The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-01-31
GERMAN KAISER
AS CRUSADER
His Picturesque Visit To Jerusa-
lem In 1888.

to Jerusalem and the religious freedom
at once guaranteed to those of all faiths
and the civil rights pronounced must
have been bitter pill for the Kaiser,
in view of his theatrical journey to the
Holy City, the promises then made that
turned cut to be so much talk, the
laugh-inspiring, circus-like pageant.
The true story Of that episode should
be interesting and entertaining at this
time especially because of recent his
torical and epochal events in the Holy
Land.
1t was IS years ago that the then
young ruler OF the German Empire en-
tered the Holy City hearlded ap-
propriately enough by balated music
and surrounded by what is sometimes
by descriptive reporters termed a plen-
tlful display of bunting. 1t was about
3:l5 on the afternoon of Saturday.
October 20, 1898. that this curious
specimen of pilgrim entered the Holy
City, armed to the teeth, escourled bv
troops. with Turkish mounted police
thrashing out theMay the natives who
had drawn near. Some accounts of the
event relate that he went in bv the
Damascus gate; but that was not the
case. To oblige their imperial guest
the Turks had made a breach in the
immemorial walls of Jerusalem in or
der to save the Kaiser the trouble of
tuning an awkward corner, religious
outrage that may have satisfied his
sense of German kulture. What an
peared harmless then now is considered
offensive on the part of the chief per
former, owing to his war antics and
cruelty, The procession of Teuton Of
fcers, Turkish pashas and the hordes
OF onlookers was far beyond anything
of the like seen before.
The Kaiser had arrayed himself in
the garb of a Crusader helmet, silk
robe and all the other usual TRAININGS
for the part. He appeared to be in q
mood OF eXaltation, salutipg the masses
with deep bow and the military salute.
1t seems as though he imagined that he
had captured the city by the sword in
stead of arriving there as a tourist
German thoroughness and efficiency
were shown by the perfection of the
garments. But, in fact, the Germans
themselves had nothing at all to do
with It, because the entire manner, in
GLIDING the providing of money. and
catering and transport, was in the hand
OF Cook q Co., the personal conductors
and quite British institution.
The Ottoman officials, who dislike
the press at all time, had kept the
special correspondents at a distance.
They gave the excuse that their i'm
peral guest Of honor had expressed the
desire that the newspaper men should
not get within "a hours of him. either
IN advance or following behind. But if
appears that the correspondents knew
their Kaiser far better than that and
that ne preferred to travel always with
full band. One of the press rem
resentarlyes had fortified himself with
letter of introduction from the then
Prince Of Wales, later King Edward,
and thus was enabled to obtain an inter
view, when the KAISER announced that
ne wished all possible facilities be given
to the Journalists. But before this
happened the. correspondents had been
delayed so long that it seemed as though
they would not reach Jerusalem in time
for the show. 1t was then that about q
dozen of them hired a special train.
which enabled them to creep along, in
Turkish train fashion, before the
curtain went up. And they certainly
saw sight worth seeing.
What struck most. everyone attend
ing for the Parsan papers. Figaro.
Temps and Matin, as well as from the
London Times and Telegraph, and of
one or two New York papers. was the
fact that the German monarch was All
solutey without any sense of humor. a
lack so complete as to be hardly con-
sistent with entire sanity. The entry
ceremony itself showed the truth of the
saying that there is but one step be-
tween the sublime and the ridiculous.
for it was ridiculous beyond descrip-
ton, and so were some Of his subse-
quent performances in that city. There
really was never anything more abso-
lutely funny than the Kaiser's appear
ance as a preacher ina church at Jeru-
salem, when he took part in the dedi-
cation of the German Lutheran church
there. He and his attendant officers,
all gigantic men, selected solely be-
cause of their size, marched up the
church aisle to the nave, all armed to
the teeth and making mixture of a
goose step and cake walk.
This is not overdrawn in the least, as
all those who ever have witnessed what
is called the Prussian Parade March
can bear testimony, while the choir
sang a respectful anthem, which the