The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-11-28

negroes. Iuueeu, one Oh the mOSt ILL
pressive things he heard there was a
choir Of negro voices. He said they
sang some wonderful melodies. and
their voices were as clear as BELLS"
After the war started, the kaiser
referred to the negroes again. "Now
Is your chance to settle your negro
problem" he declared, half facetiOusly,
of course IF America insists upon
coming into the war, why doesn't she
send her negroes across and let us
shoot them DOWN.
When a fleet of our battleships WIS.,
tied Kiel some six years ago the kaiser
paid them q visit and was very much
interested. When he called to see me
shortly afterward he told me Of his
experience.
II went over the ships from top to
bottom" he declared. "They are ex-
cellent vessels, every one of them, and
j was very much impressed with the
way they are manned and Differed. 1
have only n criticism-the lattice
work coming towers, or fighting
masts. The only possible use | car
see in them would be to train vines on
them and install an elevator inside,
and serve tea in the afternoon to the
ladies OF top-the most beautiful place
for serving afternoon tea | can mag
inc.
"But, seriously speaking" he went
on, IL can't see that these mastS have
any practical value. On the contrary,
| can see very serious disadvantages
in them. No matter what nation you
might be fighting, your enemy would
always be able to recognize you at a
distance, before you could identify
him, because the warships of all other
nations look very much alike at a dis
lance.
"They say these coming low, IS are
armed" he went on, blu you would
never get close enough to your enemy
to use such small guns. Again, If one
of those masts were hit it would send
a shower of steel about the heads OF
the men on board, and would not only
put many of them out of action, but
' Juld be in the way. Suppose, too.
the mast were struck down and hung
over the side? 1t would drag through
the water, and would not only serious.
iy impede the vessel, but 1T would
cause the ship to list and expose a
larger area on one side than would be
safe. No, Davis, your fighting masts,
as l have said, might answer first-rate
for serving tea, but l don't think much
of them for active service"
But If the kaiser saw much in
American ways and customs to con
denim, he likewise saw much to com.
mend, and, before the war, he was
liberal in his praise of many of our
qualities and achievements.
He was very much interested, for
Instance, in the experiments and dis
cOverieS of Luther Burbank. TO make
Germany self-supporting Is far as
food u were concerned was one
that In the event of a world war his
eople would probably suffer more
from lack of food than they would
from hostile bullets, and he was hoping
that he would be able to Obviate that
condition before his country was put
to the test. He was constantly preach
Ing simplified diet and the conserva-
ton OF food reserves, and he had great
hopes that much could be done in a
scientific way to help solve general
food problems. When attending din
nerS given him by his officers, his
wishes respecting simple menus were
always carefully followed.
The kaiser enjoyed American hui
0 He was very FOND OF Mark
Twain, and ne followed one or two of
the American mOnthlies and weeklies
more or less regularly. He told me
that, n evening while in his sitting
room in the Berlin palace, reading
something In an American magazine,
he ran across a story which caused
him to laugh so much and so LOUD that
the ladies of the court, who heard him
In an adjacent room, came running in
with their knitting to see what the
matter was.
The kaiser had little respect for our
architecture. He thought our sky
scraperS, of which he had seen Illus
tratiOnS, were hideOuS.
"HOw terrible to desecrate the land
scape with such tall buildings" he
commented. "They hurt the eye. How
can people live in them?"
l explained that most Of the build
ings to which he referred were office
buildings, but that we did have tour.
teen and fifteen-story apartment houses
and hotels, and ven higher ones, in
which the upper floors were used for
living purposes just the same as the
lower ones. He couldn't believe it
possible that people would consent to
live so far above the ground, and from
his w aversion to visit a place that
was even n story ebOve the ground
floor, i rather got the idea that he was
afraid of height. Under the building
laws prevailing in Germany no build
ing Of more than five stories may be
erected.
Perhaps the quality that he envied