Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-09-18
TALES OF THE KAISER.
Always Doing Unexpected Things-A
Brilliant Conversasionaiist.


Brilliant Conversationaiist.
No European monarch is so con-
siderate of correspondents hungering
for copy" as Kaiser Wilhelm, says the
Berlin correspondent of the Brooklyn
Eagle He is almost constantly the
center of some controversy, doing IN
expected things and creating anec-
dotes about himself. In this respect
he patterns somewhat after Kaiser
William the great, who dropped in
suddenly on some village school and
with rod in hand piled questions re-
garding German history and genealogy.
Soon after William II. assembled the
throne he voiced the fervent desire to
become monarch in fact by observing
the needs and woes of the common
people instead of devoting all his
time to the petty quarrels of pres
tige arising among the "junkers' and
the habitues of his court. For the
royal Hohenzollern family is not with
out it's domestic, troubles. Within the
royal family directly there is no sign
Of trouble, for there is but one ruler
and one lord, and that is the Kaiser,
SO there can be no room for discord.
, But there are any number of running
Domestic feuds among the various
princely and ducal families Of the diff
ferent leading German governing
houses. Whenever these domestic
troubles become too public or spicy,
the Kaiser steps in, commands one or
both Of the disputants to his side and
administers a sound lecture on family
etiquette
Kaiser William never loses an op-
portunity to demonstrate that he is
watchful of the common people.
Whenever the kaiser, on his morning
or afternoon rambles in the Thiegarten
and in Sans Souc1 Park at Potsdam,
encounters some one of the many who
salute him the kaiser is always GER
/ tain T. respond with a hearty "Guten
norge" and a salute. Not long ago
| while IN the mining regions of Salz-
burg an old bugle which had been cast
UP from an excavation attracted his
majesty's attention. He took the
| crumpled instrument and, moticning a
laboring man in his daily garb near by
| asked him:
Here, landsman, see if you can ex-
t. act some notes from this bugle."
The workman, who happened TO
have been a trumpeter in the army
during his military service, shambled
up awkwardly and applied the bugle to
his lips. By desperate effort he man
aged to bring out something that
sounded like the trumpeter's salute TO
the kaiser The latter recognized the
salute, and, taking the bugle from the
workman, so say eyewitnesses, applied
it to his own lips without taking pains
to wipe the mouthpiece. Then he took
a fragrant Havana from his pocket
and handed it to the miner for his
pains. The latter scraped and saluted,
but carefully placed the cigar in his
inner pocket
'Why do you do that?" inquired the
kaiser. Il gave you that cigar to
smoke"
Pardon, your majesty" faItered the
workman, 81 want to keep such q val
liable gift as remembrance"
the kaiser handed it to the grateful
workmn with the remark, Here, save
this one and smoke the other"
Kaiser William is a keen humorist
and is quick to grasp the funny side of
embarrassing situations which place
those about him thoroughly at east AS
a conversationalist the best compli-
ment paid him was by brilliant
French journalist whom the kaiser re-
ceived in audience at the palace re-
Gently and who said: His majesty is
one of the most brilliant conversation
alists | have encountered. He does
not indulge in commonplace, but his
| remarks are always original and with
a mixture of humor and wide learning.
We leaped from one subject to an
other, from the art of the various
countries to music, to national charac-
teristics, books and yachting. But the
kaiser was strictly 'up-to-date' on all
subjects"
A good story is related of Com
niander Beehler, late naval attache to
the United States embassy in Berlin.
He was invited to the palace for din
ner, and in the course of the evening
was taken aside by the kaiser, who
piled him with questions of a techni-
cal nature regarding certain new i'm
provements introduced in the modern
class Of United States battIeships of
illinois and Iowa type.
THE battleship is Supplied
with double turret, is it nots' in
quired Kaiser William.
'Ah-hem-ah, I believe so, your ma
jesty," suffered Commander Beehier,
who afterward confessed that he had
been caught Fairly in the saff beam"
Fire at Eau Claire destroyed Mul-
lens barn and damaged two other
barns. It took the attention Of almost
the whole fire department to save