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Show I t: "; X - I ' "X 1 1 ! , V I A .t u A O entertain and to keep WL ' , & '1 f Jv- ' k"" 4 t ', his mouth shut these If 4 sff' isT ,f-3 E j are the duties of an "V i v4 VfT 3- - J L American ambassador "Xt-""iL J fT ' SV Hfc-jJii r In time of peace. But -Z A p, .'t , T ' 7fl- when tne country to. Rfc Wll tK4 4. 4 I Vf 1 which he is accredited ' J .J F--1' 1 v" ''"v . ' -" 1 V is at war he is called P A V TV -4,4 V-?'f upon to do so many H ft ' K AH'' vA"s4lrt" things that only a man (.ift ''f ' S'-"tVfr7'j 1 i X -I ,v of the coolest disPosi- feJOf i r- :X tion and finest ability could make head- ; . V ' J i "V s! way against the flood of requests. His (Jlf $ ' js " 11 ''7 'V V.T.- v, (2 duties range all the way from telling Vifhf f '1 If KV' a distracted tourist where she can find m- r $' ' 'jf 1 g jiv K15-T,', V?"- . " v -V 1 a doctor for a crying baby to serving t'gT f 3 I g- ''t; as a means of communication between Kfi lf ' " J two of the great warring powers. SA'y'i' TVTrTrn'Tv ? , t t Tlf f T f T V From every capital in Europe come f - yrrrirnljro StTT grateful appreciations of the splendid 9 , H f MJ Li work done by the American represent- Jf - T JWi Ui aF-U atives- 1, )h M ' r-fjki Mr Gerard had especial difficul- Take, for Instance, the case of My- mmM ties to contend with. When he ron T. Herrick, ambassador to France. ri SC A took up his duties in Berlin and On August 4, when the German ambas- nQffli5 lYfZJm ' 1A0Z.AWA6M1XX 'J rented the Schwabach palace at sador to France received his passports, ( TO frV,Y se- 3 $15,000 a year, besides spending Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were sitting in' " several thousands more in refitting, A iim O entertain and to keep I ' his mouth shut these are the duties of an IL American ambassador m time of peace. But IM when the country to Ta which he is accredited Is at war he is called upon to do so many J things that only a man 7 of the coolest disposi tion and finest ability could make headway head-way against the flood of requests. His duties range all the way from telling a distracted tourist where she can find a doctor for a crying baby to serving as a means of communication between two of the great warring powers. From every capital in Europe come grateful appreciations of the splendid work done by the American representatives. represent-atives. Take, for Instance, the case of Myron My-ron T. Herrick, ambassador to France. On August 4, when the German ambassador ambas-sador to France received his passports, Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were sitting in their dismantled mansion in the Rue Francois Premier. Their trunks were packed and Mr. Herrick was ready to hand over his papers to his successor, Mr. Sharp. They had had a pleasant stay In .Fans. It had cost Mr. HerncK something like $160,000 the first year at his post, when he had to purchase his furniture, and about eight thousand dollars a month the second year. Still they had met many interesting inter-esting persons and no rude story about the crudity of American diplomacy had filtered back to America. Suddenly the avalanche fell upon them. Thousands Thou-sands of leters, telegrams - and cables ca-bles swept Into Mr. Herrick's office every day. There were panic-stricken tourists wishing to get home by express ex-press train where there were no express ex-press trains, and there were anxious friends in the United States insistent for immediate news of their friends and" relatives. Besides the pleasure-seekers besieging besieg-ing him night and day, there was the resident colony to be thought of, thousands thou-sands of them craving a private interview inter-view and advice about the best way to manage their affairs with the sudden sud-den threat of a siege. From Switzerland and from northern north-ern Italy the cohorts poured into Paris. They must be given care until they could be got down to the seaports and shipped across the Atlantic. Ships were lacking and there was a general clamoring for the ambassador to cable ca-ble Washington to supply the deficiency. defi-ciency. Added to the genuine cases of distress dis-tress were the clever crooks and confidence con-fidence men and women who took the opportunity to reap a golden harvest. Then, too, there were many instances of base Ingratitude. Women accustomed accus-tomed to luxury cried curses on the ambassador's head for falling to keep them