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A WAR-TIME JOURNAL
GERMANY 1914
AND
GERMAN TRAVEL NOTES
[Illustration: ENGLISCHE KRIEGSFUeHRUNG
(_How the Englishman makes war._)]
A
WAR-TIME JOURNAL
GERMANY 1914
AND
GERMAN TRAVEL NOTES
BY
LADY JEPHSON
AUTHOR OF 'A CANADIAN SCRAP-BOOK' AND
'LETTERS TO A DEBUTANTE'
LONDON
ELKIN MATHEWS, CORK STREET
M CM XV
PREFACE
Prefaces are rarely read, yet I have the hardihood to venture on this
one because there are certain things in connection with my journal
which it is necessary to explain. On returning from Germany, although
urged by my friends to publish the story of my experiences, I refused,
fearing to do anything which in the smallest degree might prejudice
the case of those still in captivity. There came a day, nevertheless,
when I read that all English people had left "Altheim." The papers
announced that men under forty-five had been interned at Ruhleben, and
those over that age had been sent to Giessen. There seemed, therefore,
no possible object in further withholding the journal, since, after
all, there was nothing in it which could by any possibility affect the
fate of others less fortunate than I. Accordingly I sent my manuscript
to the _Evening Standard_, which accepted it, and published the first
couple of pages. Then, in deference to the wishes of people whose
relations were still at "Altheim" (having been sent back from
Giessen), I stopped my diary. However, in view of the daily
revelations in the Press as regards prisoners in Germany, I have come,
after seven months, to the conclusion that nothing I can say will in
any degree make the condition of prisoners there worse. Meanwhile it
is of supreme interest to compare the opinions and conduct of Germans
at the beginning of the war with what they express and observe now. My
journal is simply a record made each day of my detention, and although
it has no pretension to being literature, it is at least a truthful
picture of the state of things as we in Altheim saw them at the
beginning of the war. For obvious reasons the place of detention has
been given a fictitious name.
HARRIET J. JEPHSON.
CONTENTS
PAGE
A WAR-TIME JOURNAL 11
GERMAN TRAVEL NOTES:
"TAKIN' NOTES" 67
OF SOME FELLOW TRAVELLERS AND THE CATHEDRAL OF MAINZ 76
SCHLANGENBAD 84
LIEBENSTEIN 90
TREVES 96
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ENGLISCHE KRIEGSFUeHRUNG _Frontispiece_
(_How the Englishman makes war._)
ENGLAND FINDET HILFSTRUPPEN
(_England finds troops to help her._)
I. IN KANADA 17
(_Behold the German idea of a Canadian._)
II. IN POLYNESIEN 33
(_The German idea of an Australian._)
III. NUR IN LONDON NICHT 49
_But not in London!_
_These illustrations are reproduced from German newspapers._
A WAR-TIME JOURNAL:
GERMANY, 1914
VILLA BUCHHOLZ, ALTHEIM, _August 1st._--Last night a herald went round
the town and roused everyone, blowing his trumpet and crying, "Kommen
Sie heraus! Kommen Sie alle fort!" This was a call to the reservists,
all of whom are leaving Altheim. To-day the crowd cheered madly, sang
"Heil Dir im Sieger Kranz," and "Deutschland ueber alles," showing the
utmost enthusiasm. To my horror, I find that the banks here refuse
foreign cheques, and will have nothing to do with letters of credit. I
have very little ready money with me, and the situation is not a
pleasant one!
_August 2nd._--Germany has declared war against Russia! All men old
enough to serve are leaving to join the army. Proclamations are
posted up in the Park Strasse, and crowds are standing in tense
anxiety in groups, discussing matters with grave faces. We don't know
how to get away, since all trains are to be used only for the troops
while "mobilmachung" is going on. People have got as far as the
frontier and been turned back there, and some who left Altheim
yesterday are still at Frankfort. I tried to buy an English paper in
the town, and was told that none were to be had until England had made
up her mind what she was going to do! We think of motor-cars to the
frontier, or the Rhine boat.
_August 3rd._--Alas! all steamers on the Rhine are stopped and
motor-cars are impossible, because an order has come out that
petroleum is to be reserved for the Government. I made another attempt
to cash a cheque to-day, and again the bank refused. A Russian who
stood beside me was desperate. He spoke execrable French, and cried
excitedly: "Comment donc! je ne puis pas quitter le pays et j'ai une
famille et trois femmes!" Poor Bluebeard! his "trois femmes" (wife and
daughters) looked terrified and miserable. Our position is incredible
and most serious. Still, one cannot but admire the glorious spirit of
sacrifice and patriotism which animates all classes of the German
people. Just what it was in the war of 1813, when women even cut off
their hair and sold it to help their country.
_August 4th._--Troops are marching through the streets and leaving for
the Front all day long. The ladies of Altheim go to the station as the
trains pass through, and give the soldiers coffee, chocolate, cigars,
and zwiebacks. They get much gratitude, and the men say (poor deluded
mortals): "Wir kriegen fuer Sie" (We fight for you). I saw poor Frau
G---- (my doctor's wife) to-day. She was quite calm, but looked
miserable. Her eldest son, Dr. T----, left for the front this morning.
I sympathised, and she said, choking back a sob: "Man gibt das beste
fuer das Vaterland" (one gives one's best for the Fatherland). No
letters come, nor papers; and we are only allowed to send postcards
written in German.
