I was warned to get out and left on
the night of the 28th for Berlin. I saw Russian soldiers drilling at the
stations and artillery constantly on the move.
"At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of being
mistaken for an Englishmen. At Hamburg the number of warnings was
increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a cafe when the German
anthem was played were attacked and badly beaten. I also saw two
Englishmen attacked in the street, but they finally were rescued by the
police.
"There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg-American Line steamer
Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded three thousand
passengers, most of them short of money, and the women wailing. About
one hundred and fifty of us were given passage in the second class of
the American Line steamship Philadelphia, for which I was offered $400
by a speculator.
"The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its occupants
lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered on the frontier."
Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed chairman of
the meeting for preliminary relief of the stranded tourists, and
committees were named to interview officials of the steamship companies
and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, to make arrangements for
the honoring of all proper checks and notes, and to confer with the
members of the American embassy.
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