Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1920 — TRAVEL IS STILL FAR FROM NORMAL [ARTICLE]

TRAVEL IS STILL FAR FROM NORMAL

Mtiw War Conditions Are Holding Over in Europe CLOSE SCRUTINY IS KEPT Baeellent Reasons for Going Abroad Must Be Given Before Fassporte Are Vised—Passport Ne Good WltheiA Certificate That Income Tax Has Been Paid—Jeys and Trlbulatiohs es the Grand Tear Nowadays Are Described. v

Let bo misguided tourist Imagine that, because the war is over and the state department has announced that it will Issue tourist passports for certain countries, travel will soon be like what It was in the past. It Is true that peace exists, at least in western Europe; but it Is no less true that many war conditloas are holding over, end that some surprising new situations have arisen, as for instance in Switzerland, where the influx of Germans has been so serious that a closer scrutiny of all travelers has been Instituted, writes Charles Upson Clark frem Paris to the New York Times. A a regards England, food and labor conditions remain such that American women and children had better stay away for the present; Indeed, they will have to give excellent reasons to the British consulate in order to get the requisite vise. Even our own state department asks your reasons for going abroad; and they required me to furnish proof that I was really going abroad for the purpose of "study.” It takes time and money for one’s passport even yet. First the state department absorbs a couple of dollars and the time needed for mailing the application to Washington and returning the passport, (here go two photographs, also). Then the French consulate takes another of your stock .of prints for your application (to which, by the way, you have to swear a halfdollar’s worth), and two more dollars; It has also the right to take several days for investigation—a right, as I had a chance to note while standing In line; a man who was clearly a German, ahead of me, wanted his passport vised in order to go over and get an Inheritance in what had been Germany till last fall. Are Very Exacting. My next country wee Switzerland; to my surprise I found I had to submit two letters testifying to my moral and financial standing, and to the correctness of my purposes In visiting Switzerland; and these letters have to be from New Yorkers within telephonic reach of the consulate! That means going out and getting the letten from complaisant friends and then coming around the next day soy the passport duly vised (and $2 more). in this, mind you, Just for transit; had I wanted to stop in Switzerland, I presume they would pot have passed me so easily. One gem, however, I did discover while waiting my-Turn In the Swiss consulate. I picked up a Berne paper of last summer, and In the police court news ran across the Item that several men had been arrested In a local hoteF for playing poker. They assured the judge that playing poker was not gambling; but after he had had the rules explained to him, he decided promptly that "das pokerspiel” was a game of chance, and fined the players 50 francs apiece! - : Next' come the Italians, who would also like a photograph and a couple of dollars. The Jugo-Slavs (Kingdom of the Serbs, Groats and Slovenes) are ’by far the most modest of the crowd —no photograph, and only 70-cent fool It was interesting, with Flume in mind, to observe that the laborer ahead of me and the clerk were talking Italian and not Slav. Roumanla came last on my list; only sl, and no delay. These are-all allied countries; one needs the anthorization of the military authorities to visit Germany er Austria. Passing the Tax Collector. But one’s .passport, duly vised, avails one nothing without the certificate that one has paid one’s income tax; that means another trip, this time to the custom house, for an Income tax clearance paper. Many oi the alien laborers now going home never paid an income tax; Unde Sam takes It from them as they sail. ] was told that the amount -collected tout way In cash from outgoing for •igners has amounted to a few v n»ontbi to several million dollars. I am assuming that yor. have succeeded in getting steamer tickets, While providing your passports with proper vises. If you don’t know, you alii bo surprised to find out how much li costs During the war it was remarkable how low, comparatively, eeeen passage wfua In toct, I had a joor ago. on an Italian steamer which now charges fSCO and will shortly ask mors, too cheapest ocean passage, all mtp considered, that I ever enjoyed. We took Ova weeks from Genoa ts Maw York—five Weeks of unsurpassed baud, free table wine and free dessert wine at dinners—and all I paid was 9110. Wo ware held up three weeks at Gibraltar on account of in fwnaa on board. At 3 cants a milt toa transportation, toot made oa* board 96 a week ! Reminiscences a# to# War.), Alas, such days are by! One most tgare on at least 9300 tor too trip. J

was so fortunate as to pick up a ticket Just surrendered on a big English liner whlqh had Just brought over 4,000 Chinese coolies to Halifax, and which was to pick up another load on her return. Even In first cabin there Is still evidence that the steamer is primarily a transport; little luxuries like berth lights have not yet been replaced. Nor did we have tourists aboard. Three-quarters oFlhe first cabin deserted us at Plymouth late one afternoon; we found ourselves In Cherbourg harbor early the next morning. The customs examination was courteous and lenient; tobacco was all they Inquired about. The state railways gave us a special train —two first-class carriages (corridor coaches), a diner, and a baggage car—and we made the run In to Paris at 45 miles an hour.- The luncheoh, at 12 francs, was excellent, but we had only saccharine pellets for sugar; as here Id Paris, and the bread, of first-class quality, Is not yet white —and, to my thinking, all the better for it It was a pleasure, as we rushed through the smiling Norman countryside, to see herd after herd of fat cattle, with here and there a woman milking Into a great brass pail shaped like a top. The fields were well cultivated, and the orchards full of apples piled up for the cider mill—“fine salvaging,” as an ex-soldier remarked. I am glad to say that talks with good French friends here in Paris have convinced me that our American soldiers’ salvaging tendencies were condoned, and that the French people, as a whole, feel just as cordial and grateful to the Americans as when they came. There is evidence of our presence everywhere; many of the engines we passed on the railway still bore “U. S. A.” on the tenders, Beeklr>g Paris Quarters.

It was our misfortune to reach Paris, already jam full, the week of the first automobile show in six years. I paust have tackled ten hotels Before I finally found a room. There is no heat, but I do have electric light For this luxury I pay 12 francs, about '‘Bl.5Q a day. It is so with all prices here. The good hotels serve luncheons and dinners at 12 frpnes up. Nevertheless, in the midst of all complaints, it Is surprising how cheaply an American who knows Paris, or doesn’t mind learning, can live here. I dined the other night in a restaurant by the Louvre where for 4 francs 50 I got my choice of hors d’oeuvre or soup, two choices out of entrees, roasts and vegetables, cheese, dessert and a glass of beer jor half bottle of wine. Of course it Is crowded, the service a little slow, and nothing but French spoken; but everything was excellent and well cooked; and including the fee to the waiter it cost me only about 92 cents. One remarkable thing, I never saw Paris so nearly exclusively French. The tourist element Is almost altogether absent; one sees only occasional British or American or Polish or Italian or other uniforms, instead of whole platoons of them, as during the war. The women are almost all French; and, as one walks along the boulevards, one rarely hears any language- but- French. And to one who knows Paris of old. and loves It, It was never more charming; its people proud with victory, chastened with suffering, uncertain but courageous for the future.