Page 4

THE WILLIAMS

LAKE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, August 19, 1959

Sylvia Baker’s Letter Home

impressions of life in East
Berlin recounted by traveller

Here we are again and you
Will probably notice that on
the top of the letter it s
in Berlin, I’m not, but will be
before the day is out. At the
moment we are in the border
town of Helmstedt and have
stopped to shop and change
some dollars into marks.

As we have been driving
along we have been talking
about the wonderful times we
had at the home of Fritz and
Agnes Acher. I have been
looking in my diary and must
tell you more about these two
wonderful people. By this time
you will have received the tape
we made at their home and
heard them speak. They gave
us a farewell party and it was
just like being home with all
the food and pots of delicious
of sliced peaches, wine and
coffee. Fritz made us a punch
champagne and I am’ going to
send Dad the recipe. When
we arrived Janet wasn’t feeling
well so Agnes wrapped her in
blankets, and gave her some
medicine, and in a little while

Sam was her old self again.
The Acher’s learned that I am
a travelling writer and I ment-
ioned that they would be appear-
ing in my home town paper,
so would you please send them
a copy of the Tribune and make
two wonderful people very,
very happy.

INTO EAST GERMANY

Before we left Gutersloh
yesterday afternoon we were
given a slip of paper that will
enable us to cross into East
Germany without having to wait
at the end of the line-up. It
took us an hour to fill out the
necessary forms and _ receive
our visas from the East
Germans at Helmstedt, which is
the border crossing. When
completed we drove along the
autobahn towards Berlin, a
distance of 100 miles. You
aren't allowed to leave the auto-
bahn and you have to check at
the other end of the line and
have your passport stamped.
The time you leave Helmstedt
is stamped and when you arrive
at the end of the Russian sector,

DEMERARA

iil

ft

is not

This
Laquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia

by the

COOK

fa Seo Cook with

at

MODERN WAY

CANT BURN! KEEPS FOOD ALWAYS AT COOKING TEMPERATURE.

controlled

Now every pot in your kitchen becomes
“Automatic”

THE

the thermostatically
Gye!

with the new thermostatically

BOTH GRIDDLE AND
6TH OURNER
‘THERMOSTATICALLY
CONTROLLED
BROIL-A-VATOR
...Taises or lowers
as broiling or Rotis-

serie use requires.

5th Burner that
heat as required. See it at your Dealers today.

model W-6694-0

(jultrs 8 Suter

THE GAS RANGE WITH THE THERMAL EYE

cooking .

travel the 100 miles I suppse
they (East Germans) go looking
for you. All of us had our
passports stamped according to
the rules with the exception of
Margaret, they somehow missed
her—so could be looking for
her now.

IMPRESSED

When we arrived in Western
Merlin we drove through the
downtown section looking for
a youth hostel. It’s a terrific
city, really big and spread over
quite an area with a population
of over two million. There
seems to be more bombed ruins
here.then any of the cities we
visited previously.
town section has been rebuilt
and sports new glass
buildings, and the majority of
the streets are really wide. One
of the main streets has eight
lanes of traffic with a centre
boulevard and angle parking.
The main street is lined with
the latest thing in hotels, stores
and office buildings. Right in
the middle of this street stands
the remains of the Kaiser
Wilhelm church. It was nearly
completely destroyed during
the war and what is left stands
to remind the people of how
destructive war can be. We
had nearly decided to check into
one of the seven hostels when
we thought we would first go
to see the friend of Group
Captain Cribbs and: make ar-
rangements to enter East
Berlin, At the gate we pre-
sented the card we had been
given and we were told that we
were expected to go right in
and that our quarters had been
arranged for us. What a
surprise! We hadn't expected
anything like this. Apparently
our group captain had phoned
ahead and made arrangements.
He has already been
us and there is just no way
express your apprec-
The C.O. here had also
phoned the check points on the

too good

the time you arrive there
Should you take longer then]
they estimate it ta you io

The down-)

Pictured above is Mr.-Tun Tin, a dis-
trict administrator-from Burma, who |
is travelling the world under the aus-
pices of the United Nations, learning
administrative methods for the poten-

tial development of his own country.

In the picture shown he is with local
land inspectors George Atamanenko
and Jack Esler. © ;

present his

we

credentials and if
he isn’t an East German the
stores are unable to serve him.

We stopped in Stalinalle to
take a few pictures and while we
were parked we had an unusual
experience. An ambulance
pulled up along side and a very
very excited woman came run-
ning over to us. She spoke
rapidly in German and of course
were unable to understand
her. From her actions we were
able to make out that her baby
was sick and she kept pointing
to the back of the car. I was
a moment

to take
across into the Western sector
with us, but all she wanted was
a couple of the oranges we had
up in the back. She must have
seen them as she drove up be-

clutching the
all this was going on, two
Rusian soldiers sat behind us
and watched the whole scene, 4
little later we were parked again
while we photographed the ruins
in which the people made their
homes and a man came up to us,
after having seen the oranges in
the window and said, “nix
oranges” which I suppose means
that they aren't allowed to buy
oranges over there. Once again
we were being scrutinized by the
Russian soldiers but we saw no
more of them after this.

oranges.

While I was in East Berlin I

Continued on Page Five

Tire Trouble?

hind us. We gave her some :
oranges and she was very eX- See us: &
cited and offered to pay us, + §
cited and offered to me YS11C & S Tire Service
ran back to the ambulance,

BAKERIES _|_ CARS & TRUCKING _

autobahn to have someone to
tell us to go straight to the
base, but as we were already
ahead of schedule didn’t receive
the message. However here we
are and it is wonderful.

