The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-06-03
Obeys Kaiser's Suicide Orders
Captain of Hussars, Who Struck Emperor on
Yachting Trip, Shoots Himself Believed
Ruler War Crazy.

ing me to follow. descended again to
the cabin in which we had been work
/ ing.
On entering he rang his bell and
! summoned the captain, who in few
moments appeared. cap In hand. as
| became him.
1--WE will go farther east" said the
all highest. 1--WE are too far out"
"Johannsen, the Norwegian pilot, is
in charge. your majesty" replied the
captain, bowling.
Then tell the man Johannsen,
said the Emperor, and he turned to his
table, Diminishing the captain of the
imperial yacht
Three minutes later there came loud
raps upon the door, and the Emperor
himself gave the order to enter.
whereupon q short, thickset seaman
! in blue Jersey and seaboots, a typical
North Sea pilot, came In.
we are too far out: get nearer in
to the coast" his majesty commanded
J in imperious tones.
I'VE are not too far out" replied
the man in German.
who are you to dictate to me? -
| shouted the Emperor In fury.
Declines To Take orders.
You are Emperor on land, but 1,
Carl Johannsen, Of Ekersund. am in
charge OF this vessel while she is in
Norwegian waters, and take orders
from nobody"
And with that the man coolly turned
upon his heel and. saluting. left.
The Emperor was white with rage
at the rebuff He flung the papers
from him and paced the cabin in silent
anger. Yet an hour later he assembled
to the bridge and presented the man
with q scarfpin with the imperial
crown and cipher in diamonds, a fact
duly reported TO Baron Won Richlofen,
the Kaiser's press cossack tpress
agent. who duly gave an account of
the Emperor's munihcence. without. OF
course. referring to the defiance Of the
imperial command.
On that same night, after the Kali
serin had retired. found the Emperor
viking the deck alone and behaving
very strangely. He was capless. wav-
ing his healthy arm wildly above his
head, and Eroaning. Then he would
break out into fearful imprecations
against all and sundry.
In alarm / called Won wsdell. and
together we approached him. Togeth-
er we managed to get his majesty be-
low and hand him over to his valet
and the court physician without any
of the crew being the wiser.
The KaIser's Amazing Sermon.
Next morning he appeared fresh
and active and apparently quite nor
NAL; but that evening at sunset he
ordered the officials, suite officers,
and crew to assemble on deck, and
then, appearing in clerical garb, he
preached q most marvellous and amaz-
ING sermon.
II am Gods Instrument he cried.
He has sent me to unsheath the
sword against the world, to lead on
the armies OF our Empire to victory
and to woTld-power! In me-" he
cried, 'you see the one sent unto you
as deliverer!-and aIl-highest upon
this earth-your Kaiser"
He raised his arm toward the sun
and shouted-"The enemies OF Ger
the f1re. j am your Emperor, your
deliverer, your master"
Next morning al Won wedell's in
stigation, the captain swore the
whole crew, the officers, and the en-
tourage to secrecy, but the old Nor
wegian pilot was, a month later. in
discreet when he got back to Eker-
sund; hence the sensational report
which appeared in the Globe in Lon
don. report which, OF course, was
promptly denied by the Wolff Bureau.
Emperor Receivers.
Three days later, we were winding
our way In the smooth water between
the island OF Smolen and the Hat
lerns, that rocky archipelago a little
north Of Christiansund. The EN-
peror. whom his royal spouse regard
ed with greatest concern, seemed to
have recovered. 1 had had a most
strenuous time, for His Majesty had
dictated all sorts Of wild dispatches
and made all sorts OF extraordinary
dismissals OF high officials, together
with the most amazing appointments. |
Beneath his eye he'd been compell- |
ed to seal up the papers in the heavy
leather dispatch bag. and they had |
been landed with the imperial courier
one Natzmer, at the little fishing VIII
lage OF Fosnaes, at the entrance Of |
the FOlden Fjord.
Called Emperor Crazy.
Another matter which greatly ner-
turbed me was the fact that my as
sistant, the personal adjutant young
Rudolph Won LantZsch, had, while |
to the Kaiser's astounding
sermon, exclaimed in his Amusement, |
and loud enough for all to hear:
That man is no Emperor; he IL
craZyr
The Kaiser had heard him. and |
had turned his eyes toward him for
an instant without pausinE But |
well did 1 know the fierce imperial
In desperation I sought tho EN-.
press in her pale-blue-and- gold salon.
found her seated alone, l referred |
to the unfortunate events, and beg,
ged her to allow me to use the wire.
less and sign an imperial order in |
her august name.
l could see that the poor lady was
greatly upset and extremely nervous.
at is all most unfortunate Count
Won Heltzendorff," she said. 81 only
hope that we may be able to prevent
the people from hearing OF His