St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1919-02-01
ONE OF THE OLDEST TOWNS IN
GERMANY.
nv VIM d Hines !


Treves, Rhenish Prussia, Janu-
airy 2S.-One Of the Oldest towns in
Germany is to-day from all super
fetal appearances an American con-
trolled city. Entering it from the
south, the first person traveller
comes upon is an American soldier
in supreme command of all traffic.
He holds up German street cars with
the utmost nonchalance while a slow
moving vehicle passes.
At every corner in the town these
American traffic patrols have been
posted. If a traveller desires to OBJ
| tain a billet in Treves he must first
visit the American general in charge
of civil affairs. The American have
full control over the sleeping accom-
modatiOns in the city.
Treves was originally founded by
the Romans, when Caesar conquered
| Europe. Several of the old Roman
structures remain. In the heart of
| Treves there is a huge time-worn
gate called the Porta Nigra. 1t was
built thousands of years ago but 1t
still stands, it's rugged arches and
towers defying time and the ele-
ments. An old Roman amphitheatre
and Roman baths also form a land
| mark of Roman occupation.
Daily, for more than a month,
American troops have moved through
the city, passing these relics of a
former glorious empire. To the
| Americans these ruins appeared es-
pecially significant in Germany.
They represented the wreck Of the
ambition of a world conquerer, who,
though he was successful at first,
| was unable to maintain the struc-
ture he had reared.
Among other sights at Treves,
| which makes an American feel at
home, are the tea houses. Most OF
them have orchestras and here the
American soldiers and officers gather
during the afternoon and evening
The Astoria, the largest one in the
city, had as its patrons one night |
visited it five Americans to one Ger
man.
The Casino, a wealthy club Of
Treves, has been taken over with the
exception of one room by The Ameri-
| can Red Cross, and is being run by
| that organization as a gathering
place and mess for Americans. Il
| is a magnificent place containing
billiard tables, bowling alleys, we'll
| decorated lounging and dining rooms
and a huge ballroom.
The ballroom is being used as an
entertainment hall for American sol
diers quartered in Treves. Ironical-
| ly the Kaiser, represented in life
sized marble but at one side of the
ballroom, glowers ferceyl at these
| scenes. His mustache points at
| fierce angles and his face is upturned
as though the sights now being en-
acted in this former center of Ger
man Kultur were too much for him
At the station in Treves, the Red
Cross, with permission from the
Army, has taken over the restaurant
and here American boys may obtain
a hot drink, jam and meat sand
| wiches, cookies, cigarettes, etc, at
any hour Of the day. The Red Cross
established this canteen forty-eight
hours after the troops entered Ire
yes. AS a consequence the big sta
ton crowded with American SOL
diers constantly, and German travel
ers reaching the city are not long In
doubt as to the extent Of the occupa-
| ton.
The people Of Treves are not open
| ly hostile, neither are they over
friendly. OF course this latter de-
| scription does not apply to the hypo-
! critics, of which the occupied terri
tory abounds. They rather faun up
| on Americans and are very serVile
and polite. But the sincerity Of at
titude is belied by pictures Of the
| Kaiser, Hindenburg and other ex-
ponents of German world dominion
| which they refuse to remove from
their walls, and their insiduous pleas
for sympathy for their defeated but
unconquered country