Manchester Democrat., 1918-10-23
The Kaiser as | KnewE linn
for Fourteen Years
)
By ARTHUR N. DAVIS. D. D. S.


brought his name to the front when
ever the army he was accredited to
made any successful showing just as
they did in the case of the kaiser.
During his various visits to me I
tried to draw him out little on diff.
ferent aspects of the international sit
uation, but the ideas he expressed
were not of much moment.
"The allies think we will run short
Of man.power," he said on one occa-
sion, "but we've got 100000 youths
| growing up and we'll soon be able to
put them in the war. There's no dan
ger Of our running short Of men, but,
really, wish it were all over. This
war is lot Of damned nonsense, you
knoww He talked as if the two mil
lion growing-up youths of Germany
were created for the Hohenzollerns to
use as they pleased.
Another remark he made which in
dicated how sadly he misconstrued the
epoch-makihg significance of the great
war in which the whole world was
involved was quite characteristic.
with so many men at the from" "
he said, "the men at home ought to be
having a fine time with the women,
eh, what? Do you see many good
looking girls in Berlin nowT'
In this connection I may mention
that many of the more sober officers
told me that they were disgusted with
the manner in which the crown prince
was acting at his headquarters. ut is
really a disgrace" they complained,
''for the crown prince to have so many
questionable women visiting him. 1t
certainly doesn't set much of an ex-
ample for the rest of the staff"
The whole situation appeared to the
crown prince very much in the light
of a joke.
'Tve just come from the western
'front.'" he told me. "My men are up
to their knees in water and mud.
We've been having lots Of fun pump
Ing the water cut Of our trenches into
the French trenches"
"Well, / suppose the French pump
1t right back again, don't they?"
"YOu're quite right, quite right.
That's. exactly what they do. Really,
it's a great lark"
Remarks of this kind rather sickened
me of this self-satisfied young man.
l realized, of course, that his part in
the war was played at such a safe
distance from the front lines that he
was probably not familiar with all the
horrors of trench warfare, and yet 1t
could not be possible that he was un.
aware Of the terrific loss Of life and
the untold agony and suffering which
millions Of his people had to endure
while the "nonsensicap war cOntin-
ued.
After diplomatic relations were
broken off 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.
OF the kaiser's other children,
Prince William Eitel Frederick and
Prince Oscar were the only ones /
never met.
Prince Adelbert, the kaiser's third
son, was very handsome and charm
ing man. He always came to me at
tired in q naval officers uniform. /
saw him but a 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 democratic
of them all. He sometimes came to
see me in an ordinary taXicab and he
was the only enc Of the kaiser's sons
whom l ever saw in civilian dress. He
was the first member Of the royal fam
lily to come to me after the murder
Of the Archduke 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 in
evitably lead to a general war.
In January, 1913, in speaking Of the
part that America would take in the
war, he mentioned that his officers had
told him that 10000 Americans were
on the western front. 1--WE don't be-
lieve 1t, however," he added. "How
could they get there without our know
ing it? Our U-bOats would certainly
have found it out. No, Davis, it's not
true"
Prince Joachim, the kaiser's young
est son, and one of the last Of the
royal family to visit me, reminded me
very much of his eldest brother, the
crown prince. He was tall and slender
and would have been good-looking but
for retreating chin which was very
pronounced. He had as little respect
for>public opinion as the crown prince,
and while the U-boat Deutschland was
on its way to America principally to
bring back cargo of rubber, the sup
ply of which was exhausted in Ger
many, this sixth son of the kaiser was
driving around the country in a big
, car and using up enormous rubber
tires, while rubber was worth its
weight in gold and many cars for the
army were supplied with plain iron
wheels.
This prince was the only member OF
the royal family to get near enough
to the firing line to get shot. The in
jury, which he received while at the
western front, was only slight flesh
wound of the thigh, but it was enough
to start him limping through history.
1t was such a superficial wound that