The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-09-05

The BUTI1NEAU CUUNANT,
his royal uncle, why, the king was
very much alarmed when the funeral
pyre scene came on. He thought the
whole opera house was on firew
Perhaps the kaiser's love for details
might be attributed to his keen obser.
walton. Nothing, no matter how triv.
iai, escaped his attention.
A couple Of years before the war /
had the empire furniture in my wait
Ing room reupholstered. On the very
first occasion Of the kaiser's calling at
my Office after the change he noticed It
my, my, how beautiful the chairs
hook !" he exclaimed. "Good enough for
Napoleon himself"
On another occasion, between two Of
the kaiser's visits, I had had put up
In the waiting room a new portrait Of
Mrs Davis. The kaiser noticed it the
moment he came into the room and
made some complimentary remark
about Il.
The kaiser frequently accused the
Americans Of beng dollar-worshfpers
and the English Of being ruled by
Mammon, but that he himself was not
totally unmindfu Of the value and
power Of money was clearly revealed
by the manner In which he catered 10
people Of wealth In recent years
The richest man In Berlin and one
bf the richest In Germany was a He
brew coal pagnate named Fried.
lander. The kaiser ennobled him and
made him Won Friedlander-Fuld An.
other wealthy Hebrew to whom the
kaiser catered was Schwabach, head
Of the Bleichroeder bank, one Of the
strongest private banks In Germany,
and be, too, was ennobled, becoming
Won Schwabach.
A number Of other wealthy Hebrews
In Germany were also honored by the
kaiser In another way. Although he
was averse to visiting the homes Of
private individuals who lacked social
standing, he departed from his rule In
their favor and visited their mansions
~ostensibiy to view their art collections,
but actually to tickle their vanity.
Shortly after Leishman became am
bassador to Germany, the kaiser called
ON mt
"Your new ambassadors daughter II
the best looking young lady who has
attended u court in many a day." he
declared. "Half a dozen Of my young
staff officers are very anxious to marry
her. Can you tell me, Davis, whether
these Leishmans have money!"
IF the kaiser despised the American
propensity for money-making, he was
certainly not averse to acquiring
American dollars.
He told me once that every trip the
neutrality-suspicious. liner Amerika
made from New York to Hamburg re-
suited in transferring $15O,OOO from
American to German pockets, and
added: "We're mighty glad to get some
Of your American money, I can tell
you"
OF the kaiser's versatility I had
convincing evidence. In his conversa-
tons with me we usually wandered
from subject to subject in the most
haphazard manner, and he invariably
displayed a surprising store of infor-
nation on every topic we touched, and
I am not vain enough to believe that
he was SO anxious to make a favorable
Impression upon me that he prepared
for these discussions in advance.
Indeed, the kaiser discussed so free
" almost every subject that suggested
itself that I often wondered what his
advisors would have said had they
overheard our conversations. His read
mess to talk to me "a undoubtedly
due to a tendency he had to trust
every with whom he came in init
mate contact For q man who was apt
to have so many enemies, he was less
suspicious. than anyone I had ever
met. He seemed to trust every one, and
his sense Of security unloosened his
tongue and made him more talkative,
perhaps, than was always discreet.
The kaiser was very fond Of listen
Ing to and telling stories with q point
and would frequently invite me to ten
him any new one that I might have
heard. Some Of the stories we ex
changed were more or less risQue and
would be out Of place In these pages,
but ! do not mean to intimate that
there was anything very much amiss
with them. They always amused him
very much and he was quick to catch
the point
The kaiser's sense Of humor fro.
Quently exhibited itself. He told me
OF q conference between representa-
tives Of all the powers regarding the
selection Of a king for Albania after
the Balkan war. Some Of those present
thought the incumbent ought to be q
Catholic, others insisted that q Greek
Catholic was essential still others
maintained that a Mohammedan would
be most logical
It seemed quite impossible to come
to any agreement as to just what re.
Hgton the king Of Albania should pro
Tess, and the kaiser had ended the dis