Maths Diary--Part Seven--May 29th to June 7th, 1914

Now they're leaving Europe behind.....

(This is part of a notebook diary kept by Math Hesch during a trip he took with his brother Ted in the spring of 1914. Click DIARY on the sidebar to see only the diary entries. Enjoy!)

May 29--Friday--We are in Hanover now, 200 miles from Berlin.
It aint much of a town, but we never had so many brag up their land as right here- we are getting mad.
Jee, if we had them in the states, we would show 'em a thing or two.

This was the end of May, and WWI was definitely brewing. Math and Ted left Europe only 20 days before Archduke Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo on June 28th, and war broke out only a month after that.

" Strong feelings of nationalism fed the fires of hatred in pre-war Europe. It turned Frenchman against German and Russian against Austrian. Nationalistic speeches and writings (especially in countries like Germany) hastened the war by painting it as the best test for proof of national superiority"... from THIS ARTICLE. about the causes of WWI.

We are on our way to Rheine now.
This is May 30--Saturday--Rye is all headed out.
Still, they won't and can't cut it till August 1.
The crops are ahead of O — sh.
Here read about a ship going down, don't like it a bit.

The Empress of Ireland was a Canadian Pacific Railway steamship in active service from 1906 until its collision with another ship in the early hours of May 29, 1914.
SHIPWRECK

Hannover is a good for nothing town. Rye is all laying flat around here.
Had rain for the last 7 or 8 days.

Are in MINDEN now, 9:50 A.M. Just left Lohne.

East of Hannover, heading to Amsterdam... I seen some wooden shoes, first ones we seen in this land.
Well, we are in RHEINE now.
Just heard a tune. It sure is a nice one.

Zum Lot means crap en can.
I sold my shoes for one mark. Hard times. Bought a pair for 12.50.
Was to confession today in Rheine.

There it goes again. Some one else is playing the machine, same tune.
Bought a pill holder for 50 pfennig, a razor for 2.50.

May 31--Sunday--Some finofftner--are still in Rhiene.

Were to communion this morning & nothing to do but lay around.
The big day is over.

We seen the Ems River, a nice falls and some locks and such junk.
My feet sure hurt some from the new shoes.
I have never seen so many drunk as in this town. All drink cognac--no account junk. Rina.

June 1--Monday--1:30 P.M. We are now in H-O-L-A-N-D.

Holland & lost--can't speak it.
Seen some turf piled as big as Kinzer's barn.

Just left Amersfoort.
Seen some Holland Deserts--sand for miles and miles, and not a house.
This land around here is poor.

Only a few houses, same as in the states, but there are more cattle here than can be seen back in the states.
We are in Amsterdam in the Union Hotel. Two gulden sleep and breakfast.
Nice town, as much as I have seen so far. We get along good in talking mostly English.

June 2--Tuesday--Just had a shave for 10 cents. Best I ever had in my life.
4 cents of our money for a shave, 5 cents street car ride. 2 cents of our money & they go as smooth as joint oil.

Broodge mit Kaas 10 cents here, two and a half cents at home. Great town.

Broodge with Ham and a glass of milk 2 cents, our money.

Trying to translate "broodge"doesn't work. I think he meant bread with cheese or bread with ham. Otherwise, they were selling 'bridges'...

Meet "Van Belle" Worr, Belle Browers relation.

He is a real nice man. Has a small dump and pays 160 gulden rent per month. Got some good wine from him so far. We will leave Thursday again. Seen Mrs. Browers' sister, has a good looking daughter.

I sold my shoes for 4 gulden and got new ones for 7 and a half. The other ones were too small.
There are no trains running in the night in Holland, only till 12 & 12:30, not later.

June 3--Wednesday--We seen the museum, the thing where one can see all the old things of 1500. Some Junk.
Probably The Ryks Museum, or state museum, the first in Holland. It is a large, handsome and finely situated building designed by Dr P. J. H. Cuyper in the Dutch Renaissance style, and erected in 1876-1885. The exterior is decorated with sculptures and tile-work, and internally it is divided, broadly speaking, into a museum of general antiquities below, and the large gallery of pictures of the Dutch and Flemish schools above...lol

Were down to Lamberman for dinner. Nice folks.
Seen where they are building a ship. Some noise. (See the film, below, to see the shipyards in Amsterdam). Things are nice here so far.

Sat up till one last night, drank beer & had Holland cheese.

3 Juni 1914 ________(GERMAN)_____ We were to the show.
It was a good act, but we could not understand a word.
A man gave us free tickets to it and the best seats at that.

