The Washington herald., 1911-04-20
INCOME OF THE KAISER.

| Heeus reaQy money, especially wnen
ruler is pompous by nature and likes
to show splendor in keeping with the
| dignity of his court, which has to re-
| fleet imperial grandeur without an i'm
perial income. Be II understood that
as President of the German Federation
Emperor Wilhelm has no income to speak
of. What he has is derived mainly as
King of Prussia, from the Prussian So
| called civil list," all told about a mil
! lion in American dollars annually. be-
sides the revenue from his private do
mains, the "Krongueter," the latter in
reality being his inherited fortune.
But the Kaiser's expenditures are far
greater than one would suppose them to
be in country of the proverbial frugal
| ity of Germany (or better, of his native
Prussia). He must keep up many estab-
lishments for himself, whether he resides
in his castles or not, and he has to furnish
the household expenses for his sons and
daughters, for the Prussian diet only
grants the crown prince an annuity. Like
everybody else in Prussia, even the King
is supposed to be frugal and not to waste
the peoples money. Hence the Kaiser
must make the two ends meet" To aid
him in this he has commercial mind,
and he is ably assisted by that practical
man or affairs. Prince FursD Egon Won
ueTStenDerS, MS DOynOOQ CnuN1.
Through him the Emperor has invested
in number of commercial enterprises
estates, ground rents, steamer lines,
tramways. coIonial produce. &c. He
holds also most of the stock in a man.
moth modern hotel in America: and the
beer consumed in many German cafes
Is brewed by Prince Fuerstenberg, every
bottle that leaves the brewery bearing
the inscription, This beer Is drunk by
his majesty the Kaiser''-a good adver-
tisement. but untrue. as Wilhelm no
longer drinks alcoholic beverages, owing
to the state Of his health.
This recalls a true incident in the life
of one OF the Kaiser's predecessors. I
mean King Friedrich Wilhelm w. elder
brother of the first Emperor William,
who was the present Kaiser's grand
father, and who, by the grace of Moltke
and Bismarck. put the imperial crown
upon his head at Versailles after the
defeat of France in 1871. This is the
story:
The wife of that King, Queen Char
lotte. one day went shopping. In Prus-
sia even Queens go shopping into
large baZaars, just like their less con-
spicuous sisters. She drove to Herman
Gerson's. then the foremost dry goods
dealer in the city. Having finished MAX
ing her selections, the manager invited
Queen Charlotte to inspect a shawl that
had been received from the Orient that
very day and the like of which never
before had been seen at Berlin" The
Queen asked the price. 1t was only
$500, or. rather 1880 Prussian thalers
(There were no reichsmarks in the ante
bellum and ante-empire days..
The Queen shook her head. The sum
seemed to her enormous and altogether
out of reach of her private "chatulle''
But she had filicitous thought. Visibly
she frightened. and. addressing the mer-
chant, she said: viii you oblige me
morrow, TO give me a chance to talk
to the King?" To her companion she
added. in a whisper: Perhaps his ma
jesty will present me with this shawl on
my approaching birthday"
Her request was granted. Queens re-
quests always are. That evening when
Friedrich Wilhelm asked her IL she had
been pleased with her shopping expedi-
ton, and IF she had had money enough
to pay for ALL" her chance came. Char
lotte told him of that glorious Persian
shawl at Gerson's. Friedrich Wilhelm
~ was not much of a diplomat but he
loved his pretty wife. He saw that her
heart was set upon possessing that rarity.
The talk ended, as all such talks have
ended and no doubt will end as long as
there will be husbands who like to please
their wives. The King told his wife to
have that marvellous wrap charged to his
account.
Charlotte was glad. Would she not
possess something that all the great
ladies Of the ultra-feudal ancient Prus-
sian aristocracy would envy? Why,
Pleasing thought, indeed. Likely as not.
even her cousin, Queen Victoria of Eng
among her wardrobe. What furor she
would create at her next visit to Lon
don.
1t was late the following day when con- |
finally permitted the Queen |
TO drive to Gerson's. Telephones had not |
yet been invented, and II had not en-
tered the mind of the OTesn that there |
was a need to hurry. But hasten to her |
royal carriage she did, nevertheless, and |
from the carriage into the store.
Il came for that shawl" she greeted
the manager, who received the royal pot |
ron with low obeisance.
The man was embarrassed. He hesi- |
tated a monument, but knowing that he /
was 'in for it, he faced the Queen, bold
ly saying: Il held the shawl, as I had
promised your majesty; but when the
forenoon passed without any command
from the court, and also the best part of
the afternoon, I was forced to the con-
clusion that your majesty would not pur-
chase the shawl. just as I was putting
L away, who should happen in, but Mrs.
NJ. She asked me to let her see ii. /
could not refuse what 1 believed mere
y was a whim of a very good customer.
The moment she laid her eyes on the
shawl I knew it was sold. She asked
the price and ordered the magnificent
fabric sent to her residence without con-
sultipg her husband. the rich brewer"
The Queen understood the hint. II she
was chagrined, her smiling face did not
oetray the fact. On the contrary, the
merchants hint as to not consulting the
husband gave her a fine opportunity, OF
which she was not slow to avail herself.
She laughed as she said: We'll, I GER
:ainly am glad to know that there are
subjects Of the King whose wives do
lot have to consult their lords pleasure
,r pocketbook, when set upon buying ex-
pensive garments. And / know that
lis majesty also will be glad"
He was. He even called on the rich
brewer and told him so. More than that,
lie was something of a press agent"
perhaps not as much as his scion, the
present German Kaiser, but he had the
Roosevelt habit in a pronounced way,
enough to suit his times). Neither did
he Hohenzollern wearer Of a crown
consider II 'infra dig to see to It that
he two leading dailies Of the then Prus-
ian capital (the Tante Voss and the
)nkel Spencer got hold" of the yarn.
understand that the coronation visit
# her highness, the Begun Of Bhopal,
s due to the encouragement Of King
George who was interested in her dur