Evening Star Newspaper, September 5, 1936, Page 13

FEATURES he Foening Star. WASHINGTON, D. (., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1936. PAGE B—1 FINDING EXITS FOR AMERICANS IN THEATER OF WAR TASK IS A DRAMATIC ONE Special Division of State Department Finds Pathos, Tragedy and Comedy in Its Daily Route of Evacuating Nationals . Trapped in Zones of Strife Abroad. By John L. Coontz. HAT becomes of the Amer- icans abroad when war \/ V dogs snap their leashes? They take to cover—and home cover if they can make it. Home cover in this instance being the United States proper. Next best, Lhey‘ hie themselves for protection to the | + nearest American consulate or em- bassy. But some don't get this far. And some souls are more intrepid than others. In these cases they remain in the theater of strife to become & | problem to their Government. In an obscure corner of the State | Department is the Federal machinery | which takes care of Americans when war breaks out, or trouble of another sort appears upon the horizons of | normally peaceful nations. | In the current case of Spain, when the war guns of civil strife began to | loose their thunders over the land, quite a number of Americans were abroad in the country. The big prob- lem was to round them up, get them out if they so desired, evacuate them or know where they were | The first thing on the State De- partment’s calendar in this and sim- ilar cases was to communicate with all the Americans in the fighting area and instruct them to “come in.” that is to come to the nearest consulate or embassy and register their ad- dresses. | For the moment trouble starts abroad, trouble starts in the depart- | ment at home. Everybody who has a | brother, sister, father, mother, cousin | abroad wants to know where he or | she is and if he is safe. And they must have this information imme- diately. T IS for this reason that the State Department maintains a foreign service department. The duties of this | division are somewhat those of & liaison bureau between the folks at home and those abroad. It is sort of | a travelers' exchange, where loved ones may be contacted, money sent them, information forwarded to them or received from them. “I have a cousin traveling some- where in Spain. Will you find him? His name is John Doe?” That is typical of messages lately re- ceived by the foreign service adminis- tration. It may be that John Doe is further described in the message—his age given, his last place of visitation, the color of his hair, eyes, height, weight. But more often the latter detalls are lacking. More often the name | only is given and perhaps the last | picture post card address. | In cases of this kind the wisdom of having all Americans in a foreign | country register at the nearest consu- i late or embassy is patent. For, in a moment, by turning to an index file this information may be relayed to | the inquirer: | “His name came in only yesterday | in a list from the consular office at Barcelona, where all Americans fol- lowing instructions are registered.” The head of this foreign service ad- | Ministration is one of the Nation's greatest “at home” diplomats. He is Herbert Hengstler, middle-aged, ath- | lJetic, tall, slightly gray, charmingly serene. For 30 years he has been | bringing Americans home, sending | them money, helping them out of trouble, listening to their plaints and | those of their kindred on this side | of the water. Mr. Hengstler and the writer were in the midst of interesting conversa- tion regarding his service to our na- tionals. “Just a moment,” says he, “these letters must be ‘We must keep ’em rolling. the way,” with a laugh, “here’s a re- quest to find a 3-year-old boy—some- | where in Spain.” “Now what could a 3-year-old boy be doing running around Spain in the midst of a local civil war?” he wants to know. “But if you want to hear a really odd request, consider this one. Here is a request for funds for relief for a | couple of horses! Now you might ask | why are horses running around in | Bpain—especially American horses? But it takes all sorts of persons, ani- mals and situations to make a world. | ‘We do not ask why they—horses or | people-—are in any particular country. That is the public's business and pleasure. All we do is to take care of them if they are American citizens. In the case of the horses, we for- warded the request for funds to take care of them to the parties we were asked to get in touch with. The -funds, we presume, were sent. And the same we will do in regard to the 3-year-old boy. We will contact the embassy and our consulates in Spain— and elsewhere if necessary—to and locate him.” . 