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. The 1,400 Americans in Berlin and