Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-06-20
THE DEAD EMPEROR.
Called to the German Throne Under the
Shadow of Death.


Shadow of Death.
Emperor Frederick Ill was in his
9th year. His Ii e has been an inter-
estlng one, though most OF his years
have been spent in patient waiting for
the call to the Prussan and German
thrones which came only when he him
self was under the shadow of death.
He was born on the 18th OF October,
1881, and like all the Hohenzollerns,
had a thorough military education
He was more an onlooker than an
! active participant in the Danish
war Of 1864, but in 1865 he was
men whom he conducted, assisted by
Maj Gen. Won Blumenthal, his chief Of
staff, through tie passes of the Sudetic
Hills, arriving IN time to decide
the battle of Sadowa in favor of Prussia
In the war Of 1870 he commanded the
Third German Army, consisting of
three North German corps. the First
and Second Bavarian Corps, and the d.
,, visions furnished by Baden, Wurtem-
btfg and Hesse, in all about 10000
men I'D 500 guns. To the inspiration
of his leadership is credited the Ger
man victories at Weissenberg aud
Woerth. He was present with his army
at Sedan, and then proceeded with the
other armies to Versailles.
During the war he became immense
lv popular with the South German
troops. In act he gained the admira-
ton of the whole of South Germany by
his admirable leadership. by his BRAY
cry, by his kindly care for the men
placed under his command, and by his
willingness to share the fatigues and
dangers with the troops who formed
his army. A well-known anecdote will
illustrate his popularity among the
| Bavarians, who have never taken very
kindly to the Prussian military drill
masters. After one of the first victories
in the Franco-German war, when Ba-
varian regiment was being re-
viewed, one of the men, in
his enthusiasm, shouted out
'Ah, your Royal Highness, if we had
had you to lead us in the last war we
should never have been licked by those
cursed Prussians." On his return to
Germany he took the Bavarian troops to
Munich and returned them to King
Ludwig, thanking him in the name of
! the Emperor for the grand services he
| and they had rendered in the German
! Victories and to the cause of German
,, unity. ~ -'~@
Since 1878 his life was comparatively
! uneventful, with the exception of a pc
rlod in 1878, when he acted as regent
| during the incapacity of the emperor,
caused by the wounds of the assassin
| Modelling. A few years ago he cement
| ed the relations between Germany and
| Spain by an official visit to Madrid, and
on his way back called on Pope Leo
XIII. at the Vatican, His interview
| with the Holy Father on that occasion
! is said to have contributed in great
measure to the satisfactory settlement
| of the Kulturkampf.
Universally beloved, respected and es-
| teemed both at home and abroad, his
| popularity has, if it were possible, in
creased during the past year, since the
terrible malady from which he died be-
| came known. The expressions of heart
| felt sympathy were not limited to Ger
many alone, but were positively univer-
SAL After having sought Keller in Bad
| Ems, in the Scotch Highlands, in the
Isle of Wight, the Tyrol and on the
shores of the Lago Maggiore, he
finally took up his residence with his
| family at San Reno at the Villa Zireo.
During his stay there he was subjected
to the operation of tracheotomy in or
der to avoid death by sufocation. The
greatest differences of opinion existed
as to the nature of the disease from
| which he suffered, some Of the physi-
clans asserting that it was cancer of the
| larvnx, while others are equally positive
| in their denial. It was, however, ad-
mitted that he was doomed to an early
| death and on several occasions during
| the past few months his demise has been
considered imminent.