_August 5th._--Our baker has gone to the war, and Dr. G---- 's butler;
the schools have shut up, so many masters having been called upon to
fight. Even learned professors turn soldiers in this country, and
most of the weedy cabhorses here have left Altheim to serve their
"Fatherland." My Bade-Frau's husband has gone to the front, and so has
our Apotheke; there are no porters left at the station, and a jeweller
is doing duty as station-master! The Red Cross Society meet daily, and
make preparations for the care of wounded men. Hospitals, private
houses, and doctors' houses are getting ready, and all motors have
been put at the State's disposal. Insane hatred against Russia exists,
and the Russians here are not enjoying themselves! My position is most
serious: no money, and no return ticket!
_August 6th._--I went out early in quest of news, and looked in at
K---- and L----'s. A young clerk, pale with excitement and anger, in
reply to my question: "Gibt es etwas neues?" literally hissed at me:
"England hat Krieg erklaert" (England has declared war). It was an
awful moment, although one was prepared for it in a measure, feeling
sure that England would be faithful to her bond.
Next came the Press announcements, "Das unglaubliche ist Tatsache
geworden" (The unbelievable is become an accomplished fact). "England,
who poses as the guardian of morality and all the virtues, sides with
Russia and assassins!" Abuse of Sir Edward Grey, of our Government,
and of all things English, follows. When vituperation fails, the
"Frankfurter Zeitung" reminds its readers that, after all, such
conduct is only what may be expected from "Die historische Perfide
Albions." That it is a blow none the less is shown by more than one
newspaper beginning "Das Schlimmste ist geschehen." (The worst has
happened.) Miss M----, Miss H----, and I went to the "Prince of
Wales's Hotel" to see Mr. S----, who had made out a list of the
English in Altheim, and tried to telephone to our Consul in Frankfort
to ask what he was going to do for our rescue. The telephone people
refused to send the message because we were English! Mr. S---- and
other men here are doing all they can to secure a train when the
mobilisation is over. He advised us to pack up and be ready to start,
also not to show ourselves out of doors much, as there is the greatest
fury and indignation at present against the English, and to be careful
what we said and did. We are all terribly anxious, and it is rather
trying for me, as I am the only woman in the place quite alone.
_August 7th._--Still no help! Innumerable wild rumours are flying
about. They say that those who left Altheim have all come back, unable
to get farther than Frankfort. We are beginning to feel hopeless.
Nothing about England is in the German papers, and, of course, we see
no others. It is quite terrible being without news. Last night there
was great scrubbing and scraping of Altheim shop windows, and all the
notices: "English spoken here" have disappeared.
There is a mania about spies in Frankfort, we hear, and some Americans
yesterday were very roughly handled because their motor bore a French
maker's name. The Americans have returned to Altheim, and their motor
has been taken to fight for the Fatherland! Our situation is dreadful,
but we are keeping up brave hearts. Every day a fresh "Bekanntmachung"
(notice) appears; that of to-day was addressed to the children and
called upon them to gather in the harvest, the workers having gone as
soldiers and turned their "pruning hooks" into swords. My postcards
written in German have all come back. One cannot communicate with
anyone outside Altheim. What a position! God in His mercy help us! It
seems so strange to see German troops marching to the tune of "God
Save the King," yet it is Germany's National Anthem too, and these are
the words they sing to it:--
"Heil Dir im Sieger Kranz,
Herrscher des Vaterlands,
Heil Kaiser Dir!" etc.
[Illustration: IN KANADA
(_Behold the German idea of a Canadian_)]
A "Warnung" has now been affixed to trees in the Avenue forbidding
Russians, English, French or Belgians to go within 100 metres of the
station. The Russians are being hardly used, but so far Germans are
quite nice to us. Mrs. N---- tells me a gruesome tale of a Russian
lady who left her hotel for Russia smiling, well dressed, and happy.
At Giessen all Russians were turned out of the train and put into a
waiting-room, and locked up there without any convenience of food,
drink, or beds for the night. The following morning they were told to
come out and soldiers marched them several miles into the country to a
farm-house. Some of the poor creatures were faint from want of food,
and others had heart disease, and fell exhausted in the road, the
soldiers prodding them with their bayonets to make them get up! After
several hours' detention there, they were brought back to Altheim,
where the poor lady arrived a pitiable wreck! What an experience! I
have been packed up for days!
_August 8th._--I went into the Park Strasse this morning to buy a
"Frankfurter Zeitung." Outside the shop where I bought it some
American women stood gazing at a map of the war, and one said: "I am
_disgusted_ with England, just disgusted. So degrading of her to help
a country like Russia, and side with assassins, just degrading! All we
Americans despise her now." I thought to myself: "If I go to prison
for it, I will not allow anyone to call my country 'degraded and
disgusting.'" So I said, trembling with wrath, "There is nothing
'degrading' in being honourable, nor despicable in keeping true to
your word. England promised to protect Belgium's frontier, and she is
bound to do it."
Several Germans were gathered round the map, and they scowled at me
until I faced them calmly and said: "Jeder man fuer sein Land" (Every
man for his country), and they answered quite civilly: "Gewiss!"
(Certainly). The Americans in Altheim, I found afterwards, were
chiefly of German extraction, which accounted for the woman's
behaviour.
