Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-27
WOMEN COLONELs OF EUROPE.
The Kaiser Especially Active In
Making Them.

Making fhem.
"Whom the kaiser loves, he first
makes a colonel" Is a parody on an
ancient saw which aptly describes the
present policy Of the German emperor
in dispensing favors among women.
Time was when post of honor in the
imperial household Of jeweled order
was the feminine badge of royal favor.
Today 1t Is a commission in the Ger
man army. The command may be hon
orary only, but it carries with it GER
tain privileges pleasing to woman of
military ancestry.
The kaiser probably has purpose In
this. The sight Of woman on horse
back in the full panoply Of war has
ever been sufficient to rouse enthusi-
asm among soldiers and to stir the
loyalty Of peaceful citizenship.
At the head of the military women
stands the empress herself. Familiar
as is her appearance at the head Of the
Pasewag Cuirassiers, she never fails
to arouse enthusiasm.
When she leads her regiment In re-
view before the kaiser, she wears the
snowy regimental uniform of white
with red facings, the scarf Of the Or
der of Hohenzollern, and the three-cor-
nered hat, with large. dropping heron's
plumes. She accompanies her regiment
to the annual parades, watches its
drills, frequently visits the men in their
in the regimental casino there to dis
Gus affairs, large and small, connected
with her command.
Until recently the Grand Duchess
Victoria Melita, of Hesse shared mill
tary honors and popularity with the
empress. Perhaps the most enthusi-
astic Of all the women colonels, she
commanded by title the 117th infantry
regiment. Nor did she allow the act
ing colonel to rob her of her duties and
privileges.
She was seen almost daily on the
parade ground when her regiment was
at work. She then wore the undress
uniform Of the German army colonel,
dark blue coat, red collars and cuffs
edged with blue, and heavy skirt, a
peaked cap with red band, sword belt
and knotted epaulettes.
At parade and reviews she headed
her men in all the glory and pomp of
full dress uniform, her helmet topped
with plumes and strapped under her
chin, q tasseled belt, and, among the
medals and jeweled decorations which
covered her breast, cleaned conspicu-
ously the Order Of the Red Eagle.
It was at a parade at Hamburg that
she reached the pinacle of her fame,
for on that occasion her kaiser sent his
personal adjutant to escort her into
the imperial presence, where she was
publicly congratulated on the magnif1-
cent appearance of her command. Then
came her divorce from her husband,
and the kaiser signified his disapproval
of her conduct by depriving her Of her
regimentals, and her monograms and
arms were removed from the regi-
ment's epaulettes.
But the withdrawal Of imperial favor
has not taken away her popularity. She
is not only magnificent rider, but an
accomplished whip, and her appearance
at the Frankfort races on Sunday af-
ternoons invariably causes a demon
stration.
Recently she drove out to the course,
preceded by a couple Of outriders, and
handling the reigns with consummate
skill over a matched team Of five grays,
two leaders and three at the poles. On
the box at her side sat her sister, the
crown princess Of Roumania. The lat
ter presented daintily feminine pic
ture in her summer finery, but the
duchess sat erect in true military pose,
which accentuated her strong, rather
masculine face.
Other women of royal blood who have
been honored thus by the kaiser are
the Empress Alexander, Of Russia.
who is colonel of Germany's Second
regiment of dragons: the hereditary
princess of Saxe-Meiningen, who COM
mands the Second Grenadiers; the
crown princess of Greece, the emperor's
sister, who has an infantry regiment;
and Princess Louise. duchess Of Con-
naught, who has the dragon regiment,
known as Won Arnim, No. IL.
The queen of Wurtemberg Is colonel
of the Uhlan regiment Of Konig Will
helm l.; the Princess Vera, of Wurtem-
berg. who was a a\Russian grand duch-
ess, of the Uhlans\ regiment Of Konig
Karl; the Princess Charles, Of Russia,
of the Twelfth regiment Of dragons;
the Princess Albert, Of Prussia, Of the
Twenty-fourth infantry; the queen re-
gent Of the Netherlands, of the Fif-
teenth Westphalian infantry; the grand
duchess of Baden, of the Fourth regi-
ment of the Grenadier Guards, and the
dowager queen, Margherita, of Italy,
of a Hessian lager (Rifle) regiment.
Perhaps of all this list none is des-
tined to more general popularity among
the soldiers than the duchess Of Con-
naught. Educated under the eye Of
her father, the famous Prince Freder-
ick Charles, the Red Prince Of the
Franco German war, she has the mill
tary spirit strong within her.
While the prince consort Of the Meth
erlands, the duke Of Mecklenburg-
Schwerin, Is merely lieutenant In the
German infantry, his wife, Queen Will
helmina, commands one Of the crack
cavalry corps, a present from the kali
ser on her eighteenth birthday. when
she ascended the throne of Holland.
What with a military husband and a
regiment Of her own, the young queen