from slight hardships. Soon there came even graver duties du-ties for our hard-pressed ambassador. The United States took over the interests in-terests in Paris of Austria and Germany. Ger-many. This was delicate business, enough in itself to keep an envoy at his wits' ends. Frightened women and children of nations hostile to France must be protected or at least were convinced con-vinced that they must be. Then there were questions of state to be handled. Mr. Herrick immediately took advantage ad-vantage of offers of assistance from American friends in Paris and organized organ-ized a large force as best he could. There were several committees formed for relief work. He and Mrs. Herrick Her-rick worked day and night. They placed their motor cars in service. They opened their house and refurnished it and here they gave the homeless lodging and supplied food to many. They used large amounts of their own money in their work. Both fell ill, but kept on working. Finally Mr. Herrick remained the only ambassador ambassa-dor in Paris. Mr. Sharp and Robert Bacon, a former for-mer United States ambassador, luckily luck-ily arrived in time to be of assistance, but Mr. Herrick did the principal work and his name will figure in history with that of Washburne, American envoy of 1871-1S72, the only diplomatist diplomat-ist of importance to brave he terrors of the Paris siege. The story of Mr. Herrick's work in Paris is largely that of Walter H. Page in London and of James W. Gerard in Berli London probably handled the largest number of tourists. 1 Mr. Gerard had especial difficul-v difficul-v ties to contend with. When he JCj took up his duties in Berlin and y rented the Schwabach palace at $15,000 a year, besides spending several thousands more in refitting, undoubtedly he had little thought for other than magnificent receptions and dinners, the usual things Uncle Sam always expects his diplomatists to do and to pay for out of their own pockets. But the montn or. August iouuu u. same magnificent home filled with a mob of angry, complaining, frightened tourists, unreasonably demanding the impossible. Mr. Gerard met them with calm patience. He stood: in his office day and night, constantly it seemed, giving words of advice and cheer. Several times he even accompanied accom-panied trainloads of Americans to Rotterdam Rot-terdam just to see that they got through all right. In addition to these duties he had charge of the interest of England, Russia, Japan, France, Belgium, Bel-gium, Servia and Montenegro. His efforts were misunderstood by a section of the German press, which Baw in his assiduity in getting Americans Ameri-cans home the threat of war by the United States against Germany. Yet the bulk of Germans watched American efficiency with admiration, and Mr. Gerard was acclaimed as a worthy representative of a great neutral neu-tral country. In Belgium Brand Whitlock, our minister, min-ister, found himself in the actual theater thea-ter of war operations. First he bad to meet a swarm of frightened persons caught in the rapid advance of the German army and escort them to Antwerp. Ant-werp. Then came the occupation ot the Belgian capital. Undoubtedly Mr. Whitlock should have most of the credit for preventing scenes of violence vio-lence in Brussels. He accompanied the burgomaster, M. Max, to meet the German conqueror. General Saxe von Arnim. If he did not actually, as told in some cabled stories, take Brussels Brus-sels "under American protection," yet he undoubtedly had much to do with arranging the terms of surrender and in calming the populace. The Bruxel-lois Bruxel-lois swear by Mr. Whitlock now. In Vienna Frederick C. Penfield, like Mr. Gerard, had to look out for the citizens of Russia, England, Japan, Belgium, France, Servia and Montenegro, Montene-gro, as well as his own countrymen. His beautiful home was converted to the needs of charity. Henry Van Dyke, minister to Holland, Hol-land, and Thomas Nelson Page, ambassador am-bassador to Italy, also felt the heavy strain and acquitted themselves creditably. cred-itably. It Is undoubted that one effect ot the war will be to raise the estimation of American diplomats and diplomacy abroad. The peoples of Europe realize the heavy debt they all owe to American Amer-ican representatives and when the time comes to settle this huge and dreadful war the ambassadors of Washington will have much to do with I the difficult task of arranging the terms of peace. |