OCR Text |
Show 00 DEEP GLOOM IS Hi BERLIN j i Almost Entire Absence of. Christmas Cheer Soldiers J Begging on Streets. j BERLIN. Sunday, Dec. 22. (By the Associated Pross) The outlook fori Berlin's first revolutionary Christmas) appears to be anything but merry. Thp ! disposition of the Berliners seems toj be glocmy. The stigma of military defeat has been eclipsed momentarily by political uncertainty, food stringency stringen-cy and disturbed economic conditions. Never before have beggars and street vnders been so numerous in Berlin. Three years ago a soldier would not have been permitted to walk the streets in uniform and beg. Professional Pro-fessional beggars and cripplied and In- j valid soldiers multiply in number daily, dai-ly, augmented by other soldiers who , sell cigarettes, soap and sweet meats brought in from west of the Rhine .vhero such things have bean more plentiful than in Berlin. An odd holiday hol-iday spectacle is an able-bodied soldier sol-dier in uniform grinding out Christ- ' mas music from a street organ. The Unter Den Linden, the PoLs-damer PoLs-damer Platz and Friederichstrasse present an incongrugous appearance .with street stalls filled with flimsy and substitutes for Christmas pastry and wax candles. i Thero will bo little travel as through trains have been withdrawn and local ; trains have been stripped of ordinary comforts, such as dining facilities, heating and illumination. Trips whish ordinarily took twelve hours, now take thirty. Trains are taken off without : notice and printed schedules are 1 worthless. The newspapers also are lacking In Christmas cheer. The mood of the holiday shopper in- 1 cllnes to books although the jewelers are garnering their last war profits. oo i |