The Washington herald., 1921-07-03

TtHE Bahnhof was confusing. Berlin was
= worse than Munich and infinitely noisier
than Dresden. Ny fellow travellers Of the
night before had been met by members Of
their families and had disappeared in the
crowd. I stood alone, but besieged by por-
tiers clamoring to carry my luggage, and
only silenced BY my handing my bag to
tattered, hungry looking boy, who strobe on
with it As fast as the crowd would let
him. The German language seemed more
like hiccoughs than ever. / always feel Ike
telling a vociferous German to count ten
and drink a glass of water. The intense
activity impressed me afresh. / had en-
tered the country from Switzerland by way
Of Lake Constance, and Lindau, the frontier
town on the edge of the lake, was sleepy
little village seemingly untouched by the
war. Tiny Gretchens with long yellow
braids eyed the travellers curiously, but the
whole village seemed asleep in the warm
autumn haze of late afternoon. But Ger
many grew more awake every hour 1 trav-
eled from the border. In fact, at the border
received a shock when the customs Official
asked me if had q Bavarian visa as well
as the German one. 1 turned q surprised
look and shook my head.
How long are you going to stay in
Munich" he asked. Upon my telling him,
he and another official held a short confer
ence and then passed me along. "a special
Bavarian passport is now essential in en-
tering Southern Germany. In Munich a
sinister something impressed me almost i'm
mediately. The civil guard with muskets
thrown across their backs surprised me. as
/ knew from the terms Of the treaty Ger
many was supposed to be disarmed. Even
the Tyrolese. in their picturesque costume
of laced knee breeches, embroidered stock
ings and cocky little green -feathered hats,
failed to enliven the somberness of this
armed guard, as well as the impressive
police who stood at every intersecting
street; Prussian in every item of their
uniform, from their long, sweeping, black
capes to their helmets, alas too well known
to many of usi
TRAVELLING in Germany Is uneomfort-
i able. The new State permits no reser-
vation Of seats, and as the whole country
seems to be moving it is hard to find q seat
unless one arrives at the station long ahead
of time and reserves one by sitting in It.
Even travelling first class seems to make
little difference. The people who used to
ride third class now many of them occupy
frst-clsss seats, and If one is at all par
ticular about ones travelling companion it
is a gamble to decide what class ticket to
buy. In my journey from Lindau to
Munich 1 had bought a frst-class ticket.
Installing myself and my bags in an empty
carriage, l shut the door and settled myself
for a long ride into the night, hoping the
train would not be full, and that 1 might
be undisturbed. Alas! No such luck. A
great, bulky fellow, with a huge sack Of
apples, soon threw open the door, and with
out q so much as ''by your leave" but with
q pronounced grunt of satisfaction, pro-
ceeded also to make himself comfortable
across from me. l thought with dismay Of
the long hours ahead, and now hoped chance
would throw some comfortable Frau or
Fraulein my may. But, again, NO such
luck! As night came on the train became
chilly, and he first shut all the windows and
then the door, and then pulled out his pipe
and smoked Silently I sat on my side of
the compartment, but inwardly protested.
Hour after hour he puffed away while I