Travelers from Cologne said that searchlights were operated from the tops of the hotels all night searching for airplanes, and machine guns were mounted on the famous Cologne Cathedral. They also reported that tourists were refused hotel accommodations at Frankfort because they were without cash.
Men, women and children sat in the streets all night. The trains were stopped several miles from the German frontier and the passengers, especially the women and children, suffered great hardships being forced to continue their journey on foot.
Passengers arriving at London from Montreal on the Cunard Line steamer Andania, bound for Southampton, reported the vessel was met at sea by a British torpedo boat and ordered by wireless to stop. The liner then was led into Plymouth as a matter of precaution against mines. Plymouth was filled with soldiers, and searchlights were seen constantly flashing about the harbor.
Otis B. Kent, an attorney for the Interstate Commerce Commission, of Washington, arrived in London after an exciting journey from Petrograd. Unable to find accommodations at a hotel he slept on the railway station floor. He said:
“I had been on a trip to Sweden to see the midnight sun. I did not realize the gravity of the situation until I saw the Russian fleet cleared for action. This was only July 26th, at Kronstadt, where the shipyards were working overtime.
“I arrived at the Russian capital on the following day. Enormous demonstrations were taking place. I was warned to get out and left on the night of the 28th for Berlin. I saw Russian soldiers drilling at the stations and artillery constantly on the move.
“At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of being mistaken for an Englishman. At Hamburg the number of warnings was increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a café when the German anthem was played were attacked and badly beaten. I also saw two Englishmen attacked in the street, but they finally were rescued by the police.
“There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg-American Line steamer Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded three thousand passengers, most of them short of money, and the women wailing. About one hundred and fifty of us were given passage in the second class of the American Line steamship Philadelphia, for which I was offered $400 by a speculator.
“The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its occupants lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered on the frontier.”
Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed chairman of the meeting for preliminary relief of the stranded tourists, and committees were named to interview officials of the steamship companies and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, to make arrangements for the honoring of all proper checks and notes, and to confer with the members of the American embassy.