Evening star., 1939-10-27

hotels about midnight every night
and examine the passports Of vis-
itors, for fear of some attempt to
slip over the border unbeknown to
the German authorities. Naturally
anybody seen taking notes is in
vited to explain his purpose.
But once they are assured of the
innocence Of ones purpose these
Dutch policemen are probably the
most courteous and cooperative
policemen to be found on earth. The
same goes for the customs officers.
About the only thing that will get
one OF them mad is to offer him
any reward for the time he takes
showing you all he can of the bor-
der.
He is the guardian of a strange
and lovely land-this little province
OF Limburg, so highly Americanized,
so intensely religious. Black-robed
monks with black boards reaching to
their chests ride about the country
roads on bicycles. They all smoke
popular American brands of cigar
ettes Along the roads are scores of
little shrines with porcelain figures
OF the Virgin and Of the crucified
Christ set in rock grottos. A gloomy,
rainy autumn lies heavy over the
birch-wooded hills. The rivulets
that flow down them into the Meuse
are almost at flood stage. All the
leaves are dirty yellow. Only the
ivy on the walls is scarlet. It is
the same in the Eifel and the Huns
ruck beyond the ridge with its green
anti-tank Notifications "a yellow
autumn from the Meuse to the
Rhone. This province of Limburg
might almost be considered an ex-
tension of the Rhineland beyond the
shadow of the sWastika. 1t is what
Germany might be without its war
psychosis.
Few Soldiers in Vaaly.
Throughout the province soldiers
are inconspicuous. In Vaalz there
actually are very few of them. The
people are too anxious to avoid any,
thing that might have the appear
ance of hostile act. No Dutch
sentry walks post on this side of
the red-and- steel barrier.
Only a customs officer waits there
for the occasional trucks that come
through from Germany.
At present the narrow strip-from
10 yards wide by the customs posts
at the head of the road to possibly
a half mile wide at some places
below the fortified constitutes
a sort OF no mans land. 1t is mostly
German territory. There is no par
tlcular reason why one shouldn't
wander about in it, so long as the
sentry on the ridge doesn't happen
to look. But Vaalz would consider
this a decided breach of its hospi-
tality. The frontier used to be open
here. OF late the Germans have
strung wire fence with heavy steel
posts along most of It,
Doubtless there Is some chatting
back and forth across the line. The
folks Of Vaalz and Aachen are old
neighbors. But the Dutch towns
folk have learned little of what Is
beyond or under the ridge They
almost never see any German SOL
diers, except the lone sentries. They
know there are lots of them-reports
vary from 200 to 2,OO0-in the con-
crete underground fortifcations
under the ridge. They pity their old
neighbors-they have so little to eat
nowadays, according to reports
which seep over the border.
In Vaalz, looking away for a mo-
ment from those menacing lines on
the ridge, one seems very far away
from war. The folks themselves are
fatalistic. If it comes there is
nothing they could do about it. And
further into Holland, on the road
between Vaalz and Valkenburg,
there are strongly built stone walls
with barbed wire on top thrown
across the highway every half mile
or so. At present there are narrow
openings so that a bus can squeeze
through, but the material is at hand
by the roadsides to close these at a
moments notice. Maybe they
wouldn't mean much against tanks,
but they would stop truck loads Of
soldiers coming from either direction
for quite while. But here. after all,
is not Hollands line of defense.