Evening star., 1897-03-22
CENTENARY OF WILLIAM I.
Ceremonies i'm Memory of the Founder
of the. Germnn Empire.

OF the. German Empire
BERLIN. Match 22.-The ceremonies at
tending the dHsEation of the centenary Of
the birth OF Hnisseror William 1, grandfa.h-
er Of the +prSsAht emperor. which began
yesterday. cbnthued today. commencing
with an earlyNvfit of the emperor and en-
press to the pousoleum OF William T..
Thousands. lined the Feststrasse. which
was brilliantly Rlecorated from the castle
to the RrandenSurg gate. Their matesties,
who received anbvation all along tho route
spent quartsr of an hour in silent prayer
at the tomb. =aIVa returned to Berlin soon
after o'clock The weather was cloudy,
but no rain fell.
At 8 O'Clock the troops. decorated with
the new memorial medal. and detachments
Of sailors, took up the positions assigned 20
them on Unter den Linden. and at about
1890 am. tho emperor. in the Uniform OF
the Garde dul Corps. arrived and was well
coined with enthusiastic hurrahs. hochs.
and the waving Of hankerchiefs. The two
elder princes had previously Joined
body guard company of the lst Regimen
of guards.
After riding in front of the troops his
majesty halted before his late grandfath-
er's palace and ordered the flags and stand
ards stored therein (Which mad been deco
rated with branches OF laureD to be
brought out. The emperor then rode at the
head Of the colors and led the troops to
The monument was unveiled at II 30 AM,
according to the program drawn up under
the personal supervision OF the emperor.
The royal personages were beneath mag
erected in front of the main portal of the
schloss. facing the monument. They in
cluded the empress and ex-Empress Fred
erick, the Kings of Saxony and Wurtem-
burg. the Prince Regent of Bavaria, the
Grand Duke of Baden the Grand Duke of
Hesse and others. Adjoining this tent on
both sides were grandstands for the privi-
Legged @ spectators. who only numbered about
5000 persons, comprising the suites of the
princes. the chancellor and all the dfgni-
taries of the empire including the bundles
rath. the presiding officers of the reichstag
ard diet. the generals and admirals, the
rectors of the universities, the mayors of
Berlin. Postdam. Spandau and Charlottes-
burg and the honorary guests.
Ills majesty occupied position on horse
back in front of the royal tent and facing
the monument
When all was ready the drums and trum-
pets called to prayer and a special trumpet
corps sounded the hymn Lobe den Herrn,"
after which the Rev. DR.. Faber delivered
a prayer, the trumpets and drums follow
ing with grand burst of music.
The emperor then ordered the monument
to be unveiled, the troops presented arms
and there was loud cheer from all pres
ent.
The massed bands played the Prussian
national anthem, salute of 101 guns was
the church bells of the city and vicinity
chimed In the general rejoicing. The cere-
monies ended with a choral played by the
special trumpet corps and a march past Of
the troops.
During the ceremony the colors and flags
captured from the French during the war
OF lsio-Ii were displayed on both sides of
tne monument and were surrounded by a
circle OF cannon, ornamented with oak
leaves, also captured from the French.
All the troops taking part in the cern-
mony were under the personal command of
the emperor
Grand Marshal Count Won Gutenberg has
Deen decorated by the emperor with the
order of the Black Eagle.
After the march past the troops. the en-
peror. the two empresses and the German
ana foreign princes walked in procession
around the monument and laid wreaths on
the steps. 'si -
In passing Prince Hohenlohe. the i'm
perlai Chancellor, the two empresses
bowed graciously
The whole affair was most impressive and
was Witnessed from a distance by enor-
nous crowds upon the roofs, in the win
dows and on the balconies of the houses in
the vicinity.g so,
The Wilhelm order has been conferred on
Or. Won Boetticher, minister of the interior
and Dr. Won Stephan the secretary for
posts and te4egrarhs