Just had our picture taken 10 for one gulden.

June 4--Thursday--nothing doing yet.

Seen more push carts here in Amsterdam then I have seen in all my born days.
And holler, you can hear em all over the town.

THIS FILM FROM 1914 , especially the first few minutes, will show you what he meant.

Here in Holland, a man can piss right on the street.

Funny thing, life in Holland. There are 6 hundert & 50 thousand living in Amsterdam. All the houses here stand on posts cause the ground is so soft. There are 13 thousand & 659 under the kings house.

Here we seen the 'first painter' of Holland in a park.
All nice to see here- am now using Van Belle's pen.

The name of this painter is Rembrandt.

The REMBRANDTPLEIN, with a monument (1852) to the painter by Lodswyk Royer.

June 5th--Friday--We were in a house & drank wine. The house is old.
Since 1671 all the kings go there when they come here so we had to go in too.

The 'house' is still standing, called the "De Veer Heemskinderen" (The Four Brothers).

Seen the Jewtown and the place were they used to hang the men.

Was out with some girls. Great fun to talk Holland to em. Still we got along good.

June 7--Sunday--Theo's birthday. Was to church. It is raining all the time for the past 3 weeks & cold. The houses are narrow & rather high.

As I am writing this we are bound for the Hook of Holland.

The Hook of Holland, a district of Rotterdam, located on the North Sea, is less than 80 km / 50 miles from Amsterdam.

It is 10 in the night, first night riding since we left home. We are in a town now, but can't get the name cause it is dark.

In Amsterdam we had the best farewell we have ever had. It was great the way they did treat us to the last. Sure good.

We are now in Haarlem, Haarlem Holland.

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NEXT PART--THE BOYS TOUR LONDON!

The Jailer's Wife

Little Falls, Minn, 1890...

Looking online for the name SAND, Larry found this interesting episode in Morrison County history: the deputy Sherriff in Little Falls then was one John P. Sand. (No, we don't know if he was one of OUR Sands.  Oh, yes, he was! Site search for 'J P Sand' ).

Still, the story is interesting! In October of 1888, a man named Albert Bulow murdered a "well-to-do bachelor farmer" from Buckman, Franklin Eich, for which he was hanged in Little Falls in July of 1889. According to the St Paul Daily Globe newspaper, Mrs. Sand was attentive to the prisoner while he languished in jail.

"His death watch, composed of H. B. and John Schenck, were socially disposed and musically inclined. Bulow had the German love for music, and a quartette was organized, the soprano being furnished by the wife of the jailer, Mrs. Sand. Almost any hour of the day, and particularly in the evening, the music of the quartette could be heard...."

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In jail at the same time was a man convicted of highway robbery by the name of John Mitchell, who evidently was 'comforted' too...

Yes, their lives could be interesting!

Theodore Anton Hesch, 1889 to 1982

Funny, I probably met Ted somewhere along the line, but have no recollection of it--which probably would have been true on his part, too. We were both present at the Golden Wedding in 1960, and Ted outlived my own dad, so it's possible he was at dad's funeral. Still, memorializing him and his sibs here makes me feel like we're keeping them alive, doesn't it?

This is the "Ted" who accompanied Math to Europe in 1914. My slim memories are of a dapper man in a suit and fedora. I think of him as the brother who tried farming for a few years, but who chose to work for the railroad instead. When he married Rosalia Dehler in about 1920, they moved to Minneapolis, and made their lives there.

This photo would have been in about 1950 or so, while visiting Math and family in Buckman, and below, on the day of the Golden Wedding, in 1960.

Irene included these pictures of Rosalia (Dehler) and Theodore Hesch, too. He looks about 50 here, so they're probably from about 1940.

There HAVE to be more stories about Ted...please add them by clicking "comments", or email me and I'll add to this post. Thanks!

Mary Hesch Peterson 1895-?

I don't know much about grandpas youngest sister, Mary. According to family lore, she was a free spirit, a "wild thing", but consider: she was only 5 when her dad died, so her little kid world would have changed drastically that summer. She may have been 'daddys favorite'...possibly a little spoiled? And suddenly, her champion was gone.
We don't know.
I barely knew her, except that when we'd go to the North Shore, we always stopped in Bruno, Mn to see her. In my own vague, kid memory, she lived kitty-corner from the Catholic church, and was responsible for the plants inside the church. The joke then was that she didn't bother to bring water from home for them, she used what was available--holy water. LOL...it was implied that the plants were fabulous!
Years later, I heard that she'd changed to Lutheran to marry Joe Peterson, so the story didn't really work. Does anyone KNOW?

