River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-07-13

M
AA array to celebrate the two
WW hundredth anniversary OF
Wv the Prussian monarchy, 1t
was an occasion possessing
p very special appeal for Kaiser VIII
helm H., whose title to third German
emperor consecrated the supremacy
of Prussia among the German states.
But in the midst of the festivities
came the news Of Queen Victoria's
Illness and the emperor William broke
off all the celebrations to hurry over
to the bedsire of his royal grandmoth-
er. The Boer war was still to drag
on for another weary year and longer,
and everywhere in Germany there was
hostile feeling against Great Britain;
there had been many and bitter diff
ferences between the courts of ST.
James and the palace at Potsdam. But
the promptness and spontaneity of
the kaiser's sympathy, the simple dig
nifty with which he shared Britian's
mourning effected a sudden change
/ in English feeling toward him. He
j had been regarded in England
with respect for the continually in
creased prosperity cf Germany under
his rule, mingled with some mistrust
of his possible ambitions. and with
curiosity as the most striking and
enigmatic figure in European politics.
But now English sentiment responded
! to the kaiser's action. 1t became
warmer and friendlier; distrust Of his
| impulsive and mercurial nature grad
ually changed into conviction Of his
generosity and good feeling, and now
there Is none among King Georges
guests who receive a sincerer well
come.
Not even his unique position in Eu-
rope nor his close relation with the
British royal house account for the
interest taken IN England in the kais-
er's personality. NO one is ever bored
by the kaiser; It is impossible for him
to be dull. No figure in Europe gives
rise to so mucA speculation, to so
many differing opinions. After over
20 years of much speechmaking, o. a
full and active life spent In the pub
lie gaze, he leaves us still cropping for
the key to his c5aseless activities and
his extraordinary influence.
Kaiser q Hard Worker.
A curious journalist once motored
to a railway crossing some way down
the line to catch a glimpse of the en-
peror, who had been attending gala
performance Of opera In one of the
smaller German capitals. The saloon
was brilliantly lighted, the blinds
drawn up, and there was the emperor
writing at his desk as diligently as
the humblest journalist.
It was typical of his life. The out
slider will take extraordinary pains
to secure a glimpse Of the kaiser, but
he CLEANS little except an increased
sense Of the hard work entailed by
modern kingship. Everybody knows
the details of his everyday life. He
rises at $3.50 o'clock, takes a cold
douche and breakfasts at $50, teta-
a-tete with his wife, on tea and cold
meat, or perhaps eggs and bacon.
Then follows long and strenuous
morning, spent with his secretaries,
or on the parade ground, and often
involving mora than one change Of
uniform, for the emperor is very
| uunctilious in these matters, and If
he is receiving the British ambassa-
| dor. for instance, will don a British
uniform. The afternoon is spent in
learning new things from explorers
and experts of all nations, or possibly
| in studio or gallery, giving artistic
judgments much criticised in ad-
| vancad Berlin circles; the evening,
/ after an early and simple dinner, is
given to his family, or to the theater.
| To one man the kaiser is lover of
peace. to another flrebrand; to one
! a survival from medieval Markgrafs
of Brandenburg; to another the typ
icai head of the most go-ahead mod
ern industrial state in Europe; to one
the incarnation of Prussian etiquette
and the military caste, to another the
gayest and most affable of German
gentlemen.
The truth seems to be that he is all
these things and many others with
equal conviction and energy on oc-
casion. Some Of the incongruities dis
| anpear on examination. His speeches
mislead the English reader who goes
to them armed with a British concep-
| ton of German stolidity and common
sense. The German is not afraid OF
! poetry and sentiment; nor even OF
| high-hown metaphor on tha ordinary
| occasions of life. So when the Ger