Early this morning three men arrived to search my room for weapons. I
was in bed, but they pushed past the maid Kaethchen, forced their way
in, pried into every corner, and departed. Emile the housemaid here
has _four_ brothers at the war. Dreadful rumours are flying about as
to our destination. One day we hear we are to go to Denmark, another
to Holland. Sometimes we are told that we shall not be allowed to
leave Germany until the war is over; again that we shall be sent away
at a moment's notice; that we shall be left at the frontier, and have
to walk for six hours, and carry our own luggage, etc.
The German papers are perfectly horrible in their violent abuse of
England, and we are so miserably anxious, not about ourselves, but
about our dear, dear country, and how she is faring. Kaethchen said
this morning, "Die deutschen in Ausland sind sehr schlecht behandelt"
(Germans abroad are very badly treated). "See how well the foreigners
are treated _here_," by way of impressing upon me how thankful I ought
to be for my mercies.
_August 9th._--No papers! No news! No letters! No money! All of us are
more or less packed up ready to start. We are warned that no heavy
luggage can go with us, and are limited to two small "hand Gepaeck,"
which we can carry ourselves. I have presented my best hats to
Kaethchen, and it consoles me to think how comical she will look under
them!--but "flying canvas" is the order of the day.
_August 10th._--The "Frankfurter Zeitung" calls England "ehrlos"
(dishonourable), and the Belgian frontier question "only an excuse,"
and even kind, good Dr. G---- raged against England. One is sick with
longing to hear how the war gets on from the English point of view.
The papers here never allude to England's movements--only to her moral
delinquencies. I am so poverty-stricken now I wash my own
pocket-handkerchiefs, guimpes, and blouses!
The American part of our community have quite recovered their spirits
since money has come for them. The United States is making every
effort to rescue her people, and get them back in safety to America.
No one seems to concern themselves about us, and we can't get away
while mobilising is going on. All Germans show the greatest deference
to Americans, and call them "our honoured guests." We, of course, are
the _dis_honoured ones, and in disgrace!
Altheim people so far are passably civil to us, but sometimes one has
a disagreeable person to deal with, as I had to-day at the Bad Haus.
The girl who stamps our tickets refused to pass mine until I could
show her my Kur Karte. I had none, and told her so, and asked her why
I should pay twenty marks for a card, when I could not get any of the
privileges to which it entitled me: the band, terrace, reading-room,
and so on. Her answer was a persistent dogged reiteration of "Sie
muessen eine Kur Karte haben, sonst koennen Sie nicht baden," and not
having twenty marks in the world at present I had to come away without
my bath. Every day there are fresh appeals to the patriotism of the
people. They are pasted on walls, windows, and even trees.
_August 12th._--Such an amusing thing has happened. Mr. S---- said to
Dr. ----, "We English have captured your Kronprinzessin Cecilie,"
without saying that he meant the _ship_, and not the _lady_. As the
Government keeps all such disagreeable intelligence dark, it was news
to the doctor, and he stoutly contradicted it, and went round the town
afterwards telling people: "Just think what liars the English are;
they say they have captured our Crown Princess!" We learnt of this
prize-taking from the "Corriere della Sera."
_August 13th._--The newspapers are full of German victories and abuse
of England. Also they declare that the most terrible atrocities have
taken place in Belgium, where women have despatched wounded Germans on
the field and shot doctors. The indignation is tremendous.
_August 14th._--Permission has at last been given for "Fremden"
(foreigners) to depart, and also the threats and restrictions as to
the railway station have been removed, but we must submit our
passports to the police, who send them to Berlin to be stamped by the
military authorities, and in about a week we shall be free. "Gott sei
Dank!"
_August 15th._--I went to the Polizei-Amt, a dreary little house, and
found both yard and staircase crammed with people. After waiting a
long time in the _queue_ I had to beat a retreat, the neighbourhood of
Polish Jews being too overpowering! In the afternoon I ventured again
with the same result. They say Holland is crammed with refugees, and
the hotels so full that people are sleeping on billiard tables even.
We are allowed to choose between Switzerland and Holland.
German papers express deepest disappointment that Italy has not been
"ehrlich" (honourable) to her "Dreibund," and yet (extraordinary
people) the Germans blame us for being true to ours.
_August 16th._--I sent a telegram off to Ems this morning, of course
written in German, but the official behind the little window where I
handed it in refused to send it until I showed him my passport. As I
have not yet succeeded in getting through the crowds at the police
station I still had mine. We hear dreadful tales of hardships endured
by those who have managed to get away from other places. Some went by
the Rhine steamers, which are now running, but wherever they passed a
fortress they were made to go below. As the cabins were not enough for
all, preference was given to other nationalities, and English people
had to sit up all night on deck, even in pouring rain. The entire
absence of news is for us quite terrible. One feels so out of the
world, not knowing what is happening outside our prison doors. The
"Frankfurter Zeitung" is full of nothing but boasts and untruths. A
fresh "Bekanntmachung" has been posted up forbidding us to leave the
town, and ordering us to be indoors by nine o'clock.
_August 17th._--The Landsturm has been called out and leaves to-day
for the Front. These men are the last to be requisitioned, being
elderly.[1] After long waiting among Jews, Infidels, and Turks, I at
last got entrance to the Chief of Police's office, had my passport
taken, paid one mark fifty, and was told to come back on Thursday,
when it would be returned from Berlin. The Chief was a gruff,
disagreeable old man, who, to my amiable "Guten Tag" and "Adieu"
vouchsafed no reply.
