The Washington times., 1917-10-08
By JAMES W. GERARD.

American Ambassador to Germany. July =,
1s13. to February Z. 1911.
(CopyriEht, Omitted StAtss Canada. and In
ternGtionAl. 1911. BY the Public Ledger Col
At the court balls the diplomats
are, Of course, in their best diplo-
matte uniform. All Germans are in
uniform of some kind, but the wom-
en- do not wear the long trains worn
at the Schleppencour. They wear
ordinary ball dresses.
In connection with court dancing,
it is rather interesting to note that
the tango and turkey trot, having
made their way over the frontiers of
Germany in the autumn of 1913, the
Emperor issued a special order that
no officers Of the army or navy
should dance any of these dances nor
should 90 to the house of any person,
who, at any time, whether officers
were present or not, had allowed any
Of these new dances to be danced.
This effectually squelched the turkey
trot, the bunny hug, and the tango,
and maintained the waltz and the
polka in their old estate.
Ridiculous Decree.
1t may seem ridiculous that such a
decree should be so soIemnIy issued.
But 1 believe that the higher au-
thorities in Germany earnestly de-
sired that the people, and especially
the officers OF the army and navy,
should not learn to enjoy themselves
too much. A great endesvor was al
ways made to keep them in a life, as
far as possible, of Spartan simplicity.
For instance, the army officers were
forbidden TO play polo, not because
Of anything against the game, which,
Of course, is splendid practice for
riding, but because II would make a
distinction In the army between rich
and poor.
The Emperor's birthday, January
"a, is a day OF great celebration. At
$3.50 in the morning the ambassadors,
ministers and all the diEnitaries Of
the court attend divine service in the
chapel OF the palace. On this day, in
1914, the Queen OF Greece and many
Of the reigning princes OF the German
states were present In the evening
there was q gala performance in the
opera house, the entire house being
occupied by members of the court
Between the acts in the large foyer,
royalties made the circle" and / had
quite a long conversation with both
the Emperor and Empress and was
caught" by the King OF Saxony.
Letters of Credenee.
Many Of the ambassadors have let
ters OF credence not only to the court
at Berlin, but to the rulers OF the
minor German states For instance,
the Belgian minister was accredited
to thirteen countries in Germany and
the Spanish ambassador to eleven.
For some reason or other the Ameri-
can and Turkish ambassadors are ac-
credited only to the court at Berlin.
Some OF the German rulers feel this
quite keenly, especially the King of
Saxony. / had been warned that he
was very anxious to show his resent
ment OF this distinction by refusing
10 shake hands with the American
ambassador. He was in the foyer on
the occasion OF this gala perform
ance, and said that he would like TO
have me presented to him. I, OF
course, could not refuse, but forgot
the warning OF my predecessors and
put out my hand, which the King os-
tentAtiously neglected to shake.
A few moments later the wife OF
the Turkish ambassador was pre-
scented TO the King OF Saxony and re-
ceiVed q similar rebuff, but, as she
was q daughter OF the Khedive OF
Egypt. and therefore a royal highness
in her own right, she went around the
King of Saxony, seized his hand.
which he had put behind him, brought