Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1914 — BERLIN IS NORMAL [ARTICLE]

BERLIN IS NORMAL

German Capital Gives Little indication of War. Large Pictures of Kaiser and German Generals Exhibited Like Campaign Posters in This Country ‘—Theaters Reopen. Berlin, Germany.—They still eat wheat bread in Berlin. Amusements proceed with little sign of abatement. Few posters to call men to arms are in evidence and there are many ablebodied men on the. street in civilian clothes. These conditions, in striking contrast to the situation in neutral Holland, where all people are compelled to eat bread that has a 75 per cent admixture of rye and where nearly all walls are covered with official announcements relating to mobilization and the regulation of prices, were sources of wonderment to a correspondent who had just arrived from constant scenes of war and its aftermath. That Germany is at war could not be gleaned from street impressions, although a person might speculate on the causes that have led to two con-, ditions. Everywhere one sees large photographs of the emperor, the German crown prince and Generals von Hindenburg, von Beseler and othpr military notables, exhibited as are campaign lithographs in the United States. There are other photographs of Emperor Francis Joseph and Austrian generals. The second condition is the poor condition of the horses which do the hauling In the city. All good horses have been requisitioned for military purposes, with the result that every

equine able to keep moving is being urged to further and often painful effort. There are surprisingly soldiers to be seen in the streets of the German capital. Now and then a column puts in an appearance—cheerful, eager and usually bedecked with flowers — off for the war. Beside the men march their mothers, wives, sisters, sweethearts —not so cheerful. Business in Berlin is normal as far as can.be ascertained. Soon after the mobilization some of the large amuse-ment-places, concert halls and vaudeville houses closed. Many of them have been reopened a with the cdming of the winter season. The cases are crowded to capacity. The bills of fare in the hotels and restaurants may be read by the German whose knowledge of French is limited. The “Speiskarte” is no longer a “Menu.” There has been little reduction in the quantity and no deterioration in the quality of the food offered. “We must win,” is the slogan of everybody in Berlin. To make this possible everybody accepts resignedly whatever sacrifice has to be made. While the army has the hard in the battle line, the women, including the empress and the ladles of her court, knit socks, wristlets, gloves, sweaters, abdominal bands and even calf “warmers.”