Idaho Springs siftings., 1904-11-12
KAISER WILLIAM
KNOWS HOW TO SAIL a YACHT
Correspondent Says He 10 = eorr
SAiior.-HAs Made Yachting
Popular Amusement

Correspondent Says He 10 . Born
saiior.-HAs Made Yachting
Popular Amusement
The Berlin correspondent OF the
Washington Post says: The Kaiser
can handle = yacht as well as any sea-
man afioat. He Is a born sailor. and II
he were not an Emperor he might be tas
skipper Of crack racing yacht
This statement was made to an
American newspaper representative
during the Kiel regatta OF 1908 by the
British yachting expert, Ben Parker,
who was then skipper OF the German
Emperor's yacht Meteor. 1t Is no empty
compliment, but q plain statement OF
fact. which is corroborated by all COM
ties Of seeing William III. sailing ON
board his own yachts.
Yachting As . fashionable pastims
was almost unknown In Germany be-
fore the present Kaiser ascended the
throne. but during the sixteen years OF
his reign he has made II one Of the
most popular national amusements.
When the Kaiser succeeded to the
crown there was not q first-class rae
ing yacht belonging to any German
owner or sailing under the flag OF any
German club. Only q few regattas
were held every summer along the
German coasts. and these were insig-
nifcant affairs which passed unnoticed
outside the Immediate localities In
which they took place
The Kaiser changed all this with the
impulsiye energy which characterizes
all branches of his versatile activity.
So well has he succeeded that a high
class British sporting journal rounded
out It's account OF the kiel regatta this
year with this pregnant comment:
English yachtsmen who were present
will frankly admit that much improve
ment must take place in the sport in
British waters II this country is to
maintain its supremacy at the game"
The Emperor Of Germany owns lots
of yachts. and big ones, too. In fact.
he owns more OF them than any man
In the world. Not counting steam
craft. his feet numbers nineteen.
ranging from the Meteor. third OF the
| name-120 feet on the water line and
the largest racing schooner ever turned
out OF an American shipyard-down to
little twenty-footers. But it is for ths
sake of yachting alone that he goes in
for sport so extensively and encourages
his subjects to do likewise. His object
Is to foster a nautical spirit among his
people. and thereby arouse a popular
feeling which will support his ambi-
tious scheme to create = navy that shall
rival that OF England.
The Kaiser is not an amateur. but An
exper. in yachting. Every summer he
devotea three weeks solely to this pas
time. First he proceeds to Heligoland
on board his steam yacht Hohensollern
10 watch the conclusion Of the annual
race from Dover to HeligolAnd. He
then boards the Meteor and sails on
her In the Elhe regatta. which takea
place on Cuxhayen. The Meteor then
goes to Kiel and the Kaiser sails on
her in all the races in which she pArtt-
cipates during the kiel week.
During the races the Kaiser often
takes Q hand at the wheel and shows
/ himself an adept at all the tricks oi
the game. When he 10 not at the
wheel he lies on the windward side Of
the deck with the crew and obeys this
skipper's commands with slacrity. He
hauls In the ropes and helps to trim the
! sails with an enthusiasm which stim-
I ulates the crew to extra exertions.