Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-23
EMPEROR'S SON \ WAITER Kaiser WiIheIm'S Natural Broth
 CT Works in a NEW YORK EATING HOUSE Carl Baron Von Rex-His Mother Lady of the Court of William l-Hard Luck
 After His Fathers Death.
New York Journal.

S veins there flows the blood of an emperor, and whose checkered career is remark able even in that quarter of blighted hopes and broken lives.
 It has been said that it would be inn possible to throw a stone on lower Sec ond avenue without striking noble- man. and some wags have gone so far as to declare that if one were to stand in the middle of the street and shout Herr Baron!' every other house would produce one or two claimants to that title. But royalty is rare, even among the flotsam and jetsam of European so- cety cast up in Second avenue. And Carl Baron Won Rex, despite his humble calling, is in manner and bearing every inch king.
 The story of the exiled baron's life is familiar to every habitue of the cafes and restaurants which abound in the district, and Carl Baron Won Rex has come to be one of the established insti- tutions of that portion of Second avenue known among its denizens as Goulssh avenue.
 In the discharge of his duties as a knight of the serviette in Walters res taurant, No. 106 Third street-a very modest establishment, where speciality is made of 25 cent meals-Carl Baron Von Rex does not fout his noble birth in the face of the patrons of the house. Second avenue looks down upon the side streets, with their tenement houses, and resi- dent of the avenue would lose caste were he to be seen in any of the cafes other than those patroniZed by his class. So it is that within few yards of the main thoroughfare the baron plies his vocation without fear of meeting his quondam friends, and the guests of the house have never had any idea that the waiter of quiet demeanor was really half brother to the Emperor William IT of Germany.
 The baron is as modest and retiring IS befits a man of high degree who has fallen upon evil times. He planes no one for his downfall, but claims that his birth has been the cause of his misfor- tunes.
 Carl Baron Von Rex was born in Ber- lin in 1860. His mother was Elisa Freunn Won Rex-a title equivalent to that of countess. The countess was hof dame, or lady in waiting to the Empress Au- gusta at the court of William I. The birth of Carl was surrounded with great secrecy. His mother, a lady of noble birth descended from a long line of war riors and staunch royalists, was secretly conveyed away from-the royal court when her delicate condition was discov- cred, and she spent some time in one Of the royal retreats. There Carl was born.
 The countess looked after her son un- til he was old enough to be sent to school,
 
 While the tongues of the gossips were set wagging inside the palace, no rumor ever reached the outside world. Carl grew up at college ignorant of the cir cumstances of his birth He had been led to believe that his father had died when Carl was in his infancy, and this story was accepted wherever he went.
 When Carl reached the age of Is he was appointed a cadet in the German navy. He was assigned to the crack war rIr aud known that powerful influences were working in his behalf. The Baron Von Rex served his country with distinction for eleven years, and was steadily pro- inoted over the heads of others grown gray in the service. Finally he obtained the rank of deck officer and about that time the influence that he had possessed was no longer exerted in his behalf. So, dnstead of gay life in some home sea- port town or in a home squadron, the baron continued in active service abroad, and the years 1883 and 1884 saw him in the thick of the savage warfare then first commenced between German troops and the African tribes of the east coast.
 The baron soon established reputa- tion for reckless bravery among his fel- lows and for fOolhardy daring in the Ger man war office. When, at the battle of the Cameroons, the little German force was threatened with annihilation, First Lieut. Won Rex saved the day and re- pulsed the ravages. At the battle of An- gra Pequena, in 1884, the baron distin- guished himself by several acts of hero ism, the most notable one being the res- cue of a wounded marine.
 A party of German scouts from the warships had been taken by surprise and, withdra wing from their bivouac, fell back to the beach ineorder to get under cover of the German guns. A marine fell seri- ously wounded by an assegai, and, under the heavy fire or spears and the large body of the enemy advancing, 1t looked as though the unfortunate man would be left to a horrible fate. Taking his own life in his hands, Lieut.. Von Rex ran to the wounded mans side and, raising him upon his stalwart shoulders, carried him safely to the beach. Under the shower, of deadly weapons Baron Von Rex re- ceiYed two painful wounds from heavy spears.
 Although suffering severely, he remain ed at his post two years, during all of which time he was in the hands of the ships surgeons. In 1886 his ship return ed to a German port, and upon reaching Berlin the baron learned that he had been invaided and retired upon pen sion as ncurable.
 Many soft hearts were set fluttering by the handsome young sailor who had made himself famous by his exploits in Africa, and it was not long before the baron took the first false step which commenced his downward career In an altercation with an officer over the flair name of certain young woman the officer slapped the ba- ron's face. Instead of demanding satis- faction on the field of honor, Baron~Von Rex then and there soundly thrashed the officer The latter was in the imperial guard and graf to boot. Such hein- ous offense against the laws of German chlvalry could not be overlooked.
 The baron received very polite inti- nation that he was no longer persona grata at the court. or in fact, at the cap- ital.
 Carl Von Rex decided to shake the dust of Germany from off his feet and. accom- panied by the Vicomte de Salinac-Fene- lon, he plunged into the heart of Africa in search of diamonds. At the time the newspapers noted the fact that neither the baron nor the vicomte knew the dif- ference between a diamond and decanter stopper They found no diamonds and soon gave up the search to devote their time to hunting. Early in 1859 they re- traced their steps to Europe. On arrival in Paris the pair cut wide swain in tn gddiest circles of that cspital and soon established an unenyiable reputation in the Fan.,ss rr St. fiermain. af
 Nl.z. l.