The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-14

V nine months cut its way like a
 scythe from end to end of Ger lN2N1ANI many his allied foes hoisted the white flag in the month of June, 1897.
 The Russians and Prussians, who es- capped from the lobster trap at Frled- land. fought with one another to gain the lead in the wild race for safety and did not pause until they had put the Niemen between them and the triumph ant French. When Napoleon planted his eagles on the western bank of the river at Tilait he could see the enemys camp on the other side.
 The Prussian King and Queen Fred erick William and Louise, still at Memel less than 50 miles from Tilsit were hur- riedly packing up for flight into Russia, trusting to the hospitality of the Czar. with whom they had so lately sworn never to make peace with Napoleon until they could dictate terms to him on the banks of the Rhine.
 Nor did Alexander seem disposed to abandon his allies now that not square mile of their Kingdom remained to them. On the contrary. he talked only Of pre- pairing for another campaign as after Austerlitz and vowed he would never stoop to Bonaparte.'
 His fighting men, however, had no fight left in them They were weary of waging war for Prussia and for still more distant nation, England. to gratify the vanity of their monarch to be the champion of Europe against Napoleon. .rr urging peace Alexander's close ad- visers did not scrupe to threaten his life and bring upon him the horrible fate of his father, the Czar Paul, whom the Russian aristocracy, like q pack of thugs, had done to death in his palace only five years before.
 Under that pressure the Czar quickly yielded forsaking his allies, the King and Queen of Prussia, and Louise an nounced in sorrowfui letter to her father that Alexander had surrendered to Napoleon. My faith is not shaken she wrote, but I can no longer hope To do my duty in life. to die, to live on dry bread and salt--none of these things can make me unhappy nothing can drag me into my grave but injustice and dishonor among my own peope-that I cannot stand
 Tilsit Today
 To signalize the submission of the Czar, N~rnleon carefully dressed the stage at Tilsit, and rude, far away little town of 10000 people, lying few miles up- stream from the bleak shores of the Bal tie thus became the <cene of the most celebrated and dramatic meeting of mon arches since the royal interview on the Field of Cloth of Gold. 1t is approached from the west over a plain of steadily thinning soil and population. where sol emn storks and lonely windmills make the landscape all the .nore drear- Farms and grain fields give way to cattle ranges and hay fields and these seem about to surrender at last to scrub forests and sandy wastes, when there rise against the gray sky the smoking factory chim- nevs of Tilsit, where once the Caesar of the West and the Caesar of the East di- vided the earth between them While the King and Queen of Prussia stood by to pick up the crumbs.
 However crude stage setting the TIL sit of 100 years ago may have been for the gilded staffs of two empires, the Tii- sit of today is not an unworthy back ground for the historical picture. With 10000 population. with avenues broad and leafy. as well paved and well swept al any Parisian should expect, with shady squares and pretty parks. in one of which stands a statue of Queen Louise; With trolley cars and taxicaps, the town wears a worldly air becoming It's celebrity. The Niemen, across which the cheers of the armies of Napoleon and the Czar rolled in fraternal greeting. flows by in imposing breadth. rafts of logs floating now where a century ago the autocrat of all the Russias met and folded in his arms the son of the revolution. Beyond the river. spanned by two great modern bridges, one of them dedicated to the memory of Louise. the pilgrim looks to where the eastern horizon. F miles away, bends to the desoate boundary of Russia, that land of gloom and mystery.
 ImprOvised Palaces
 The spacious three-story stone house which was Napoleons palace and the seat of imperial power for two weeks looks upon one of the principal streets. f< r, n a pa per hanger and a dealer in picture most cards has succeeded to the business of empire But the urns above It's cor nice remain to assert its former pre- tensions while its doorstep, by which Napoleon forever holds the hand of Queen Louise in the familiar picture, stili aputs upon the sidewalk.
 The Czar's house, where he dwelt nearby nesghbor of the French Emperor ssn the same Deutschestrasse. has given way to a modern building. But Louises house stands almost unchanged few euuares away in humber quarter Of the town. beftting her unhappy role in the drama of Tilsit It was and still is the milier's house, with grist mill next door But did not even Frederick the Great have to put up with mill at the gate of Sans Souci?
 Over the door of the house of the mil Ter of Tilsit is bust of Louise, and on
  front room, one flight up. is her parlor, where her first fencing match with the conoueror of her kingdom took place, marble bust of her in a corner comment orating now that most anxious hour In a period crowded with anxious hours
 Although Tilsit is or the tourist path that old white house by the mill is the shrine of such German patriots as visit the town. and in this refuge of his stout hearted great-grandmother from the dis asters that for a time overwhelmed the Hohenzollerns Kaiser Wilhelm II has sat in silent revery But the hous4&pf Ma poleon Is not the goal of pilgrims. It hears no tablet, and it's site Is not even indicated on the map of the local guide book.
 Two Emperors on Raft
 With the French army encamped on the TiIsit shore of the Niemen and tho Cnnrn on fho opposito eide, tho river