Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-16
aiser's Six Sons Drop
Out of Public's Eye
BY Fr der j. Haskin

Washington, ID. c., Dec. 1.-THE SIX
sons of William Hohenzollern have dei-
initely descended, during the past iew
months. from the status OF princes royai
10 that of private citizens IN faeher
bad repute. -, ,,lI
Their personal fortunes, which would
have enabled them to live as gentlemen Oh
leisure, and would undoubtedly nave
won them social recognition, are said TO
have been conhscated.
The Kaiser and the crown prince are
still very much IN the puoiic eye anu
both of them may be tried Tor their paI1s
IN the war and sent into exile. But Of the
other six sons little or nothing Is heard.
One Of them. August Wilhelm, is reported
IN have left for the Argentine with his
wife OF the plans of the Others nothing
il known. No one seems inclined to modest
tbem or worry about them. Apparently
tbese SONS of William Hohenzollern are
tn be allowed to take such places IN the
world of men as their respective abilities
will enable them to win.
RESULT Is DOUBTFUL.
Here, surely. is an interesting expert
ment Take six boys; raise them on the
idea that they are of a superior cast to
other men, and rulers by the will of God:
not how to make living; and then pitch
them out in the world to take their chances
with other men What will be the result?
Little is known in this country about
the personalities OF these German princes.
The crown prince as the future sovereign
during his fathers reign was allowed
whatever limelight the Kaiser felt that he
himself could spare. 1t was desirable that
the people should be acquainted with
anecdotes and pictures which showed the
admirable character of the next ruler,
though signs of too much popularity were
quickly noted and suppressed by the
Kaiser, who resented a competitor for the
public favor
The gwen names of Count William S
sons in their entirety would read like n
complete collection of favorite German
names. To their particular friends and
enemies they are known more simply as
Frederick Wilhelm. Eitel Fritz, Adalbert,
August Wilhelm, Oscar and Joachim.
All of the sons have the family charac-
terstics. There is the same vain, bored,
rather vapid look stamped on each face
the usual expression of the young man
born to high position. and having little
opportunity to form his character by work.
The PrusSlan traditions as to how to
educate a boy who might, If the candi-
dates ahead Of him dropped out of line,
be Kaiser some day. were followed strictly
In the uphringing of the six.
100000 TOY FORTRESS.
They received instructions in how to
run both an army and kingdom, and
when still bows of ten years or thercabouts
were given commands in the Prussian army
so that they could get practical experience
IN leading parades. Long before, krupp,
the munitions magnate, had presented
them with a Sl00,0O0 miniature fortress
of such up-to-datc structure that only
workmen of proved loyalty were allowed
to erect it In the palace grounds. This
was the favoritC toy of the family, es-
pecially of the crown prince, for whose
particular benefit the toy was made
Adalbert, beng the one prince who
took noticeable interest IN boats. was
proclaimed the coming naval genius Of
the family, and instead Of receiving mill
tary instruction and rank, was authorized
to help manage the imperial navy.
Always the atmosphere OF military lIfe
surrounded the boys, wheth erin military
school, at home or at court. This mill
taristic education, established In Germany
to an extent uneQualcd in any other court
in the world, made plans Of warfare seem
natural TO the young Prussians who ex-
I.ected some day to put their training to
the test.
When the war came, they easily slipped
into nominal command Of the different
German armies. To the people, they were
the hero leaders. To those who knew,
they were the puppets who would arouse
patriotic response as leaders OF their people
and who could be sllllfully prompted
by veterans behind the scenes.
1t has been the subject Of much sarcas m
that the ex-kaiser's sons, whose deeds
of daring in battle were so widely ex-
plotted in newspapers, seemed to bear
charmed lives. Throughout the four years
of war, only one of the six suffered any
casualty. Joachim, by some mistake 1t
is said. happened to be standing IN the
range Of Are and was slightly wounded
in the leg by q Russian bullet. This