Sunday, December 13th. I went to the Embassy this morning for a conference with the American Military Attachés; and later took luncheon with one of the Secretaries. I had cabled to Paris to have my mail sent on to meet me in London, but it did not arrive; I have, therefore, had no letters from home in some weeks. I cannot telegraph to America details of my future plans. Imagine the face of any British telegraph operator if I were to hand him a cable saying: “I am leaving again for Berlin and Vienna,” which is exactly what I am to do. I return immediately with dispatches from England to our Embassies in Germany and Austria. My plans are subject to modification by official orders, but I shall probably remain in Berlin only one day and then go to Vienna and Budapest. The bag I am to take to Berlin contains not only official dispatches, but a large sum of money.
England has well prepared herself for a Zeppelin raid. Every skylight and the top of every street lamp in London is painted black.
Tuesday, December 15th. An officer of the staff has given me an interesting theory as to the disconcerting effect produced by the bursting of the big German shells on the morale of the troops—how disconcerted no one can imagine who has not himself experienced it. He was himself near such a shell when it exploded. It rendered him unconscious. He was blind for some time, deaf for two weeks, and suffered from loss of memory for over a month,—and all this without any surgical wound. He thinks the nervous effect produced by the explosions at a distance is due in a lesser degree to the same sort of shock. On one occasion a number of big shells exploded in succession a hundred yards from a trench; and although no one was wounded or suffered any physical injury, such was the demoralizing effect of the nervous shock that all the men in the trench fled and did not recover balance until they had run a quarter of a mile. Meeting a staff officer and receiving from him a stiff reprimand they all returned to their posts. The whole episode took place without any casualties.
THE BRITISH DESTROYER ON THE NORTH SEA
[Just after she “brought us to” with a blank shot]
I leave for Folkestone this evening, where I spend the night on board ship. The boat sails for Flushing after daybreak.