Echo from Prague

Both boys had been born subjects of Austria, but neither liked Habsburg rule. Rather than serve in the Austrian army, John Benes had emigrated to the U.S., where he became a cabinetmaker. His younger brother Eduard stayed behind to help build the new nation of Czechoslovakia.

"Under Austria," John Benes once said, "we had to keep our mouths shut." Returning to the U.S. last week from a visit home, he told a little about the new Czechoslovakia, then shut his mouth. John Benes had left his brother Eduard "ill and under precarious circumstances," he said. "For 19 months I was constantly watched. Two weeks ago my brother told me two soldiers were watching me and it was time to go home. I cannot tell you more. I am afraid to talk."

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