This is Mary at, what? 21, maybe? And a picture of Joe and Mary with their wedding cake (all dressed up too! lol)

Irene said this photo was taken on the Dockken farm, the place her parents lived when they were starting out. The land was poor and sandy, so they eventually bought the Hesch home place, a mile west of Buckman, where they stayed. That's Math, standing, and his sister Mary in the drivers seat, and the two bundled kids in back are Adeline and Helen. At least they had a massive supply of wood that year!

This photo was from February, 1964, so it had to be from Grandpa Anton's funeral. That's Paul Doyle, Sr Laura, Math, Ted and Mary.

If you have other stories about Aunt Mary from Bruno, leave them in the comments, ok? I'd love to know more about her.

NEW old pics

Paul Hesch above, and his family, below:

If it wasn't for wonderful relatives who are willing to share family pictures that I can post, this blog would be MUCH smaller and less interesting. Today, at Aunt Fronie's funeral, Irene Hesch Kulig (Math's daughter) brought copies of photos she had for me to add to the blog. Click it--that's Mary Otremba Hesch in 1900, with her children. Paul had died in August of 1900 and you can still see the shock on her face. (Or, as Larry just pointed out, Theresa was leaving for the convent soon too, in 1901. This photo maybe had something to do with that, we don't know).

(If you want to save any of these photos to your computer, right click on the picture and choose "save as...")

I didn't know an early picture of them existed, so this is especially precious. There's Grandpa Tony at 17, and Ted and Math at 11 and 12. Rose was the oldest, at 25, and Theresa was 19.
Young Paul was 14 here, only 6 years away from his own death in a train accident when he was 20.

I'll post more of Irene's pictures tomorrow.

THANK YOU, IRENE!!!

Maths Diary--Part Six--May 16th to 28th, 1914

or, BERLIN on 40 cents per...

(This is part of a notebook diary kept by Math Hesch during a trip he took with his brother Ted in the spring of 1914. Click DIARY on the sidebar to see only the diary entries. Enjoy!)

May 16--Friday--12 A.M. we are now 135 feet in the air looking at Berlin. We are in the Zoo garden. Lots to see , meet some English folks.
THE ZOO



(The "Neu" Aquarium opened in 1913).

(The Elephant Gate at the Berlin Zoo).




May 17--Saturday--Just come out of the St. Hedwigs church in Berlin.
ST HEDWIGS CATHEDRAL

Nothing extra, are living cheap now about 40 cents per & good feed at that. Rye bread is all you get in this part of the ball but it is better then the rye in the states.

May 18--Monday--Am sitting in Berlin under den Linden & watching the Honk Honk's go by.
(Unter den Linden is the street under the Brandenberg Gate--a main thoroughfare in Berlin).

May 19--Tuesday--Were out to Wannsee ( two nearby lakes, the Grosse and Kline Wansee, were the local beach); took a bath & had our back sun burned. Seen many there.

(He wasn't kidding this time!!...lol)

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This sounds like a stock yard to hear all those autos roar.

May 20--Wednesday--Meet our neighbor, he plays fiddle & his daughter piano, sounds good.

May 21--Thursday--Well this is Fensoffen, some holy day (probably Ascension Thursday).

Was to church in Berlin.

Will teach a roman girl English tomorow. (Just like that!)
Were in the Hotel all day. Theo is laid up with a burned back.
That is all so far.

May 22--Friday--Just now seen a air ship going about 500 feet in the air.

A great big one, made lots of noise.

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(In 1914, Zepplins were about 490-520 feet long and powered by 3 engines, cruising at speeds up to 50 MPH--impressive even today!)

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(Can you imagine their amazement? Standing on the street, looking up at something so monstrous...

Dirigibles were being developed as 'reconnaissance vehicles', but when WWI started later that summer, they were outfitted with bombs).

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Met a girl friend tonight named Lena. Some gal. She will come over the pond next year.

Sat in the park till 12, cost not a cent. She is 19 years old weight about 140, good looking.

May 23--Saturday--Well, I was out in park, meet a woman with a baby. I gave the kid milk out of a bottle and then pushed it home in a baby carrage, about 1/4 mile. Great fun.

Met 2 coon's. They are from Minneapolis. One sings here in a show house, the biggest in Berlin. Have heard him sing cause I have been to the show.

