Evening journal., 1905-10-21
HOW THE KAISER
GREETED AMERICAN
Made the Man Plainly At
tired Feel at Home
Among Generals
ADDRESSED HIM IN ENGLISH
lex William Wolff smlth.l

10y NIlildW NOIN 0NllLnaJ
Washington. oct I.-To hob-nob with /
royalty is not a privilege granted to many
OF us and no matter how we may swell
out our chests and prate Of democracy
and every American being "as good as a
King" those who travel realize that al
though America is undoubtedly the best,
sun there are others" and that recogni-
tion extended by ruling monarch to an
American citizen is, in the eyes of a large
part of the world, regarded as high dis
tinctlon In spite of the boasted civiliza-
tion of the twentieth century it Is well to
remember that most of the world stll
clings 20 Kings and Princes and that had
Washington been willing we might be
In the same box today. Therefore. like the
man who was anxious TO "shake the hand
that shook the hand of Sullivan" 1t gave
me a distinct thrill Of snobbish pleasure
TO meet a friend last evening who had
stood IN the presence Of royalty unadorn-
ed and mashamed. and feel / was thus
IN touch with the real thing.
In fact my friend and his name would
be recognized instantly for he Is Well
known and prominently influential admit
ted it gave HIM feeling of peculiar sat-
isfacton that not often comes his way
and with these prelimnaries / will tell
the story briefly as he told it TO me.
,Ie was travelling ia Germany not long
$50 when II was ntimated to him that
Emperor William IL wished to see HIM
ana would send him word at an cary
date wien he would be received. Later
"a telegram caught him at Dresden. from
which place he made all haste to Berlin
10 atonu grand banquet given b. tie
Emperor TO his military star.
ONLY ONE IN PLAIN DRESS.
"on the evening mentioned" he con-
tinued IL presented myself at the pail
ace. with my dinner card and was prompt
ly admitted to the banquet hall Here
found myself surrounded by a brilliant
assemblage. three hundred generals I'm
glittorng uniforms, georgously decorated
with flashing orders won on bloody battle-
fields or presented in recognition of ad-
mlnistrative merits. clustered IN groups
and talked with more or less animation
i'm guttral tones. Among that throng /
was the only one in the conventional
dress of my country and for a few mo-
ments ] felt unpleasantly conscious Of
the fact that my plain black dress-suit
stood out In bold relief against the gilt
toring back ground of scarlet and gold,
blue and silver and the trappings OF the
cavalry infantry and artillery Of the
great German army.
10 compose myself / sauntered about
the room with my hands behind my back,
inspecting the paintings of battle scenes
and the portraits of famous Kings and
generals While doing so 1 could not but
think that IN America we are equal and
every citizen being tho peer of our presi-
dent and the latter the equal of throned
Kings and respected as such, therefore
humble. modest and obscure as i was
/ was yet as good as the best of them.
My sclf-possession returned and from
then on ] thoroughly enjoyed myself
Il do not speak German and it anyone
else spoke English they did not give evil
donce of their familiarity with our LAM
guage. Hence. IL was only by holding up
a nunkey. almost as gorgeous ana mn
posing as "a general, that I ascotained my
position at the table It. was directly
lopposite the Emperor" he added impress
svoly, continuing and when we were
seated there I was. the sole stranger ia
the midst of the military strength of a
great nation. After the dinner the EN-
peror gave reception and for a few min
utos chatted with his officers and then
sent for Won Beulow. / was standing az
one side where j could take Il an in with-
out being unduly conspicuous, and to my
amazomtnt 1 soon saw the Chancellor ap-
proaching me.
GREETED by THE KAISER.
lie bore a message the Kaiser wished
{ to speak with me- on being presented ht
: extended his hand American fashion and
e. during a hearty hand shake ne said: q
as pleased to meet you. Mr.. Blank
4, When ne asked me how 7 enjoyed my.
self at the banquet I told him the mos
enjoyable feature was hearing for tn,
r first time that evening my beloved nativ,
1 tongue and from the principal figure il
e. that gay and brilliant assembly And so.
he continued, "wo got along famously."
rs that all" I inquired, my ears twltch
ing with eagerness 10 hear what the En-
peror had said. NO" he replied: "tha
was not an, and az the proper time an,
place ] may have something TO say Of
the natter" and as he is in a position q
say Il and is capable OF doing so. hav
no doubt he Will
There is in this possibly a lesson whic
Is that an American gentleman was recog
nizcd 10y the Kaiser and notwithstandin
Ns plain black suit was received and en-
tcwained and had the privilege of privat
conversation before such gathering. BE
iewened orders spread across an uniform
ed breast would have been lost to vieV
and would have meant nothing. as the.
would have represented little while tn
plain evening costume had behind It AM
spoke for the dignity and conscious
though unprotentious, reposed power o
great nation Court costumes" for ou
representatives abroad will not, 1t
safe 10 say. be favored by the gentlemen