[Footnote 1: This we were told at the time.]
_August 18th._--A dreadful blow! We English are forbidden to go to
Holland, and told that our destination is to be Denmark. Imagine
crossing that mined sea now! For reasons of their own German
authorities will not allow any of us to go by or near the Rhine.
_August 19th._--The German Press is to me a revelation of bombast,
self-righteousness, falsehood, and hypocrisy. What shocks one most is
the familiar and perpetual calling upon God to witness that He alone
has led the Germans to victory and blessed their cause. I read a poem
yesterday, which began "Du Gott der Deutschen," as if indeed the Deity
were the especial property of the German Nation! Massacre, pillage,
destruction, violation of territory, everything wicked God is supposed
to bless! What hideously distorted minds, and where is the sane, if
prosaic Teuton of one's imaginings! I wake often in the morning and
wonder if all that has happened here has not been a horrible
nightmare--if it can be possible in the twentieth century that I, a
woman, am a prisoner, and for no sin that one has committed. I cannot
order an Einspaenner and drive to the station without a challenge and
danger. I cannot possibly get away without my passport. If I attempted
to drive to the Rhine my fate might be that of the poor Russians who
were shot the other day. In any case I could not leave Germany without
my passport nor enter Dutch territory without permission from the
Netherlands Consul at Frankfort. It seems all hopeless and
heartbreaking.
_August 20th._--Another terrific blow! Fraulein S---- came into my
room this morning and said: "Kein Englaender, kein Auslaender, kann
Deutschland verlassen" (no Englishman, no foreigner can leave
Germany). I rushed off immediately to the Polizei Amt and found it
only too terribly true. Worse! Mr. W---- and Mr. S----, who tried to
arrange for a steamer on the Rhine to take us away, have been
arrested, and are being tried on a trumped-up charge of _forgery_, and
the Company who were the go-betweens demand 3,000 marks because the
boat came a certain distance down the river in order to embark us.
(_Later_) The Englishmen have been acquitted of forgery, but we fear
we shall have to pay the L120. I have one mark left!
There is jubilation all over the town as the Germans have taken
Belfort. Kaethchen enters triumphantly. "Unter Fuehrung des Kronprinzen
von Bayern haben Truppen gestern in Schlachten zwischen Metz und den
Vogesen noch einen Sieg erkaempft," and she goes on with the weary old
story of "viele tausend Gefangene" (many thousand prisoners).
_August 21st._--I found that charming old American friends of mine,
the W----s, were here, and I went to see them at the Grand Hotel. They
have been to a Nach Kur in Thuringia, and have had most alarming and
unpleasant adventures coming back. However, being American their pains
and penalties are nearly over. A special train is to take them and
their compatriots to the Hague on Wednesday next. They go to the
flesh-pots of Egypt, and we are left to eat manna in the wilderness!
They can drive in the country, while we poor Britishers may not go
outside the town, and oh! how sick we are of the avenues and streets
of the red-roofed Bath Houses and shop windows whose contents we know
by heart. Mr. W---- told me a good tale of the _chef_ of a Hotel here,
who was obliged to obey his country's call and join the French forces.
When he found German bullets whizzing about him at Muelhausen, he said
to himself (so the story goes), "What is my duty? Is it best for me to
let these cursed Germans make an end of me, or live to cook another
day for my country?" He decided that living was his game, threw his
rifle away, lay flat on his face, and let the bullets whistle over
him. He was taken prisoner to his great relief, and now lies in
Frankfort prison where his German brother chef has visited him! The
French of course are a brave nation, but I daresay the poor cook was
more at home with his pots and pans than with bayonets and rifles!
No papers! no letters! no news! no chance of escape! Two men were put
in prison yesterday for laughing at Germany. Two Russians were stopped
in a motor car, and when arms were found upon them they were put up
against a wall and shot.
_August 22nd._--Altheim has gone mad with joy over the victory near
Metz. Church bells chime and German children sing "Deutschland ueber
Alles" _ad nauseam_; and the Kur Haus and all private dwellings are
draped with bunting. Red Cross people are busy preparing for the
wounded--sewing classes are held every day in Bad Haus 8, and the
doctors are full of work. Mr. S----, a young Englishman, formerly in
the army, has been arrested, and also the hall-porter of the "Grand,"
and two English valets.
_August 24th._--A terrible day! First of all Kaethchen announced with
complacency and obvious triumph, that there had been a great victory
"ganz herrlich!" and that an English Cavalry Brigade had been cut to
pieces at Luneville, and that those who were not killed had "run
away"! Of course I did not believe this, but it made one terribly
anxious. Then in came Miss H---- saying that two men of our little
colony had been arrested and taken to the police-station, whence after
examination they were to be sent to Frankfurt. At the Polizei Amt the
Officials exhibited the results of their _Kultur_ by being rude and
rough to the unfortunate people arrested. A Polish woman whose son had
been made prisoner sobbed and cried, whereupon the grim old inspector
came into the room and said sternly: "Kein Frauen Jammer hier!"
ordering her out of the room. I was in the Park Strasse and heard some
Germans chuckling and saying: "Zwei Englaender sind verhaftet" (two
Englishmen are arrested), looked round, and saw two of our little
community, both service men, following each other in Einspaenners, each
surrounded by soldiers and fixed bayonets. It was anything but a
pleasing sight to me!
