The Opelousas courier., 1892-04-16
HUNTING THE WILD BOAR,
THE FAvoRITE SPORT oE THE
GERMAN EMPEROR.
An Imperial Shooting Party-lnitia-
ting a New ARRIVAL Boar

An Imperial Shooting Party-lnitia-
ting q New ARRIVAL Boar
.sDriven-Uniform of the Hunters.
While gemsboc or ehamo1s stalking
appears to be the f~avorlte sport of the
rulers of Austro-Hungary and of Sax
ony, that of Emperor William and the
house of H~ohenzollern is wild boar hunt
ing. This species of game abounds in
the imperial preserves of Koenlgs-Wus
terhausen, of L~etzlingen, of Goehrde,
and of Syringe, the latter quite near to
the ancient city OF Hamelin, celebrated
in legendary lore for its ''pied piper"
and for it's rats. The preserves at
Goehrde are, however, those most al
fected by the young monarch, as they
were also by his grandfather, the late
Emperor William. Persons invited TOT
the first time to these imperial shooting
parties have to go through a regular form
of initiation, somewhat akin to that
practised in the case of people "crossln9
the line'' for the first time at sea. Ga
the evening before the day on which the
hunt is to begin, and when the party
are assembled in the smoking and card
rooms of the Jagdschloss after dinner,
the great oak table in the dining room1 Is
cleared and ornamented with several
lines of chalk. The Grand Huntsmer
Won Kotze, or his deputy, Count Falk'
enstein, thereupon, alter recelv-
ing the Emperor's final instructions,
.Iat, lo,or -ar,horc IF Fhn marty and
conducts them to the dining-foom, where
they take their places around the table,
each armed with a wooden spoon OF dit
ferent size. At a given signal the hunts.
man in charge Of the imperial pack OF
bloodhounis, who has been stationed at
the entrance leading into the dining
room, sounds the view haiioo on MS
horn, and Immediately every one OF the
wooden spoons is rubbed up and doWD
the oaken table in a manner that pro-
duces a sound similar to that OF the
noise made by a pack in full purult' Inc
person about to be initiated is thereupor
seized and blindfolded, after which thu
doors are thrown open and he IS carried
into the dining.room and laid athwart
the chalk lines. The Emperor draws
his short hunting-knife, and after max
ing several mystic passes with it in the
air, strikes the PROSTATE body oil the neo'
phyte a smart low with the flat of the
broad blade. The huntsman toots forth
the signal of "dead, dead" which is used
to call the pack off the quarry, n the
~new-fedged "wardmen" IS permitted to
struggle off the table and on to the
ground. I may add that the Enperor's
blow with the hunting-knife is not the
only one which the neophyte receives
while stretched on the table, nor does il
constitute the sum total of the initia'
ton, but only the conclusion thereof
Indeed, there is sometimes a good deal
of rough horse-play on these occasions,
in which the Emperor, who delights
therein, takes a prominent part.
The boar hunts on the following day
partake of the nature of the chamoiG
drives, the only difference being that the
drivers, or ''treibers," are assisted in
their work by a carefully trained pack OF
boar-hounds, which are accustomed to
obey the horn signals of the huntsmar
in charge. and are of much service In
driving the quarry from its lair in the
dense brush and underwood. Another
difference is that the shooting party IN
stead Of firing in the direction of the
drivers are under strict orders only to
fire away from them. That is, n is
practically forced to wait until the wild
boar rushed past before ones rifle may
be levelled. OF course it sometimes
happens that the boar, instead of charg.
ing past, charges directly at n in the
most fierce and aggressive manner and it
is for the sake of being prepared for an
assault of this kind that each member
of the party is provided with q kind OF
pike or lance, which goes by the euphon-
ious name of a stsoWpen."
The custome worn on these occasions
is an exceptionally hideous uniform,
specially invented and devised by the
present Emperor. It consists of a
double breasted frock-coat of gray cloth,
with grass-green lapels and collar, green
striped pantaloons, with higa boots, aud
a gray Tyrolese hat with q wide green
band. Any person who ventures to as
sert that the Emperor looks well the rein
is guilty Of d reckless disregard for the
truth and Of the basest fattery. For
the gray coatand hat, and especially the
green faeings, cuffs, collar, and hat
band, only serve to intensity the bilious
tint of the Emperor's complexion
Harper's Weekly.