This troup is "Vasco the Mad Musician" from 1914--it's possible they played the Wintergarten since we think they returned to America on the Olympic with Math and Ted).

(This couple JOHNSON & DEAN may have been performing at the time, too).

There are 4 coon's in there in all.

Winter garden is the name of the place.____(GERMAN)____

(This poster wasn't from their time there--but it gives you an idea of who played the Wintergarten!

We haven't been able to pinpoint who the black singer was, but there were a few possibilities from Minneapolis in those years. We'll add info if we discover who they were).

May 25--Monday--Had a great time last night. Those 2 girls were here visiting till 12:30, singing songs & having other pass time. (ahem!)

(Wintergarten ad from the Berlin Adressbuch, 1914).
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It is raining hard today. Got a hair from a girl**.

Best singer on the ball she is.

May 26--Tuesday--Am worrying a little about my girl.

Seen a small man with a good crop of beard on his face.

Met another coon, been all over the ball. Nice man.

They, he says, try to clean the black off his face, so he cleans em.
Many have there face cut. To him, this land comes from devils.

(Man, reread that last paragraph...a decent, well travelled black man who fears having his face cut by Germans. It had to be awful).

May 27--Wednesday--Well, we ain't doing much these days--too much rain. Bought some cherries. They aint bad.

May 28--Just seen old things of 100 years of war, kings & bad girls, 100's of em on wax statues.

(Wax Museums in Berlin were popular--the city center, the Kaisergalerie, had at least two--the Passage-Panoptikum and Castan's Panoptikum.

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF FILE ABOUT IT )

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**(We don't know why Math and Ted were in Berlin for 10 days, but they were. Maybe they intended to stay longer, but there's a Family story: the "hair he got from a girl"? Math told Joanie that it was a lock of hair (significant in 1914!) and that when the girls' father found out, he was furious. Math and Ted had to leave Berlin in a hurry!)

NEXT, MATH AND TED HEAD TO HOLLAND, BY WAY OF HAMBURG...STAY TUNED!

Genealogical Uber-Sleuthing at its finest!

Our great grandmother, Mary Otremba, had a sister named Martha, who married Joe Hortsch. Joe was Franz' brother, so Math and Ted were just looking-up their aunt's brother-in-law when they were in Europe:

When Larry and I were first looking at Math's diary, he asked if I knew of Frank Hortsch--was he on my tree...did I recognize the name?

I'd certainly heard the Hortsch name at home, and I thought they were related, but I didn't know how.

So, when we were looking for Otrembas in the Kattowice Adressbuch from 1914 , we looked for Frank there as well, but we didn't know if he owned the gasthaus, so we didn't look hard. Still, Larry found HORTSCH genealogies online, and here's what came of that:

One hit, a genealogy, was posted by someone named Kathie. I e-mailed her, and she e-mailed her cousin, Michael. They had no way of knowing that an 11 page journal of a 1914 trip was buried somewhere in a Historical Society Museum in Minnesota, or that it mentioned their Great Grandpa!

(These are photos they sent:)
THIS is the first gasthaus Frank owned, in Sysslau, near Lorzendorf (Lorenzdorf), and it's the one Math and Ted visited.

Later, Frank owned another pub in Waschelwitz, his mothers' home village, but in 1914, he was here, near Lorzendorf (Lorenzdorf), a village name that Math goofed up...lol

And THIS is Frank himself, with his second wife, Thekla Goliasch.

Another cool thing here is that Kathie and Michael didn't know that Great Grandpa Franz had been shot in the forehead or that he was blind in one eye as a result.

As Larry says, genealogical answers ALWAYS open more questions...lol

These folks (below) are Franz' son Frank, with his wife Margaret, and Martha (Otremba) Hortsch.

MARTHA was the connecting link here:

Our great grandmother, Mary Otremba, had a sister named Martha, who married Joe Hortsch. Joe was Franz' brother, so Math and Ted were looking-up their aunt's brother-in-law when they were in Europe.

Now, THAT'S cool!

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Clarification from Michael Hortsch: "The photo shows Martha Otremba Hortsch (1867-1946) on the right. She was the wife of Joseph Hortsch (1864-1938). In the middle is Frank (Franz) Hortsch junior (1880-1962), the oldest son of the innkeeper Franz Hortsch (1860-1926) back in Silesia. On the left is Frank's wife Margaret Terhaar (1883-1961). Franz Hortsch senior and Joseph Hortsch were brothers".

Thanks, Michael!