_August 25th._--The clouds are lifting, thank God! Cheering news has
come that we are to be allowed to leave this delightful country in
eight days' time; most likely we shall have to travel either by way of
Switzerland or Denmark. Those sagacious personages in Berlin seem to
imagine that the secrets of the Rhine fortresses will reveal
themselves to us as we go by! What a compliment to our powers of
clairvoyance!
Fraulein G---- has just been in to see me. Usually she is a most
pleasant, gentle little woman, kind and charming; now she is full of
scorn and hatred of England. She says the Englishmen were arrested
because they were heard to say that German papers were "full of lies."
"So they are," said I, "and you can go now and get me arrested too."
"Oh, no," said she, "I would not tell on _you_!" In spite of her
magnanimity I cannot think our interview was a success. We argued
until I said, "If we are to remain friends, we must not discuss the
war. I _can_not think England wrong, and as a loyal German you think
Germany right. Don't let us talk about it any more."
The "Frankfurter Zeitung" declares that no workmen in England will
fight for their country, only the "mercenaries" who are well paid to
risk their lives. Oh, this life is hard to bear! Such intense,
frightful hatred speaks in every look, in every action of our enemies.
It is consoling to remember that their own Nietzsche says: "One does
not hate as long as one dis-esteems, and only when one esteems an
equal or superior."
_August 26th._--A chauffeur at the Bellevue was arrested to-day and
taken to Frankfort. He is only twenty, a Glasgow lad, and absolutely
harmless.
I am so sick of "Heil Dir im Sieger Kranz" that as the children pass
my villa shouting it or "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?" I go out on
my balcony and retaliate by singing "Rule Britannia." Small children
with flags and paper cocked hats, toy swords and tiny drums march
through the streets, day after day, singing patriotic songs, whilst
(poor dears!) their fathers are being slaughtered in thousands. No
reverses are ever reported in the German papers, nothing but victories
appear, and Germans are treated like children. If it were not for the
"Corriere della Sera" we should be tempted to believe the Allies in a
bad way. The "beehrte gaeste" departed this morning. At the station a
band played, flags were waved, and every American man and woman was
presented with a small white book which contained the telegrams which
passed between the belligerent nations at the beginning of the war.
Again we hear that Copenhagen is to be our destination.
[Illustration: IN POLYNESIEN
(The German idea of an Australian)]
_August 27th._--I saw Dr. G---- this morning. He begged me to be most
careful what I said. Two patients of his (English) Levantines were
talking on the Terrace, and one said to the other, "We had better
shave off our moustaches, or we shall be taken for military men." They
were promptly arrested, having been overheard by a spy. We are now
ordered to get health certificates, which are to go to Frankfort, and
be forwarded to the military authorities in Berlin. There is an idea
that we may go away on Tuesday next. We have found out that our
passports never went to Berlin at all, but are lying at this moment in
the drawer of that old demon in the "Polizei-Amt."
_August 28th._--Nothing new. The German papers, as usual, full of
their victories and their piety, and their patriotism, and their
"Kultur," and goodness knows what not besides. Both Kaisers praising
each other and distributing iron crosses _ad lib._, early though it be
in the day. No mention of English troops or England, except to abuse
the "Verfluechte" English.
A train of wounded men arrived yesterday, and bandaged and lame
soldiers are to be seen limping about the town, looking ghastly pale
and ill. At the Lazarett behind the "Prince of Wales' Hotel" there are
many sad cases. The Red Cross Society has made every provision for
their comfort and happiness possible. Sheets have been hemmed, pillow
cases sewn, bandages got ready. The Germans, however, are chary of
admitting English women to share their labours, and those who go and
offer to help meet with a very chilly reception.
_August 29th._--An account has come of the battle of St. Quentin. The
"Frankfurter Zeitung" calls it "decisive," and says that the German
army has cut off the English army from its base.
_August 30th._--Joy at last! Even the "Frankfurter Zeitung"
acknowledges that there has been a fight in the North Sea, and that we
have sunk German ships, but, of course, it was "overpowering numbers
and larger ships" that did it, and the Germans covered themselves with
glory as usual. I came home and hung out my flag, the best I could do,
a red silk dressing jacket, lined with white, and draped over a blue
silk parasol, which I tied knob out, to look like a pole.
On our church door to-day was posted a typewritten notice: "We have
smashed your army on the French Continent,(!) and we will smash _you
too_ if you dare to ring your bell!"
_August 31st._--I heard a small boy singing to-day:
"Wo liegt Paris, Paris liegt Hier,
Den fingen drauf' Das nehmen Wir."
I pray it may not prove prophetic, but they all talk of occupying
Paris as a certainty, and the German Emperor has invited a number of
his Generals to dine with him there on the 12th of September. I hear
that a doctor went into the Prince of Wales' Hotel to-day, and saw
stuck up in the hall the words: "Das Seegefecht in der Nordsee" (in
which of course we were victorious). He tore it down and stamped on
it. An altruistic German waiter thinking to please the English guests
had put the first sheet of the "Frankfurter Zeitung" in a prominent
position to console them for the many defeats we are supposed to have
had. John Burns' speech at the Albert Hall is reported in full in the
German newspapers, headed "Eine Rede des ehemaligen Englischen
Minister, John Burns. England gegen seine wahren interessen" (a speech
of the former English minister,[2] John Burns. England against her
true interests). No passports yet! No release! This suspense is
wearing!
