Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-13
THE KAISER AS I KNEW
HIM FOR FOURTEEN YEARS
By ARTHUR N. DAVIS, D. d. S.
L-"AMERICA MUST BE PUNISHED"


While I was breakfasting, the
Kaiser was dressing. His valet en-
| tered several times, noticed, to
take out articles of clothing from the
massive wardrobes which lined the
| room. had just completed my
meal when 1 received word that my
patient was ready to receive me.
AS l entered the Kaiser's bedroom.
he was standing in the center of the
room, fully attired in an army gray
! uniform, but without his sword. He
| looked more haggard than had ever
seen him, except once in 1915. Lack
of sleep and physical pain were two
things with which he had had very
little experience, and they certainly
| showed their effects very plainly.
He didn't seem to be in the best OF
! humor but greeted me cordially
enough and shook hands.
I'm all my life, Davis" he said, "I
have never suffered so much pain"
l expressed my sorrow and started
! to improVise Il dental chair out of an
upholstered armchair on which L
! placed some pillows, and, as the Kai-
! ser sat down, he laughingly re-
marked:
Look here. Davis, you've got to do
something for me. I can't fight the
whole world, you know, and have a
toothache!''
I employed neither general or To-
| cal anaesthetic. At various times
since the Kaiser had been my patient
l had suggested that I could save
| him pain by the use of a local anaes-
thetic, but he had always refused it.
The ladies like an anaesthetic, no
! doubt, Davis" he had said, but
can stand it without. Go ahead!"
and 1 may say, at this point, that in
all my experience, 1 never observed
him to finch while in the chair. He
was the best patient in that respect
l had ever treated. 1t often occur
red to me, after the war started, that
in his own callousness to pain lay the
secret of his disregard for the pain
and suffering he caused in others.
My work on this occasion occu-
pied, perhaps, twenty minutes. Dor
ing this time and during the CONVEX
sation which followed, 1 had more or
less opportunity to observe the con-
tents of the room and 1t left very
clear impression on my mind.
I had placed the chair opposite
the windows which faced the front
of the palace and which commanded
a beautiful view of the surrounding
landscape. The Kaiser's bed was an
elaborate brass affair set in an al
cove, but although it was unusually
large, the room was so spacious
perhaps forty by fifty feet-that it
was not conspicuous.
The furniture was white and gold
of a French design, and massive
gold-framed mirrors adorned the
walls There were oil paintings, and
photographs of various members of
the royal family and the Kaiser HIM
self all around the room.
J. A large open fireplace. in which Il
log fire was burning, took up part
of one wall. In the center of the
room was table upon which there
were several books. Two of them
made a particular impression upon
me. One was called THE World
War; the other The Next World
War; both in German.
Between the fireplace and the ta-
Die, attached to the floor, was a
rowing-machine, and 1 noticed that
lt mad a special attachment for the
Kaiser's partially helpless left hand.
When I was through and his pain
was relieved, his spirits seemed to
revive appreciably, and he explained
why 1t was he was so anxious to
nave his tooth trouble removed as
quickly as possible
Il must GO down to Italy, Davis"
nave accomplished. My gracious,
what we have done to them down
there! Our offensive at Riga was Just
feint. We had advertised our in
tended offensive in Italy SO thor
oughly that the Italians thought we
couldn't possibly intend to carry it
through. For three months, 1t was
common talk in Germany, you re-
member, that the great offensive
would start in October, and SO the
Italians believed it was all a bluff
and when we advanced on Riga they
were sure of it, They thought we
were SO occupied there that we
could pay no attention to them, and
so we caught them napping!"
The Kaiser's face fairly beamed
as he dwelt on the strategy of his
generalssand the successful outcome
or their Italian campaign.
For months Italy had been en-
gageo In planting her big guns on
the mouutain-tops and gathering
mountains of ammunition and. sup
plies and food and hospital supplies
IN the valleys below, in preparation
for their twelfth Isonzo offensive.
We let them go ahead and waited
patiently for the right moment They
thought that their contemplated Of
fensive must inevitably bring our
weaker neighbor to her knees and
force her to make separate peace!"
BY our weaker neighbor" the Kai.
ser, or course, referred to Austria.
ana now accurate was his informa-
ton regarding Italy's expectations
and how easily they might have been
realized were subsequently, revealed
by the publication of that famous