The Days of a Man 1914 



the stories told may have been hysterically over- 

 drawn, it was only too evident from the accounts of 

 the several bands of Belgian refugees in London that 

 the invader's conduct needed to be laid before the 

 world. 



Stranded American tourists also were meanwhile crowding 

 into London, upward of 200,000 of them having been 

 caught in Europe at the outbreak of hostilities. Some 

 were in serious straits, and hundreds had been forced 

 to leave their effects behind. Fortunately, however, 

 their manifold interests were looked after by our 

 warm-hearted and efficient Ambassador, Walter 

 Hines Page, who turned for help to Herbert Hoover, 

 the outstanding figure in the American colony. With 

 the generous cooperation of the Hotel Savoy, Hoover 

 immediately organized an elaborate system of mutual 

 aid whereby the more fortunate of us served the less 

 so until passage home could be secured. 



Homer The extraordinary efficiency of this American effort 



C.R.B* afterward led to the singling out of "the one man who 

 can organize anything" as the natural director of 

 relief for the Belgians, already victims of excruciating 

 distress. But the story of Hoover and the "C. R. B." 

 has been many times told, 1 and I had no direct part in 

 it. It seems to me, however, the noblest as well as 

 the most difficult great work ever achieved by any 

 group of men in a foreign country. 



Through August and early September I observed 

 the varying currents of British opinion. In the begin- 

 ning there was no hatred, rather a surprised bewilder- 

 ment accompanied by dread of the future. 'Lon- 

 don," said a prominent public man to me, "is like a 



1 Vol. I, Chapter xvii, pages 409-410. 



c 644 : 