Veronica Hesch Karash 1919-2009

Wow, there are so many memories of Aunt Fronie. She would have been 90 in April, but she died last Sunday afternoon, March 15, at the Lutheran Home in Little Falls.
She married Leo Karasch in September of 1947...and for many of us, they became favorites. With no kids of their own, the farm in rural Royalton became a second home to Gail and Tim, and Jerry. They babysat for Josh, too, when he was little.

Remember when that tornado ruined the barn? It was old and wobbly to begin with, but the storm really wrecked it. Then, some men from Minneapolis came by and LOVED the old wood--could they possibly buy it from the Karaschs? (Imagine Aunt Fronies eyes when she re-told this...lol) They carefully carted it away, and eventually sent a free dinner invitation to Aunt Fronie and Uncle Leo--"Come see how perfect it looks!"
They did....and couldn't wait to get home and tell about what was STILL STUCK to the barn wood, in a restaurant, no less!

To say Aunt Fronie was frugal was only part of the truth. Case in point: when the Rural Electric Association ran lines out to the countryside, they were the last house on the line. No problem there, but every house was charged $11.00 a month, whether or not they used that much electricity....and really, who had appliances or lights then? Aunt Fronie protested, but they said it was standard procedure and it couldn't be changed. So, Aunt Fronie figured out how to read her meter, and went out and bought electric appliances JUST so she could use what she was being charged for. She turned stuff off when it got to $11.00 exactly. Dark was better than paying for a line they deserved anyway!
The company protested, but she finally won. I still cheer for her when I think of it...lol

Oh, I remember the smells there by the river--like inside Aunt Fronies' wash house--lye soap and linoleum, sorta. It smelled clean; her kitchen almost always smelled of something GOOD, and the livingroom smelled like dill (no idea why!) She made wonderful poppyseed kuchen that my mom tried for years to duplicate, but never quite made it. Remember sheets of noodles hanging to dry? And jars of canned chicken, and sauerkraut? She made something with mashed potatoes and...dandelion greens? Jerry, she said you loved it, even if it looked awful. We helped with haying a time or two. The meadow south of the house smelled so hot and fresh...oh, and when Aunt Fronie still smoked, she always chewed spearmint gum, remember?

Marion mentioned 'Hank and Alma'--(pet pigs). She remembered Uncle Leo telling Hank and Alma stories to Josh, and taking him outside to visit 'em. Was there really a pig shelter made of straw there? It looked like a huge thatched roof on poles. I'm almost sure I remember a thrashing machine shooting straw up there...?

The farm was sorta magical, wasn't it? If you have stories you want to add, leave them in the comments...

Rest in peace, Aunt Fronie.
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Veronica Marie Karash, 89, Royalton, died Mar. 15. Vis: 4-8 p.m., Thu., Mar. 26, & 9-10 a.m. Fri., Mar 27 both at funeral home. Services: 10:30 a.m. Fri., Mar. 27, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Royalton. Emblom-Brenny Funeral Service, Royalton.


(From the 19 March 2009 St Cloud Times)

OTREMBAs in Kattowitz in 1914

Yes, there were many Otrembas who didn't emmigrate to America. This is from the local 'phonebook', though most didn't have phones yet. It lists their occupations, and the village they lived in, or near.

And, no, these are not ALL of 'em.

How did Annaberg look?

Larry just found this film, from 1938. By then, WWI was over, and WWII was brewing, but the vid gives you a good idea of the area and where the quarry was vis a vis the Church and Monastery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5bk4R7KOF0

This video shows the town of Annaberg now (2008)...he shows the church from a distance, then up close. It's a TALL church, built on top of a hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AaKqMhAG74
Impressive, huh?

Math's Diary--Part Five--May 10th to 15th, 1914

(This is part of a notebook diary kept by Math Hesch during a trip he took with his brother Ted in the spring of 1914. Click DIARY on the sidebar to see only the diary entries. Enjoy!)

"Well, this is May 10--Saturday--11:30 P.M.

Dance in Gushwitz.
I am in the dance now, lots of fun to see the German ones dance.

Sure heard nice songs. They all sang for us tonight.

They think more of us than they would of the King.

(To see pictures of Guschwitz as it was then, click POSTCARDS).

Joe Wolf is now on this place (he must mean the Otremba homeplace).

Jane Bouch is Mrs. Wolf. She is 80 years old, her man is dead.

Old man John Bouch is dead for 40 years.

This is a 9 acre farm. Old trees can be seen here yet.

The old 8 feet wall still stands.

The old apple tree is in bloom, the pear tree is near 60 feet high.

