The Washington herald., 1921-03-14
By ARTHUR RUHL.


| crossed East Prussia twice, hnd
passed four times through the for
! mer German part Of Danzig-now
! free city-and spent in all about
| a fortnight there. talked with
good many Danzig business men
i and with the people usually met
with in travel. and heard much. nat
urally. Of Germany's position towaiu
the treaty of Versailles.
As this was not subject / was
specifically Investigating and l went
no farther into Germany than Dan
zig itself. shall merely recall here
a single episode which. IL 1t does
not cast any broad light on Ger
many's ability to pay, may suggest
something of that curious atmos-
phere of bewilderment-to put 1t in
! its mildest terms = in which one
feels people fioundering as soon as
one crosses the border.
. Dan.is Writer.
| Through the courtesy of a steam
ship agent l met a young Danzig
| newspaper man, who knew the old
! town root and branch and liked To
walk and practice his English. His
father had been a retired Prussian
\ officer, who. after he had left the
army. had become sacristan of the
Marienkirche. the huge medieval
pile which stands like a great rock
] In the heart Of the city. He had
Learned English as little boy by
| trudging up the winding stairs to
the top of the tower with English
| and American tourists-he remem-
| bercd particularly one of the Van
| derbilts and by keeping up his
reading now spoke with scarce an
accent. was fairly familiar with our
literature, and spoke French and
Italian as well.
An Un-Prussisn Prussinn.
| A Prussian of Prussians IN the
sense that he was born in Danzig,
and always admiring people who
worked hard and had a strong sense
of duty and served the state rather
than themselves. his main personal
interests were art and architecture
he was himself an amateur car
toonist of some ability-and his
comfortable manners and whimsical
point of view were quite different
from what we usually associate
with the word "Prussian" at home.
We tramped over the whole town.
drank coffee at his home and beer
in ancient rathskellers. and talked
about everything from the war to
"Expressionism."
He was at his desk every morn
ling at 6 o'clock and worked there
luntil 3. After that he wrote art
lcriticisms and book reviews, and
every Saturday he turned in his
main contribution sof the week, a
humorous column in which an yold
restaurant habitue. Mr.. Pogudke." "
a stammtischgast. as the Germans
Isay. talked somewhat after the
manner of Mr.. Dooley about the
events of the world and of Danzig.
Feature Popular.
This feature had been running
in the paper for ten years or so
and was known and quoted all over
Germany. So much SO. indeed, that
during the war. although his
brother had served until sent home
with a smashed leg and both his
sisters had worked as nurses at the
front, the military authorities had
\ suggested that he stay at home and
keep the column going.
They said he could do more by
amusing the soldiers with Mr.. Po-
gudke than by going into the army
himself. He showed me postcard
thanking him for something he had
written and some humorous verses
that Gen. Mackensen had sent from
Bucharest. Mackensen was a Dan.
zig man and much admired there
apparently, and Mr.. Pogudke had
one day lamented the fact that now
that he had become a field marshal
4 l. Ill 4, l.
old Danzig friends. To which the
mania with the verses assuring
Mr.. Pogudke that, though far
away, he was still true to Danzig.
Another Response.
| On another occasion Mr.. Pogudke
had told the tragic story of an egg
which his wife had got hold OF
somehow or other and was about to
make into an omelet when she
dropped it on the floor and broke It,
Several weeks later box arrived
from the Ukraine. Some soldiers OF
the German army of occupation
there had read the sad story and
packed a box full of eggs in straw
and sent them to Danzig addressed
to Mrs. Pogudke."
| The column was known and liked
at any rate, and must have consid-
terable advertising value for the pa
1 per in which 1t is printed. In Amer.
lea its author could have made 9
living with any of his several Jobs
of desk man." art and literary edi-
tor. cartoonist. and feature" writer
land IL not able to soar to the dizzy
heights Of popular syndicated col.
umn conductors, at any rate receive
salary which would compare ia.
vorably with that of the miner oil
professional man.
! Salary Received.
In Danzig, working six days &
week from O'Clock, a. m. until
o'clock D. m. and after that over
special work at home he received
! 500 marks a month--about y26
This was ten times his salarysbefore
1.-THE war, although actually less. ow-
ing to the depreciation of the mark
land a very good salary for DAN
zig. The chief editorial writer oi
another paper. i found. received less
He would, he said. have been un-
able to live even in the simple fash
lion followed by him and his young
wife, were II not that she also
work. ed on the paper the same hours
as he. Her work consisted mostly
in taking down in shorthand and
ltranscribing news sent in over the
lfeIephone-whichs seemed to be used
lin Danzig even for places as distant
as Berlin and Paris as we would
use the telegraph-and for this she
hreceived 1000 marks month. The
owner of the paper permitted them