Hints to Americans

The following card was distributed by the American Express Company in Berlin to its clientele:

" You are a tourist to be here a few days or weeks. Take a tip from one who has been here several months.

" You are dwelling among people who have suffered nine years of war, at first military and now industrial. They are a sensitive, cultured people, on the whole as highly civilized as any nation on earth. You should not be surprised if one of them occasionally is out of temper with foreigners.

" It is only fair to remember that Berlin is their city and Germany their country, and you I only pilgrims. The streets, parks, concert halls, restaurants belong to them, and we would show good taste if we gave right of way to them.

" Of course, Unter den Linden is not a gauge of distress of the poor of Berlin, nor Friedrichstrasse a gauge of the social morality of the people.

" Finally, you know that if you do not like things here or the people, it is easy to find a train going to the boundary line, and fares are low. A little consideration, however, will prove to be the key to the good-will of the people, who are courteous and warmhearted, and a good old American smile is better currency even than a dollar.

(Signed) "AN AMERICAN

(From 1630 A. D.)"