The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-10-15
REVELS OF The KAISER AT
H. 49, - - = *
THE BISMARK CLUB REVEAL
MUCH OF HIS TRUE CHARACTER
Dinners Were AS Rowdy AS They Were Costly, and the
Kaiser Frequently Presided Ceremony of Tearing
the FlagADangerous Joke on Hindenberg

many known as Tearing the Flag. It
was a ceremony I was told that -
often performed on board ships in
the German navy; Prince Henry, of
Prussia was the originator Of 1t.
The flag torn in this ceremony was
the Tnion Jack; a flag was placed on
the table beside each person after
dinner. The president at the dinner
then rose and made a speech in glori-
f1cation Of the German navy. At the
end of the speech he proposed the
double toast, 1.-THE German navy and
the destruction Of the fleet of our
enemy"
Each person at the table then took
up the rolled up flag beside him.
opened it out, tore it in two, and
flung the bits on the floor and the
toast was then honored.
The first time saw this ceremony
performed the Kaiser acted as presi-
dent. 1t was big night. Won Tir-
pitt, Prince Henry of Prussia. Ad-
mira1 Capelle, Count Zeppelin. and,
crowd Of other notabilities were pres
ent.
When the Kaiser had finished pro-
posing the toast and the flag had been
torn. Won Tirpitz made short speech
| in which he made a rather remark
able statement.
"GermaHy's navy he said, has a
greater mission than merely to pro-
tect her commerce." then he paused
and added: cts mission is and must
be to destroy the power of the feet
whose flag we have just torn"
The statement was received with
great cheering. 81
An interesting frequenter of the Bis
:, marok,, and great friend of the
1 Kaiser, was Won Frederick Armstein
4 He took great interest in the Ger
man secret service, and though he was
a wealthy man he devoted many years
of work to improving the organiza-
ton of the service. He, however, fell
out with the chiefs of the service, and
they got rid of him.
i I became on rather intimate terms
with him, and he told me some in
teresting stories about his work in
connection with the secret service, of
which he was a severe critic. The
i Germans, he said. for the past o years
had kept about 200 paid secret agents
in England, but not 10 per cent. OF
4 them ever sent any information of real
value to Berlin.
Won Armstein told me that Herr
| DdAA4if, Lag ShAPOWhCis iAdo SOCuICU
more valuable information for the
! most highly paid of professional secret
agents in England.
!. The subject that Herr Balm de.
!, voted his special attention to was dis
covering English trade secrets, and
the Information that he secured or
this subject was valued very highly
by the Kaiser.
) Prince Henry Of Prussia for some
: reason or other had a great hatred o.
) the English royal family; I dom
know why this was, but heard hin
: frequently both in speeches at Bis
( marck dinners, and in conversation IL
the srnoke-room, make the most dis
paraging and sometimes insulting re
\ marks about King George and othel
r members of the English royal house
; Once, however, at a Bismarck din
ner, when Prince Henry made a re
mark about King George, he unex
, pectedly met with an interruption
> that set everybody at the table laugh
3 ing at him, and SO disconnected tn,
l prince that he sat down without fin
< ishing his speech.
. The princes ipterrupter was Primo
, Leopold of Prussia, Prince Henry
! cousin. FRINGE Leopold was marr1ei
n to the German Emperor's sister.
j He was a fat, solid, stupid man VIII
{ rarely went to any function or enter
t tainment of any sort. He lived il
! great retirement at his schloss at Pots
dam. He possessed, however, a sor
e of pondereus sense of Shumor, an
n occasionally INDUCED in heavy sor
: of wit. He was a member of the Bis
n marck. though he rarely or ever visit
: ed the club.
d On the night j; ailude to, however
: he came to a club dinner. Primo
Henry after dinner proposed tn
: Kaiser's' health, and in the course @
> his speech compared other reignin
t monsrchs most unfavorably with tn
i German Emperor.
IS There is Kfng George of England
+ for example," he said. as there
. German I would like to know, VIII
would care to take King George
, place and occupy the English throu
ON the conditions that 1T Is cccu31te