'THE work of the Foreign Service Ad- ministration covers the whole fleld of human beings. It extends to husbands who have deserted their ‘wives—and vice versa—to those who become 1ill abroad; those who have their money stolen or who lost it; those who die abroad; those injured in auto accidents or otherwise; those ‘trrested for minor offenses; strand- ed youths. Everybody has heard of the cele- brated Redfern case. Young Paul Redfern, an aviator, started from the United' States for Brazil in 1927. He never got there. Somewhere en route he fell from the skies. Where? No man knows. But that fall aroused the searching world. Strange as it may seem, one of the most interested parties in that search was Mr. Hengst- ler of the Foreign Service Department. He contacted every American con- sulate and embassy in the South American republics trying to find out what become of Paul Redfern. The nearest approach to the solution of the mystery is a huge sheaf of let- ters, cables and telegrams, nearly & foot. high, in his office detailing all that is known or has been flying over a vessel at sea just off the coast of Guiana. Indians in the in- terior of Guiana later reported they saw a plane flying over the country about half way between Guiana and the Brazillan border. But nobody to this day knows the fate of Redfern. ‘There have been tales of him living in the jungle interior of Guiana and the fastenesses of the Brazilian for- ests. Here, among the savage Indians, who will not let him go and look upon him somewhat as a white god, he is reputed to be living. But the record, beyond which no man can go, in the Foreign Service Administration’s files says that Redfern is still “lost.” The case is still “open.” Some of the incidents connected L | with bringing Americans home from the war zones are amusing. Some are not so amusing and some are fraught with tragedy. % It was at the outbreak of the World ‘War that an individual all swelled up with importance and “who’s who" complex dropped into Mr. Hengstler's office and demanded that he find a friend who was traveling in Germany. Simply because the latter did not pick up the friend in a day or so the in- dividual got wrothy and started to “bless out”~Mr. Hengstler and all his works. UIETLY Mr. Hengstler heard him through &nd then asked: “Could (Continued on Page B-2.) il the larger cities of the country will be poorer, technically speak- ing, by many billions of dollars in a few weeks. That is because the Federal Government’s huge stores of gold will be moved from their present quarters to the country’s new treasure chest at Fort Knoz, Ky. Plans jor the movement of this vast treasure and a descrip- tion of its new home are included in the following article. By John Frazier. OLD KING MIDAS thought himself a great gold nabob. He lived in a castle guardedi by thousands of henchmen and soldiers, and beneath which, far underground, lay his treasure house. ‘When he would visit it, preceded by his chamberlain and his vast retinue of servants, he would mutter to him- self as he walked along the great, clammy stone corridors: “I am the richest man in all the world. None is 80 rich as I. All men’s riches put to- gether would not exceed mine.” And so great was the old King's gold hoard that it came to be known throughout all the land about and even to the far corners of the earth. So vast was it considered to be that it came to be a tradition among people everywhere to say “rich as King Midas” when speaking of the wealth of some great merchant prince. But how rich was old Midas? His- tory does not enlighten us on this. And right there is what makes us sus- pect that he was not so rich after all—just a piker compared with one old fellow we know. Uncle Sam, we'll bet, has got cards and spades on old Midas—and you can put in old Croesus if you desire. And for treasure houses, Uncie Sam is building one, too, that would make old Midas open his eyes. There was $9,000,000,000 in gold, out of an estimated $11,000,000,000 in the world, in the vaults of the United States Government scattered over the Nation. Of this $9,000,000,000 all but a few millions—that amount neces- sary for foreign trade purposes—is go- ing into this vault in ‘Kentucky. Uncle Sam is just completing a treas- ure house against which no wiles of man may prevail, either in peace- time or wartime. PLAC!!D in that inland treasure chest, the gold of America will be impregnable. Every known gadget of science capable of giving an instant alarm, and of the most delicate na- ture, reigns throughout the vault. Yet if this were not enough, provision is made for the soldiery stationed at Fort Knox to come instantly to the protection of the cache. And “in- stantly” is used advisedly, for the soldiery at Fort Knox is mechanized and can move motorized artillery to the spot in more than “double-quick” time. Soon Uncle Sam will start moving this great gold hoard which has been about him. ' The last