Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-02-06

| How BIsmsrek- Ordered His Two Wallets
Shot
1T IL constant surprise to me-"
said DIR. Emil Dorm. OF Hob0ken. to
Jersey City Journal reporter yesterday.
that so few anecdotes OF Bismarck
find their way into this country, be-
cause there Is In America such u large
German population which would Gag
erly welcome them. The mess rooms
Of Europe are full Of these quaint stor-
les about the Iron Chancellor, and
whenever party Of officers come to-
gether almost invariably tales of the
Franco-Pr ussian war, in which he fig
ured, are the theme of discourse
Here, for example, is an incident which
have never seen printed in this coun-
try, and which i think will be Of inter-
est to many Of your readers:
1T was n few days after the French
had been driven out again from St.
johann aarbrucken, which they had
taken and occupied for about twenty
four hours, when Bismarck came to
that place and was lodged at the house
of the great mine king, Herr Stumm.
1.-The French were not yet very far
away, and the first counselor OF the
King of Prussia had every reason to
take good care Of his personal safety.
bismarck had worked very late, and
when he went to bed at about 1 o'clock
at night he gave distinct orders to the
two Wallets he had taken with him from
Berlin to watch and not let anybody
enter his bed room. From the lower
part of the town the rejoicing of the
soldiery, which celebrated the first vic
tory, could be heard, and 1t is quite in
telligible that the two guards Of Bis
marck should feel the desire to have
their share Of the joy and the MOselle
wine which flowed plentifully.
'-As soon as they knew that the
mighty man was snoring, they went Off
to the lower town. in spite Of their mas
ter's order and the warnings Of Herr
Stumm. They were not gone very long
when an orderly from headquarters,
with dispatch from the king for the
Chancellor, came. Herr Stumm tried
in vain to induce the orderly to wait
for the return of the Wallets. The
faithful soldier pushed Herr Stumm
aside, knocked mt the door and entered
without waiting for the call "come in
Bismarck was fast asleep, and all the
hemming, coughing and calling the or
derby did was useless. Determined at
last, the warrior stepped to the large
the curtain, grasped the shoulder Of the
snoring Chancellor and awakened him
with firm hand.
Bismarck jumped up like an irrltat-
ed lion. Who let you i'm here?' he
cried, wild with rage. Let me inT the
warrior answered. Nobody let me in;
there was no one who could have pre-
vented my bringing to your excellency
that dispatch here What! nobody
thereT exclaimed the. Chancellor vio-
lently. Where are those two scoun-
drels? my Wallets, lean And when
Herr Stumm. whom he had called in,
told him that his Wallets had gone to the
lower town to get some fresh air, he
gave orders that they should be taken
by a military watch, chained and shot
before sunrise. Then he sent off the or
~
asleep again.
when Bismarck. after a sound and
healthy sleep. awoke next morning. his
first act was to call Frederick and. as
Frederick did not respond. he called
Franz But when Franz also failed to
appear. he rang the bell with all his
might. Soon Herr Stumm entered the
hn1 Strrn
Bismarck. addressing the latter. could
you tell me where these lubbers (my
Wallets. l mean are? / am unable to
dress myself
Your Wallets. excellency?" replied
Herr Stumm, Il guess they are in heav-
en- by this time. Your eXcellency or
dered them to be shot before sunrise.
They We're caught about o'clock, and
must be shot now, i reckon
mo, SUNNI said Bismarck, smil-
ing. the Prussians don't shoot as quick
as that-at least not at their own cOun-
trymen. and for glass of Moselle. 1t
Is true, somebody else could have enter
ed here. But those fellows are still
young and inconsiderate, and may have
thought me safe i'm your house. Do
me the favor. send down to the watch.
and let them fetch the two fellows"
'SOOn the Wallets came with long,
frightened faces. Bismarck's anger
had entirely disappeared. and he could
not help laughing when he saw the
sheepish looks Of his Wallets. Il will
indeed have you shot the next time. you
loafers,' he said, but now quick; 1
think we will have to depart SOON
THAT was the last Of 1t. at least for
them. But when i'm after years Old
Iron himself, in Varzin or Friedrichs-
rub, went on a little spree, which some
times happened when he was visiting
his neighbors, the princess would raise
her foretinger and laughingly threaten
him: lotto, will have you chained and
shot before sunrise the next time.
Then he laughed, too. promised never
to do 1t again and always kept his
word until-the next time"