Those Paris Days: With The World At The Crossroads by Dr. Samuel N. Watson

Author:Dr. Samuel N. Watson [Watson, Samuel N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Great Britain, General, Germany, Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781782893554
Google: xwdwCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2014-08-15T05:03:42+00:00

XI — THE WORLD WAR

IN JULY 1914 we went to England, thinking to get some much needed rest. Our destination was Cromer on the Norfolk Coast, and there I took up golf again for the first time since leaving America; and as my clubs were in storage in Akron with my household goods, I got the “Pro” at the Royal Golf Links Club House to fit me out with a bag of clubs. One thing which we noticed at this hotel which was perched up on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea was the fact that the personnel of the house were mostly Germans, with the exception of the head porter; and that the manager was a German gentleman, evidently a person of distinction. One morning when I was out on the Links digging away with my niblick in a sand-trap, a ball whizzed perilously near my ear, and after a short wait the owner of the ball came over the crest and proved to be a German gentleman who suggested, as I was alone, that we might do the round together; which we did. That same evening in the lounge before the fire, we talked on various subjects and I improved the occasion to refresh my German which was very rusty. We made an appointment to play golf again on a succeeding morning; but on coming down to breakfast on the day appointed I found a note on crested paper by my plate from my acquaintance (a German nobleman and officer), regretting having to break the appointment to play, and saying that he had been suddenly recalled to the Continent, but that he hoped we might meet again in happier times. Just what “happier times” indicated I did not then realise, although we had plainly noticed that the service in the hotel was becoming disorganised apparently, and that things were not running smoothly. The world had so long refused to take trouble in the Balkans as meaning any general European danger, that it seemed difficult to believe that this War talk on the Continent might possibly develop anything definitely serious. However as the situation did not quiet down, we packed up and went up to London.

There rumours were so disquieting that we decided on an immediate return to Paris and the post of duty. To facilitate travel I went to the Morgan Bank in London, to which I had been accredited, and asked to exchange some English money for French money, only to be told that they could not let me have any French money, as they had no idea what it was worth, face or nothing; but they gave me the address of a broker to whom they had telephoned on my behalf and who said that he would let me have some French money. I went to his office and got the money, at a considerable premium, and mostly in large bills, while what I wanted was small money for local expense and travelling tips. However, I

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