The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-14
COURT SCANDALS
 ARE BEING AIRED Count Ven WedeI Leaves Ger
 many for Good PLANS NEW NAVAL PORT The Kaiser Desires To Make Germany First-Class Naval Power-Prus-
 sian Elections Are Disap-
 pointment to the Kaiser
PLANS NEW NAVAL PORT
By MALCOLM CLARKE.


 has gone down into disgrace as a result of the Maximilian Harden revelations and it looks more as if the whole court so- ciety is honeycombed with degeneracy and moral corruption.
 The secret investigation of the private lives of prominent courtiers ordered by the Kaiser have resulted in the downfall and flight of Count Edgar von Wedel, a personal friend of the imperial family.
 Count von wedel, court chamberlain and master of ceremonies at the court of one of the imperial princess, had his apartments in one of the palaces, and it mas been found that here under the very eyes of the Kaiser orgies of the most scandalous character were held almost every night during the last two years. As soon as the Kaiser received positive proof of the degeneracy of the count he or dered him to move out of the palace and deprived him of all his court dignlties.
 Count von Wedel, who was recently op- erated upon for appendicitis, gave sick ress as a reason for not appearing in court when Prince zu Eulenburg's affairs were looked into He has now suddenly left for Italy and will undoubtedly never return to Germany, although he is the owner of several splendid estates.
 That the judicial investigation of the affairs of the disgraced prince gu Eulen- burgs past life is no sham and that there is to be no whitewashing of the Kaiser's former friend is proven by the fact that a large number of Austrian noblemen were ordered to appear before a Vienna judge cooperating with the German courts to testify as to certain incidents said to have taken place at the German embassy during the years <f 1s96-19O2, when Prince Eulenburg was Ger man ambassador to Austria. The testi- mony, which has not been made public, is said to be most damaging to the prince and certain high personages at the court of Francis Joseph.
 The findings of the special court og honor trying Count von Hohenau, lieutenant general in the German army are now in the hands of the Kaiser and his removal from the army Is looked upon as almost certain.
 An article in the Deutsche Tageszei tung, chief organ of the German agra rian party, has aroused great indigna- tion among Americans here.
 The paper accuses the American gov- ernment of giving out false reports concerning the facts performed by United States battleships to create the impression that the American navy Is superior to any in the world, and adds that no sensible person who knows anything about matters of this kind will believe that the battleship Con necticut with foul bottom, made a speed of almost 19 knots. It Is also insinuated that the records of the tar get practice of the battleship Pennsyl- vania were doctored to make it appear that the gunners of that vessel hold the championship of the world.
 Americans know the value of ad- vertising, and not even the government is above using the methods of fakrs, the paper concludes.
 That the Kaiser desires to make Ger many first-class naval power Is made more plain than ever by the semi-of- ficial report of the governments plans for a new naval port at Apenrade a small town in Schleswig, at the mouth of the Apenrade Firth.
 The first forms an excellent natural harbor and is deep enough to admit even the largest vessels without dredg- ing. The decision of the German gov ernment is based upon the lessons of the combined naval and military man oeuvers of last fall, coupled with tho appeal of the municipal authorities,
 
 expenses. very much against the wishes of the people of the town, who are mostly in sympathy with Denmark, to which country they formerly belonged, and heartily hate anything German.
 The new naval station, which will be of immense value to Germany in case of war with Russia. and which will be fnown as Prince Heinrich Haven, m hcnor of the Kaisers seafaring brother, eitu ta6 ba paI btIt {c short distance from the entrance to the Firth of Kiel and the canal which con ects the Baltic and the North Sea. At Brunsbuttel, at the other end of the Kaiser Wilhelm canal, a new and eX- tensive dock yard is being built with two gigantic docks large enough to accom- modate the largest battleshps of the German navy, and the work on these is Icing pushed with so much energy that the dock yard will probably be finished in 1910 or 1911, seven years before the Gate originally set by the navy depart r1ent, and at the same time the canal which is of little or no value to mer- caant vessels, is being widened and made TWO feet deeper at a cost of fifty mil lion dollars.
 Also at the other German naval sta- tons there is great activity and import ant Improvements are being made, mo- tably at Wilhelmshaven, where two i'm mense drydocks are to be finished before the end of the year, and at Emdan, where a first-class torpedo station is being established. Additional fortifica- lions are being built on the islands near the mouth of the river Ems and at the town of Emden itself monster barracks are being built for the accommodation of tnausands of troops and the quick em- iarkation of soldiers in the case of a war With England.
 In addition to this the small canal between Emden and Wilh-Llshaven, known as the Ems -Jahde canal, is be- ing widened so as to allow the largest destroyers to pass, and troops have begun the construction of military railroad between the two ports via the town of Aurich.
 In view of all these warlike prepara- tions, many of which are of no value except in case of a war with England, it is small wonder that the press of that country has become more violent in it's attacks upon Germany than ever.
 The elections held during last week,