t what they had been pictured to be. Neither
was Germany starving. The officials and inspectors were courteous and
patient and permitted me to take into Germany not only British
newspapers, but placards which pictured the Germans as pirates. Two
days later, while walking down Unter den Linden, poor old women, who
were already taking the places of newsboys, sold German extras with
streaming headlines: "British Ships Sunk. Submarine War Successful."
In front of the _Lokal Anzeiger_ building stood a large crowd reading
the bulletins about the progress of the von Tirpitz blockade.

For luncheon that day I had the choice of as many foods as I had had in
London. The only thing missing was white bread, for Germany, at the
beginning of the war, permitted only Kriegsbrot (war bread) to be baked.

All Berlin streets were crowded and busy. Military automobiles,
auto-trucks, big moving vans, private automobiles, taxi-cabs and
carriages hurried hither and thither. Soldiers and officers, seemingly
by the thousands, were parading up and down. Stores were busy. Berlin
appeared to be as normal as any other capital. Even the confidence of
Germany in victory impressed me so that in one of my first despatches I
said:

"Germany to-day is more confident than ever that all efforts of her
enemies to crush her must prove in vain. With a threefold offensive,
in Flanders, in Galicia and in northwest Russia, being successfully
prosecuted, there was a spirit of enthusiasm displayed here in both
military and civilian circles that exceeded even the stirring days
immediately following the outbreak of the war.

"Flags are flying everywhere to-day; the Imperial standards of Germany
and Austria predominate, although there is a goodly showing of the
Turkish Crescent. Bands are playing as regiment after regiment passes
through the city to entrain for the front. Through Wilhelmstrasse the
soldiers moved, their hats and guns decorated with fragrant flowers and
with mothers, sisters and sweethearts clinging to and encouraging them."

A few weeks before I arrived the Germans were excited over the shipment
of arms and ammunitions from the United States to the Allies, but by
the time I was in Berlin the situation seemed to have changed. On
April 4th I telegraphed the following despatch which appeared in the
_Evening Sun_, New York:

"The spirit of animosity towards Americans which swept Germany a few
weeks ago seems to have disappeared.