The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-09-19
The Kaiser as Knew linn
for Fourteen Years
~
: By ARTHUR N. DAVIS. D. D. S.


German-Austro offensive against the
Italians was started. In three days the
Italians were swept out OF Austria and
the TeutCns pressed forward to the
passes west Of the IsOnzo river leading
to the Venetian plains. By thee end or
October the Italian ariaies were In full
retreat. Before this offensive was over
tie Germans captured, they claimed.
ne less than 100000 prisoners and sew
eral thousand big guns. besides vast
stores of munitions and supplies.
The exultatiOn Of the Germans over
the triumph Of their armies In Italy
knew 10 bounds. While it was at It's
height | had an interview with the Kali
ser which will ever remain one of the
most vivid in my memory.
IL was about three-thirty n Sunday
morning when | was aroused by a maid
who, in N. awe-stricken tone OF voice,
announced that the Neue Palais, the
kaiser's palace at Potsdam, was on the
phone. | went to the telephone ana
was inf irr!eG that the kaiser was suf-
fering from II bad toCthache and would
send his auto for me within an hour or
so.
| got up at olce and packed my In
struments, and at siX-thirty the car, IA
big graz Mercedes limousine, arrived.
Besides the chauffeur there was an
outrider carrying the bugle whose dis
tinctive notes only the kaiser may use.
While the Shell room and other state
rooms were accessible to visitors be-
fore the war, no one was ever permit
ted to visit the private apartments of
the kaiser upstairs.
ON this occasion, however, | was
guided right through the Shell room,
through n door opening on the left and
up n wide staircase to the kaiser's
%garderobe, or dressing room.
There / found breakfast ready for
me. 1t consisted of real coffee, real
white bread, butter. marmalade, sugar,
cream and cold meats. 1t was the first
food Of the kind I had eaten In some
time and practically no one in Ger
many outside the royal family and the
junkers was any better off than l In
that respect.
While | vas breakfasting, the kaiser
was dressing. His valet entered sew
Giles 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
room, fully attired in an army gray
uniform. but without his sword. He
looked more haggard than l 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, II
have never suffered so much pain"
expressed my sorrow and started
to improvise a dental chair out of an
upholstered armchair on which /
placed some pillows and, as the kaiser
sat down, he laughingly remarked:
"Look here. Davis, you've got to do
something for me. ! can't fight the
whole world, you know, and have a
t%oOthache I"
When | was through and his pain
was relieved, his spirits seemed to re-
vive appreciably, and he explained why
tooth trouble removed as quickly as
possible.
Il must go down to Italy, Davis
he said, ITO see what my noble troops
have accomplished. My gracious,
what we have done to them down
there! Our offensive at Riga was just
a feint. We had advertised our in
tended offensive ir Italy so thoroughly
that the Italians thought we couldn't
possibly intend to carry 1T through.
For three months it IA common talk
IN Germany, you remember, that the
great offensive would start In October
and SO the Italians believed it was all
II blum and when we advanced on Riga
they were sure of 1t. They thought we
were SO occupied there that we could
pay no attention to them, and so we
caught them nappingi"
The kaiser's face fairly beamed as
he dwelt on the strategy of his gen
erals and the successful outcome OF
their 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 and food anG
hospital supplies in the valleys below
in preparation for their twelfth lsonze
offensive.
1--WE let them go 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 "ouI
weaker neighbor" the kaiser, of course