The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1918-08-30
The Kaiser as | Knew Him
for Fourteen Years
! By ARTHUR N. DAVIS, D. D. s.
Copyright. 1913 by the Newspaper syndcate)

They have been so frequently defaced
by vandals whose artistic taste thew
offended that 1t was necessary to sta
tion policemen in the Sieges Alice to
guard them. NJ long ago a burglary
occurred in Il ,icinity. The burglars
were observed "hile at work and a
startled civilian rushed to the Sieges
Alice to summon one of the officers
who We're known to be on guard there.
IF you hurry" exclaimed the civil
Ian. 'excitedly, you can catch these
burglars red-handed."
I'm sorry" replied the policeman,
But cannot leave the statues"
Realism Is the kaiser's idea Of what
Is most desirable In dramatic art.
When he put on "Sardanapal." Greek
tragedy In pantomime, at the Berlin
opera house, he sent professors to
the British museum to secure the most
detailed information available regard.
Ing the costumes Of the period. Every
utensil. every article of wearing ap-
parel, every button. every weapon, In
TACT, every property used in the play
were to be faithfully reproduced, par
ticular pains being taken to produce q
most realistic effect In q funeral pyre
scene In which king ended his life.
The kaiser sent me tickets to see 1t.
King Edward attended the perform
ance at the Berlin Royal opera and I
asked the kaiser how the king of Eng
land enjoyed 1t.
My s;acious," the kaiser replied,
unable to repress his satisfaction at
the effect the pantomims had hid on
his royal uncle, "why, the king was
very much alarmed when the funeral
pyre scene came on He thought the
whole opera house was on fire!"
Perhaps the katser's love for details
might be attributed to his keen obser-
walton. Nothing, no matter how triv-
ial, escaped his attention.
A couple Of years before the war I
had the empire furniture In my wait
Ing room reupholstered. On the very
first occasion Of the kaiser's calling at
my office after the change he noticed II.
my. my. how beautiful the chairs
look !" he exclaimed. Good enough for
Napoleon himself"
On another occasion, between two of
the kaiser's visits. had had put up
In the waiting room a new portrait of
Mrs. Davis. The kaiser noticed it the
moment he came into the room and
made some complimentary remark
about It.
The kaiser frequently accused the
Americans Of being dollar-worshipers
and the English Of being ruled by
Mammon. hut that he himself was not
totally unmindful Of the value and
power of money was clearly revealed
by the manner in which he catered to
people of wealth In recent years.
The richest man In Berlin and one
or the richest in Germany was He
Drew coal magnate named Fried
lander. The kaiser ennobled him and
made him Won Friedlander-Fuld. An
other wealthy Hebrew to whom the
kaiser catered was Schwabach, head
of the Bleichroeder bank, one of the
strongest private banks In Germany,
and he, too, was ennobled. becoming
Won Schwabach.
A number of other wealthy Hebrews
In Germany were also honOred by the
kaiser in another way. Although he
was averse to visiting the homes of
private individuals who lacked social
standing. he departed from his rule IN
their favor and visited their mansions
ostensibly to view their art collections.
but actually to tickle their vanity.
Shortly after Leishman became am
bassador to Germany, the kaiser called
on me.
"Your new ambassadors daughter is
the best looking young lady who has
attended our court In many n day" he
declared. "Half dozen Of my young
stair officers are very anxious to marry
her. Can you tell me. Davis, whether
these Leishmans have moneyT
II the kaiser despised the American
for money-making, he was
certainly not averse to acquiring
American dollars.
He told me once that every trip the
Hamburg-American liner Amerika
made from New York to Hamburg re-
suited I'm transferring $15O,OOO from
American to German pockets. and
added: Were mighty glad to get some
OF your American money, I can tell
you"
OF the kaiser's versatility had
evidence. In his conyersa-.
lions with me we usually wandered
from subject to subject In the most
haphazard manner. and he invariably
displayed surprising store of infor- |
nation on every topic we touched and |
am not vain enough to believe that
he was so anxious to make a favorable !
Impression upon me that he prepared
for these discussions In advance.
Indeed, the kaiser discussed so free- |