the outbreak of the war. They
had been held in various parts Of the =
world unable to reach their native.f
land. 1t was raining heavily. and the
little station at which we stopped WAS
in a slough of mud. Its very walls
were torn by Russian shellfire .de~
livered during the early days of the.
war. They filed silently out of- ihe;
car. and with barred heads stood be-
side the train in silence.
Perhaps they were praying. I do
not know but / would have given
great deal for an idea as to their
thoughts. all the more. because.the.c