Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-11-21
BARES KAISER'S
BRUTAL NATURE
Captain Persius Tells of Franks
of Former Ruler.
vULGARlTY HIS DELIGHT

/ OncerS ForCeu 10 oupnit 10 iHo'Y"'-
ties and Bodily Injury-Former At
tache of Embassy in Washington Fa-
I vors "Punishing Rascals"-Asks for
/ a General Cleaning UP All Around
! Wants Treaty Studied.
: Capt. Lothian Persius, German naval
attache at Washington for number
of years long before the war, and sub
sequently Germany's leading naval
critic, devotes good deal of space in
his personal "reminiscences" to acrid
ridicule of the once sacred person OF
the kaiser, and to advocacy of the
proposition that German officers guilty
of atrocities should be punished. Per-
haps nothing written by prominent
German since the war ended so amaZ-
ingly illustrates the apparent change
in the point of view of at least some
Germans. OF the kaiser, Captain Per-
siuS says:
"There are no great men in the eyes
Of their Wallets. William III never was
a great man in the eyes of anybody,
Ilt was NNCi assuming "
heroic pose, whether the occasion was
solemn or ridiculous. But William III
in the eyes of his Wallets and attendants
was not only not great, he was even
contemptibly small, mean and coward
ly, enjoying the humiliation, degrada-
tion and pain he inflicted upon those
in his power.
"With my own eyes have seen him
dash the contents of half-filled cham
pagne glass into the face of an ad-
miral who happened to be standing
near him on the bridge of vessel. l
saw him scrape the caviar off his sand
wich and fling the mess into the eyes
of some officer of high rank unfortu-
nately within reach Of the imperial
Joker OF course, all these 'pranks'
were perpetrated when his majesty
was i'm state of intOXicatiOn, which
at times happened to occur early In
the morning"
ServiIity Brings Promotion.
Captain Persius states that all men,
bers of the officers corps realized that
promotion was TO be accelerated only
by humble submission to the kaiser's
whims and pranks; that some admirals
would have been deposed for incom-
potency had they not been devoted and
meek objects of the imperial jester;
and that Tirpitz remained so long In
power because he would "stand for
anything" even to permitting the
kaiser to pull his whiskers and kick
him in the stomach.
The naval critic then adds these an
ecdOtes of the kaiser's idlosyncrasies: !:
"a cruiser was at target practice.
William ii was on board, the sun smil-
ing, the weather calm and beautiful
William III happened to be in the best
of humor. With his strong right hand
he was dealing blows right and left,
as he was wont TO do on occasions like
this. His favorites considered them
selves fortunate when they received
an imperial punch.
Ellis majesty was very happy, jest
ing and joking. On the bridge his
body surgeon was standing, leaning
backward against the railing. The old
man, general in rank, seemed to be
tired from standing. He was leaning
heavily upon the railing. bending back
ward and dreamily looking into the
sky.
"The old man was In comfortable
position. as comfortable as the circurh-
stances, including the august presence
Of the imperial majesty, would permit.
He was quietly basking in the warm
sun.
Suddenly William ii sprang in front
!, of the old man and in q most cruel
manner (by hitting the old man vio-
lent blow in a tender spot) inflicted
terrible pain.
"The poor old general staggered
One could tell by the expression of his
face that he was half mad from pain.
He held on TO the railing with his
hands, and half fainting sank upon his
knees.
, "The emperor, proud OF his splendid
, 'ioke,' laughed vehemently But when
, he saw the result his practical joke
, had had he merely turned away, with
! out a word of apology. The old sur
1 RcOn WIS no iohkci peiSoh" Si"""' ''e
, had WINGED while receiving an Inn
peral favor!
: "We had returned from long
r cruise in ship of which Prince Henry
> the kaisers brother, was the com
r mander. At Kiel the kaiser himself
+ wanted to inspect our ship. He came
$ on board, again in the best of humor.
A "The bridge of the vessel was
4 crowded with officers of high rank and
D other dIgnitaries. While the emperor
was talking to some one, his adjutant
an admiral, happened to turn his back