Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-12-25
FRIENDS SAY HE'S NOT EXTREME
Simply Insists Men of War Shall Not
Drink to Excess.
KAISER HAS A NEW AMBITION
Would Erect in Berlin Finest Opera
House in the World.
DETAILS ARE BEING WORKED OUT
Plans I'm Course of Preparation Con-
template Seating Capacity for
Three ThouHand and a Royal
Rox to Hold Eighty.
BY MALCOLM CLARKE.

]
/ BERLIN. Dec. 2A-(special to The Bee)-
The emperor's views on the liquor question,
which he changes once a week, may get
him into trouble Teetotaners have been
rejoicing and schnapps-prc ducers have been
much alarmed owing to the kaisers re-
peated warning to army and navy students
against drink. People have been asking
anxiouslv whether the kaiser is turning
blue ribbon" in his old age.
Now. however. the semi-official press has
been instructed to state in reply to these
/ Inquiries that the kaiser demands teetotal-
ism as little as he approves OF alcoholism.
! ellis majesty" they say, 'far from over
| looking the good effects a ships crew
| Of a stiff hot grog in cold and stormy
weather does not suppose for one moment
that 1t is possible to secure total abstinence
In the army and navy. He objects to ex-
cessive drinking, particularly to compulsory
drinking but he has no intention OF COM
batting excessive Indulgence by excessive
abstinence"
Great Opera House Planned.
! once more the kaiser steps to the fore
His love Of opera has taken a practical
form. He is endeavoring to purchase
site on which he intends to have erected
the finest opera house in the world. AT
present there is a slight hitch the city
council having refused to supply the neces-
sary cash for the scheme. But the kaiser
is now negotiating for the money from an
other source. The monster playhouse Is to
be a most luxurious building. Eight lead
ing architects are at work devising the
plans. Three thousand people will be &C
commodated in the building while the
stage. will be 100 feet in width anu ninety
feet deep.
The kaiser has we'll provided for himself
He is to have erected royal box which
will seat eighty people. Behind this there
is to be retiring rooms for the use 81 the
royal party. The cost win be enormous
so great, in fact, that the actual price has
been Withheld from the, public.
To Fish for Diamonds.
A squad OF fishers OF diamonds will be
organized by order of the emperor and
will work in the German possessions of
East Africa It seems that diamonds of
rare size and have been discovered along
the coast and biologists declare that there
must be mines OF precious stones in the
stratum IA the bottom OF the ocean. Now,
perhaps there will be many lives lost be-
fore the diving win come to anything, for
it is said that fishing for diamonds viii be
much more difficult than for pearls.
Queer Census Questions.
Some extraordinary pcsers have been in
cluded in the census paper just distributed
throughout the empire. The following are
among the questions the people asked TO
answer:
II you do not know the date Of your
birth, how many years old are your
What is your main occupation in life?
Was your mother-tongue German, Dutch,
Friesian Danish. wallonian. Polish, Mas
surian. Cassubian, Wendish. Czech or Lith-
uanian?
If you are not German, do you command
the German language2
What rank have you attained in the
army or navy:
Are you blind in both eyes, deaf, dumb, |
insane or weak minded?
Are yog subject to epileptic fits?
II your children are less than a year old. !
how are they fed-on the mothers breast. I
by wet nurse, or by bottle?
Il is expected that the national census
will show a population Of 65,OOO.OOO. There /
were 81, $50 souls at the end OF 1907 and /
it is believed that the annual increase /
Of $4,000 has been more than maintained /
In this connection IL is interesting to note |
the prophecies OF economists on the growth I
of the fatherland's future population. Herr /
Huebbe-Schleiden estimates that there win /
'be 15OOOOOOO Germans In 1880. while Leroy |
Beaulieu, the French economist, believes |
that by the end Of the present century the |
population will reach 2OO.OOOOO0.
HaeckeI Leaves Church. [
It viii surprise readers Of Ernst Hack /
els works that their author has just severed |
his connection with the Lutheran church. |
II may be assumed there Is not a scientist I
living with a larger reading rublic than /
HaeckeL His celebrated ''R Ale OF the /
Universe" has had well over 100000 /
readers.
Neither in appearance nor manner does I
Prof. Haeckel answer the popular concep- |
ton Of a scientiE-,
He is tall, Eroad. with a pink flush In |
his face, his grey eyes are lit By an ever /
sustained smile, and his hair is white He I
drinks little, smokes less; never misses the .
opportunity OF declaiming the BasshIc alb .
surdities-the duel and the drinking bout
for which this nation Is conspicuous In .
early years Haeckel was an athlete, and .
then he settled down to practice as .
lawyer the open air called him. and he went .
AZ @ NoN. A'NiAN tAo WIN ne immediate l
results were some hundreds OF water colors I
which have become as popular as his 4
books
Prince Henry Aviator.
Prince Henry OF Prussia is learning the /
business OF aviation. He Is a brother OF .
the kaiser He visited the United States
several years ago. Despite the fact that
he is a prince he is considered a pretty
good fellow. Unlike his somewhat famous I
brother he does not talk too much and 4
what he says Is sometimes worth hearing
He never attempts 70 palm himself of as
a special agent OF Heaven nor as an expert /
on all things from breakfast food 10 the
management OF the universe.