[Footnote 2: This speech I have since learnt was an absolute
invention.]
_September 1st._--The sentimentality of the Germans is amazing! They
cannot even insert a simple notice of a death on the battlefield
without this sickly parade, "Heute starb den Heldentod furs Vaterland,
unser innigste-geliebter einziger Sohn," etc. Always a "hero's death"
and "for his Fatherland." A fresh "Bekanntmachung" has appeared, we
prisoners of war are not to leave the town, not to stand in groups
("rotten" they call it) talking in the streets, to be in our houses at
9 p.m., etc. Two ex-Frankfort prisoners have been sent for by the
Chief of the Police accused of indiscreet talking. "I hear," said the
great man, "you say you were fed on nothing but bread and water in
prison." "No," said Mr. ----, "I had soup in the middle of the day,
and coffee and bread at night, and in the morning." "Then why do you
tell lies!" Such utter childishness, to believe every scrap of unkind
gossip!
_September 2nd._--We are buoyed up with hope, as they talk of our
getting away this week! It _will_ be delightful to leave this
perpetual bell-ringing and flag-waving and Vaterlandslieder behind us!
_September 3rd._--The whole of Altheim went mad last night,
processions, bands, marchings all night, and such a noise that at last
a nurse had to come out from the Lazarett near the Park and beg the
revellers to think of the poor wounded sick, and spare them. No one
could sleep! The last blow has come, our church is closed!
_September 4th._--Despair! The American Ambassador at Berlin has
telegraphed that we English are not to leave! The Russians are going,
but our treatment is retaliatory, because they say England is
detaining German women, and Russia lets them go. To make all worse
Fraulein S----, tired of keeping me so long for nothing, has given me
notice to quit at the moment when for three days I have had no greater
fortune than 2_d._ in my pocket. Where I am to go, or who will take me
in without money I can't imagine! The American Ambassador in Berlin
and Mr. Ives, the American Vice-Consul at Frankfort, are working
untiringly and most kindly for us. We do not complain of actual harsh
treatment, although to be turned adrift in the world without money by
one whose tenant I had been for five years is hardly kind. However,
war is war undoubtedly. Mr. Ives is from the Southern States, Mr.
H----, his Chief, from the Northern. The Scotch chauffeur has been
released after a week in prison. He looks pale and dispirited, "a
sadder," and no doubt "a wiser man."
_September 5th._--The "Times" of the 5th August has turned up in
Altheim. It has gone the round of our little community until such a
worn, creased remnant reached me, that I had much ado to keep it
together until I could master its contents. One felt a second Rip Van
Winkle, awaking after a long sleep, our world being so confined here.
At last I have discovered how to get money from England. One writes to
the American Embassy in Berlin, and encloses a telegram (with postal
order for the same) to one's banker in London, instructing him to pay
the sum of money wanted to the American Embassy in London, to be
forwarded through their kind offices to the Embassy in Berlin. The
telegram to be written on a sheet of foolscap paper, with the full
name and address of the sender, and the name also of the nearest
American Consul. No letters can be sent through this channel.
_September 6th._--No church now! Even that taken from us! The
American Vice-Consul has been here, and still thinks that we may get
away in a fortnight. We are sick with hoping and being disappointed.
The German Press full of the most virulent abuse of England,
"treacherous," "hypocritical," "lying," "cowardly," "boastful," there
is no bad name they don't call her! Russia and France and Belgium get
no lashings of scorn and fury and hatred such as England does! At last
the account of Sir Edward Goschen's interviews with Von Jagow and
Bethmann Hollweg has appeared in the German papers. I had read it all
in the "Corriere della Sera" long ago. They talk of stopping Italian
papers in Germany since they are pro-English (in German, "lying").
Most of my English friends here went to the German church to-day. The
Pfarrer pointed out to his congregation how clearly God had favoured
their cause, how victory had followed victory, the virtuous, religious
people triumphing over the wicked, ungodly nations. Then he spoke of
the day so near when Germany should annihilate the "Macht von
England," and teach her when crushed and humbled "die Wahrheit,"
Religion and Morality! Humph!
_September 7th._--Wonder of wonders! no bell-ringing to-day, nor
processions of singing youngsters, so we hope there is a lull in the
"Sieges."
Miss H---- went last week to have her hair washed, and during the
process her hair-dresser remarked casually to her, "We shall be in
Paris in a day or two, and in London in another week, and when we have
conquered England as well as France you will all have to learn to
speak German." This shows the amazing conceit and arrogance of the
people. Poor, ignorant things, they are quite hoodwinked by their
rulers--and even look forward to seeing their Kaiser "Emperor of
Europe"! One day we read that a bag has been made of 30,000 Russians,
the next that the number was understated, and that it is 70,000. As
for Belgians and French, every day 10,000 men and guns _ad lib._ are
captured, and the poor silly people believe it all. Villas and streets
are still beflagged, and by this time we know every patriotic song in
the "Vaterlandslieder" book by heart. One tries to be plucky, but our
hearts are very sad just now.
Paris seems doomed, and apparently the French have abandoned hope
too, since Poincare and his Cabinet have gone to Bordeaux. The German
Press call him a "Feiger" (Coward).
_September 9th._--Unaccountably the forward march seems to have been
checked, although we don't know why. Maubeuge has fallen, and of
course the usual bell-ringing and bunting and singing has celebrated
the victory. We cannot understand what our troops are doing. There is
no mention of them in the German papers, only columns of sneers and
abuse of England.
