The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-14
 NAVY CONDITIONS WORRY GERMANY The Fleet Not as Strong as Generally Reported GROWN PRINCE IDOL Gives WorL mon q if With His An
GROWN PRINCE IDOL
Gives WOrkmen Lift With His Au omObile-Busy Times Coming 4. in Court Circles the Next i
 Two Weeks
ny MALcoM CLARK

By MAbtOM Cf.ARk
 Berlin, January 12- (Special9- -Germany is beginning to worry about the coudi- ton of her navy She has tal~n a good deal of quiet satisfaetion in tiie troubles France and England have been having with their warships but now reports are current that she has little to brag about in comparison with other sea powers and her fleet is much stronger on paper than 1t is in fact.
 "Prestiger is valued factor in the Fatherland, and, with the navy as with the army. no effort is spared to create the impression that d very high state of efficiency exists, what time it is care fully represented that the British navy is a colossus with feet of clay.
 For a long time the German navy has lived on a legend of remarkable gunnery efficiency. The facts, however are that the best shooting ship in the high seafleet tand this not dreadnoughD only made 8 per cent of hits at 1000 yards. while the average for the whole fleet was about 15 per cent. This is decidedly inferior to the shooting of the English or American fleets.
 NioTe SeFlOuS Stlll IS the Sldle or the personnel. Owing to an order forbidding engineers to attempt to recognize or associate with dock officers on shore, many of the best engineer officers have left the naval service in disgust, while of the remainder. few put much heart into their work-"comradeship" being al- most non-eXistent Its place Is taken by petty jealousies and snobbery. The men are passing through a stage of socialistic influence similar to that which a few years ago rendered the French navy so non-effective. There is u grow ing absence of cheerful obedience or military feeling" afloat-a lack of spirit of emulation.
 These things are not generally known but I understand the admiralty has taken cognizanee of them and Is doing all in it's power to remedy the defects. The next two weeks will be busy weeks in court circles. The kaiser is preparing brilliant functions to celebrate the cen- tenary of Frederick the Great on Jan uary 24, and his own 53d birthday on January 27.
 Practically all the American girls who have married into the German nobility will take part lin the ceremonies and many American visitors are coming to Berlin to see all they can of these bril- I liant functions.
 1 The crown prince is the popular idol. 1 He got another ovation the other day from company of Workmen. The prince was motoring home when he passed an artisan bearing a heavy bag of tools on his back. The prince stopped the car and offered the man lift. The man however, could sec nothing but the eagle | ls.,, &I,1 aal ..f tt1 .l...- a,.I could be persuaded to do nothing but stand trembling. Finally the prince asked him where he lived He replied in Berlin whereupon the prince said: Why, then, we're fellow townsmen. You must get in' The artisan did: the prince took him to his cottage in the northern end of the city, and pressed a banknote into his hand he said goodby. The workman spread the story. and when the prince left the following Sunday morning for Potsdam, half hundred of the work mans friends gathered at the ferry to cheer as the royal car stopped to board the float.
 Prince August Wilhelm, the kaiser's fourth son. who appeared as a witness the other day in a case in which his chauffeur was charged with furious driving is also extremely popular with the common people. Unlike his brothers, he is not fond of military life but he is an enthusiastic sportsman, and goes
 In for motoring, shooting, yachting and even flying. The other day he went for a trip in the Zeppelin aerial cruiser, Schwaben. and when he had alghted, he told his friends that aviation was the finest sport he had ever experienced. Prince August is known as "the first civilian of the Hohenzollern family" and some time ago he entered the offices of the Potsdam Provincial presidency as a civil servant. He is keenly interested in question of government and social re- form, and it has been stated on good authority that he Is destined to become Viceroy of Alsace-L Lorraine. The prince Is strikngly handsome, with a fine figure and a manly bearing; and his wife, who before her marriage was Princess Alex andra of Schleswig- -Sonderburg- Gluckburg. is noted for being one of the prettiest women at the German court Prince August was in love with her for quite a long time before he made her his wife but the kaiser would not allow the match to take place until the prince had finished his university course with honors.
 Last Sunday was the 21st birthday of the kaiser's youngest son, Prince Joa- chim. This prince is not only the young est but the smallest of the budding Ho- henzollerns. When the late King Ed ward went to Ke in 1905, Prince Joa- chim, already an. officer in the Guards, was on duty with the guard of honor, all his brothers being present. After the kaiser had kissed King Edward, the monarch turned to the guard of honor, whereupon his majesty introduced his sons to the king. Poor little Prince. Joachim, standing rigidIy, but uneasily at the salute failed to sheathe his sword at the psychological moment in order to shake hsuds with the king. and 1t WAS not until the latter had helped to get the refractory weapon into the scabbard that the fustered princeling could take the extended hand. The incident was slight enough. but Germanys immacu- late war lord did not relish it oyer much.
 The inhiction of fines of 20 marks each on several personal servants of Prince George of Greece, who Is attached to the First Regiment of Guards at Berlin, has formed the sequel to an amusing in- cident at the Princes rooms. which de- seloped out of the prevailing spy mania"
 E It seems that the Princes valet has been badly bitten by the mania, and sees in every innocent caller q possible spy in disguise. One morning recently he found in the princes, study an appar- ently harmless chimney-sweep. who hap pened to be standing in front of writ ing desk admiring some photographs with which 1t was adorned Convinced that the sweep was a spy in disguise, the valet c<ept up behind him and held a revolver to his head. The sweeps screams of fright soon attracted a number of other servants, by whom he was over