HE LOST A GRAND PIANO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70-00058R000100070070-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 31, 2000
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: March 27, 1955
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

T'I1 "'' j prow c6or Release 2000108120'A81~-12D1 r$ &01000700
HE LOST. A GRAND PIANO
Ex-Ambassador David Bruce has handled
many tough jobs for Uncle Sam.. Here's
the only mission he ever fell , down on
By David Schoenbrun
F ORMER ambassador David K.
E. Bruce is one of tli s coup-
try s moa distinguished foreign-
service men,, Chief of the.OSS's
Europe of fica?1b's o?"" nd
now special consultant on Euro-
pean affairs,his career has been a
star-studded one. Very few per-
sons, even among his government.
colleagues, are aware of an early
blot on his diplomatic record. Mr.
Bruce once lost`a'grand piano.
To make it worse, this was the
only .Most-,shipment ever charged
against the U.S. Courier Service.
It is also possibly the only grand
piano ever mislaid by an agency of
the U.S. government:, but this is
not certain.
Meeting in Paris
-",THE story begins in Paris, just .
after the Arrhistrcq irk 1918. David
Bruce, thei a 21- year=old artillery
lieutenant `has strolling along the
boulevards. .inking sadly of his
impending departure to the bore-
dom of civilian life. Suddenly he
spotted a friend, a young diplomat
named All i iii i! s, whose brother,
John Foster, was on Wilson's staff
at Versailles. Bruce told Dulles
how he hated to go home without
having really seen Europe.
"Well, David," said Dulles, "if
you want to stay over here, there's
a job open. We've just created a
diplomatic courier service to de-
t lose i t e agent
liver secret documents all over the
world. There's a lot of adventure
and some danger too."
Two days later Bruce was in
Trieste, waiting for his orders. One
week later he was in a private com-
partment on the Orient Express
about to take off on his first adven-
ture as a courier.
As predicted by Allen Dulles in
Paris, a dispatch case secret
documents was chained to his left
wrist and a Colt .45 strapped to
his right lytp. As not predicted,
were two sacks of mail, weighing
about 50 pounds apiece, addressed:',
14- His cot pars ment, as'regulations
required, so Bruce tied it loaded
in the freight car. 'The Orient
Express pulled out, agent. Bruce
locked. in with his mail sacks, fret-
ting about the piano two cars away.
Bridge Cowie
l'' iRS'r stop, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Bruce jumped out on the platform,
dragged his mail sacks to the
freight car, and made sure his
piartt wast?tili intact , . He sent
porter for $andwiclies and cc ffee,
and dined atop the piano ctate.
Next stop, $udape"st. The war
and :Red Revoit}tion' had torn up
But Bruce was young'and strong, thecity. The"ibridge across the
and a trusted courier delivers the Dappbe was n. To continue on
mail, whatever it weighs: _a to Bucharest -nania, passengers
gazing'"curiously at the throng of
Italians, Serbs, Greeks and Turks
on the platform. And then, a few
minutes before departure, he saw
on the platform the grinning face
of another agent, seated on a truck,
on top of a huge crate. The agent
waved Bruce outside and presented
him with the consignment receipt :
one grand piano, new, to deliver to
the YMCA in Constantinople.
ferry, and pick up the Orient
Eipress on the other side. Bruce
negotiated a 'horse-cab and trailer,
made his way to the river with the
crate. No room on the ferry.
Finally he found a fisherman.
Together they uncrated the piano
and moved it aboard a fiat Danube
SCOW.
Next stop Bucharest. and a two-
day layover. Bruce got the piano
Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP70-00058R000100070070-6
 LAST LAP: Danube bridge was out, so courier Bruce took. cargo across on a raft
to a hotel and into the lobby but
could not get it upstairs. He slept
underneath and lunched on top of
it, to the great amusement of the
other hotel guests.
On they went through Ruma-
nia and into Bulgaria, where they
had to recross the Danube. Again,
no bridge. On the other ; side,, the
village of Rustchuk, last rail link
on the road to Constantinople.
Ride on a Raft
THERE was no boat big enough for
his piano but he found two woods-
men and worked feverishly with
them to build a.rough raft. All
morning they toiled. At last it was
finished, the piano loaded and they
pushed off into the swirling cur-
rent, Bruce ,praying all the way.
They made it, found a farmer and.
a wagon and -rode merrily into
Rustchuk, with one of the woods-
BRUCE: Today he's a top
Stnte Depnrtment exnert
men playing a rollicking waltz all
the way.
That night a caravan of Gypsies
rolled into town and a great festi-
val began. Bruce sat on his piano
watching the festivities, and finally
joined in, dancing and singing.
The piano was the star of the show
and they played all night. As day
began to break, the celebrants,
cheering the "Amerikanski," lifted
the piano and carried it to The
waiting room of the railway station
for Bruce. Wearily he waved them
good-by and curled up under it, to
await his train.
Strange Goings-On
WITH much puffing and snorting,
amid clouds of smoke, the Orient
Express pulled in, and Bruce
woke up. He stretched, looked up
at the grimy ceiling, groaned at
the thought of a hot bath, and
then suddenly realized he should
not be seeing the ceiling, since he
was sleeping under a grand piano.
Only he wasn't. The grand piano
had disappeared from over him.
Gone. Vanished.
His dispatch case was still
chained to his wrist. His mail-sack
pillows, hard as rocks, were under
his `head. But no piano.
my troops to scour the country-
side, but it will take a day at least.
Meanwhile you will miss this train
and will have to stay in Rustchuk
for another week."
The officer paused and then
added, looking meaningfully at the
dispatch case and sacks, "Now
you might have more important
things to do. Would you like to
wait for your piano, or deliver
your mail and documents?"
A Salute'
BRUCE thought for a moment. as
he looked at the crowd of staring
faces, dozens of eyes.on bis sacks.
"I'll go ahead, "he said, "but please
try to find my piano anyway."
A few days later, in Constan-
tinople, he received a wire: "No
trace of piano. The fourth.. battalion
salutes you."
The piano was lost, all right,
and David K. Este Bruce was
almost lost to the diplomatic serv-
ice as a result. But his record was
good, and it was admitted finally
that delivery of a grand piano was
not exactly a proper mission for a
single courier and that he had
shown good judgment in not delay-
ing the documents. His name was
cleared, his job saved, and a great
public servant began to climb the
State Department ladder.
But even today. the sight of a
grand piano causes him a slight
inner twinge. The End
Relei }QP(? 41t;i A&hRDP70-00058R000100070070-6
He jumped to his feet, drawing
his Colt, and ran to the station
master. Much shouting and point-
ing broug1Yt-a crowd and an Army
officer who could speak some
French. As Bruce explained, the
officer began to laugh. The
angrier Bruce got the more the
officer roared. When he could
lous to try to deliver a piano across
country like this. I can perhaps