Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-15
BY ARTHUR N. DAVIS, d. D. S.

pdlu me more than my bill called FOR.
These over payments never amounted
to very much, but they impressed me
because they were so out of keeping
with the stinginess the Kaiser dis
played in other directions.
From time to time the Kaiser sent
or brought me autographed pictures
of himself or others. At the time of
the one hundredth anniversary of
Frederick the Great, he gave me a
| picture of that monarch. On another
occasion, he presented me with a
group picture of himself surrounded
by his family and dogs. I remember
his bringing to me a large unframed
picture in celebration of his silver
wedding. 1t was about twenty four
by eighteen inches in size. 1t show
ed the Kaiserin and himself in sort
| of cloud floating above a brdseye
view of Berlin, with the Palace and
| the Cathedral dimly seen below.
/ don't know just what this MASTER
piece was meant to signify, but had
| it framed and placed it in my office.
1t evoked from little boy who en-
tered the room with his mother the
following astonished remark: Oh.
mother, look at the Kaiser in
| Heavenr'
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. I re-
member his donating one of them to
an American charity bazar in Berlin
| to be auctioned off. He thought that
the, fact that the card came from his
/ imperial majesty gave 1t value
which could not be measured in dol
lars and cents. A piece of jewelry
or sum of money might have been
| duplicated or even excelled by a gift
of similar character from any Ameri-
can mialionaire-for whose wealth
the Kaiser frequently expressed the
utmost contempt-but what could
surpass the value of an.autograph of
the Kaiser!
No doubt the royal banquets were
prepared much upon the same princi-
pie. for it was a common saying
among the German aristocracy that
one had better feel we'll before going
| to a banquet at the Palace
I happened to mention to the Kais-
er the reputation his banquets held
among his people. He was not a. all
taken aback.
That's good" he commented. "The
Germans are too fat, anyway. The
majority of the people eat too much"
Long after automobiling became
| iOie VI icSS GENERAL, the Kaiser Stlll
employed a horse and carriage for
ordinary travel. relying upon his free
use of the railways for longer dis
tances. When. however. the Reichs-
tag passed 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 apparent
ly was more than he could stand.
Autos are expensive" he declared
but they don't cost me that much!"
When the Kaiser came to hire a
head chauffeur, he wanted the best
man he could find. A man named
Weber, who had been employed by an
American millionaire was recon-
mended to him. Perhaps the Kaiser
figured that the privilege of working
for him was in itself liberal remun-
GRAFTON. Certain 1t Is that the salary
he offered Weber would never have
| satisfied chauffeur who had been ac-
customed to the American scale of
compensation, and the Kaiser would
undoubtedly have had to get another
man had not the motorcar company
whose models the Kaiser was using
and who thought 1t would be a wise
policy, literally speaking, to have "a
friend at court" agreed to pay Weber
a large sum each year in addition to
what the Kaiser offered him If he
would take the position. He took IL
I have this story on the authority of
one of the directors of the motorcar
company in question.
The Kaiser speaks English with
but the slightest trace of a foreign
accent. His diction is perfect. He
speaks French. too, very fuently. and
believe, italian. He is widely read
on almost all subjects and knows the
literature of Egland, France and
America as well as that of Germany.
Mark Twain was one of his favorite
American authors and Longfellow his
choice of American poets.
He prides himself on his aconain-
tance with history and has little re-
spect for the political opinions of
others whose knowledge of historv is
less complete.
Shortly after Carnegie had donated
five million marks to Germany to fur
ther world-peace. I happened to be
talking to the Kaiser of American
millionaires and the steel-master was
mentioned.
"Of course. Carnegie is a nice old
man and means WELL" remarked the
Kaiser. condescendingly, but he is
totally Ignorant of world history.
He's just advanced US five million for
world-pieoe. We accepted IL natur-
ally, but, of course, we intend TO con-
tinue our policy of maintaining our
army and navy in full strength"
. I Tndaad fhara ta l,ora1x.