It is sure nice. They danced on one inch ground, some dust.

Well we ate barley soup in the house where Ma was born.
(Traditional Barley soup in Poland at the time would have been carrots, onions, turnips, potatoes, and barley, with a beef soup bone, depending on what was available).

May 11--Sunday--11:30 Are in Comprachtchutz on our way to Oppeln.
This Comprachtcheutz is a big town.
( Komprachtschütz...Komprachcice....6 miles NW of Guschwitz)

We are 6,449 miles from home now & are taking a smoke with old King Bill in Oppeln.

Well, we were in Oppeln Church. I never seen so many go to church--over 5,000 went in.

May 12--Monday--Just shook a game of dice who pays for breakfast, Theo or me. He lost.
Seen many ships in the Oder.

Well we are in St. Anna's Berg now & watching the miners work.

See the next post for videos of Annaberg!

(Translation of:

Lourdes chapel at St. Annaberg
"In the prewar years of the First World War was on the northern slope of Mount St. Anne in a quarry operation. Because the blasting and the excavation of the basalt stone buildings of the church and the convent at risk, reached the Franciscans, supported by Archbishop ordinariate in Wroclaw, the cessation of quarry operations. The ausgesprengte now, mighty crater was partially buried and in the years 1912 to 1914 in Lourdes cave transformed. In the cave below the sanctuary may be more than 15,000 pilgrims gathered").

Some hill here, can see whole old country. They are digging rock here.

(St Annasberg was/is a tourist attraction and pilgrimage destination SE of Opole. The sepia postcard (above) was how it looked around 1890, I think. Then someone thought to develope it--perhaps the Catholics? lol St Ann was Jesus' grandmother, and special to Polish people. From what we can tell from translations online, there's even a "relic" there. These two photos are from a Flickr set about a June 2007 tour).

Well, I was in church-it sure stands high. Can't tell how high...nothing extra for looks.
As I am writing this, I am on the hill of St. Annas Berg. Just seen the new building they are putting up of old rock, and looks a 1,000 years old. Still is only 2 years old.

Could get a job here but not us. 25 pfennig one hour.
(One American dollar was worth 4.23 marks in 1914, and a mark was 100 pfennig...so 6 cents an hour)
There are 13 saloon's and hotels in this small town, all in a bunch.

May 13--Tuesday--Well, we seen all that was to be seen. A man took us all over for 2 marks. Oh, it was nice. Seen oil berg, Kalvarnenberg & such things.
("They rise for the most part at the foot of the Calvarienberg (1070 ft.), which is composed of dolomitic limestone" and "Selmeczbanya is encircled by high mountains, notably the isolated peak of the Calvarienberg (2385 ft.) on the S.W., on which are situated a castle and a church, and the Paradiesberg (2400 ft.) on the N.W.")

They have light here in the night when they have money, only now they are broke.

Can see 1,000's of coal miners near to Russia.

Smoke--you can't look 2 miles that is so. Been in this smoke for the last 3 hours.

Are going through Kattowitz ( a town in the Prussian province of Silesia near the Russian frontier. Pop. (1905), 35,772. There were large ironworks, foundries and machine shops in the town, and near it zinc and anthracite mines), about as big as St. Paul.

May 14--Wednesday--As I am writing this I am sitting on Ostereich and have my feet on Russland, right on the boundary line.

(Wow--Larry just found this: DREIKAISERECK Evidently, it was a tourist attraction, complete with a tower in honor of the three Empires (Emperors) that came together there).

Can see Russland soldiers watching the line.

Wine 2 glasses, 80 pfennig. Some land.

Good kids here, just have 8 & 10 years and they smoke.

Just threw money over the line into Russia for the kids.

Now we are in Trzebinia, Ostereich.
("Coals are found in the Cracow district at Jaworzno, at Siersza near Trzebinia and at Dabrowa" ....Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911).

Only it is all polish kronen money is all they know here. We are on the end now and will turn around. There are many beggars around here.

May 15--Thursday--just left Myslowitz...
(See map above--Myslowitz was a rail hub, too. "A town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia. Pop. (1905), 15,845. Extensive coal-mines are worked, and among its other industries are flax-spinning and brick-making"--not to mention tourism!).

...it is on the edge of Germany going to Berlin, good for a 8 hour ride.

We have 450 miles to make & have 480 minutes to make it in.

We are on the fastest thing old Bill has".

Kaiser Wilhelm

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Stay tuned for Part Six when our intrepid wanderers experience BERLIN!