Part 8 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: WAR DAYS IN BERLIN. AMBa.s.sADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF.]
One morning an American woman spoke to me and said she would consent to go home on one of these s.h.i.+ps provided she was given a state-room with a bath and Walker-Gordon milk for her children, while another woman of German extraction used to sit for hours in a corner of the ballroom, occasionally exclaiming aloud with much feeling, ”O G.o.d, will them s.h.i.+ps never come?”
In these first days of the war we also made a card index of all the Americans in Berlin, and, so far as possible, in Germany; in order to weed out those who had received the pa.s.sports in the first days when possibly some people not ent.i.tled to them received them, and to find the deserving cases. All Americans were required to present themselves at the Emba.s.sy and answer a few questions, after which, if everything seemed all right, their pa.s.sports were marked ”recommended for transportation to America.”
I sent out circulars from time to time to the consuls throughout Germany giving general instructions with regard to the treatment of Americans. The following circular sent out on August twelfth is a sample:
”AMERICAN EMBa.s.sY, BERLIN, August 12, 1914.
”_To_the_Consular_Representatives_ _of_the_United_States_in_Germany,_ _and_for_the_general_information_of_ _American_Citizens._
”A communication will to-morrow be published in the _Berlin_ _Lokal_Anzeiger_ regarding the sending of a special train to the Dutch frontier for the special conveyance of Americans.
Other trains will probably be arranged for from time to time.
No further news has been received regarding the sending of transports from the United States, but applications for repatriation are being considered by the Emba.s.sy and the various consular offices throughout Germany according to the Emba.s.sy's last circular and the announcements published in the _Lokal_Anzeiger_.
”All Americans leaving Berlin must have their pa.s.sports stamped by the Foreign Office, for which purpose they should apply to _Geheimer_Legationsrat_ Dr. Eckhardt at Wilhelmstra.s.se 76. Americans residing outside of Berlin should ascertain from their respective consular representatives what steps they should take in this regard.
”Letters for the United States may be sent to the Emba.s.sy and will be forwarded at the first opportunity.
”German subjects who desire to communicate with friends in Great Britain, Russia, France or Belgium, or who desire to send money, should make their requests to the Imperial Foreign Office. Americans are permitted to enter Italy. The steamers of the Italian lines are running at present, but are full for some time in advance. The Emba.s.sy is also informed that the steamer from Vlissingen, Holland, runs daily at 11 A. M. The Amba.s.sador cannot, however, recommend Americans to try to reach Holland by the ordinary schedule trains, as he has received reports of delays _en_route_, owing to the fact that all civil travellers are ejected from trains when troops require accommodations. It is better to wait for special trains arranged for by the Emba.s.sy.
”The Dresdener Bank and its branches throughout Germany will cash _for_Americans_only_ letters of credit and checks issued by good American banks in limited amounts. Included in this category are the checks of the Bankers' a.s.sociation, Bankers' Trust Company, International Mercantile Marine Company, and American Express Company. All checks and letters of credit must, however, be stamped by American consuls, and consuls must see that the consular stamp is affixed to those checks and letters of credit only as are the bona fide property of American citizens. The Commerz & Disconto Bank makes the same offer and the Deutsche Bank will cash checks and letters of credit drawn by its correspondents.
”American consular officers may also draw later on the Dresdener Bank for their salaries and the official expenses of their consulates. Before drawing such funds from the bank, however, all consular officers should submit their expense accounts to me for approval. These expense accounts should be transmitted to the Emba.s.sy at the earliest opportunity.
”THE AMBa.s.sADOR.”
It will be noticed from the above circular that all Americans were required to have their pa.s.sports stamped at the Foreign Office. One American did not receive back his pa.s.sport, although he had left it at the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office claimed that it had delivered the pa.s.sport to some one from the Emba.s.sy, but we were not very much surprised when this identical pa.s.sport turned up later in the possession of Lodi, the confessed German spy, who was shot in the Tower of London.
After a time the American Government cabled me to advance money to dest.i.tute Americans; and the ladies in the ballroom, with their a.s.sistants, attended to this branch, advancing money where needed or so much as a person needed to make up the balance of pa.s.sage on steerage tickets from Holland to the United States.
At the same time we gradually built up a banking system. Those in the United States who had friends or relatives in Germany sent them money by giving the money to our State Department, and the State Department in turn cabled me to make a payment.
This payment was made by my drawing a draft for the amount stated on the State Department, the recipient selling this draft at a fixed rate to the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. This business a.s.sumed great proportions, and after the Americans who were in a hurry to go home had disappeared, the ones remaining were kept in funds by their friends and relatives through this sort of bank under our management.
On August twenty-third, a.s.sistant Secretary of War Breckenridge, who had come from America on the wars.h.i.+p _Tennessee_, bringing gold with him, and a certain number of army officers, arrived in Berlin and took over our relief organisation in so far as it applied to the repatriation of Americans, housing it in rooms hired in a nearby hotel, the Kaiserhoff. This commission: was composed of Majors J. A. Ryan, J. H. Ford and G. W. Martin and Captains Miller and Fenton, but the relief committee and the banking office were still continued in the Emba.s.sy ballroom.
A bulletin was published under the auspices of the American a.s.sociation of Commerce and Trade and the advice there given was that all Americans having the means to leave should do so when the opportunity for leaving by special trains was presented, and proceed direct to London whence they could obtain transportation to the United States. All Americans without means were directed to apply to the relief commission which was authorized to pay for the transportation and subsistence of stranded Americans in order to enable them to return home.
The enormous quant.i.ty of baggage left behind by Americans in Germany was a problem requiring solution.
In spite of repeated advice to leave, many Americans insisted on remaining in Germany. Few of them were business people; there were many song-birds, piano players, and students. We had much trouble with these belated Americans. For example, one woman and her daughter refused to leave when advised, but stayed on and ran up bills for over ten thousand marks; and as arrest for debt exists in Germany, they could not leave when they finally decided to go. All of us in the Emba.s.sy had to subscribe the money necessary to pay their most pressing debts and they finally left the country, leaving an added prejudice against Americans.
CHAPTER X
PRISONERS OF WAR
During the period of the first months of the war, in addition to other work, it became necessary to look after those subjects of other nations who had been confided to my care.
At first the British were allowed considerable liberty, although none were permitted to leave the country. They were required to report to the police at stated times during the day and could not remain out late at night.
The j.a.panese had received warning from their Emba.s.sy as to the turn that events might take and, before sending its ultimatum, the j.a.panese government had warned its citizens, so that a great number of them had left Germany. After the declaration of war by j.a.pan, all the j.a.panese in Germany were immediately imprisoned.