The Indianapolis journal., 1885-06-06
A PATRIOTIC HEBREW.
Familiar with Kings and Princes, but HIS
Daughter Cannot Find Partner.

Berlin Letter. in New York Sun.
Besides the Emperor and Prince Bismarck,
there is in Berlin man whose position is for the
time being unique. He is nearly blind old man.
gentle to speak to, of great kindness nospit-
able and generous the owner of immense wealth,
and Jew. His name is Bleichroeder, or rather.
Won Bleichroeder, and he is held IN equal favor
by the monarch and the chancellor. Whatever
may have been the obscure origin of the family,
it has for a considerable time produced bankers
ana hnanclers, and the present representative
had not. up to the epoch of the Franco German
war, achieved any further notoriety than the
progressive accumulation of money, and deter
minatlon to struggle with the persistent antag
onlsm OF the German Christian, which constant
proplnqulty seems to intensity. When the war
assumed Its gigantic proportions Mr.. Blech-
roeder went to the king and to Bismarck,
and placed the whole of his fortune in their
hands, to spend like water for the veal of the
Fatherland. adding that he would stand and fall
with its destlnles. Germany has known some Of
those examples of active and unselfish patriot
ism in the non militant portion of its children
to-wit, the iron trirketS still manufactured in
Prussia to recall the DAYS of peril when, at the
beginning of the century, women of all classes
brought to the public treasury their jewels and
ornaments to be molten for money to carry on
the war, and received in exchange slender iron
rigs, with the inscription: "Gold for steel"
Blechroeder's venture on that occasion was
like many cf his less heroic ones a success. His
fortune was not imperiled, and he rose high in
the esteem and appreciation of his sovereign
The ennobling particle Won was conferred on
him. and he might, If he chose be called Baron
With the proud, reserved, reticent chan
cellor he made slower progress For a
long time he treated with naughty
coldness his advances repulsed, his presence
ignored. On one of Bismarck's birthdays the
lavish banker actuated, it must be said, more by
spontaneous open -handedness than ostentation,
sent him rare table service. 1t was returned.
Some time afterward marvellous cabinet of
Indian workmanship, fitted with every possible
instrument of work and toilet was offered to the
ChancellOr's daughter. 1t shared the same fate
as the dinner service. Then suddenly, by one
of those occult changes that mark the favors of
a man in power, Bleichroeder found himself the
conidant the constant visitor, or. perhaps more
strictly speaking, the trusted semi. official
mouth piece OF the great statesman. He sees
Bismarck or his representative, Count Hatz-
feldt, almost daily, sometimes twice day. and
from his lips the foreign ambassadors gather
the crumbs of diplomacy so sparingly doled
out to them at the foreign office If Bleichroeder
is pleased and rubs his hands as he is led out of
the Chancelors palace by his attendant. diplo-
mats wire good news to their governments; if he
frowns or shakes his head obviously, the funds
fall and wariike rumors spread The great
financier has knowledge which is power and
power which is money, and it must be recorded
to his credit that he uses both for good only and
most humanely His charity is liberal and in
telligent. He signed away go 900 marks to
u
to an lnfirm boot maker His purse is open
equally to the impecunous of all persuasions,
and it he is too often reminded by his fellow
citizens that he belongs to ashated race. he him
self forgets it when there is an act of benevo-
lence to accomplish.
Yet this Plutus of Berlin, the friend of the
Emperor, the recognized intermediary between
Bismarck and ambassadors, the host of all that
is rich and noble in Europe the prince of Finance,
at whose tables dine princes of blood royal whose
numerous WI cfo
of art which his blinded eyes can no longer see
this man so favored has Mordecai at his gates,
thorn i'll his side, skeleton in his closet
Voicing this visitation. and putting in into plain
speech, 1t sounds almost grotesque in its pueril-
ity, but given the surroundings it becomes of
mon entous import to the sufferer.
The officers will not dance with his daughter!
This apparently simple statement means in
reality, ostracism to the girl, isolation in society,
enjoyment gone from every ball, and an ever
recurring Loneliness at each successive social
season.. Two reasons called forth this
hat, which. once pronounced has been observed
with the blind absolute fidelity born of the esprit
de corps so powerful in all Prussian regiments
Some years ago, when his wife had been dead
for long time. NJ de Bleichroeder decided to
give large ball. He followed the established
custom in similar cases, when the intended host
is either a foreigner, or, for private reasons,
temporarily out of the run of society, of writing
to the commander of the garrison and begging
for list of the young officers attending the great
fetes. Rashly foolishly, unwisely, and, to his
own undoing, he eliminated from the list sent in
all the bourgeois and untitled names and sent
tocratio officers. Not one of tho
elect accepted it. Not one would brook
the slight offered to their brethren in arms, for
in their eyes the epaulette they wore made
them all equal, and they could tolerate no per-
sonal distinction 1t is said, however that Judi
cous pleading and kind intervention would have
wiped out the offense. had not regretable Incl
dent intensified the breach between the protege
of the Emperor and the army at the time of the
attempt on his Majesty's life unter den Linden,
some years ago.
One of Bleichroeder's sons, an officer himself.
was walking nearly in front of the palace. hav-
ing on his arm woman to whom he certainly
would not have offered it in public had he not
been under the influence of too convivial liba-
tons. Flushed and excited, he was trying
blindly to elbow his way through the crowd
anxiously gathering under the windows of the
the Emperor, and angrily inquired: What all
that fuss was about!" The answers came in
awed whispers-the Emperor had been shot at,
and the result was still uncertain. rs that
all' cried the young man insolenty and further
to pass with his companion. A broth
er officer, indignant at the implied insult to his
beloved chief, struck him across the face After
the duel which followed, young Bleichreder had
to quit the army and the decision was registered
that with him and those of his name no man
wearing the Emperor's cloth would ever have
anything to do. The VOW has been kept.
Hence the strange anomaly In vain the
sovereign cordially invites and receives
the old fIancer and his daughter; in
vain is the whole court on the best of terms
with the father whom they esteem; in vain are
the high officials and dignitares compelled to
follow the example from above The subordi-
mates are inexorable They viii not dance with
Mile. Won Bleiehhroeder
At court bali, the Emperor suddenly com
one of the most brilliant lleutenautS OF
the guard to waltz with the young girl He
bowed in dumb obedience, went up to the lady
stiffiy murmured, May | have the honor9"
took her one single turn round the ballroom,
brought her back to her place, slightly bent be-
fore her in perfect silence and left her.
AS characteristic trait of the North German
character, so full of contrasts. and, as rule,
little known abroad the dual existence of NJ
Won Bleichroeder at once so magnificent and so
solitary is perhaps not the least remarkable. a