time he was seen apparently was when he was si [ WHEN MIDAS MOVES HIS GOLD) {It is a Monumental Undertaking in Which Uncle Sam Will Trans-! fer His Billions to Theft-Proof Cache in Kentucky. Secrecy to Guard Details of Transfer. Note: Washington and other of |death in the form of steel-jacketed | vault itself is 40 by 64 fe:t and rises | bullets upon the head of any person | will be a movement as though he were | going to board this moving arsenal of the rails. Though the Dillingers, the Nelsons, the Hamiltons and Barkers are gone, Uncle Sam still takes no | chances on the road. ' Yet, strange as it may seem, the Government does not so much fear robbery of the gold as it moves out of the great Eastern cities on its long inland journey as it does something else—something perhaps you would not even think of. That something is wreck of his gold- en caravan of the rails. If thieves should hold up one of the gold specials—an almost incon- ceivable thing—they can be caught. The long hand of the G-men would tend to that. For a while the robbers might enjoy their “swag,” but even- tually they would fall, as have all who have come within the Pederal purview of crime. Scattered gold across the country would soon reveal their where- abouts. But cranks—they are something else. A crank or half-wit has no motive back of his action. He likes to see things done on “just general princi- ples” He may have some real or fancied grievance against the Govern- ment. He may want to see the treas- ure train derailed “just for the embar- rassment” it would cause the Federal Government. T IS this fellow that Uncle Sam is concerned about. It is like the old fable of the elephant and the mouse. The latter can do not harm, but the thought that he can cause incon- venience, trouble and possibly death through some impulse strange and queer makes Uncle Sam extra cautious when it comes to moving treasure. For this reason few will know when Uncle Sam will move this vast gold hoard. It will be carried in armored motor cars to the waiting armored and guarded trains within a few short hours of the time the train is sched- uled to depart. And nobody but Fed- eral officers will know when this Is. The cache was finished in July, so, it is presumed, some time soon we will all wake up some morning and read: “Uncle Sam Moves Gold Hoard in Night. Millions in Gold Go From City Depositories to Great Inland Vault.” And that will be all there is to it. In this way no chances will be taken of train wrecks or robbery attempts. When the gold specials pull out on their long journey into midcontinent they will each be preceded by a pilot train, and this pilot train, in turn, will be preceded by a minute track inspection of every inch of railway between the city of origin and the city of destination. ‘Track walkers will go over every inch of raill between the two cities to see that no bolts fastening together the rails have been loosened, no rails been almost through the two comglete stories of the building housing it. The vault walls are of amazng en- gineering construction. Two feet in | thickness and of concrete and steel. they will be able to baffle the most astute and determined robber that ever wielded a blow-torch. In them' are woven steel coils—coils so closely | interlaced that, should robbers blast | away the concrete enveloping them, | they still would have a mammoth job before them. For, interlacing the coils, | holding them together in an impene- trable mesh bond, are myriad steel rods, 50 closely and tightly interwoven that not even a human hand could be inserted between the existing spaces. Above, below and around the vault is an 18-inch space. This circumvent- ing space will be brilliantly illumi- nated by strong lights and so pro- tected by mirrors strategically placed | that their entire length can be covered at one glance from any position in the bullding. Thus, any one in the build- ing can be seen in a moment's time | without the slightest movement on the part of guards other than the lifting of an eye, But it is the outside of the cache that gives it the rightful name “gold fortress.” Atop the building is a para- pet. This parapet has been created by setting back the second story of the building. Try to approach this build- ing for sinister purposes and machine guns hidden at strategic points on this parapet would mow you down. But suppose you should sneak up under the shadow of the building unseen. Not a chance there, either, for outside guards would get you at the gate or in the grounds; and if not, then ma- chine-gun bullets could be sprayed from one of the four towers built at the ground corners of the building. So much for the outside. Let us now take a look inside, where the gold is stored. Here microphones 80 sensitive that the slightest move- ment