Evening star., 1936-09-05
Bv John L. COOnfS.

" uUSS tliCn lCooAfOc'
They take to cover-and
home cover If they can make it.
Home cover in this instance being the
United States proper. Next best, they
HE themselves for protection to the
= nearest American consulate or en-
bassy.
But some don't get this far. And
some souls are more intrepid than
others In these cases they remain
in the theater of strife to become a
problem to their Government.
In an obscure corner of the State
Department is the Federal machinery
which takes care of Americans when
war breaks out, or trouble of another
sort appears upon the horizons of
normally peaceful nations.
In the current case of Spain, when
the war guns of civil strife began to
loose their thunders over the land,
quite a number of Americans were
abroad in the country. The big prob
lem was to round them up. get them
out if they so desired, evacuate them
or know where they were
The first thing on the State De-
partment's calendar in this and SIM
liar cases was to communicate with
all the Americans in the fighting area
and instruct them to come in" that
is to come to the nearest consulate
or embassy and register their ad
dresses.
For the moment trouble starts
abroad, trouble starts in the depart
ment at home. Everybody who has a
brother, sister, father, mother, cousin
abroad wants to know where he or
she is and if he is safe. And they
must have this information imme-
diately.
IT IS for this reason that the State
Department maintains a foreign
service department. The duties of this
division are somewhat those OF a
lialson bureau between the folks at
home and those abroad. 1t is sort OF
a travellers exchange, where loved
ones may be contacted, money sent
them, information forwarded to them
or received from them.
Il have a cousin travelling some
where in Spain. Will you find him?
His name is John Doe?"
That is typical of messages lately re-
ceived by the foreign service admins
tration. 1t may be that John Doe is
further described in the message-his
age given, his last place of visitation,
the color of his hair, eyes, height,
weight.
But more often the latter details
are lacking. More often the name
only is given and perhaps the last
picture post card address.
In cases of this kind the wisdom of
having all Americans in a foreign
country register at the nearest consul
late or embassy is patent. For, in a
moment, by turning to an index file
this information may be relayed to
the inquirer:
His name came in only yesterday
In list from the consular office at
Barcelona, where all Americans fol-
lowing instructions are registered"
The head Of this foreign service ad-
ininistration is one of the Nations
greatest "at home" diplomats. He is
Herbert Hengstler, middle-aged, ath-
letic, tall, slightly gray, charmingly
serene. For 80 years he has been
bringing Americans home, sending
them money, helping them out of
trouble, listening to their plants and
those of their kindred on this side
Of the water
Mr.. Hengstler and the writer were
in the midst of interesting conversa-
tion regarding his service to our ma
tionas. Just moment" says he,
these letters must be attended to.
We must keep 'em rolling" And, "by
the way" with laugh. heres a re-
quest to find 3-year-old boy-some-
where in Spain"
Now what could a 3-year-old boy
be doing running around Spain in
the midst of local civil WARP" he
wants to know
But if you want to hear a really
odd request, consider this one Here
Is request for funds for relief for a
couple of horses! Now you might ask
why are horses running around in
6pain-especially American horses?
But 1t takes all sorts of persons, ami
mails and situations to make a world.
We do not ask why they-horses or
people--are in any particular country.
That is the publics business and
pleasure. All we do is to take care of
them If they are American citizens.
In the case Of the horses, we for
warded the request for funds to take
care Of them to the parties we were
asked to get in touch with. The
funds, we presume, were sent And
the same we will do in regard to the
3-year-old boy. We will contact the
embassy and our consulates in Spain
and elsewhere If necessary-to try
and locate him"
THE work of the Foreign Service Ad-
ministration covers the whole
field of human beings. It extends
to husbands who have deserted their
wives-and vice versa--to those who
become i'll abroad; those who have
their money stolen or who lost 1t:
those who die abroad: those injured
In auto accidents or otherwise; those
arrested for minor offenses; strand
ed youths.
Everybody has heard of the cele-
brated Redfern case. Young Paul
Redfern, an aviator, started from the
United States for Brazil in 1927. He
never got there Somewhere en- route
he fell from the skies. Where? No
man knows. But that fall aroused
the searching world. Strange as it
may seem, one of the most interested
parties in that search was Mr.. Hengst-
Ter Of the Foreign Service Department.
He contacted every American con-
sulate and embassy in the South
American republics trying to find out
what become of Paul Redfern. The
nearest approach to the solution Of
the mystery is a huge sheaf of let
ters. cables and kilograms, nearly
- &t~t, To- - -,