The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-08-29

- rs
DAVIS, D. D. s. IX
lurs Newspapsr syndicata)
respected men In Germany, was ono
Of my oldest patients and / decided to
discuss the situation with him. On
fortunately, however, I found him too
III TO receive me-. He was eighty years
old and, although unusually well pre-
served, was In no condition on this
occasion 70 receive visitors.
Another influential patient Of mine
whom ! sought out at this dme was
M-Ambassador Won eturm Although
he was now rehred from official Life.
be had formerly been q powerful hg-
ure' In German state circles and still
kept more or less IN touch with the
new court chamberlain and others In
high omcs. His nephew was under
secretary a. foreign affairs.
| ! found the exambassados at his
private apartment IN the Adon hotel
~What viii happen TO Americans"
] asked, II my country declares war
against 0ermanyt.
THAT doctor, wm depend entirely
upon how America treats our sub
jectA" he replied, somewhat more
cold1y than had expected 81 him III
America Ainterns Germans, OF course
we shall undoubtedly treat Americans
the same way, and you could hardly
expect any special consideration, al
though, Il you will write q letter to the
court chamberlain, who Is q personal
friend Of NINA ! shall Gee that he gets
II"
But excellency," replied, ''there 10
. treaty between Germany and Amer
lea, ! understand, which gives the sub
jects or citizens Of one country who
happen to be sojourning In the other
when war is declared nine months
within which to close up their affairs
and leave. Would not that protect
! mef'
"Of course, DOCTOR. he answered.
Germany will respect the treaty II
America does, and then there will be
no trouble. Il seems to me You must
await Developments and, In the mean
time You have no cause for worry"
Suppose some Of your subjects In
America Should act up and start
blowing up bridges or munition fac.
tories and should be lynched, which
they probably would be-" I suggested,
"what would Ger1nany's course be?'
"What Germany would do then,
DOCTOR" he replied, slowly and
thoughtfully, as though such a cont1n-
gency had never occurred to him be
fore 'really, doctor, I don't know
what we would do !"
This somewhat unsatisfactory inter.
view with Won Sturm might have wor-
ried me more, perhaps, had 1t not been
for a visit / received only a day or
two later from Prince Won Pless, one
Of the kaiser's closest friends and ad-
visors, who called on me professions
ally. For a year and a half the kaiser
had had his great army headquarters
at the princes palace at Pless. In
southeastern Germany, and ! knew
that he enjoyed his monarch's conf
dence.
When I asked him regarding the
possible internment Of Americans, he
assured me that, come what might, ]
and my family had not the slightest
reason FOR alarm.
mo matter what may befan other
Americans, DOCTOR" he asserted, In
a confidential manner, 'the kaiser has
gone N record to the effect that you
and your family are not to be mo-
lested."
Another incident which made me
feel that / could proceed with my prep
arations for leaving Berlin without nm
due haste was the receipt early In the
year Of a most extraordinary post card
from the kaiser which, It occurred to
me. was quite significant rs to his In
tentt0ns regarding my welfare. On one
side was his picture and on the other,
written and signed In English In his
own handwriting, was the message:
"Dear Doctor Davis:
.Wishing you q very good year for
1917. WILLIAM I. R.n
This was the first message Of tn
kind that I had ever received from the
kaiser. Even In peace times, the pic
ture postals which he had sent to me
from time to time and. which were
autographed BY him. were always
signed IA German. When, on February
!, the Germans resumed their ruth
less submarine warfare-a move which
was Immediately followed by the
breaking OH Of diplomatic relations
felt that the kaiser must have fore
seen this consequence and had sent
me the postal as an intimation that
he wanted me TO remain Is Berlin
nevertheless.
When the Germans sank the Lusi-
tania, living and pract1cing In Ger
many lost many Of their attractions
for me. ! made up my mind then that