The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1892-02-24
HUNTING THE WILD BOAR,
THE FAvORJTE SPORT OF THE
GERMAN EMPEROR,

An Imperial Shooting Party-Initia-
ting New ArrivaI-A Boar
"Drive"-Uniform of the Hunters.
While gemsboc or chamoIs stalking
appears to be the favorite sport of the
rulers of Austro- Hungary and of Sax
ony, that of Emperor William and the
house of Hohenzollern is wild boar hunt
ing. This species of game abounds in
the imperial preserves of Koenigs- Wus-
terhausen, of Letzlingen, 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 its rats. The preserves at
Goehrde are, however, those most af-
fected by the young monarch, as they
were also by his grandfather, the late
Emperor William. Persons invited for
the first time to these imperial shooting
parties have to go through regular form
of initiation, somewhat akin to that
practised in the case of people "crossing
the line" for the first time at sea. On
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 room is
cleared and ornamented with several
lines of chalk. The Grand Huntsmen
Won Kotze, or his deputy, Count Falk-
enstein, thereupon, after receiv-
ing the Emperor's final instructions,
selects dozen members of the party and
conducts them to the dining groom, where
they take their places around the table,
each armed with a wooden spoon of diff
ferent size. At given signal the hunts.
man in charge of the imperial pack of
bloodhounds, who has been stationed at
the entrance leading into the dining.
room, sounds the view halloo on his
horn, and Immediately every one of the
wooden spoons is rubbed up and down
the oaken table in a manner that pro-
duces sound similar to that of the
noise made by pack in full puruit. The
person about to be initiated is thereupon
seized and blindfolded, after which the
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 of the neo-
phyte smart tlow with the fiat of the
broad blade. The huntsman toots forth
the signal of 'dead, dead" which is used
to call the pack off the quarry, aud the
new-hedged "wardmen" is permitted to
struggle off the table and on to the
ground. may add that the Enperor's S
blow with the huntiug-knife is not the
only one which the neophyte receives
while stretched on the table, nor does it
constitute the sum total of the initia-
ton, but only the conclusion thereof
Indeed, there is sometimes good deal
of rough horse-play on these occasions,
in which the Emperor, who delights
therein, takes prominent part.
The boar hunts on the following day
partake of the nature of the chamois
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 huntsman
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, one 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 chaIg-
ing past, charges directly at one 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 kind OF
pike or lance, which goes by the euphon-
ious name of "sowpen."
The custome worn on these occasions
is an exceptionally hideous uniform,
specially invented and devised by the
present Emperor. II consists of a
ouble-breasted frock-coat of gray cloth,
with grass-green lapels and collar, green
striped pantaloons, with high boots, and
a gray Tyrolese hat with wide green
band. Any person who ventures to as
sert that the Emperor looks well therein
is guilty of reckless disregard for the
truth and of the basest flattery. For
the gray coat and hat, and especially the
green facings, cuffs, collar, and hat
band, only serve to intensity the bilious
tint of the Emperor's complexion