The Washington herald., 1911-10-15
PLAN TO DRAPE KAISER'S
STATUENLOUIS XIV ROBES

statue oI Ihe Kaiser, which has been or
dered for the Berlin Academy in the
! costume of Louis XIV of France, is
anything but agreeable to the Berlinese,
and they are not slow to express their
| displeasure or to make caustic COM
ments. From an artistic point Of view
this may perhaps be needfuI and per-
missible; but the sober, frugal, common
sense of the practical German resents
the idea of seeing his ruler, who is
| still among the living, in the garb of a
| period long gone by, in flowing robe.
with lace-covered wrists, jabot, and all
the effeminate tinsel of roccocco times.
They call 1t ridiculous, and no doubt
every serious-minded observer, who
really likes the Kaiser, will agree that
1t is so. The German popular wit has
a unique expression for such nonsense.
There 1t is called "mummenschanz."
Here We would say monkey business
and 1t is a matter Of surprise how the
| serlous-minded Kaiser could CountenanCe
even the very idea No doubt Wilhelm
| VIII have something to say about the
| matter, should ne be consulted by the
venerable and learned members Of the
| academy, who with all their learning
forever seem to live in dreamland among
| books and theory. without giving prac-
teal demands and timely needs thought.
| Another thing. Every sChoolboO<
teaches the German youth to despise
the grand monarque." who boasted
| that he was the state: "L'etat, c'est
mol" who was an oppressor, grinding
| taxes out OF his poverty-stricken sub
! tects to have the immense sums neces-
sary to keep up the most brilliant and
corrupt court in Christendom: fetes
| that swallowed millions; mistresses
whom he bedecked with precious
stones and gems, and upon whom he
wasted estates and titles.
And still another thing. His reckless
disregard for the lives OF his soldiers
| plunged France into continuous warfare
and it was he whose army wrested AL
SAGE and Lorraine from Germany, abid-
! ing his time when the empire, after the
! terrible thirty years war, was weak
ened, split, and almost devastated to
march into and occupy those two prov
inces without a shadow of a right to
their possession. In short, he was the
man whose evil deeds of a long bygOne
age has made arch enemies of two
heretofore friendly and neighborlv
peoples, causing the taking back and
losing and again retaking of those
sections that seem to be destined to re-
main a bone of contention between the
two nations.
And to conclude. What a ttt-bit for
the Partisan press, for the boulevardiers.
for the flaneurs of the feudal salons
of the Faubourg, to turn this morseI
from Berlin over and over among the
society gossips. The German Emperor
depicted in the costume of the Bourbon
King whose armies devastated the f.uine-
land and the Palatinate. And that at
a time when German and French pleni-
potentiares are debating momentous is
sues, covering problems which came
very near leading 10 another war be
tween the two nations.
The Duke and Duchess Of Orleans have
left their English home, Wood Norton
and have taken winter quarters in their
palace of Villamanrique. in the Spanish
province of Andalusia. This is the cas-
tie which the duke offered to his neph-
ew. Manuel, the exiled King of Portugal.
and his mother. Queen Amalia, the Dukes
sister. when they had 70 fee that coun-
try at the beginning OF the late revolu-
ton, but both preferred to go to Eng
land, where they partoOk OF his hoSpi-
tality for while at Wood Norton"
Among the royalists in Spain. Duke
Philippe is regarded as king Philippe
VIII" of France. He maintains semi
royal splendor at the Andalusian palace,
which has been the home of the dukes
mother, a former infanta OF Spain. after
the death of her husband, the Comte de
Paris. Both he and his brother. the Duke
de Montpensier, have visited this cOun-
try.
The Duchess Of Orleans was the Arch
duchess Maria of Austria, daughter Of
the late Archduke Joseph, a cousin of
Empero Franz Josef The duchess
seems to be happy with her husband.
although their marriage was not regard
ed as a love match and there have been
Tumors that they would separate. She
| is childless. The dukes brother, the
Duke of Montpensier. is heir presumptive
to the great fortune left by their father.
the Comte de Paris.
The duke and duchess are united in
their fondness for hunting. When she
appears in her hunting costume she looks
almost the amazon. The vast estates
around the palace of VilIamanrique af-
| ford fine sport. But the duke also has
shot big game in Asia, Africa, and the
north: he made a trip to the arctic re-
| gions in 1895.
Among the honors this year bestowed
as a result of the annual Kaiser maneu-
YER" is one which has not attracted the
attention it merits. though more in a
| social than a military sense. I mean
| ''brevet first lieutenant of the last class
Of the reserves" awarded TO Baron Won
Roeder, who has been granted the privi-
iIege of donning the uniform of the Second
Dragon Guards. whose honorary colonel
| is Empress Alexandra of Russia. This eX-
reserve lieutenant is siXty-one years Of
| age and is the same Eugene Won ROoder
who recently has been elevated to the
position vacated through the death OF
| Bodo Won dem Knesebeck, that of deputy
chief master OF ceremonies at the Berlin
court, and whose duty 1t is to intro
duce into the official status the members
| of the diplomatic corps.
At other European courts these funC-
| tionaries wear a diplomatic" uniform
trimmed with broad gold lace, with gold
| sashes and gold tassels. Gold-braided
hats. &C. But it is a lOng-estahlished
1 custom in Berlin that court dignitaries
appear in military uniform. At such
functions one may observe Chief Court
Marshal Count Eulenburg and House
Marshals Won Lyncker and Won Mirbach
attired as generals; Chief Master of the
Horse Freiherr Won ReischaCh as a
garde du corps; the latter's aid Frei-
herr Won Esebeck, as a yellow uhlan.
and the chief director of the imperial
opera, Count Huelsen-Haescler, as
cuirassier guard. The late Won dem
Knesebeck wore the uniform of the Bonn
Hussars, in which regiment he saw serv-
ice during the Franco-Prussian war of
1870. His successor, Herr Won Roeder,
was but a short time with those crack
riders whose dashing uniform he now
has been permitted TO don again after
a lapse of forty years. They say he was