Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-05-10
There. was simply nothing to buy in

than the last. The remark IF things
get much worse, we shall soon-be eat
ing rats as the Parisians did in 1S7O'
brought the rejoinder: "Well, that
wouldn't be so, bad; what I'm dreading
is the time when we shall have to be
content with rat-substitute!"
When we finally had cards for cof-
fee-substitute l gave, up interest In
substitutes and commenced to patron
ize the spectators, figuring that it was
better to risk the penalties imposed by
the law for such violations of the food
regulations than to ruin our health
through undernourlshment.
For a long time we were permitted
to receive presents" of bacon, ham,
sausages, eggs and butter from Den
mark, but this was finally prohibited
through the influence of The Central
Einkaufs Gesellschaft (The Central
Society for Buying Food From Other
food of the kind l had eaten in SOME
time and practically no one in Ger
many outside the royal family and the
junkers was any better off than | in
that respect.
While / was breakfasting, the kaiser
was dressing. His valet entered sew
eral times, noticed, to take out arH-
cles Of clothing from the massive
wardrobes which lined the room. had
just completed my meal when re-
ceived word that my patient was ready
to receive me.
AS | 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
md shook hands.
"In all my life, Davis" he said, 81
nave never suffered so much pain"
l expressed my sorrow and started
70 improvise a dental chair out of an
upholstered armchair on which
,laced some pillows and, as the kaiser
;at down, he laughingly remarked:
"Look here, Davis, you've got to do
something for me. I can't fight the
whole world, you know, and have O
Gothache!"
When l was through and his pain
las relieved, his spirits seemed to re-
i've apprecably, and he explained why
was he was so anxious to have his
Doth trouble removed as quickly as
possible.
II must go down to Italy, Davis" "
he said, "to see what my noble troops
AVE accomplished. My gracious,
What we have done to them down
here! Our offensive at Riga was just
feint. We had advertised our in
ended offensive in Italy so thoroughly
hat the italians thought we couldn't
possibly intend to carry it through.
Tor three months it was common talk
n Germany, you remember, that the
sreat offensive would startin October,
md so the italians believed it was all
bluff and when we advanced on Riga
hey were sure Of it. They thought we
we're so occupied there that we could
ay no attention to them, and so we
aught them mapping"
The kaiser's face fairly beamed as
lie dwelt OF the strategy Of his gen.
rails and the successful outcome of
heir italian campaign.
For months Italy had been engaged
in planting her big guns on the noun
tain-tops and gathering mountains OF
ammunition and supplies ard food and
hospital supplies in the valleys below,
in preparation for their twelfth Isonzo
offensive.
"We let them sc ahead and waited
patiently for the right moment. They
thought that their contemplated often
sive must inevitably bring our weaker
neighbor to her knees and force her to
make a separate peace" By "our
weaker neighbor" the kaiser, of course,
referred to Austria, and how accurate
was his information regarding -Italy's
expectations and how easily they
might have been realized were Subse'
quently revealed by the publication of
that famous letter from Kaiser Karl
to Prince Sextus.
"And them" the kaiser went on,
when their great offensive was within
week Of being launched we broke
through their lines on slope 3,O0O
feet high, covered with snow, where
they couldn't bring up their reserves
or new guns, and we surrounded
them!
''We took practically everything they
possessed--food enough to feed our
entire army without calling upon our
own supplies at all. Never before had
our armies seen such al accumulation
Ct ammunition. I must certainly go
down to see it.
"We cut off their northern retreat
and, as they swung their army to the
south, we captured 10000 of them up
to their knees in the rice fields. One
of the great mistakes they made was
in carrying their civilian refugees with
them-clogging their narrow roads and
impeding the retreat Of their soldiers
We had taken possession Of their Ilost
productive regions, and their retreat
was through territory which yielded
them nothing. Just think Of that re-
treating army thrown upon the already
impoverished inhabitants Of that sec