HOW I CAME INTO BERLIN.

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 July 1916, Page 3

HOW I CAME INTO BERLIN.

ADVENTURES OF AN ALIEN ENEMY ! IN GERMANY. FIRST TASTE OF lUBROT AND FIRST BREAD TICKET., (By a-Russian Journalist.) (We publish the second of the series of articles written by a Russian '-correspond * dent describing now he entered Germany a few weeks ago and his experiences). , 1 - Part of the passengers who came with' , my-from Denmark went on to Hamburg, and at the beginning our Berlin train was almost- empty. But at Rostock passengers began to stream in. These were mainly officers and soldiers going home on leave, and alb without > exception were in field- , grey uniforms. One could not help noticing , the change the war lias wrought ifi German militarism, _ There was a strong air of democratisation. Officers of all ■ ranks and privates mingled in secondclass carriages, and occupied seats close to oile another. The ceremony of saluting has been simplified, and so were the relations between superor officers and the rank and file. The German lieutenant is no more the caricatured creature hitherto so familiar in Germany, with a monocle, huge collar,' an insolent look, and face tattooed by scars. The German lieutenant Has left lus Olympian heights and become an ordinary mortal. And so, in spite of the severity and humiliation to which we were subjected at the Customs, the manner and behaviour of the officers and privates was not only correct, but-to a certain extent even obliging. MANY ARE FALLEN. I had occasion to observe during my fortnight’s stay in Germany a good many thousands of the German military in their everyday life, in the street, in the trains and public places, and I was struck and* surprised by this radical change in tho psychology of German military circles. ; This phenomenon is not difficult to ex--plain, During the eighteen months of war, the “professional” cadres of tho German| army, the original “goose step” elements,* have jbetru considerably thinned, if not al w together destroyed. It is no secret thatf'. the flower of the Guards Regiment and!) the Junker element ampngst the have been killed, „ New people appearedr on "the scene—the recent recruits, the! Landwehr, the Landsturm. The officers,JL especially those whom I had occasion tof| observe, are not soldiers by profession,® but ex-lawyers, teachers, engineers, mer || chants, men of science, etc., to whom flu la typical German spirit of military caste is* absolutely foreign, and who, by tbcii.il education, opinions, and habits loathe anr| ■ despise all the nonsense of the ugly mill R tarist traditions. I have to admit thcuF this new fighting Germany made a les/ij repulsive impression on mo. [f* It was very Treaty. The window-pane;! were covered'with ice, and the train wail rushing so rapidly that it was impossible ; to catch a glimpse of the country wi | ' traversed. It was very dull in my com j partmont. An old German colonel, ; | middle aged gentleman, and another offi i cor were buried in their papers, and did I not evince the slightest desire to entci | »into conversation. f A MEATLESS DINING CAR. ' I The * waiter came in announcffigjj “Abendsmah!” (evening meal), and in j| vited those desirous of partaking of thfH meal to the restaurant car. I recalled|| that to-day was “meatless day,” and deli cided to see what a “meatless” dinneifj looked like. _ Ifi • In the restaurant car everything was|| exceedingly familiar to me. I took ir>|| with a glance the ceiling, the walls, th(g doors, and noticed that it was the usua'y' mtaurant car of the Belgian Internationa]® Company, tens and hundreds of which areTj' even now. running on the Russian, French, Danish, Spanish and other railways of theft' world. Even the outside appearance was A little changed. The advertisements of q French and Belgian seaside resorts and; hotels which formerly cheqbcred the walls ( have now been removed. A paper was ■ pasted over the lower half of the inscrip- . tion (which is usually in French), request- : ing “payment upon presentation of bill.” " However,, the crockery, tlie ashtrays and window-panes still retained the welfiknown initials “W.L.” (Wagons Bits.) I take my seat at a little table and, re- 1 membering that I am in Germany, call in the usual way for “Mahlzeit.” The waiter, . with a solemn expression on his face, brings on a plate a tiny little bit of the ( famous “war bread.” It is no more than , half a slice of the usual French roll. , FIRST TASTE OF K-BREAD. , 1 can hardly contain my curiosity. I

