The news & observer., 1905-10-22
tell the story, briefly. as he told it to

tell the story, briefly, as he told it to
me
lie was travelling in Germany not
! long ago, when it was intimated to
him that Emperor William II wished
d! to see him and would send him word
| at an early date when he would be
received. Later a telegram caught
| him at Dresden, from which place he
| made all haste to Berlin, to attend a
grand banquet given by the Emperor
to his military staff
ION the evening mentioned. he
, continued, 81 presented myself at the
, palace with my dinner card and was
promptly admitted to the banquet hall.
| Here / found myself surrounded by a
I brilliant asscmblage; three hundred
| generals in glittering uniforms, gor-
gcOusly decorated with flashing orders
won on bloody hattlcfelds or present
ed in recognition of administrative
merits, clustered in groups and talked
with more or less animation in gut-
tcral tones. Among that thrOng | was
| the only one in the conventional dress
of my country and for few moments
| felt unpleasantiy CONSCIOUS of the
fact that my PLAIN black dress suit,
stood out in bold relief against the
glittcring back ground of scarlet and
gold blue and silver. and the trappings
of the cavalry, infantry and artillery
of the great German army. To COM
pose 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
l could not but think that in America
we are equal and every citizen being
the peer of our President, and the lat
! ter the equal of thrOned Kings and re-
spected as such, therefore, humble,
modest and obscure as | was, l was yet
as good as the best of them. My self
possession returned and from then on
/ thoroughly enjoyed myself.
81 do not speak German and if any
one else spoke English they did not
give evidence of their familiarity with
our language. Hence, it was only by
holding up a funky almost as gor-
geOus and imposing az a general, that
ascertalned my position at the table.
1t was directly opposite the Emperor,
he added impressively, continuing,
land when we were seated there |
was the sole stranger in the midst of
the military strength of great ma
ton. After the dinner the Emperor
gave a reception and for a few minutes
chatted with his officers and then sent
for Won Buelow. | was standing at
one side where I could take it all In
without being unduly conspicuous, and
to my amaZement, | soon saw the
Chancellor approaching me. He bore
a message the Kaiser wished to speak
with me: On being presented he ex-
tended his hand. American fashion AMI
during a hearty hand-shake he said: 4
am pleased to meet you, Mr.. Blank
When he asked me how ] enjoyed my
self at the banquet | told him the
most enjoyable feature was hearing
for the first time that evening my be-
Heved native tongue and from the prin-
cipal figure in that gay and brilliant
assembly And so" he continued, 1--WE
got along famously.'
"Is that all" / INQUIRED, my ears
twitching with eagerness to hear what
the Emperor had said. NO he re-
piled. that was not all, and at the
proper time and place | may have
something to say on the matter" and
as he is in a position to say it and
is capable of doing so, have no doubt
he will.
There is in this possibility a lesson
which is that an American gentleman
was recognized by the Kaiser and not
withstanding his plain black suit We
received and entertained and had the
privilege of private conversation be-