_September 10th._--A rumour has reached us that the Crown Prince has
been captured, and that the enemy is retreating. No official
confirmation has come to hand however; but the flags are down at last,
and the jangling of bells has ceased, and we have not heard
"Deutschland ueber Alles" for twenty-four hours, "Gott sei Dank"!
Prince Joachim is wounded, and he has sent a telegram worded after the
manner of his dear Papa, thanking God who in His goodness permitted
him to be wounded for his beloved Fatherland. I wonder what Frederick
the Great would have thought of these boastful warriors. We English
are looked upon with horror as the brutal barbarians who use dum dum
bullets, and Sir Edward Grey's dignified disclaimer is reported under
the polite heading "Grey leugnet" (Grey lies).
_September 11th._--Nothing new in the situation, but we rejoice to see
grave faces and groups looking solemn in the streets, and talking in
subdued voices, and thank God! we hear no bell-ringing! Everything
cheering we read in the "Corriere della Sera" is denied in the
"Frankfurter Zeitung" or given as a production of the "Luegen Fabrik"
(manufactory of lies).
_September 12th._--The Germans seem depressed, no flags, no bands, and
although there is a notice posted up in the town to say that the Crown
Prince has achieved another victory, there is evidently something
unsatisfactory in the background to counterbalance this. I draw
deductions from the "Frankfurter Zeitung," which has a bitter article
entitled "Torheiten" (Folly), and which speaks of the "Kindische
Freudengeheul" (childish howls of joy) of the English and French
Press, because "ein parr Kalonnen deutscher Soldaten ein Stuck weges
zurueckgezogen haben" (two columns of German soldiers had withdrawn a
bit of the way back). Then the writer contrasts the boastful words
("prahlender woerte") of England with the self-restraint and pious calm
and virtuous behaviour of Germany. One has only to look at the
postcards in the Park Strasse to see which of the combatants is
boastful. England is drawn as ignominiously lying on the ground (when
she isn't running away) and Germany invariably is kicking or thrashing
her.
People are less friendly than at first, though the bath attendants,
people in the Inhalatorium, and doctors are most kind. I had tea at
Mueller's with Miss H---- the other day. There were at least thirty
empty chairs in the tea-room, but a German woman marched up to the
chair on which I had laid my daily newspaper, and ordered me to take
it off, as she must have my chair! She was stout and ugly, and had a
way of doing her hair which, as a writer says, "alone would have
proved impeccable virtue in the face of incriminating circumstantial
evidence." For all their "Kultur" Germans are gross, and to the last
degree inartistic. Their "_nouveau art_" is repulsive; their dressing
outrageously ugly, and their cooking atrocious. I have watched them
here year after year tramping up and down the shady walks stolidly
drinking, wearing garments of ingeniously devised ugliness and blind
to "_l'inutile beaute_." There is no variety of type nor individuality
of person in either men or women. These worthy _Hausfrauen_ have no
grace of dainty frills, diaphanous lace or rustling petticoats. They
are obviously and incontestably of the class described by a witty
writer to whom "a lace petticoat is as much a badge of infamy as a
cigarette on the stage." The German proletariat cannot be susceptible
to externals, else the universal sad-coloured skirt, the ill-fitting
blouse and the ugly hat worn by his women-folk could not find favour
in his eyes.
Life in Altheim has changed under war conditions. The Kur Haus is
closed, there are no teas on the Terrace or promenadings to the
strains of Grieg or Strauss, or theatrical performances. The German
Kur-Gaeste have left, and only the Russian, English and a few Belgian
prisoners of war remain. Russians here are chiefly of a very low
class. Most of the women go about bareheaded, and all are rough and
unkempt and dirty-looking. I fancy some of them have suffered much
privation, but happily their order of release has come. They will have
to travel by Denmark, Sweden and across to Petrograd. The weather is
autumnal, and they have only summer clothes, like us. We cannot help
them, having so little money ourselves. I have had to borrow twice,
and tried to sell my jewellery without success, but I have developed a
latent and unsuspected talent for laundry work. The pretty summer
shops in the Park Strasse are now closed, and the sound of beating
mattresses is heard everywhere; the blinds of most of the villas are
drawn down, and the families having no longer lodgers have descended
to their winter quarters on the ground floor. Only a few _einspaenners_
are left, as both _Kutschers_ and horses are gone to meet a
"Heldentod" for their Fatherland.
One sees white-capped nurses and Red Cross Ambulance men and wounded
and bandaged warriors everywhere. When recovered, the soldiers get
three days leave to visit their families, and then return to the
Front. Poor souls! Shops are chiefly tended by women nowadays, and
the German Frau is not a capable shopkeeper like the French woman. A
"Drogerie" here is presided over by the wife of the man who owns it,
in his absence at the war. She is a gentle, rather pretty creature,
but amazingly slow and stupid. If tooth-powder be asked for, she
mounts a ladder, searches among a hundred bottles, shakes her head
despairingly, and wonders where her "Mann" has put it. Outside her
Kueche and house, the German woman does not shine, but she is a
faithful unselfish wife, and a good and affectionate mother. Mr. Ives
thinks we shall certainly get away next week. I hope so! The weather
is cold and rainy, and there is no fire-place in my room.