OFFICERS' MESS

We met the commanding
officer and he took us to the
officers’ mess where we had tea,
then shown to our rooms. Din-
ner in the officers’ mess is for-
mal and the men all wear white
suits. We had a drink then sat
down to a steak dinner. They
sure eat well, if I were a man I
wouldn't hesitate about joining
the air force, of course I would
like to be an officer. The next
morning at 7:30 there was a
knock on the door and a woman
came in with a cup of tea for
Janet and I, so we sat in bed
and drank our tea and then got
up for breakfast. This is living.

Gatow ts situated in the
British sector of West Berlin
and you can look across the

airfield and see buildings that
are in the Russian sector. It
is much quieter here than it
was in Guiersloh, there are no
Hunters or Swifts zooming over-
head.

We spent all of yestegday in

downtown Berlin. Ken bought
the latest thing in a Zeiss Ikon

and the price tag read $260.
He got the works, case, light
meter, telephoto and wide angle
lenses. You may have the im-
pression that Berlin is a com-
pletely modern metropolis from
what I said previously, but it
isn’t. Possibly in a few more
years it will be, but there are
still a lot of buildings to be torn
down and _ rebuilt. Families
are still in half a building here,
in some cases the top floors of
a building are no more then
a shell and the bottom floors
are being occupied.

OVER BORDER

Sunday, August 2 was the
day we ventured into the much
talked about Eastern sector of
Berlin. It was certainly an ex-
perience to be able to see the
complete contrast between the
eastern and western sides of the

city. The point at which we
crossed is no more than an
archway and we didn’t have to
show our passports,.it is very
to cross. I was simply
amazed at the difference
between the two sections. To
look at East Berlin you would
think the war was last month
and not fourteen
There were ruins

very little has been rebuilt and
there are areas where buildings

have been rebuilt and there, are
areas where buildings have been
completely destroyed and the
weeds have taken over. Berlin
is in a flat part of Germany
and when you look across the
city all you could see is what
remained of the buildings.
Along many streets the rubble
hos been pushed to one side
and left. The few places that
are being torn down very care-
fully and as much of the ma-
terial that can be saved is being

SHOW PLACE

The showpiece of East Berlin
is Stalinale and is one section
of the city that has been
rebuilt and consists of
one street with new buildings
and a lovely wide street with a
boulevard down the middlea
‘The buildings are not as modern
as those in the western sector.
They are brown brick with
fairly small windows. The
street is no more than half a
mile long and it is the only
shopping area in the city. The
stores had very little to offer
and the things we saw in the
line of clothing, although very
cheap to us were of poor quality
and drab.
large letters you see “HO,” is
means that everyone who wishes

to make a purchase must. first

to know
you're better!”

“Daddy, I drew
a house in

Natural

Natural Gas
All Propane Equipment can be used on

Gas

PHONE

KAHL PROPANE

Mackenzie Avenue

143

GAS CO. LTD.

Williams Lake

vasee-1LD

“It’s wonderful

Call by number . . . rt’s twice as fast

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Everyday events are special
to someone far away
call LONG DISTANCE today

Vancouver — Nelson
Port Moody — Toronto
Haney — Prince George
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LOOK HOW LITTLE IT COSTS*

*Station-to-station rates after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday

fiest 3 eoch ditional
minutes ‘minute
$1.35 AS
2.65 85
145 AS
90 30

\

a8

5) BRITISH COLUMBIA TELEPHONE COMPANY

Ee)

“Tom! This call is the

will you be home?”

nicest thing that’s
happened today!”

your way —

FAMOUS BAKERY
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Birthday and Wedding Cakes
Made to Order

Wholesale Distributors of
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PHONE 119

BUILDING SUPPLIES
& CONTRACTORS

@ A. COLE
McCulloch Power Saws

Corner Mackenzie and Yorston
Phone 1’

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Agents for

LINDE
AIR PRODUCTS
e

WILLIAMS LAKE
WOOD PRODUCTS
Near Shell Oil Bulk Plant

GD PAINTS

Concrete ‘Blocks - Bricks
oni wi

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Windows - Doors
Frames Es Lumber

Building Supplies

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Telephone 239

G & L CARLSON
Construction Ltd.
COMMERCIAL - INDUSTRIAL
RESIDENTIAL
P.O. Box 675 Phone 239

PAINTING
residential and commercial
SIGN PAINTING

J. L NGSTON
P.O. Box 185, Williams Lake
Phone 406-A

FIGLERS

EXCAVATING AND
DITCH DIGGING
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Phone 34-K

CARS & TRUCKING

24-Hour Wrecker
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LAKESIDE SERVICE
AND AUTO BODY

— Phone —
212-K (days) 198-F (nights)

TE&H
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DAILY SERVICE
Vancouver - Wms. Lake
Local Office

ARMES BROS. WAREHOUSE
Phone 148

Madison & Jones

FAST LOW-BED
HAULING SERVICE
Williams Lake to

Vancouver
East and West
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PHONE 9-B
Williams Lake
ee
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MILL SUPPLIES
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R. BEAUCHAMP
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INSURANCE
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Williams Lake, B.C.

LAND SURVEYOR

TOM WILLIAMS
B.C. Land Surveyor
LAKESIDE :
PO BOX 768, WILLIAMS LAKK

GOOK & BARTELL

B.C. LAND
SURVEYORS

Phone 256
P.O. Box 400, Quesnel, B.€.

McWILLIAM,

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e

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URE’S LAUNDRY

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MISCELLANHOUS

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e
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P.O. Box 868
Williams Lake — Phone 33

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e

Phone 160
Williams Lake

gies ee
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Charity Auctions Free
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Means Cash in Yours”
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Williams Lake Motel
Trailer Court
Electricity - Water - Sewage
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Weekly or Monthly Rates
Apply Mrs, Readman Phose 145