1 take it up, investigate and taste it. It has 1 the appearand; of a badly baked, half 5 raw,- earthen coloured bread, something L like our “sitnik,” but of very low quality. Its taste is very strange and quite unfamiliar. Li spite of its being moist and underdone it tastes like old bread. It is difficult to chew, and now and then some extraneous matter grits oh one’s teeth. Amongst its chief component parts are potatoes and bray. The dinner, in‘spite of its comparatively hi eh price (34 marks), was more .than modest. A mixture of potatoes and vegetables boiled in water was served as soup. The second course was a little bit of some fish and again potatoes. The third course a ragout of more potatoes and dried mushrooms. For puddings we had a compote of dried fruit—and that was all. Had I not taken the advice of my fellow travellers to order a substantial meal on the boat I should have got yp from this “no meat” dinner quite hungry. After paying the waiter I noticed for the first time the new German' war money. These are iron 5-pfennig pieces, the nickel ones having been withdrawn from circulation. More and more lights begin to flash past the frosted windows —we are nearing Berlin. ■ ARRIVAL IN BERLIN. Here is the Stcttiner Bahnof.- I open the window to look for a porter. In ordinary times porters used to crowd the platform, but now not a soul is to be seen. I look round‘ and notice that the other passengers are carrying their own luggage to the platform. 1 follow their example and get my things out of the train, and like the others stand and wait. At last from some corner appear four venerable greybeards in porters’ uniform dragging trucks behind them, and begin to collect our luggage. “Are you a foreigner?” one of them asked me." “In that case you had better first go to the Commissioner of Police at ,khe end of the. platform;*' You must first notify your’ arrival. Then you had belter, run down quickly to the approach andcatch a cab —these are very scarce and then come here and get your luggage yourself from the hand luggage department; I shall only take them down below. . The man is old and grumpy, and it is useless asking him to get a cab and see about ray things. He does not even listen t to me. I can ’see that he docs not treat the .other passengers any better, so I de--cido to submit and put up with these “K” (“Kroig”—War) orders. I find _at last the Police Commissioner, ami, having received my passport, I run down' to the approach but cannot find. any motor bus or cab. A batch of passengers are anxiously looking for ,the approach of some vehicle, and old coaches of prehistoric con- ■ struction, such as Berlin has not seen for more than 1 ten years, and drawn by one 1 miserable horse, are literally taken by i storm. ANCIENT COACHMAN FOUND. I folly wed the example of some of the , more thoughtful and ran for” three or four blocks to neighbouring streets, spied out- , some casual coach carrying passengers and luggage to the station, jumped on .the step, and on arriving at thc t station waited until'the* passengers and 'luggage were unloaded and then secured my place. -1 had lost about thtee-qnartcrs of an hour, and had to pay the old driver three marks beer money on top of bis fare for kindly taking me to the hotel. ■■ * ■ „It was not 10 o’clock yet—not late for Berlin of the pre-war days whep the intense “night life” of the city only com-, meiiced at this hour —but now, lonely and halt-liglited, streets (only and Leipr.igstrasse are fully lit), and dirty to boot (they are only swept two or three days, and this in Berlin which is famed ■for its cleanliness), niter' absence of any ' vehicular traffic, and gaping,- deserted '.cafes. All this made a strong impression . on me which I could not shake off right ✓ to.the end of my sojourn in Beilin: At last 1 m'iiVo at the Central Hotel. ’ At first sight everything looks as of old,* I apporach hesitatingly the office, being- ■' • • ■ ‘ A' . 1 *. ' .. < •.

afraid lest I meet one of the employees who, may know me from my , previous visits. My fears, however, are groundless. . The staff is almost new; with the exception of the old porter, the others are boys - of 14 or. 15. I am given the key of my room, and with itrimy first “bread card,” which entitles me to 250 grammes (about £lb) of bread per, day.