The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1897-12-01
STORIES OF WILLIAM II.
One Shows Parsimony and Good Nature
and the other Only GOOD Nature.


and the other Only GOOD Nature.
There is a common impression that
William II of Germany is spendthrift.
Several court chrOniclers of recent
times, however, have maintained that
the young emperor was extravaganza on
ly when the splendor and power of the
Irown were to be symbolized and that
at other times he was almost parsimo-
NOUS. Two or three stories now circu-
lated by the German press tend to con-
firm this view,
When William II was Prince Will
liam in Bonn university, twice removed
from the imperial throne, he cast his
lot with the dueling corps, Borussia,
He was not prig He joined his COM
rades in their drinking bouts and excur-
sions and bore as a freshman the jokes
and rebukes which fall to the ordinary
German freshman lot Only once did
he show temper when brought to book
for his conduct The object Of his wrath
was Otto Ehlers, the traveller and wri-
ter who was killed not long ago by ma
tives of New Guinea
Prince William went rowing on the
Rhine almost every pleasant day during
! his sOjOurn in Bonn. Oftener than not
he invited Ehlers to go with him. On
one of these excursions the boat ran fast
on snag. All efforts of the prince and
| Ehlers to break loose from the snag
were fruitless, and eventually they had
to call to their aid fisherman After
| the fisherman had pulled them out into
the stream again the prince took out
his purse to reward him, but found in
1T only lot Of thalers. A thaler Us
| cents) seemed to the prince too much
money to be given away all at once, and
he turned to Ehlers for change. Ehlers,
without a word, drew his own purse,
picked out thaler and gave it to the
fisherman. AS the man rowed away En-
| lers answered thus the prince question
ing look:
Royal highness, the third man in
the whole German empire must acquit
himself in style D."
Prince William looked Ehlers over,
but made no reply. The two rowed in
silence to the shore, and for two weeks
Ehlers received no invitations to row
on the river. At the end of that period
the excursions were resumed and the
prince seemed to have forgotten the re-
| buke.
One day after William II had been
on the German throne two or three
years Otto Ehlers appeared before the
emperor with special embassy of Afri-
can chieftains from the empires colo
NAL possessions The emperor had pres
ents a-plenty for them AS one costly
triDket after another was handed to the
negroes Ehlers grew uneasy. Finally
when the emperor gave magnificent
diamond ring to the head chief he could
restrain himself no longer.
l beg your majesty's pardon, he
said, but these people are pleased with
any sort of cheap trifes. Such a ring is
much too expensive to be wasted on
them.
Now, now, Ehlers, replied the en-
peror WHO would expect to hear that
from you? Don't you remember what a
spendthrift you were with your thalers
when you were in Bonn? Have you
really become parsimOnious in your old
age?'
Here is another story which does not
Illustrate anything in particular ex-
cept that the emperor is not altogether
a prig. When several German univer
sity corps unite in a grand drinking
bout known as a commers, it is custom
airy for the representatives of one to
propose thus the health of another:
Il have the high honor and the pleas
IRE to drink full gll..ss to the health Of
the Corps Borussia. To this the rep
resentative Of the Borussia responds
1.-The Corps Borussia thanks and drinks
too
When the empress last gave birth to
a son, Otto EhIers, in the name Of the
emperor's cid corps, sent this congratu-
latOry telegram:
i have the high hcnGT and the pleas
ure to drink a full glass to the health OF
the youngest Hohenzollern And back
came the emperor S reply:
The youngest Hohenzollern thanks
ICu and drlns,s too. New Y ork sun