Evening star., 1918-08-03
CROWN PRINCE LACKS COURAGE;
CALLED WAR LOT OF NONSENSE

crown prince If he could arrange 1t
for me.
"rli arrange that for you all right"
he promised.
A few weeks later he wrote me
that il I would take the matter up
again with the authorities it would
go through without a hitch, as he had
notified them about it and had asked
them to grant my request.
Car Is Still in Berlin.
I accordingly applied to tho proper
official. to whom l gave the crown
princes letter, but apparently it car
ried very little weight. They kept the
letter and the car is still in Berlin.
In marked distinction to the IN
difference of the crown prince to the
horrors of the present war was the
attitude Of the crown princess. sne
frequently expressed to me the sor.
row she felt for all the wounded
and the surviving families OF the
killed.
After the sinking of the Lusitania
I told her that it looked as IL that
tragedy would bring the United States
into the war.
at isn't that serious. is it," she
asked.
ayes, indeed" ] replied. "1t will be
difficult now. I imagine, to restrain
Americans, and l would not be at an
surprised il war were declared "lth-
out further negotiations
She looked somewhat startled.
thought, but the next time she calico;
some two days later, she was an
wreathed in smiles, and said that my
fears were ill-founded. There would
be no declaration of war between
America and Germany. Two or three
days later came Germany's agreement
to give up her ruthless submarine
hn
Of she spoke.
That her information was not al
ways based on such sound tounua-
tion, however, was indicated later on
when war seemed inevitable. AGAIN
she was most optimistic and l sought
to elicit from her the grounds for
her assurance.
well. there's one thing you seem to
overlook, doctor" she answered. very
wisely. There are no less than 70
0o0. 900 German-Americans or Amer
leans of German antecedents in your
country. Their influence will be suf-
ficient, you may depend upon it, to
avert war between the two countries
They will take care that America
never declares war against Germany.
I haven't any doubt about it at all"
Although, Of course, she was quite
wrong in this supposition, as this was
the sentiment expressed no doubt in
the kaiser's palace. she was gifted
could not help thinking that il the
time ever came when her husband be-
came ruler of Germany her wisdom
might perhaps make up In part for
his unfortunate shortcomings.
After diplomatic relations were
broken of between America and Ger
many. the crown prince and his fam
lily ceased coming to me. They were
afraid. no doubt. of public criticism,
although the kaiser was not.
II ar'p
Prince William Eitel Frederick and
Prince Oscar were the only ones l
never met.
Kaiser's Third Son.
Prince Adelbert. the kaiser's third
son, was a very handsome and charm
ing man. He always came to me at
tired in naval officers uniform. /
saw him but few times. as he was
seldom in Berlin. and he never talked
on matters of general Importance. I
never saw him after America entered
the war
Prince August Wilhelm. the fourth.
son, was perhaps the most demo-
cratic of them all. He sometimes
came to see me in an ordinary taxi
cab. and he was the only one of the
kaiser's sons whom l ever saw in
civilian dress. He was the first mem
ber of the royal family to come to
Franz Ferdinand, and he was in
mourning when he called. He looked
very sad and detected and gave me
the first intimation that the tragedy
of Sarajevo would almost inevitably
lead to a general war.
In January. 1918, in speaking Of the
part that America would take in the
war, he mentioned that his officers
had told him that $4,000 Americans
were on the western front I'VE don't
believe it. however" he added. How
could they get there without our
knowing 1t? Our U-ooats would GER
tainly have found II out No, Davis,
it's not true"
When he said I'VE don't believe it,"
he undoubtedly meant the kaiser and
the high command. UnQuestionably,
they have long since realized how
unreliable was their information.
The prince suffered 4 most serious
accident after the war started. While
driving an automobile the steering
gear broke and It crashed into a tree
The chauffeur was killed and the
prince fractured both egs in twelve
places and sustained a fractured jaw
besides.
After a number of operations and
several months treatment in the hos
pital. he came to me on crutches.
Despite his condition he was able to
extract certain amount OF amuse-
ment out of an account Of the acci-
dent which he had read in a Paris
newspaper, a copy of which he had
with him. He explained that the ac-
cident had in reality occurred while
the prince was frantically attempt
ing to dodge an enemy aeroplane,
and went on to say that the fractur-
ed jaw was the princes worst sorrow
because he was such a pig and hated
to miss his meals. The prince thought
it was a great joke. He will be
slightly lame permanently as re-
suit of this accident.
He was a pleasant enough fellow, but
his wife. who was also his first cousin.
being a niece of the empress. was e1-
tremely sarcastic. although not particu-
larly bright. She was a very beautiful
woman: in fact. she was the most beau
tiful Of the kaisers daughters-in-law La ",
somewhat too stout.
She talked English to me invariably
until the war. but after that she spoke