V

ERY few Americans traveling in Europe foresaw the war or even anticipated the consequences of mobilization. I had been forewarned. The American Ambassador at Paris, Mr. Myron T. Herrick, had told me what would happen. In fact, as early as Friday, the 31st of July, before war had extended beyond Austria and Servia, and while many well-informed people still believed peace possible, he had cabled to Washington for transports to take home the Americans whom he foresaw would be caught in Europe by the war. Even with this knowledge, however, I did not fully realize what was to come, and it is therefore easy to understand how it happened that scores of thousands of Americans traveling in the various countries of Europe, without access to any authoritative information, continued on their travels or remained in the zone of threatened war until they found themselves suddenly marooned.

It is a credit to human nature that most of the people who were thus cast to one side as so much rubbish by the forces engaged in this war controlled their nerves and maintained their good humor.

own.

Since civilization seemed to have abandoned us, it was the natural impulse on our part to try to establish a civilization of our No one who has been through such an experience needs to be convinced by argument of the truth of the saying that no man liveth unto himself. And of course we first turned to the American Embassy. On Monday morning (August 3) I went to the Embassy on Victoria Street, London, not with any favor to ask or request to make, but with the expectation that there would be the center for stranded Americans, and there we could find signs of organized society, which seemed to be disappearing rapidly everywhere else. The only sign, however, of anything approaching any means for mutual help and protection was a registration book. There was a crowd of people around the table, each person waiting his turn to record his name and his London address. Here, at least, was the beginning of something like organization. One American had his pen in his hand, all ready to write his name, when an under-secretary or clerk came up, reached over, lifted the book from the

table, closed it, and announced that there would be no more registration.

At that minute it seemed as if America had joined the Powers of Europe in repudiating civilization! That registry book was a little thing; but for the time being it seemed as if it were the only thing that stood between us and anarchy. With that book there seemed to disappear the last chance to find friends or to be found by them, the last chance to undertake any effort for mutual protection.

No explanation was vouchsafed except the simple one that the Embassy had no money to distribute, and therefore it was no use leaving names and addresses with the Embassy.

Somebody, however, in the crowd announced that the stranded Americans in London were to have a meeting at the Waldorf Hotel that afternoon. So we dispersed to gather in that London hotel on invitation of we knew not whom.

Thereupon began a most interesting operation of establishing a form of government, so to speak. It was thoroughly American. in the way it began. It was virtually a town meeting. Somebody called the gathering to order, and made a cheerful speech. Later it was understood that this was Mr. Fred I. Kent, a banker of New York. It was proposed that the meeting elect Mr. Theodore Hetzler as chairman of a permanent Committee to be appointed later. Mr. Hetzler was unanimously elected, though probably not one in a hundred of those present knew him. How many there were in this large room with galleries it would be hard to say. Some were seated at tables, most of them were standing. Fully half, I should say, were crowded in the large galleries overlooking the rest of the room. Mr. Hetzler rose and made a cheerful speech and called for suggestions from the floor. Many sensible suggestions were made. It proved that most of these had been anticipated by the group of men who had called the meeting into being. There was some criticism-criticism of the Government for not having the transports already on their way across the Atlantic; criticism of the Ambassador for not being present at the. meeting, although no one suggested any way by which he could be there and at the For