can be picked up operate to con- vey to the guard room information that something is wrong. YOUR breathing, the passing of your body along a hallway, the (Continued on Pagé B-5.) Here is the buildi gold hoard at F which noz, Ky, G OLD GALLIENI FOILED KAISER Authentic Story of Turning Point of War Gives Credit to Warrior From Pyrenees, Governor of Paris, Who Received High Posthumous Honor—Story of Taxicab Horns. By Herbert Hollander. ERMANY Jost the war 22 years ago today, lost it just a month after hostilities began, and when one of her victorious armies was within 40 miles of Paris. It took the allies four years, and required the final impetus of Amer- ica’s untapped strength, to realize fully the great coup of the first bat- tle of the Marne, Millions of lives were lost, hun- dreds of thousands of tons of shot and shell were hurled back and forth, all the vivid and brutal panorama of four years of war was unfolded—but the die was cast September 6, 1914, when the first battle of the Marne began. As the years have gone by, out of the confusion of events there 'has arisen the figure of a man whose name is little known to the American public, to whom informed and un- prejudiced authorities give the lion's share of the credit for saving the allied cause from apparently inevi- table destruction. ‘That man is Gen. Joseph Simon Gallieni. At the time, and since, Marshal Joseph Jacques Joffre—the beloved “Papa” Joffre, who endeared himself to the hearts of millions of Americans on his visit to this coun- try—has been largely identified in the public mind as the victor of the Marne. True, Joffre was generalissimo. It is likewise true that he authorized the execution of Gallieni’s plan. But it was Gallienl's plan, and, 22 years after, there seems little doubt that it | herited the latter’s iron will or one- | ness of purpose. The younger Moltke required considerable persuasion to | get Joffre to adopt it. But to begin nearer to the real be- ginning of the story. ‘VHEN hostilities began on the Western front the German armies crashed through Belgium, in acordance with the long-established Schlieffen plan. The forts of Liege offered stout resistance, but were | crushed under the weight of the Ger- | man heavy howitzers. The country | was overrun and the march on Paris was well under way, From the German point of view it was an excellent beginning, but the begin- | ning already had in it the seeds of military disaster. For the German | commander, Moltke, although nephew | of the Moltke of 1870, had not in- was rather nervous, and he ignored | Schlieffen’s adjuration to make the | right wing of the invading army in- superably strong. Moitke tempor- ized, stretched, patched—and was lost. But in the days of late August and early September of 1914 these points, now clear, were only instinctively felt in the most informed inner circles, and certainly were'not apperent at all to the public generally. The German plan of invasion, of the complete subjugation of France and then the “pinching” of England out of the war entirely, seemed to be running smoothly and quite on sched- ule. But, as a matter of fact, it was not on schedule. For one thing, the German first army, under Gea. von | had he moved in so brief a time. | Gloom hung thick over the boulevards | Kluck, was definitely ahead of sched- | ule. | Von Kluck's army was far out into | enemy country, and within 40 miles | of the capital. Moltke had lost touch | entirely with Von Kluck, and the first | army commander was having extreme | difficulty with his supplies, so rapidly Threughout this period the French and English were falling back, fight- ing desperately, but failing to find an | opportunity for an effective counter- offensive. Joffre planned to continue the retreat behind the Seine, making & stand there with his forces in com- bination with those of the English under Sir John French, GALLI!:NX. a man older than Joffre, but a quicker thinker and a great | strategist for all his non-military ap- pearance, had been named military governor of Paris. The government already had moved to Bordeaux. | as the inhabitants envisioned a repeti- | tion of 1870, when the triumphant | Prussians clattered into the French capital. Indeed, the Kaiser, his| spirits rising higher than those of his | generals at the “walk through” in Belgium and thus far in France, con- templated a Christmas dinner at| Versailles. | But the Hohenzollern reckoned | without the nervousness of Moltke, | the too-rapid movement of Von | Kluck's first army, the irritation among the titled German com- manders, including the Crown Prince and Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria—and without a slightly ridiculous looking individual who answered to the name of Gallieni. In briefest form, and without enter- ing into