_September 13th._--The Altheim daily papers complain that they are
inundated with foolish questions over the telephone. "Ist Namur
belgisch oder franzoesisch?" (Is Namur Belgian or French?)
"Gehen die Schottlaender wirklich mit nackten Beinen in die Schlacht?"
(Do the Highlanders really go into battle with naked legs?)
"Wie lange wird es ungefaehr dauern, bis die Deutschen Paris
eingenommen haben?" (How long will it be before the Germans have
taken Paris?) and so on.
_September 14th._--Again rumours of our going, but even though release
will be most welcome, we all dread the journey. Terrible tales come to
us of the treatment meted out to foreigners crossing the frontier.
Many English were turned out of Wiesbaden and sent here. At F---- they
had their luggage searched, and the ladies of the party were stripped
to the skin by women who even combed their hair to see if by any
ingenuity they had concealed plans and drawings in the puffs and
coils, two soldiers with fixed bayonets mounting guard meanwhile
outside. No doubt we shall remember this journey to the end of our
lives, but what can you expect from a people whose Prophet Nietzsche
says, "What is more harmful than any vice? Pity for the weak and
helpless--Christianity!"
_September 15th._--The singular absence of humour of the Germans often
amuses me. I think it was Palmerston who described Germany as "that
land of damned Professors." They are all so desperately in earnest,
and their "Kultur" is so serious, that jokes and fun seem like
blasphemy. My penury has again been relieved by Mr. S----'s kind loan
of L1. Lady M---- came in to tell me that the American Vice-Consul had
telegraphed to Mr. W---- the good news that we are all to go on
Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next. I have heard this story so often
that I am utterly sceptical. We conclude that things are going badly
for the enemy, since there is no bell-ringing, and the flags have been
taken in.
[Illustration: NUR IN LONDON NICHT
(_But not in London!_)]
_September 16th._--I hear that no men who have served in the Army or
Navy are to be allowed to go with us. To-day's "Frankfurter Zeitung"
thinks that England must be at her last gasp, or she would not have
"barbarians such as Indians, Japanese and _Highlanders_" fighting her
battles for her! They also declare on "unimpeachable evidence" that
India is in a state of revolt, and that the Japanese are to be
despatched at once to quell the rebellion. Any misfortune to the
British delights them.
_September 17th._--The B----s, who to our envy have received special
passes to go to Denmark, got as far as Hamburg and then had their
passports taken from them. The Chaplain and his wife disappeared one
morning, and we learn that he obtained a special pass on the ground of
being a clergyman. He was heard to utter something about the "Bishop
of London," and perhaps that was the talisman. Lady M---- tells me
that they have arrived in Hamburg, we wonder what their fate will be!
A delightful story has just reached me from an Italian source. In the
church of a Convent Hospital in France, one of the sisters was
praying aloud with immense fervour, and when she came to the
"Confiteor" she said: "C'est ma faute! c'est ma faute! c'est ma tres
grande faute," whereupon uprose a Turco crying out: "Ah! non! ma
Soeur! c'est la faute a Guilleaume!"
_September 18th._--A letter at last! but only one from the American
Consul at Frankfort, saying that the Foreign Office wanted to know my
whereabouts as several friends had inquired about me and my safety. I
can't imagine why, when America rescued her stranded citizens long
ago, and sent them money to get home, we should be suffering like
this. Nothing more about the phantom train! Our nerves are becoming
wrought up, and we are developing unexpectedly irritable and
argumentative natures. The weather is amazingly windy and horribly
cold, one shivers in summer garments, and cannot afford to buy warmer
things. A leading article in the "Frankfurter Zeitung" gives us a
grain of comfort, since it is headed "Geduld und Zuversicht" (patience
and confidence), and begins,
"In consequence of the victorious news of the first weeks, those
remaining at home had become accustomed to constant victories, and
the pause in the news of the battlefield of the West is a great trial
of patience." Long may that trial last! On the whole we ought to be
thankful that we are in Hesse and not in Prussia. The Hessians are a
simple, kindly people, pleasant, and good tempered. I have known
Germany well for eighteen years. When first we travelled in the
Fatherland I found each Duchy, or Kingdom, or Principality, devoted to
its own particular Ruler, and little outside it mattered to its
people. Nowadays there are no Hessians or Wuertembergers, not even
Saxons or Bavarians, but all are Germans, and for one photograph of
the Grand Duke of Hesse and his Duchess you will see here one hundred
of "Unser Kaiser" and "Unsere Kaiserin." They have become
Imperialists, and the ambitious spirit which animates them is shown by
the act of a soldier at Liege who chalked up on a wall: "Kaiser
Wilhelm the Second, Emperor of Europe."
I have now 2_d._ left in the world, and have not taken my inhalation
for two days, not being able to pay for it. The money I telegraphed
for has not yet come, and life seems very difficult! I think of the
old lines:
"'Tis a very good world we live in,
To lend, or to spend, or to give in;
But to beg, or to borrow, or get a man's own,
'Tis the very worst world that ever was known."
_September 19th._--At the eleventh hour and when I seemed at the end
of my resources, help came from a most unexpected quarter! I can never
cease to be grateful for the goodness and kindness which relieved my
distress. The Germans look downcast, the Russians jubilant. How
paternal this Government is no one who has not lived in Germany can
imagine. For instance, above the nearest pillar box I saw a notice
written "Don't forget address and stamps!"