The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-27
THE KAISER'S STABLES.
Many Fine Animals and odd Equip
ages Adapted to His Especial Uses.


From the London Express.
Whatever faults Kaiser William
may possess, no one can accuse him of
being paltry, or small either, IN his
ambitions, his utterances, or his en-
tourage. l had heard good deal from
German friends concerning the Kali
ser's stables, his carriages, his sleighs,
his breeding stud, and determined
while over on duty for the Express to
see as much as possible of those
things, especially the imperial horses.
In the Australian bush we have a
habit of judging a man we only see
casually by his horsef1esh. If he seems
good judge of a horse we generally
find that he is not a bad judge of a
man; If he skimps his cattle in their
food and is careless concerning their
shelter from sun or storm, we are apt
to consider that he will deal very
much the same way toward any hui
man beings who may come under his
hand. If he feeds himself sumptuously
at the bush hotel and haggles about
the price of his horses oats we brand
him ''rotter" and see that any agree
ments are recorded in black and white
and duly witnessed, and # possible
stamped and registered.
If one had to Judge the Kaiser by
his horsefesh the result would be a
very mixed estimate. l did not see his
breeding stud; in that l was unfor-
tunate, it lay too far away from the
track of my journey for me to APP
proach it; but l had a careful tour
through the royal stables in Berlin,
and had a look at the $50 chargers, rid
ing hacks, hunters, and carriage horses
which belong to the Kaisers rnenage.
Horses from England, from Russia,
from Austria, German horses
were ranged side by side i'll stalls
beautifully arranged, and kept with
far more scrupulous care and cleanli-
ness than one often sees in human
domiciles; not a wisp of straw was
allowed to get out of it's place; every
thing was laid out with mathematic
regularity; not speck of dirt or dust
was allowed to accumulate high or
low. A horse could scarcely wink in
that luxurious establishment without
an anxious groom slipping nimbly for
ward, cloth in hand, to wipe the eye.
One got tired of looking at so much
neatness; the formality of the whole
thing robbed the stables of their
charm. 1t was more like a museum
than a stable, and one almost expected
to see a notice at every turn warning
visitors not to touch the exhibits.
There were some splendid animals
among the horses, but, taken on the
whole, they were a disappointing lot,
and the stables of the Kaiser would
we'll bear wedding out. He might do
worse than instruct his consuls in
Australia to look through some of the
breeding establishments in the South
ern Hemisphere with a view to pick
ing both riding and dri wing horses OF
high lineage which might be relegated
to the stud later on.
Many an Australian squatter drives
cattle and rides cattle that would not
need to blush either for appearance or
quality if placed in the stables of Will
liam of Germany.
l saw three superb chargers which
the Kaiser rides, one a rather leggy
chestnut, which would not have looked
out of place if entered for the Mel
bourne Cup; If ever 1 saw a horse that
looked as if he could gallop it was that
chestnut; from forelock to coronet he
showed the brands of the stud brook.
Another beauty was a rather robust
bay with a lovely action. / had the
pleasure of seeing him move with a
groom in the saddle, and a more per-
fectly trained animal it would be hard
to see anywhere. But the Kaiser's IA
vorite charger is a noble-looking black
horse, which looked fit to carry even
a warrior king. This horse is named
Ecstasy. and if looks go for anything
it must be an ecstasy to sit in the sad
die and feel him stride over turf
Another horse which saw the Kali
ser riding at Dantzic was a smallish
gray stallion which looked like a pure
Arabian. Either the horse or the uni
form he wore or something in the sur
roundings did not suit the soldier mon
-al, fo.~ = Y.11 ooI -. loss
advantage than he did upon that oc-
casion. AS a rule he has a very fine
appearances in the saddle and manages
his horse with consummate skill, and
his grooms aver that when away from
his courtiers and other prying eyes he
loves to indulge in a racket over any
thing jumpable that he may come
across, enjoying a. lonely scamper
across country with the zest of a BUSH
man.
In the same building as the stables
are located the royal carriages are
kept. numbering about 300 in all.
Some of them are superb, the decora-
tive work on the state vehicles being
beyond all praise; others are really
gorgeous, but barbarously ugly, just
the sort of equipages a millionaire
might ride in if drawn by a nightmare
A quiet-looking little closed carriage
was pointed out TO me as the ka1SerS
favorite when not engaged upon state
work. 1t was particularly struck by
the general heaviness and stolidity of
the German carriage and by the al
most utter absence of vehicles of the
light, swift American pattern.
There was one very peculiar little
vehicle which attracted me; 1t was
long and narrow, just wide enough for
one man to lie in three-quarter re-
cumbent position. 1t had signals at
tached to it at the back which could be
worked by the man driving. This was
the Kaiser's own, specially designed by
himself for his own use and purpose.
He takes it with him when yachting,
and by means Of this equipage flies
from post to post with incredible