The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1936-12-15


m111 Pearson sailed for
oA q tour Of Europe
to do q Merry Co Round" back
ground report Of the hot news
brewing over there.
In letter TO Bob Allen, Pear
son declared that q startling
change Of attitude had occurred
since he last visited Europe In
the postwar period. He said:
'sThe world has turned from
those idealistic days Of the War
to End War to the dreary pros
pect Of another certain catastro-
phe.
II am going to write up some
Of that changing attitude, some
Of the human cross-currents be-
hind the scenes in Europe which
seem to be drawing an unwilling
! helpless population into the
vortex Of war"
WI The Official Lineup
In the letter Pearson stated
that when war finally breaks it
win be Germany and Italy on one
side with Russia and France on
the other (which upset the apple
cart"
More important than the war
story In Spain, he said, were the
other countries which are max
ing o pawn out Of Spain"
Travelling on the luxurious Ital-
ian liner "Saturnia," Pearson
found that It's captain, Antonio
HYeglich, was the same man who
had commanded a battered old
steerage vessel on which Pearson
made his first trip In Europe
Just after the Armistice.
Writes Bob Allen
Following Is the letter from
Cup co-author to the other:
DEAR BOB.
Just nineteen years ago I set
out to see the world, and now
I am feeling sentimental about
n. You see, I'm sailing on the
same steamship line, along the
same route through the Medi-
terranean which took as
ycungster just out Of the army
and college.
The war was just over. The
shin was the Sofia" q battered
old Austrian troop ship. taken
u7er by the Italians and con-
verted into an immigrant vessel
lust after the Armistice.
She gave sustenance to more
bed-bugs probably than any
other ship afloat. IN addition
to which she carried 900 emf
grants and seven first cless
passengers. The emigrants were
going back to Greece and Italy
after the war, the first classers
were relief workers enroute to
the Balkans.
1T was q spraying. Spewing,
seAsick cargo, Spaghetti, red
wine. filth, nauseating Near
Eastern smells. But we got used
to Il. Those were the youthful,
zestfulf days when you could
get used to anything.
The captain Of the Sofia"
was weatherbeaten old sea-
dog named Antonio Hreglich,
who came from the Istrian
peninsula where almost every
man goes to sea just out Of the
cradle.
!. Meets Old Friend Again
Imagine my surprise when I
got aboard the "Saturnia" and
found that Captain Hreglich Is
now its commander. No man
could command two more OPP
posite types of ships. The Sat
rtrnia" Is one Of those bids italy
Is making for the passenger
traffic of the North Atlantic.
and Is about the most luxurious
tugboat I have ever shipped on.
asked Captain Hreglich II
he remembered our trip nine
teen years ago and was some
what crushed when he said he
did not. OF course nineteen
years Is long time to remem-
her, especially when you are
carrying several thousand pas
sengers every year, so I guess
III forgive him. But TO me that
trip was pretty important.
q We went through the Medi-
terranean to Greece, the back
door of Europe, and up through
the Balkans TO Serbia. where
they were just clearing away
the barbed wire.
I All along the way. and dur