Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-09-20

i enc hundredth anniversary of. Fred
erick the Great, he gave me picture
CT that monarch. On another occasion
he presented RE with q group picture
Of himself surrounded by his family
! and dogs. remember his bringing t.
me a large unframed picture in cele
1 bration of his silver wedding. It was
about twenty-four by eighteen inches
In size. 1t showed the kaiserin ant
| himself In sort of cloud floating above
birdseye view of Berlin, with the
palace and the cathedral dimly seer
below.
81 don't know Just what this master
piece was meant to signify, but had il
framed and placed it in my office. II
evoked from a little boy who entered
the room with his mother the follow,
ing astonished remark: "Oh, mother
look at the kaiser in heaven!'
A postcard picture of the kaiser
signed by his own hand, was in his
own estimation one Of the most price
less gifts he could bestow. / remeln-
Der his donating one Of them to an
American charity bazaar in Berlin to
be auctioned off. lie thought that the
| fact that the card came from his In
perial majesty gave it value which
could not be measured in dollars and
cents. A piece OF jawelry or a sum
of money might have been duplicated
OF even excciled by a gift Of similar
character from any American million
aire-for whose wealth the kaiser fire.
quendy expressed the utmost contemp'
but what could surpass the value CT
an autograph OF the kaiser!
No doubt the royal hanquets were
prepared much upon the same prin-
ciple, for it was a common saying
among the German aristocracy that one
had better feel we'll before going to Z
banquet at the palace.
happened to mention to the kaiser
the reputation his banquets held among
his people. lie was not at all taken
aback.
That's goodr he CONNER sed. "Tt"
Germans are too fat, anyway. The H..
jority of the people eat too mucL."
Long after automobiling becaI..,
more or less general, the kaiser still
employed a horse and carriage for
ordinary travel, relying upon his free
use of the railways for longer dis
tances. When, however, the reichstae
passed a law compelling royalty to pay
for their railroad travel, the kaiser
took to automobiles. They charged
him 1900 marks, he told me, for the
use Of train on one Of his shooting
trips, and that apparently was more
than he could stand.
"Autos are expensive" he declared,
"but they don't cost me that much"
The kaiser speaks English with but
the slightest trace Of foreign accent.
His diction Is perfect. He speaks
French, too, very fuently, and, l be-
| lieye, italian. He Is widely read CD
almost oil subjects and knows the lit
erature of England, France and Amer
lea as we'll as that of Germany. Mark
| Twain was one Of his favorite Amer
lean authors and LongfelloW his choice
of American poets.
He prides himself on his acqualn-
lance with history and has little re-
spect for the political opinions Of 9th
ers whose knowledge of history is less
complete.
Shortly after Carnegie had donated
FIVE million marks to Germany to fur
Their world-peace, I happened to be
J talking to the kaiser Of American nail
| Iionaires and the steelmastcr was
mentioned.
"Of course, Carnegie is nice OH
man and means WELL" remarked the
kaiser, condescendingly, 'but he is 10
! tally ignorant Of world history. Hes
just advanced US five million for
world-peace. We accepted it naturally,
but, of course, we intend to continue
our policy Of maintaining our army ana
navy in full strength"
Indeed, there Is hardly any subject
to which the kaiser has devoted any
considerable attention il which he
doesn't regard himself as the final au-
thority.
As an art collector and antiquarian
he claims first place and he is rather
inclined to feel that second place
should be left vacant. He aTays re-
scented very much the acquisition by
American millionaires Of art treasures
and antiquities which their wealth en-
abled them to buy, but which thci!
limited acquaintance with history and
their lack Of culture and refinement
made them unable TO appTeciate-an
the kalser's estimation.
OF his own taste il art little need be
said. The monuments which he caused
TO be erected to his ancestors and the!E
advisors and which adorn the Sieges
Alice, the street he had 0peGed through
the Tiergarten especially for them, &c
at the sane time monument tc the
kaiser's ideas of art. They are the
laughing-stock of the artistic world.
They have been SO frequently defaced
by yandals whose artistic taste they
offended that it was necessary to Sta
ton policemen in the Sleg2s Alice to
guard them. Not long ago burglary
occurred in the vicinity. The burglars
were observed while at work and
startled civilian rushed to the Sieges
Alice to summon one Of the officers
who were known to be on guard there.
eff you hurry" exclaimed the civil
ian, excitedly, "you can catch these
burglars red-handed."