the detailed tactical moves involved, what Gallieni did was to force Joffre’s hand. Gallieni saw the weakness of Von Kluck’s position, and made up his mind that here was the chance to precipitate a critical counter | action. Gallieni was right, and to| him goes the credit for initiating a blow which developed into one of the great decisive battles of world history. | But Gallieni had no easy time of it in putting his idea across. Joffre was vague at first, and Sir John French was frankly skeptical. Capt. Basil Henry Liddell Hart, recognized as one of the great authorities on the military history of the World War, tells a story which illustrates the coldness of Gallieni's reception. He went to see Sir John Prench at his headquarters, but the English commander was absent. Lid- dell Hart says that Gallieni found the British staff depressed and expressing the conviction that, had they known the condition of the French Army, England would not have entered the covers the great vaults where the United States will store iis | war, | | THIMMMMNW (1) American refugees evacuated from war-torn Bilbao, Spain, waving good-by to the U. S. S. Oklahoma upon their ar- rival in_ France.—(Wide World Photo.) (2) The State Department in Washington. (3) Ref- ugees on board the liner Exeter arriving at Boston. —(A. P. Photo.) (4) The battleship Oklahoma, re- cently recalled from Span- ish waters where it aided in the evacuation of Amer- ican citizens. (5) Ameri- can Embassy at Madrid. his pedagogic nose glasses, yellow leg- gings, black-buttoned boots and “walrus” mustache, looked to them more like a caricature than an in- spired military strategist. Capt. Lid- dell Hart quotes one member of Sir John French's staff as saying that “no British officer would be seen speaking to such a blankety-blank comedian.” But, regardless of the British stafl’s idea of the sartorial equipment neces= sary to make a successful officer, Joseph Simon Gallieni proved amply, to ally and enemy alike, that he was a very grim sort of comedian. ‘The upshot of it all was that. rather grudgingly, decision finally was reach= ed to follow Gallieni's bold but weli- thought-out plan. Had it failed, Gal- lieni quickly would have been identified with it. But, miracle of miracles— and the reader who was reading the newspapers in 1914 may recall that it was called “the Miracle of the Marne.” and seemed to be copyrighted by Joffre—it did not fail. Troops disheartened by weeks of retreat fought like men possessed when they found themselves on the offensive in a Napoleonic stroke. And the drama was heightened when, on September 7. Gallieni en- gineered the episode of the Paris taxi- cabs. Hundreds of them were com= mandeered to rush detraining troops to the front. None who saw that sight will forget it. The automobiles, | squawking as only Paris cabs can squawk, and speeding as only Parisian drivers can speed in careening flight, streamed to the front, 40 miles away. They made two trips, carrying about 3,000 men each trip. ‘The ultimate result of the battle of the Marne was to force the military conduct of the war into a gigantic siege, a war of starvation. The stroke definitely ended the Germans’ hope of a quick decision. Trench warfare along & heavily fortified line became the order of the day. With changes | which At this date seem relatively minor, that is what the war in the west remained until the end. HAT would have happened had not Gallieni insisted with every ounce of his Gallic impetuosity upon the counter offensive against the 1st Army has been, and remains today, 20 years after, a fertile field for specu- lation. No competent critic denies that the entire issue of the war would have been far different. During his lifetime Gallieni's genius ‘was hidden beneath the all-enveloping shadow of the Joffre legend. At home and abroad his due was long with- held. Indeed, one is not assured that even now those British staff officers do not feel that Gallieni actually was a comedian—because he wore yellow leggings and did not carry a swagger stick. However, Capt. Liddell Hart has done much to change this opinion. His outspoken admiration for Gallien} and the unquestioned authoritativeness of his views brought a new apprecia- tion of the genius of the tough old warrfor from the Pyrenees. The French government, mindful of the injustice done to Gallieni, con- ferred upon him, posthumously, the baton of a marshal of France. It would seem fitting that on thir twenty-second anniversary the public should remember Joseph Simon Gal- lieni as the hero of the Marne, saviot of the allied cause in its most critical hour. And, by no means least, as a man who had nerve enough to tell the | indigo mood of the hour, were disdaintul of & Prenchman who, with Paris taxi drivers to keep the throttle: mtflm’ml